The Best Little-Known Services for Legal Movie and TV Streaming
It’s easy to forget about it, but there are many more ways to stream movies and TV shows beyond Netflix, Hulu, and Amazon. Here are some of the best – sometimes free – legal alternatives.
When you sit down to watch something, what you choose depends a lot on your mood. For this reason, this guide is organized by what you might want to watch. Whether you want to catch something light, like cartoons , or something dark, like an old horror movie , or something new, like a fresh TV show , there are tons of services to choose from.
When you miss cartoons on Saturday morning
If you’ve ever yearned for the good old days when all you need for a good Saturday is a bowl of cereal and some cartoons, there are some great options. It just depends on your preference.
Nick Reboot
If you are like me, you yearn for the Nickelodeon of yesteryear . Nick Reboot is a non-profit, non-profit website dedicated to classic Nick shows such as Rocko’s Modern Life, You’re Afraid of the Dark, Oh Those Guys, and Hey Arnold! 24 hours a day. It’s completely free to watch, but you have no control over what you watch as it all appears like a real TV network. There are advertisements, but these are all old commercials of toys from the 90s and early 2000s to heighten the nostalgic factor.
Nick Reboot has scheduled programs to watch for free on PC, Mac, Roku, Chromecast, and Plex or XBMC.
Nick.com and the Nick Jr. app. for iOS
If you have kids who aren’t interested in the old stuff, Nickelodeon does make some of its new shows and episodes available for free to watch on their website. Nick Jr.’s iPad app is also available, which allows kids to play games and watch some of Nick Jr.’s shows for free. Nickelodeon is also planning a video-based streaming subscription service for later this year .
Nick.com and the Nick Jr. app. offer separate episodes that can be watched for free with ads on PC, Mac and iPad.
Reload Cartoon Network
In the same vein as Nick Reboot, Cartoon Network Reboot offers classic cartoons such as Johnny Bravo, Teen Titans, Looney Tunes and Dexter’s Laboratory. Everything works the same: scheduled programming, old school videos, and completely free.
Cartoon Network Reboot has scheduled programs to watch for free on PC, Mac, Roku, Chromecast, and Plex or XBMC.
Watch CN
Watch CN is Cartoon Network’s own website that allows you to watch current shows such as Adventure Time, Regular Show, and Uncle Grandpa for free without logging in. Everything is ad-supported and the choices are pretty limited, but hey, free – it’s free. If you have a cable, you can stream the channel live with your cable credentials.
Watch CN offers select episodes to watch for free with ads on PC, Mac, iOS and Android .
Aftermath of Toonami
Toonami After math works the same way as Nick Reboot and Cartoon Network Reboot. There are scheduled programs that you cannot control, but you can watch classic cartoons like Digimon, Monster Rancher, Johnny Quest, Batman Beyond, and The Tick.
Toonami Aftermath has programs planned for free to watch on PC and Mac.
Disney Movies Anywhere and watch the Disney Channel
Disney’s options are a little more limited, and none of them are truly free. The Disney Movies Anywhere app is free to download on iOS and Android , but you must buy or already own the movies you want to stream. The Watch Disney Channel allows you to watch episodes of current Disney shows as well as live broadcasts, but requires a cable TV subscription.
Disney Movies Anywhere and Watch Disney are both free apps, but require a movie purchase or cable TV subscription.
When you want old things, but goodies
The major streaming services have some classics, but there are many old movies and TV shows you can stream elsewhere, and many are free. Whether you’re dreaming of some kind of black-and-white cinema, or looking to explore the fascinating history of filmmaking, there are several options.
Internet Film Archive
The Internet Archive is a non-profit organization that tries to archive as much content as possible , including movies. You can browse a huge collection of nearly 4,000 free feature films, as well as films that people have made at home on a zero budget. There are even old cartoons. All in all, you can never go through everything they made available. No ads or gimmicks, just free movies. There are many films from the 60s or earlier here, but there are many gems. You can watch Charlie Chaplin, classic kung fu movies, westerns, film noir and even the original Night of the Living Dead . They’re coming after you, Barbara!
Internet archive. Movies can be watched for free on PC and Mac.
Warner Archive
Warner Brothers is one of the oldest film studios in the business, dating back to the early 1900s. Because of this, they have a fairly extensive library of movies and TV programs. Warner Archive is a subscription-based service that gives you access to almost every classic they’ve ever created. It will cost you $ 10 a month or $ 85 a year if you go this route, but you get the first month for free. Everything is 1080p HD, but the downside is that you can only watch their movies.
Warner Archive is available on PC, Mac, Roku, or AppleTV with AirPlay for $ 10 a month.
TV Land
If you are more into classic TV, TV Land offers a wide variety of shows that you can stream for free with ads. You can watch selected episodes of Girls Golden, Bonanza and I Love Lucy, as well as some more recent shows like Everybody Loves Raymond and Hot in Cleveland. The collection is not very large, but they add episodes daily for you to keep checking back.
TV Land offers individual episodes that can be watched for free with ads on PC and Mac.
Crackle
Crackle, a streaming service owned and operated by Sony, also offers a pretty decent selection of old movies and TV shows. Most of them are not as old as what you find in the Internet Archive, but they are not really that new. You probably won’t find many complete series to watch non-stop either. However, everything can be watched with ads and there are some gems like Seinfeld, Air Force One, Drive, Hot Fuzz, and The Shield.
Crackle offers select movies and TV shows to watch for free with ads on a wide variety of devices : PCs, Macs, phones, tablets, Smart TVs, Roku, Chromecast, AppleTV, Amazon FireTV, and current game consoles.
When you need to fix an anime
If you’re an anime fan, there are some really great streaming options. If you prefer subtitles or English dubs, you have two main options to choose from.
Funimation
Funimation boasts the most anime with English dubs on the Internet. You can watch for free, but the shows will be in standard definition and will have ads. You will also only be able to watch a certain number of episodes of the series. However, if you pay for their subscription, you can stream in 720p and 1080p (if available), all ad-free.
Funimation can be watched with ads on PC and Mac for free. If you sign up for $ 5 a month (the best deal), you can watch it on PC, Mac, Phones, Tablets, Roku, Xbox, and Playstation.
Crunchyroll
CrunchyRoll offers the largest line of streaming anime. You can also watch new shows just an hour after they air in Japan, which is pretty cool. Because of this, most of their content only has English subtitles. Some distributors provide translations for them, and the rest of the work is done by the translators they have on staff. However, if you can’t get rid of the need to read, you can look elsewhere. You can watch for free with ads, but you’ll be watching in standard definition and you won’t be able to watch any of the new shows for several weeks. With a subscription, you’ll have access to everything in their collection in 1080p HD resolution.
CrunchyRoll offers standalone episodes that are free to watch with ads on PC, Mac, iOS, Android, and Playstation or Xbox consoles. The $ 7 a month subscription removes ads, allows HD streaming, and makes their entire library available.
When you want to watch a new TV
Finding new episodes of TV shows can be a little tricky, but there are a few more options.
Sling TV
Sling is a new subscription-based service that lets you stream ESPN, ESPN2, TNT, TBS, CNN, Food Network, HGTV, Cartoon Network, Adult Swim, Travel Channel, and Disney Channel for $ 20 a month. You can unsubscribe at any time and they plan to add more channels in the future, each costing $ 5 per month.
Sling TV offers cable channel programming for $ 20 a month that can be streamed to PC, Mac, iOS, Android, Roku, and Amazon Fire.
Networks
Many major web sites also allow you to stream the latest episodes with ads for free. There are NBC , CBS , FOX , ABC and AMC . Unfortunately, you need a cable subscription to really take full advantage of these sites, but there is still a little more you can watch for free.
For your iconic classics and indies
Some films don’t quite fit in other categories. These aren’t big blockbusters, but they’re still fun. If you like cult classic films or indie films as well as big films, you’re in luck with these services.
Shout! TV factory
If you want to see shows like The Twilight Zone and Mystery Science 3000, Shout! Factory TV is free to watch with ads . They also have a large collection of horror and sci-fi movies.
Shout! Factory TV is free to watch with ads on PCs, Macs, HTML5-enabled mobile browsers, and Roku.
Popcornflix
Popcornflix offers a wide variety of movies, most of which are indie movies that you can stream for free with ads. You won’t find big blockbusters here at all, but there are some decent action films and a lot of indie horror.
Popcornflix is free to watch with ads on PC, Mac, iOS, Android, Roku, Xbox, Kindle, Samsung Smart TV, and Blackberry.
SnagFilms
Like Popcornflix, SnagFilms offers a fairly large selection of indie films. SnagFilms is different in that it has a fairly large collection of documentaries, old and new. In total on SnagFilms you can watch more than 5000 films and TV shows for free. The site is also regularly curated and updated, so you know what you’re watching is going to be interesting. They also have four additional sites: KiddoVid with films for children, ¡Vaya! Film for Spanish-language films, FunnyForFree, which is all about comedies, and SnagXtreme for horror and action films.
SnagFilms is free to watch with ads on 21 different platforms: PC, Mac, iOS, Android, Roku, Kindle, Xbox, Playstation, Amazon Fire TV, TiVo, Opera, Apple TV with AirPlay and select Smart TVs.
Fandor
If you want to take your indie movie viewing to the next level, Fandor offers a $ 7.50 / month subscription service that lets you watch a wide variety of award-winning movies. Fandor is another curated service that has many documentaries, cult films and a very large selection of foreign films.
Fandor is available on PC, Roku, Kindle, phone or tablet without ads for $ 7.50 per month.
When you want brand new blockbusters
If you want the recently released material to be legal, you will have to pay for it. There are a number of streaming services that let you buy and rent movies.
MGO
MGO has a collection of over 30,000 movies and TV shows to watch. Movies can cost as little as a dollar to rent, but you can also buy movies and TV shows to download to your devices for offline viewing. There are no subscriptions, but they have a reward program to try and keep you. They have a fairly large selection of recently released films, including episodic DVD pre-releases and films that are still in theaters. There is also usually a deals section where you can rent and buy some movies and shows for less than usual.
MGO lets you rent and buy movies and TV shows to stream and watch offline on PC, Mac, iOS, Android, Roku, Google TV, Ultra High Def Content 4K TVs, and select Smart TVs.
CinemaNow
CinemaNow also lets you rent and buy a huge collection of movies and TV shows. However, there are a few things that make it different from other similar services. Only certain films can be rented, and most new releases are only available for purchase. If you buy a Blu-ray or DVD with an UltraViolet code, you can activate it through CinemaNow and make the movie available for streaming on any of your supported devices.
CinemaNow lets you buy and rent movies and TV shows to stream and watch offline on PC, Mac, iOS, Android, Roku, Xbox, Playstation, and a variety of smart TVs.
VOODOO
VUDU offers to rent and buy movies and TV shows like CinemaNow and MGO, but with some differences. While Vudu will use UltraViolet Blu-ray and DVD codes, they also have a program called Disc to Digital. Disc to Digital lets you convert DVD and Blu-ray you already own into movies that you can stream from your Vudu collection in the cloud. It costs $ 2 to convert a standard DVD or Blu-ray and all you need is a PC or Mac with the right drive. VUDU also lets you connect your Disney Movies Anywhere account so you can watch your Disney collection from the cloud.
VUDU lets you rent and buy movies and TV shows to stream and watch offline on PC, Mac, Roku, Chromecast, Playstation, Xbox, some Smart TVs and their own device, VUDU Spark.
When you feel worldly
It’s great to see what kind of movies and television people are watching in the rest of the world. If you want to broaden your horizons and watch something from outside the US, there are some interesting services that allow you to do this.
Wiki
Viki allows you to watch TV shows and movies from China, Philippines, Venezuela, India, Taiwan, Thailand, Turkey, Japan, Mexico, Pakistan, France, Indonesia, Vietnam, UK and a huge selection from Korea. English subtitles are available for most of the shows.
Viki can be watched with ads on PC and Mac, but there is a $ 4 subscription option that lets you watch in HD, remove ads, and watch in the Viki app on iOS, Android, Kindle, Chromecast, Xbox, and some Smart TVs. …
Spool
Spuul works the same way as Viki, but is completely dedicated to Bollywood TV shows, movies and cartoons. There are things you can watch for free with ads, but a $ 5 a month subscription gives you full access to their entire library. English subtitles are available for most titles.
Spuul offers individual episodes and films that can be watched for free with ads on PC, Mac, iOS, Android, AppleTV with AirPlay, and some Smart TVs.
Observer
For a good selection of telenovelas, Viewster offers free viewing of a number of shows with advertisements. They also have a pretty decent selection of anime, less popular American TV shows, and documentaries.
Viewster is free to watch with ads on PC, Mac, iOS, Android, Roku and some Smart TVs.
When you can’t find what you’re looking for
If after all this, you still can’t find what you want to stream, there are a few things you can do . Maybe what you want to see is just hidden or you noticed it without knowing it. If you think this might be the case, you can use some services to try and determine where you can stream certain movies or TV shows:
The MPAA also has an official website that can help you find where to watch almost any current movie or TV show currently streaming. Of course, even if you find what you want to watch, chances are that it will be blocked for you. If so, there are a few things you can do to get around this.
Now you have so many movies and TV shows that you’ll say, “Netflix? What is Amazon? Who is Hulu? ” You will never have enough time to watch it all. Most of them also offer the option to watch for free – and you can’t beat that kind of savings.