But shouldn’t there be … you know, free methods as well? Why do all the other sites push paid-services with their affiliate links? Isn’t the point of ditching a monthly cable subscription to actually save money?
Thus, I’ve compiled all the best ways I’ve found to watch live, local TV for absolutely free with no subscriptions whatsoever. I’ve also included a few options with extensive libraries of free TV shows and free movies to watch on-demand.
Free TV & Movie Streaming Sites
PLEX
With thousands of movies and TV shows for free, PLEX is one of the first sites you should sign up with. They have partnership agreements with big studios like Lionsgate, MGM, and Warner Bros. They also have gone after international licensing agreements, so they have some great foreign movies and shows to stream!
Once you click “Movies & Shows” in the sidebar, then see a ton of crazy specific categories of free streaming options. My top choice was “Cage Rage vs Willisworld” and they were all Nicholas Cage or Bruce Willace movies If you want more traditional categories, you can easily select them from the top nav bar.
What sets PLEX apart from many others on this list is that PLEX lets you watch live tv online with free streaming. All you have to do is login, then select “Live TV” from the sidebar. You’ll then see a traditional TV lineup layout with hundreds of free channels. It’s not hard to find a cable channel staion equivilant to stream online with PLEX!
>> Watch Now <<
>> Download App <<
Kanopy
Kanopy was a service I initially missed, but thankfully multiple Hiffers pointed out my massive oversight. If you have an active membership with your local library or a university login, then you can use it to stream thousands of movies to your TV, phone, tablet, or computer. You can use this link to check if your library participates or use this link to check your university.
Given that library membership is free across the country, I’d say Kanopy is one of the best options when looking to stream free entertainment.
>> Watch Now <<
>> Download App <<
Pluto TV
Pluto TV is an interesting mashup of channels. Owned by Viacom, Pluto is essentially a free, ad-supported VOD (video on demand) service with occasional, outside licensing for their more than 250+ channels.
There are a chunk of stations that are dedicated to specific shows (how about the Adams Family station?), but the majority of stations are more classic versions, like CNN or Comedy Central. Since Viacom owns them, you’ll get a lot of Viacom channels. Other streaming options include shows from AMC, Discovery Channel, and WE tv.
They also have an eclectic collection of older movies on demand, like all of the classic James Bond films, along with a few award winners and some other random titles. All told, they claim to have “1000s of movies.” They have tons of newer movies to stream for free as well, like 2016’s Arrival.
>> Download App <<
Crackle
Crackle is a joint venture partially backed by Sony Pictures that consists of both original television shows as well as older favorites, such as Roseanne, Charlie’s Angels, 3rd Rock From the Sun, and The Facts of Life.
They also boast a large collection of movies and original docu-series.
One really nice perk with Crackle is you don’t have to create or login to an account in order to start watching free tv online!
>> Watch Now <<
>> Download App <<
Freevee
IMDb TV recently rebranded to Freevee. They’re still fleshing out their streaming database, but Freevee already has a few great shows, like Fringe, LOST, Schitt$ Creek, and Psych. They have a lot of movies from the past 5-10 years as well, like Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs and Ender’s Game. Every time I checked their site, they had new offerings to stream, so they’re clearly adding to this free list of entertainment.
If you’re familiar with surfing for stuff to watch on Netflix, then you might enjoy how IMDB tv is categorized. They copy Netflix by having traditional categories, like Comedies and Action. But they also have drilled down, niche categories. When I log in, I’m shown “Hidden Gems,” “Date Night Picks,” and “Move for the Whole Family”. It should make picking out what to watch next much easier!
You can easily browse their content to see what’s streaming, but you’ll need to make a free account to watch it.
>> Download App <<
Netflix
Yup, you read that correctly – Netflix now allows limited streaming for free! It’s a great first stop when you’re trying to find something to watch on a budget. They mainly offer movies and shows they’ve created, but their rotation seems to change every few months. \
>> Watch Now <<
>> Download App <<
PopcornFlix
If old-school cartoons are more your style, then definitely check out PopcornFlix. Their Family and Kids TV lets your stream older cartoons that even I haven’t heard of. I honestly can’t tell if these were after or before my time as an 80s kid.
>> Watch Now <<
>> Download App <<
Redbox
Yep, Redbox isn’t just for movies outside of Walgreens at 9pm. They’ve got free TV streaming online as well! Their offering is a bit sparse since they’re much newer to TV streaming. However, you can immediately start channel hopping without logging in. This makes it nice to pop in and quickly find something to watch for a short break.
They seem to have a few cool personality channels, like the Bob Ross channel and the Johnny Carson channel.
>> Watch Now <<
>> Download App <<
Reelgood
Reelgood is a cool streaming service that’s designed to track over 60 popular streaming services. You can login to all your premium services, like Netflix and Hulu, in order to have a central site to track available shows and movies. However, you don’t need to pay anything! Simply signup with Reelgood, then filter only free streaming options. It’ll then sort free content that you can stream.
>> Watch Now <<
>> Download App <<
STIRR
STIRR is owned by Sinclair, which is already one giant strike against them (*NSFW WARNING!*) in my book. STIRR’s free streaming TV system is the same as Pluto’s. So if you’re familiar with one, the other will be just like home!
The one solid point in STIRR’s favor is you can watch local stations without being located in the actual area. Just click on “City Select” and you can choose from hundreds of local areas around the country. This is a cool option to keep watching local news and TV while you’re traveling elsewhere.
>> Watch Now <<
>> Download App <<
The Roku Channel
The Roku Channel works on any Roku device or computer and, like Vudu, it’s all on-demand based on the show. There aren’t any channels, per say. On top of their regular lineip, every weekend they unlock a select group of paid movies and make them free to stream.
>> Watch Now <<
>> Download App <<
Tubi
Tubi is a Fox Entertainment endeavor, so they have a ton of Fox movies. They also have a dedicated Tubi Kids section filled with child-friendly free streaming options.
It took me a while to find Tubi’s full streaming database, but my biggest tip is to hover your mouse over “Browse” in the header. This will cast the widest net possible and let you zero in on what to watch!
>> Watch Now <<
>> Download App <<
XUMO
XUMO was started in 2011 in part by the parent company of Myspace, so we’re already off to a roaring start here. It currently offers 160+ channels covering news, comedy, kids, sports, and much more. They also have a collection of on demand streaming options.
>> Watch Now <<
>> Download App <<
Vudu
I’ve previously written about Vudu and how you can watch free TV shows and movies in exchange for viewing a few ads. There’s no live TV though, it’s all on-demand shows and movies.
>> Watch Now <<
>> Download App <<
