During these times, we all want to stream content, but some of us don’t want to or cannot afford to pay the price of reoccurring subscriptions, especially with multiple services out there now.
So we must look for free alternatives that can be a replacement for Netflix, Hulu, Amazon, and even cable TV.
In this article, I’ll be showing you exactly that. These streaming services are free, but they’re also legal.
There’s no piracy or theft involved as the content creators are still getting their money when you use these services.
Now before going on, I want to note something, if you enjoy the exclusive content on these paid services, you can keep the subscription and should not really feel bad about it, unless you’re financially broke because of it.
My point with this article is to enlighten you on free alternatives because I actually know people who cannot afford to pay for these monthly prices of these popular streaming services, hence this article’s existence.
Tubi TV
The first streaming service I recommend is Tubi TV. It’s an ad support streaming service owned by the FOX Corporation.
You can watch videos on the web browser or through an application for Android, IOS, and other popular devices.
One benefit of this service is that you do not need to create an account to watch anything, but you can if you would like to.
Another benefit is that this service has a huge catalog of movies and TV shows from many content providers.
This means there’s a lot of studios with some well-known content that can be viewed for free, and if more people use this service and generate enough revenue FOX can pay to have more content for more studios on the platform.
The only downside is that it doesn’t have everything, unfortunately. But hey, as I said, if more people use this service and generate more revenue for FOX, I’m sure they can do something about that.
Pluto TV
The second streaming service, which is a pretty interesting one, is Pluto TV. The reason why I say it’s interesting is that it’s a pseudo-live cable TV service.
This service is owned by a well-known media conglomerate, ViacomCBS, so you can watch media content from MTV, Nickelodeon, Comedy Central, CBS, and more.
There are also other distribution partners that provide additional content as well, and you can watch from a web browser or through applications from Android, IOS, and other popular streaming devices.
So, if you want to cancel your cable bill but miss the live tv aspect and you like content from the partnered studios, Pluto TV is for you. But, if you want to see something immediately instead, there’s an on-demand section with titles of your choosing.
One drawback of the service is that both the website and the application have a clunky UI.
In fact, the on-demand section’s UI is especially terrible since you can only view each title in a long row.
As a result, I recommend just using the live tv aspect of this service and getting your on-demand needs met elsewhere.
Crackle
The third service is Crackle. It’s an ad streaming service owned by a joint venture between Sony Pictures and Chicken Soup for the Soul entertainment.
It’s available on the web browser or as an application for various devices like IOS, Android, etc.
This service has partnerships with various studios, which means there will be a variety of content available to watch. It also has some original content not found elsewhere.
A big plus with this service is that you do not need to make an account. Just search up a film and then click the play button and you’re all set.
While this is all great, there are some caveats.
The UI for the application is very clunky and, on occasion, it has crashed on me, but the web page runs fine.
The service also has the tendency to aggressively shove ads in your face compared to the other ones.
Finally, there are watermarks in each video, which I find annoying, but it’s free, so you really can’t complain about it too much.
Plex
The fourth service is Plex. Plex is another interesting service because it’s actually a self-hosting media software where users can host content on their own servers to stream to their personal devices.
Just a year ago, Plex launched their free on-demand streaming service with ads, and just recently, launched a pseudo-live TV service.
You can access the streaming service on almost anything really, and you don’t need to make an account to utilize the streaming side of the service.
Plex offers content from big studios like Warner Bros, domestic television distribution, MGM, Lionsgate, etc.
Plex has even partnered with Crackle where some of the content is on Crackle’s servers and, ironically, has no watermarks on them.
In my opinion, this is one of those up-and-coming platforms that have evolved from their original purpose, so there are going to be some growing pains, but at least they’ll be fixed eventually.
YouTube
The fifth service is YouTube. Yes, YouTube! Besides watching content made from people’s homes, YouTube offers the ability to watch standard movies and TV shows that you all know and love.
It’s pretty much on any device that’s built to stream content from the internet since it’s one of the topmost visited sites in the world that’s owned by one of the most powerful corporations in the world: Google.
So, many studios will try to take advantage of this, including Google themselves.
Now, you should note that majority of the studios will require you to buy or rent the license to view their content, but some are generous enough to allow you to view it with ads, so YouTube is a viable platform.
Vudu
The sixth service is Vudu. It’s a digital store that’s owned by Fandango media. What’s great about this service is that you can watch some popular movies for free during certain amounts of time at a high bitrate and resolution with multi-channel surround sound; there’s even HDR support if you have the appropriate equipment.
Basically, if you have a home theater, VUDU is your service!
Now, you should know that not all films are available for free streaming. If there’s a particular film that’s not for free, you can purchase it or rent it for a price, which is both a pro and a con.
This indirectly means that there’s a huge catalog of content. This also means, which is one big downside, is that you need to make an account. There’s no avoiding this; it’s compulsory.
As a result of this, I personally do not use this service because I like to keep my digital footprint to a minimum and keep my data private. But, I know a couple of people who do have a VUDU account and they like the service.
If you do not mind having an account and you have a home theater, join this thing!
Crunchyroll
This is a streaming platform that caters to Japanese anime. The service allows you to view anime in HD without the need to make an account.
One thing I like is that you can watch recently released episodes after a week of being aired in Japan.
There’s also a huge catalog of anime to spend your time on. There’s also a premium account where you can watch anime without ads, read some manga, and even watch a new episode after an hour of being released in Japan.
On the web page, you can buy figurines from the Crunchyroll store and view the anime news.
The only problem I encounter is that the website can be daunting and confusing, especially with the home page looking like some news portal rather than a streaming service.
The app though is simple and lets you know right off the bat it’s a video streaming service.
If you like anime, you should try the service out.
These mentioned streaming platforms are great free alternatives. Again, I want to emphasize that if you enjoy some of the exclusive or original content that’s only available on paid services, like Netflix, Hulu, etc., you don’t have to cancel.
My intent with this article is to enlighten you on free but legal alternatives out there that honestly surprised me aren’t popular. So, do you use these services? Are there more services out there?
