We’re all about the bang for your buck here at CableTV.com, but how about bang for no bucks? Expensive premium streaming services are cool and all, but discovering free and cheap entertainment is a small victory that’s (mostly) priceless.
We’ve rounded up 14 of those small victories for your streaming enjoyment, a mix of inexpensive and totally free services to help take the edge off your subscription fatigue.
Cheap streaming services
Paramount+ ($5.99–$11.99/mo. or $59.99–$119.99/yr.)
Paramount+, CableTV.com’s editorial pick for most content for cheap, carries over 36,000 TV shows and movies for $5.99 a month on its ad-supported Essential tier. That includes next-day streaming of shows from CBS and other Paramount Global Media networks, and originals like Tulsa King, 1883, and a growing Star Trek universe. You can also bundle Paramount+ with SHOWTIME for $11.99 a month.
Peacock ($5.99–$11.99/mo. or $59.99–$119.99/yr.)
NBCUniversal-owned Peacock streams over 20,000 hours of TV shows and movies through its Premium paid tiers ($5.99 a month with ads, or $11.99 a month without). As of 2023, Peacock no longer offers a free, limited tier, but you still get plenty of content—including hot Peacock original Poker Face and full seasons of Yellowstone—for five bucks a month. Peacock is also now the exclusive home to next-day streaming of all NBC, Bravo, and Syfy shows.
Discovery+ ($4.99–$8.99/mo.)
If you’re into reality TV like 90 Day Fiancé, Property Brothers, and Diners, Drive-Ins & Dives, Discovery+ gives you over 55,000 hours of it for $4.99 a month (with ads). Besides Discovery channels, Discovery+ also carries shows from HGTV, Food Network, TLC, Investigation Discovery (ID), Animal Planet, OWN, A&E, Lifetime, History, Travel Channel, and Science Channel. If you don’t like ads, Discovery+’s ad-free tier is still relatively cheap at $6.99 a month.
Apple TV+ ($9.99/mo.)
For seven bucks, Apple TV+ delivers a monthly array of exclusive TV series and movies of near-HBO (or at least near-SHOWTIME) quality. The multi-award-winning Ted Lasso, as well as Severance, The Morning Show, Mythic Quest, Shrinking, Physical, and more make up Apple TV+’s roster of nearly 100 originals. If you’ve recently bought an Apple Device, you can get three months of Apple TV+ for free.
Free streaming services
Sling Freestream (Free)
Live TV streaming service Sling TV’s offshoot Sling Freestream is similar to Pluto TV and Xumo, with ad-supported looping channels and an on-demand library of movies and TV shows (check out the perpetual Bob Ross Channel). Also, like Pluto TV and Xumo, Sling Freestream requires no signup or login. You can also rent current and classic TV shows and movies through Sling Freestream.
ViX (Free–$6.99/mo.)
ViX is the ultimate streaming destination for those who prefer entertainment and sports en Español. Owned by TelevisaUnivision, the Spanish-language streaming service has blockbuster movies, classic telenovelas, and many live soccer matches. We recommend starting with the free ViX Gratis plan, which requires no sign-up and offers live channels similar to Pluto TV. From there, you can upgrade to ViX Premium for only $6.99 a month and unlock a wealth of content.
Pluto TV (Free)
Paramount-owned Pluto TV features hundreds of looping “channels” loaded with TV shows and movies from MTV, Paramount+ with SHOWTIME, Comedy Central, Animal Planet, AMC, Investigation Discovery, and many others, all free (with ads, of course). Most of the content is also available on-demand, and some of the news and weather channels are live—but not the sports channels, unfortunately.
Tubi (Free)
Like Pluto TV, Tubi (owned by FOX) features some “live” channels of looping content, as well as live sports and news, but it’s really all about on-demand entertainment—over 50,000 hours of it. Tubi’s towering movie selection features older titles from Paramount, Lionsgate, MGM, and 20th Century Fox, as well as full seasons of TV shows from FOX, A&E, Syfy, and others. It’s like a Blockbuster Video in an app (for those who remember Blockbuster).
Xumo (Free)
Xfinity’s Xumo is another free, ad-supported service that features nearly 200 looping channels of content, an on-demand library of TV shows and movies, and a smattering of live news and sports. Channels and content hubs include NBC News, Funny or Die, TMZ, Billboard, FOX Sports, Shout! Factory, Hallmark Movies, and even a 24/7 Nashville channel.
The Roku Channel (Free)
The Roku Channel isn’t just for Roku users; it can be accessed through Android and iOS devices, Amazon Fire TV devices, Samsung TVs, and web browsers. The service features over 150 channels of looping content, an on-demand section, and dozens of original series (including several acquired from Quibi, like the Reno 911! reboot). You can also manage premium subscriptions to Paramount+ with SHOWTIME, STARZ, MGM+, and others through The Roku Channel.
Crackle (Free)
Longtime on-demand streaming service Crackle, co-owned by Sony, features over 800 movies and TV shows, a decent mix of older blockbusters, cult flicks, and originals like StartUp, The Oath, and Rob Riggle’s Ski Master Academy. Crackle also produced an Extraction action movie years before Netflix did (minus Chris Hemsworth). Like the other services listed here, Crackle is ad-supported and doesn’t require a login.
The CW (Free)
The CW isn’t available on all cable, satellite, or live TV streaming services—but its shows are free to anyone. The CW app and website serve up current network series, like Riverdale and Superman & Lois, 24 hours or less after broadcast. They also feature full seasons of some recent shows. If you’re looking for classics from The CW and other related networks, the CW Seed subsection has full seasons of older shows and some originals.
Freevee (Free)
Amazon’s Freevee is a free service with thousands of TV episodes (including select seasons of Mad Men and The X-Files) and movies, including releases you’ve actually heard of (like Promising Young Woman and The King of Staten Island). The ad-supported Freevee (formerly IMDb TV) also produces original series, like the Bosch: Legacy spinoff, and is available through Prime Video or as a standalone app
Plex (Free)
Featuring thousands of movies and live TV loops of content, Plex also collects web series, podcasts, and music, and can even be used to collect your own digital media. The channels and content hubs are similar to those of Pluto TV and Xumo, but the on-demand movies section is an impressively eclectic blend of hits, classics, and obscurities laid out in a sleek and simple interface. Plex is the under-the-radar service of this list—check it out.
