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- We've compiled this list of 25 free, legal and safe services for watching movies and TV shows online. From Tubi and Crackle to YouTube and IMDb TV, these free streaming sites allow you to watch full-length films and series without paying a subscription fee.
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- Lifehacker Staff
- Kanopy and Hoopla. Streaming services Kanopy and Hoopla both have a large selection of high-quality movies—Kanopy even carries The Criterion Collection—but they’re only available if your local library system has a subscription, which also means you’ll need a valid library account to log in.
- PBS. PBS is home to shows like PBS Newshour, Antiques Roadshow and This Old House. While many titles are restricted to paying members, some of PBS’s online selection (taken from its TV programming) is available online for free, including a series of film school shorts.
- Tubi. Free streaming site Tubi offers movies and TV shows from several major studios with minimal (sometimes zero) advertising. The catch is that—judging by a spot-check—desktop streaming is limited to SD resolutions.
- Vudu. Paid streaming service Vudu has a free section offering an assortment of recognizable movies floating among less familiar titles. You’ll need to sign up for a free account and sit through some ads—and some movies are only available in SD, which isn’t great—but you’ll get access to more than 5,400 movies on your computer, phone or streaming device.
Tubi is a legal (and free) video streaming application. To keep our service legal and free, we include ads, which monetize the content that our partners, such as MGM, Lionsgate, and Paramount, provide to us!
Nov 7, 2023 · The best free TV and movie streaming services provide a safe and legal alternative to torrents and websites that illegally stream content. Websites that rely on torrents or unlicensed content streaming are more likely to carry malware or put users at risk of copyright infringement lawsuits.
- Comedy Central
- Nick
- PBS
- PBS Kids
- A&E
- History Channel
- Lifetime
- Food Network
- Smithsonian Channel
Comedy Central hides a lot of its shows (including Tosh.0 and Key & Peele) behind a cable pay-wall, but it also has a selection of full episodes for non-subscribers, including recent episodes of The Daily Show, The Colbert Report, South Park, and Workaholics. Platforms: Chromecast (iOS and Android); Xbox One Restrictions: The Daily Show and The Col...
Got kids? You’re in luck with Nick’s app, which has dozens of full episodes from shows like Spongebob Squarepants,iCarly and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles(albeit the inferior remake). Platforms: Chromecast (iOS and Android) Restrictions:Some older episodes have clearly marked expiration dates, but there’s a lot of free stuff here.
Sure, it’s the same video you can get for free with an over-the-air antenna, but the app lets you watch shows like Austin City Limits, Frontline, Antiques Roadshow, and Natureon your own schedule. You can view shows from your local PBS affiliate as well. Platforms: Apple TV, Fire TV, Roku Restrictions:None, but there’s a donate button in the app if...
Like its adult counterpart, the PBS Kids app offers hundreds of full episodes for free. But instead of documentaries and Antiques Roadshow reruns, you get Sesame Street, Curious George, and The Cat in the Hat. Platforms: Chromecast (iOS and Android), Fire TV, Roku Restrictions:None
This haven for offbeat reality TV offers full episodes of a handful of series for free, including Storage Wars, Country Buck$, and Beyond Scared Straight. Everything else, alas, is trapped behind the cable paywall. Platforms: Apple TV, Fire TV, Roku Restrictions:Check the “featured” section first for full episodes, but you may find the occasional f...
Much like A&E, the History Channel mainly offers reality programming—Pawn Stars is a staple—but occasionally makes good on its name with history-minded variants like Museum Men and Search for the Lost Giants. Platforms: Apple TV, Fire TV, Roku Restrictions:The “featured” section is your best bet for full episodes, though you can find a handful of o...
Lifetime subsists largely on reality shows such as Project Runway All Stars and True Tori, but a bunch of the network’s made-for-TV movies are included as well. Platforms: Apple TV, Fire TV, Roku Restrictions:Most shows have are behind the paywall, so check the ”featured” section first for full episodes. Those cheesy movies, however, are largely fr...
Get your celebrity chef/competitive cooking fix with shows likeBeat Bobby Flay, Cutthroat Kitchen, and Sandwich King. For foodies, it could be the one app that makes Google’s Nexus Playerworthwhile. Platforms:Android TV Restrictions:Most older episodes are behind a cable paywall, but many shows have a few of their most recent episodes available for...
Compared to more popular TV networks, Smithsonian is extremely liberal about putting full episodes online, with specials like The King’s Speech Revealed, When Lions Attack, and Secrets: Easter Island. Platforms: Fire TV, Roku Restrictions:None Keep in mind that this is only a list of networks with proper apps available on streaming TV devices. If y...
- YouTube. YouTube is the latest player in the free TV marketplace. Sure, the site made its fame as a free way to watch content, but now you can watch honest-to-goodness TV shows for free, so long as you’re OK with the ads.
- Peacock. Peacock, NBC’s streaming service, is one of the few amongst the big streaming giants to offer a free tier. Not a free trial, mind you, but a true, never-ending service for free.
- Tubi TV. Tubi is one of the biggest free TV services out there. The site belongs to FOX Entertainment, containing more than 35,000 movies and TV shows, in addition to nearly 100 news channels from around the country.
- Comet TV. If you’re looking for a free TV service focused on sci-fi, give Comet a try. The site has a limited but interesting list of classics in the genre on-demand, such as The X-Files, Quantum Leap, Farscape, and The Outer Limits.
Sep 10, 2024 · We've omitted UK broadcaster sites because you have to pay a license fee to watch legally, so they're not free. Plus, this is for movies, TV shows and documentaries, so we're not going to include websites like TikTok, YouTube or Instagram. Best free streaming services 1. Freevee
5 days ago · The best free streaming services let you watch popular movies and TV shows, often current and recent, without paying a dime.
