At least for media, piracy websites have a more extensive catalogue (of course) but they also have better privacy which is crazy. And they also allow you to use ad blockers. Sites you pay for would still show ads sometimes and don’t even allow VPNs.
At that point there is no point on paying for streaming and if you wanted to support the creators you could do it separetely with merch, other proyects they have or direct donations if any of those are aviable.
100% true. I buy games on Steam and GOG, sometimes from Epic. The convenience, the absence of enshittification, the cross-platform compatibility (or info about what’s compatible and what’s not), the periodic sales, etc. all add up and make people less likely to pirate games. The only barrier to entry at this point is price for those struggling to make ends meet.