Over the course of its nine-year run, Stranger Things has become Netflix’s flagship sci-fi show, and these 10 series are great options for Stranger Things fans looking for something similar. Stranger Things season 5 part 1 will release on Netflix on November 26, 2025, and the final season will have a lot of ground to cover.
The ending of Stranger Things season 4 saw the group reunited but in more danger than ever before. Vecna and the Upside Down are still reaching into Hawkins and Max’s life remains in danger. The stakes are higher than ever for the characters and the show itself, as Stranger Things will easily be the streaming event of the season.
Stranger Things created the perfect blend of mystery, lovable characters, and comfort viewing, which means that it will be impossible to recreate the feel of the series completely. With that being said, though, these 10 shows each feature aspects that made Stranger Things great, making them worthy replacements.
10
Paper Girls
While waiting for Stranger Things season 5, Prime Video’s series Paper Girls is a great sci-fi show to check out. Paper Girls follows four paper delivery girls from 1988 as they inadvertently time travel and become involved in a war between different groups attempting to control time.
Like Stranger Things, the series creates a great group dynamic between its four main characters, as they each attempt to cope with growing up while surviving the turmoil that they are cast into. Paper Girls‘ time travel plot is a lot of fun to get immersed in, but the characters and their journeys are the true heart of the show.
9
The OA
The OA is one of Netflix’s best science fiction shows, but it has sadly never gotten the attention it deserves. The complex sci-fi show centers not on a disappearance like Stranger Things, but on a similarly unusual reappearance. After disappearing seven years earlier, Prairie Johnson returns with an unbelievable story to tell.
The OA, as Prairie now calls herself, gathers an odd group of misfit teens to hear the story of her captivity and her supernatural powers, not unlike Eleven’s backstory. Through these storytelling sessions, The OA weaves an intriguing and complex sci-fi narrative that rewards close viewing.
Despite focusing on a group of teenagers and the problems they face within their own lives, The OA does have a more adult feel than Stranger Things. This makes it perfect for audiences interested in similar stories of supernatural powers and different dimensions, with a slightly darker tone and more intricacies.
8
The Institute
Many of Stephen King’s works feature similar premises or tones to Stranger Things, so it makes complete sense that the Duffer Brothers have highlighted King as an inspiration. This can be seen in everything from It‘s leading group of kids fighting Pennywise to the coming of age story The Body, so it seems only fitting that The Institute appears on this list.
The 2025 Stephen King adaptation is about a boy, Luke Ellis, who is kidnapped and taken to a facility for children with telekinetic and telepathic powers. They are abused by the facility’s employees and trained as weapons, closely paralleling Eleven’s time at Hawkins Lab and giving the show a great sci-fi premise.
7
Wayward Pines
Stranger Things is by far the most well-known project that the Duffer Brothers have been a part of, but prior to the start of the series, the pair were actually writers for another great sci-fi show. The Duffer Brothers served as writers for some episodes of the M. Night Shyamalan-produced series Wayward Pines.
Wayward Pines opens with a Secret Service agent named Ethan Burke investigating a mysterious small town where two of his colleagues have disappeared. As the series progresses, though, the conspiracy behind the town grows increasingly dark as Ethan deals with unbelievable revelations.
Wayward Pines is tonally and thematically distinct from Stranger Things, but the series is a great option for Stranger Things fans hoping to explore the rest of the Duffer Brothers’ filmography. Both shows share the conspiracy thread, but how differently those conspiracies are approached will leave audiences surprised and thrilled.
6
Wednesday
Stranger Things may be Netflix’s flagship sci-fi show, but the ongoing mystery comedy Wednesday is nearing the same popular legacy. The Jenna Ortega-led series provides an updated take on the classic Addams Family character that is darkly humorous and suitable for all ages.
Wednesday‘s supernatural elements and season-long mysteries pair well with Stranger Things. Both shows focus on their teen characters hoping to save their respective communities while dealing with the ups and downs of adolescence. Like Stranger Things, Wednesday is a cozy, enjoyable watch with uniquely lovable characters.
5
From
Much like The OA, From is a supernatural show that everyone should watch but not enough people do. It is far darker in tone than Stranger Things and is perfect for fans of the series looking for something a little scarier, but the two shows do still have a fair amount in common.
As Stranger Things‘ characters have gotten a bit older, the show has aged up its content as well, adding in more horror elements. From feels like a great continuation of that with its terrifying monsters and ever-increasing mystery. Following strangers who become trapped in a peculiar, supernatural town where horrifying creatures stalk them at night, From‘s great characters, central plot, and pacing make it a must-watch for sci-fi and horror fans.
4
The X-Files
Every Stranger Things fan (and sci-fi fan more generally) needs to watch The X-Files. The series is a seminal work of science fiction television and inspired many of the shows that have come since, including Stranger Things. While the supernatural procedural format of The X-Files is different from Stranger Things, that just means there are more great stories to love.
Additionally, within those contained monster of the week episodes, The X-Files does feature some one-off stories that have similar premises to Stranger Things, including kids with powers. The overarching mythology of the series and the government conspiracy aspects pair well with Netflix’s hit series, too.
3
I Am Not Okay With This
Stranger Things‘ teenage characters, particularly Eleven, go through a lot over the course of the series in their attempts to fight off creatures from the Upside Down. These creatures are a crucial part of the show, but if you were to take them out, you might end up with something very like I Am Not Okay with This.
I Am Not Okay with This centers on 17-year-old Sydney, who comes to realize that she has telekinetic powers related to her emotions, much like Eleven. The show serves largely as a coming-of-age story, but Sydney’s supernatural powers allow the series to explore her emotions in a very creative way that Stranger Things fans will love.
2
Lockwood & Co.
For audiences looking for a teen-centric supernatural mystery series similar to Stranger Things, Lockwood & Co. is a great replacement. The British Netflix series centers on a world where ghosts are real and can kill the living, requiring special teen investigators to rid them from clients’ properties.
The sci-fi aspects of the series are thrilling and feel similar to Stranger Things‘ tone without overlapping in their actual content or becoming predictable. Likewise, Lockwood & Co. provides a great alternative to Stranger Things‘ lovable main characters and their loyalty to one another, making their dynamic equally wholesome to watch.
1
Dark
Stranger Things is certainly more popular, but arguably Dark is the better Netflix sci-fi show. There are some similarities between their premises, but Dark is, well, darker in tone. Much like Stranger Things season 1, Dark centers on a small town where a young boy, Mikkel, suddenly goes missing, leaving those close to him scrambling for answers.
At the same time, a mysterious man emerges from the woods, raising questions about who he is and how he is connected to Mikkel’s disappearance. What follows is an exploration of time travel, the fate of the world, and whether humans can truly change anything about the past or future, centering the series on detailed science fiction.
While the show doesn’t feature faceless monsters or a very tight-knit group dynamic like Stranger Things, Dark does have a similar mystery at the heart of its first season and features some excellent 1980s nostalgia. Overall, the show is a great example of the best sci-fi programming that Netflix has to offer and is well worth a watch.
