The Best Free Streaming Services of 2023
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VOICE OVER: Richard Bush
WRITTEN BY: Richard Bush
Imagine Netflix, but free. Welcome to WatchMojo and today we're counting down our picks for the Top 10 best streaming services that are absolutely free to use. Our countdown looks at some popular - and not so popular - free streaming services that you can start using right now, including Amazon Freevee, Pluto TV and Sling Freestream.
Welcome to WatchMojo and today we’re counting down our picks for the Top 10 best streaming services that are absolutely free to use.
We’re kicking things off in the library. Well, sort of. That’s because Kanopy is free to use for those who currently own a library card, or who attend college or university - with much of its programming geared towards education. Kanopy has lots of informative PBS, HBO and Paramount content, but it also has some straight up classic, and current, movies on tap too - including an excellent Kanopy Kids collection. This ad-free streaming app is available across a wide variety of platforms - including Android, Apple TV, Fire TV and Roku, and it supports an unlimited number of simultaneous users per account. Simple, easy, what’s not to love?
Another library card to ride service, Hoopla has a similar offering to Kanopy, with tons of academic content, and lots of general TV and movies as well. Like Kanopy, Hoopla is somewhat hit and miss when it comes to popular shows - with many series having partial availability on the platform. So are Hoopla and Kanopy basically the same thing? Well, not quite. Although they both follow near identical access requirements, Hoopla allows you to download content and watch it offline on your laptop or mobile device - something Kanopy doesn’t.
If you’re looking to ditch your cable TV, but still want to have a wide selection of TV shows at your fingertips, Sling is definitely worth a look. Although Sling has an extremely comprehensive premium service, its Freestream offering is still mighty impressive, with a wide variety of classic TV shows on-demand, as well as livestream news, sports and kids content. We’re talking 335 live channels and 41,000 on-demand titles. And you don’t even have to create an account, if you don’t want to. Yes, you have to put up with ads, but aside from that, you’ll likely feel like you’ve found a loophole in the system with this one - like you’ve hired your own personal cable guy to “hook you up”.
The free content on this streaming service is far from all-encompassing like Sling, but it offers up a great catalog of TV shows - and especially movies - for you to dip into. Much like other free services, Vudu has a lot of pay-to-view titles - but there’s loads of free, ad-supported ones as well, with everything from “La La Land” to “Starship Troopers”. You won’t get any brand new releases for free, and you might have to do a bit of dumpster diving to find some of the classic titles, but that comes with the free-to-watch territory. We’re big fans of Vudu’s interface too, with easy-to-read at a glance menus.
Plex sits in somewhat of a gray area in the streaming world. Some might just associate the platform with hosting content they already have access to - legal or otherwise. And while Plex is still a flexible hosting platform, it’s also started to move quite rapidly into what we would consider standard streaming. Thanks to a partnership with Crackle - more on that streaming service later - it has added thousands of popular film and TV titles from the likes of Warner Bros. and MGM to its catalog. Like we said, it’s not as straightforward a set-up as Netflix or Disney Plus, but if you’ve got the technological nous, it can be so much more.
Similar to Sling, Pluto is an amazing alternative to traditional cable tv, being particularly impressive when it comes to its live TV selection. You even get a familiar, cable TV-like grid view to browse your live shows on. Pluto’s backlog of movie and tv titles is fairly niche and retro, which will be great for some, and not so much for others, but they still help add a nice rounded package to a fairly solid free streaming service. Pluto is littered with ads, although no more than regular cable, and while we wish there were more traditional cable tv channels available on here, it’s still well worth a look if you’re wanting to save some money on your TV bill.
If you’re after original shows with big actors that nobodies ever heard about, then you’ll probably like Crackle. This streaming service is one of the only free ones that does its own original programming, and while those titles may be rather niche, they still present a unique package that’s absolutely free. Crackle doesn’t require you to sign up either, and while it has faced criticism for its heavy ad content and somewhat lackluster tv title selection, its movie library is impressive. So too is the reliability of its streaming performance, something that can be a bit hit and miss with free platforms.
This streaming service is almost a perfect combination of every single one we’ve mentioned so far. It’s got great movies and tv shows, 300 live channels, original programming and a killer, user-friendly interface. Perhaps its biggest quirk however is that it streams first episodes of big title tv shows - like Game of Thrones and Billions - so you can sample them and see whether you want to explore them further on other platforms. Roku originals are getting added more and more, so it’s definitely a service to keep an eye on. And don’t worry, this free service isn’t just available on Roku devices - you can also access it on Android and Apple phones and tablets, and also on your web browser.
Right off the bat we’ll say that Tubi doesn’t have super recent tv and movie titles. But regardless, this is a platform that doesn’t feel cheap and free - it arguably feels right up there with Netflix, with a gigantic library and a slick interface. Tubi has partnered with over 250 popular providers - from MGM to Paramount - to concoct a frankly awesome catalog of entertainment. Tubi also has some solid live tv capabilities too. The main reason we like Tubi is because it feels familiar, like a regular subscription-based streaming service - but it’s free. It’s also constantly updated with new titles to keep you entertained.
While Freevee may not be as traditional as Tubi in terms of its interface and feel, Freevee gets our vote for the top spot on this list for two very important reasons. One, it has lots of recent titles, and two, it has its own original programming. Freevee is Amazon’s free alternative to its subscription-based Prime Video service, and it was formerly known as IMDb TV, a big reason its catalog is so impressive. Freevee has a colossal library, live tv channels, and is available on pretty much any device. Its movie line-up is where it really trumps competitors though, and it really is one of those “I can’t believe I’m not playing for this” kind of platforms.
#10: Kanopy
We’re kicking things off in the library. Well, sort of. That’s because Kanopy is free to use for those who currently own a library card, or who attend college or university - with much of its programming geared towards education. Kanopy has lots of informative PBS, HBO and Paramount content, but it also has some straight up classic, and current, movies on tap too - including an excellent Kanopy Kids collection. This ad-free streaming app is available across a wide variety of platforms - including Android, Apple TV, Fire TV and Roku, and it supports an unlimited number of simultaneous users per account. Simple, easy, what’s not to love?
#9: Hoopla
Another library card to ride service, Hoopla has a similar offering to Kanopy, with tons of academic content, and lots of general TV and movies as well. Like Kanopy, Hoopla is somewhat hit and miss when it comes to popular shows - with many series having partial availability on the platform. So are Hoopla and Kanopy basically the same thing? Well, not quite. Although they both follow near identical access requirements, Hoopla allows you to download content and watch it offline on your laptop or mobile device - something Kanopy doesn’t.
#8: Sling Freestream
If you’re looking to ditch your cable TV, but still want to have a wide selection of TV shows at your fingertips, Sling is definitely worth a look. Although Sling has an extremely comprehensive premium service, its Freestream offering is still mighty impressive, with a wide variety of classic TV shows on-demand, as well as livestream news, sports and kids content. We’re talking 335 live channels and 41,000 on-demand titles. And you don’t even have to create an account, if you don’t want to. Yes, you have to put up with ads, but aside from that, you’ll likely feel like you’ve found a loophole in the system with this one - like you’ve hired your own personal cable guy to “hook you up”.
#7: Vudu
The free content on this streaming service is far from all-encompassing like Sling, but it offers up a great catalog of TV shows - and especially movies - for you to dip into. Much like other free services, Vudu has a lot of pay-to-view titles - but there’s loads of free, ad-supported ones as well, with everything from “La La Land” to “Starship Troopers”. You won’t get any brand new releases for free, and you might have to do a bit of dumpster diving to find some of the classic titles, but that comes with the free-to-watch territory. We’re big fans of Vudu’s interface too, with easy-to-read at a glance menus.
#6: Plex
Plex sits in somewhat of a gray area in the streaming world. Some might just associate the platform with hosting content they already have access to - legal or otherwise. And while Plex is still a flexible hosting platform, it’s also started to move quite rapidly into what we would consider standard streaming. Thanks to a partnership with Crackle - more on that streaming service later - it has added thousands of popular film and TV titles from the likes of Warner Bros. and MGM to its catalog. Like we said, it’s not as straightforward a set-up as Netflix or Disney Plus, but if you’ve got the technological nous, it can be so much more.
#5: Pluto TV
Similar to Sling, Pluto is an amazing alternative to traditional cable tv, being particularly impressive when it comes to its live TV selection. You even get a familiar, cable TV-like grid view to browse your live shows on. Pluto’s backlog of movie and tv titles is fairly niche and retro, which will be great for some, and not so much for others, but they still help add a nice rounded package to a fairly solid free streaming service. Pluto is littered with ads, although no more than regular cable, and while we wish there were more traditional cable tv channels available on here, it’s still well worth a look if you’re wanting to save some money on your TV bill.
#4: Crackle
If you’re after original shows with big actors that nobodies ever heard about, then you’ll probably like Crackle. This streaming service is one of the only free ones that does its own original programming, and while those titles may be rather niche, they still present a unique package that’s absolutely free. Crackle doesn’t require you to sign up either, and while it has faced criticism for its heavy ad content and somewhat lackluster tv title selection, its movie library is impressive. So too is the reliability of its streaming performance, something that can be a bit hit and miss with free platforms.
#3: The Roku Channel
This streaming service is almost a perfect combination of every single one we’ve mentioned so far. It’s got great movies and tv shows, 300 live channels, original programming and a killer, user-friendly interface. Perhaps its biggest quirk however is that it streams first episodes of big title tv shows - like Game of Thrones and Billions - so you can sample them and see whether you want to explore them further on other platforms. Roku originals are getting added more and more, so it’s definitely a service to keep an eye on. And don’t worry, this free service isn’t just available on Roku devices - you can also access it on Android and Apple phones and tablets, and also on your web browser.
#2: Tubi TV
Right off the bat we’ll say that Tubi doesn’t have super recent tv and movie titles. But regardless, this is a platform that doesn’t feel cheap and free - it arguably feels right up there with Netflix, with a gigantic library and a slick interface. Tubi has partnered with over 250 popular providers - from MGM to Paramount - to concoct a frankly awesome catalog of entertainment. Tubi also has some solid live tv capabilities too. The main reason we like Tubi is because it feels familiar, like a regular subscription-based streaming service - but it’s free. It’s also constantly updated with new titles to keep you entertained.
#1: Amazon Freevee
While Freevee may not be as traditional as Tubi in terms of its interface and feel, Freevee gets our vote for the top spot on this list for two very important reasons. One, it has lots of recent titles, and two, it has its own original programming. Freevee is Amazon’s free alternative to its subscription-based Prime Video service, and it was formerly known as IMDb TV, a big reason its catalog is so impressive. Freevee has a colossal library, live tv channels, and is available on pretty much any device. Its movie line-up is where it really trumps competitors though, and it really is one of those “I can’t believe I’m not playing for this” kind of platforms.
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