It can be hard being a young person these days, but the best Netflix shows for teens are a great salve for all those growing pains.
Whether humorous and heartfelt or melodramatic and mind-bending, these coming-of-age series encapsulate the full range of what it means to go through young adulthood, from high-school bullies to the horrors of hormones. The streamer is packed with sweet comedies, serious dramas and supernatural thrillers that are not only some of the best titles for teens, but some of the best Netflix shows full-stop.
Even if you’re not actually a teenager, you'll feel like one after adding these 10 series to your next Netflix watch list.
The 10 best Netflix shows for teens
Never Have I Ever
Co-creator Mindy Kaling reportedly drew from her own adolescence experiences for this charming Netflix comedy, which follows Indian-American teen Devi Vishwakumar (Maitreyi Ramakrishnan) as she juggles the sudden death of her father and her tumultuous last three years of high school. Over four seasons (Never Have I Ever season 4 wrapped up the series), we see Devi navigate real grief as well as the typical trappings of teendom, including love triangles (are you Team Paxton or Team Ben?), family dynamics (especially her relationship with her tough-love mother Nalini, played by Poorna Jagannathan) and school issues.
Stranger Things
Normal adolescence can be scary stuff, but especially for the youngsters of Hawkins, Ind., who, along with homeroom have to deal with a hostile alternate dimension known as the Upside Down. Though they take place in the 1980s and are populated with monstrous creatures like The Mind Flyer and The Demogorgon, the plights of the Stranger Things kids — including Mike Wheeler (Finn Wolfhard), Dustin Henderson (Gaten Matarazzo) and the psychokinetic Eleven (Millie Bobby Brown) —are surprisingly normal, full of teenage crushes, after-school jobs and run-ins with bullies. Catch up before Stranger Things season 5, the show's final season, arrives on the streamer.
Outer Banks
Outer Banks is slightly more action-packed than your usual teenage adventures: the mystery drama follows a group of five friends — John B. (Chase Stokes), Sarah (Madelyn Cline), Kiara (Madison Bailey), Pope (Jonathan Daviss) and JJ (Rudy Pankow) — as they hunt for lost treasure along the coast of North Carolina. It's like The Goonies meets Gossip Girl: there's still romantic drama and friend fights and parent problems, sure, but also pirate legends, ancient ruins and clues to uncover.
Ginny & Georgia
This one's good for both teen and parent: Ginny & Georgia documents the Miller family, including spirited 30-year-old single mom Georgia Miller (Brianne Howey), her moody 15-year-old daughter Ginny (Antonia Gentry) and her 9-year-old son Austin (Diesel La Torraca), as they adjust to their new home of Wellsbury, Mass. Younger viewers will enjoy the hijinks of Ginny and her new pals, including theater kid Max (Sara Waisglass) and her hunky twin brother Marcus (Felix Mallard), while adult fans can dig into the mysteries surrounding the death of Georgia's late husband.
Heartstopper
Based on the graphic novel series of the same name by Alice Oseman, the British coming-of-age series Heartstopper is refreshing in its sensitive, open-hearted portrayal of young LGBTQ+ people. At its center are the recently outed Charlie Spring (Joe Locke) and popular rugby player Nick Nelson (Kit Connor), who embark on a surprising and sweet romance at Truham Grammar School. Their pals Tao (William Gao), Elle (Yasmin Finney) and Isaac (Tobie Donovan) also tag along on their journey of discovery and acceptance.
Sex Education
Yes, the word "Sex" in Sex Education might initially give some parents pause and we admittedly wouldn't recommend this at-times raunchy romp for younger teens and tweens. But, overall, the hilarious and, yes, horny adventures of Otis Milburn (Asa Butterfield) — the son of a sex therapist (Gillian Anderson) who decides to start his own sex advice clinic to help his fellow students — and the rest of the Moordale Secondary student body are far more wholesome and endearing than the title suggests. Things do get educational, though, as the show regularly delves into topics like gender dysphoria, ableism, STIs and more.
XO, Kitty
A spinoff series of Netflix's popular To All the Boys I've Loved Before movie trilogy, XO, Kitty centers on the younger sibling of the movie's main character, Lara Jean Covey. This time around, Kitty Song Covey (Anna Cathcart) is no longer the precocious kid sis but the romantic young heroine herself. The now-16-year-old travels to South Korea to attend boarding school and reunite with her long-distance boyfriend, Dae (Minyeong Choi). However, things get complicated when Kitty meets Dae's other girlfriend, Yuri (Gia Kim), and realizes that she might just be catching feelings for her, too.
Wednesday
You already know her whole creepy and kooky and mysterious and spooky family, but Wednesday allows you to get to know the Addams daughter better. Played by rising star Jenna Ortega in the comedy-horror series, the titular character is now a teenager and a new student at Nevermore Academy, a private school for monstrous outcasts in Vermont. Along with the usual mischief that young people get up to in high school, Wednesday also possesses psychic abilities that get her involved in a local murder mystery.
Derry Girls
This Northern Irish series was originally broadcasted on Channel 4 but became a global favorite once it joined Netflix's platform in December 2018. And Derry Girls' popularity is for good reason: the shenanigans of the show's namesake friend group (played by Saoirse-Monica Jackson, Louisa Harland, Nicola Coughlan, Jamie-Lee O'Donnell and Dylan Llewellyn) in 90s-era Londonderry are rip-roaringly funny, whether trying to score tickets to a boy-band concert or misguidedly crushing on a handsome young priest.
Riverdale
Based on the characters of Archie Comics — yes, we're talking the likes of Archie Andrews (K.J. Apa), Betty Cooper (Lili Reinhart), Veronica Lodge (Camila Mendes) and Jughead Jones (Cole Sprouse) — Riverdale turns the classic comic series into a teen soap that trails the group of high schoolers as they contend with all of the surreal and sinister forces lurking within the small town of Riverdale. Each season descends further and further into absurdity, but that doesn't make it any less addictive of a Netflix binge.
