The Best Sci-Fi Shows to Stream Right Now (2026)

The best sci-fi shows to stream in 2026 are Severance, Silo, and Foundation on Apple TV+, The Expanse and Fallout on Prime Video, and Black Mirror and Stranger Things on Netflix. Below we rank the best by platform so you know exactly where to watch.

What are the best sci-fi shows to stream right now?

Television has quietly become the best home for science fiction. Films get two hours; a great sci-fi series gets dozens, and the genre thrives on that room to build a world and sit with an idea. The tricky part is that the best shows are scattered across every streaming service, so we have organized this by platform, with a quick ranked snapshot first.

What are the best sci-fi shows on Apple TV+?

Apple TV+ has, improbably, become the premier destination for prestige science fiction. Severance is the crown jewel: employees at a mysterious company undergo a procedure that surgically splits their work memories from their personal ones, and the show mines that premise for horror, comedy, and genuine philosophy. It is stylish, unsettling, and unlike anything else on TV.

Silo adapts Hugh Howey’s novels about the last of humanity living in a giant underground bunker where asking the wrong question can get you killed. It is a slow-burn mystery-box done right, with real answers. Foundation takes Isaac Asimov’s supposedly unfilmable novels and turns them into a lavish galactic epic; it takes big liberties with the source, which we dug into in our look at how Foundation diverges from Asimov. Rounding out the platform, For All Mankind asks what if the Soviets landed on the Moon first, then follows an alternate space race across decades, and it is one of the most quietly gripping shows going.

What are the best sci-fi shows on Prime Video?

The Expanse is the one hardcore fans will fight you over, and rightly so. It is grounded, politically sharp space opera about a solar system divided between Earth, Mars, and the exploited outer-planet “Belters,” and it treats physics and human nature with equal seriousness. The first season is a slow build; push through, because it becomes one of the best sci-fi shows ever made.

Fallout is the surprise crowd-pleaser, a video-game adaptation that actually works. Set in a retro-futuristic wasteland after nuclear war, it is violent, very funny, and faithful to the games’ tone without requiring you to have played them. If you want something bingeable that does not demand a physics degree, start here.

What are the best sci-fi shows on Netflix?

Netflix’s flagship is Black Mirror, the anthology that turned “a Black Mirror episode” into shorthand for technology gone wrong. Because each episode stands alone, it is the easiest entry on this whole list; just pick a well-reviewed episode and go. Dark, the German time-travel series, is the opposite: a dense, interlocking puzzle spanning multiple generations and timelines that rewards total attention and repays it completely. And Stranger Things remains the comfort-watch juggernaut, blending 1980s nostalgia, small-town horror, and sci-fi in a package that hooked the mainstream. For films on the same service, see our best sci-fi movies on Netflix guide.

Netflix also produced 3 Body Problem, an ambitious adaptation of Liu Cixin’s novel about humanity’s first contact with an alien civilization; it is uneven but swings big, and the ideas are the real draw.

What about other platforms?

Star Trek: Strange New Worlds on Paramount+ is the best modern Trek for newcomers: episodic, optimistic, and warm, it is a return to the “new planet, new problem” format that made the franchise beloved. Paramount+ is also home to the wider modern Trek slate if you fall in love. On Max, The Last of Us adapts the acclaimed game into a devastating post-outbreak drama that is technically more horror than sci-fi but scratches the same speculative itch.

How did we pick these shows?

Three tests. First, is it actually good television, not just a cool concept that fizzles by episode three? Plenty of sci-fi shows launch a killer premise and never pay it off; the ones here deliver. Second, does it use science fiction to do something a normal drama could not? Severance could only be Severance because of its central sci-fi conceit; the genre is load-bearing, not decoration. Third, is it worth the time cost? A series asks for hours you cannot get back, so every pick here earns that investment either through tight seasons or a payoff big enough to justify a longer haul.

We also deliberately spread the list across tones and commitment levels. Some of these are dense puzzles that demand full attention (Dark, The Expanse), some are easygoing binges (Fallout, Stranger Things), and some let you dip in an episode at a time (Black Mirror, Strange New Worlds). The “best” sci-fi show is the one that fits both your taste and how much brainpower you have on a given night, which is why the table above notes a vibe for each.

What are the best underrated sci-fi shows?

A few gems get overshadowed by the giants. For All Mankind is the most criminally under-watched show on this list; its alternate-history space race quietly becomes one of the most emotionally rich dramas on television, and each season jumps forward a decade to keep it fresh. 3 Body Problem divides viewers but swings at genuinely huge ideas about physics and first contact, and it is worth a look if you like your sci-fi cerebral. And if you have somehow never finished The Expanse because its first season starts slow, consider this your push: the back half of that series is the payoff hardcore fans keep promising, and they are right.

One honest caveat on any streaming list: shows move platforms and get cancelled, and season counts change. Everything here is accurate as of 2026, but always double-check your specific service, since regional rights and platform reshuffles are a constant in the streaming era. The shows themselves, though, are the real thing; these are the series the genre will be remembered for.

It is also worth saying what did not make the cut and why. Long-running franchises like the wider modern Star Trek slate and the many Doctor Who eras are excellent but demand more context than a newcomer wants, so we led with the most accessible entry points instead. Shorter limited series and one-season wonders can be brilliant too, but a “best shows to stream” list should point you toward series with enough runway to actually build a world. The ten above balance quality, staying power, and the odds you will still be talking about them a year from now, which is the real test of a great sci-fi show.

How do I choose where to start?

Match the show to your mood. Want something cerebral and strange? Severance. Want grounded, epic space politics? The Expanse. Want to binge without homework? Fallout or Stranger Things. Want bite-sized ideas with no commitment? Black Mirror, one episode at a time. The beauty of this era is that “best sci-fi show” is finally a question with a dozen great answers.

If you would rather map out a film franchise instead, our Star Wars watch order and Dune movies in order guides sort the sequence for you. Browse everything in the sci-fi hub or head home to WorldGeek.