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The halcyon days of ad-free streaming are now watched in the rear view mirror. Even Netflix—the company that staunchly declared it would never have ads—has ads. Of course, you can pay to get rid of them, but that’s why we cut the cord in the first place.
But there’s another option. If you’re tired of paying for ads, you can now watch them for free! So here’s a list of the best free streaming services in 2024.
If you’re unfamiliar with what free streaming services are, it helps to know a few things. So before diving into the best free streaming services, learn what they’re all about in What Are Free Streaming Services & Are They Worth Your Time?
But if you know your stuff, here are our picks—ranked in order—for the best free streaming services in 2024.
The best free streaming services ranked in 2024
Things change, especially in the streaming world, so we continue to revisit these platforms to keep our ranking of the best free streaming services as current as possible. The ad volume, channels lists, and on-demand libraries are current as of May 2024.
#11: The CW (free stream)
Kicking off our list of best free streaming services is a unique one, as The CW primarily focuses on a single television broadcast network.
You can watch The CW shows like Walker, Superman & Lois, and 90210, but also some of The CW’s acquired programming like network TV hits Party of Five, Heroes, and Grimm.
The CW’s free streaming service is completely on-demand. The number of movies has more than doubled since 2023, but the library is still far from extensive. It currently holds just over 140 movies and almost 90 TV shows.
We counted an average of 5 ads breaks in standard 45-minute-ish TV episodes, and each break had just a single 15-second ad. That’s less than 2 minutes an hour, which is one of the best (ie: lowest) ad loads out there.
What’s The CW free stream good for?
TV shows from The CW and other broadcast networks (to a lesser degree)
Recommended free movies on The CW free stream
The Autopsy of Jane Doe, Eden Lake, Crash, Sing Street, I’m Not There
The CW at a glance
- Owner: Nexstar Media Group
- Launched: 2016
- Account required: No
- Original content: Yes
- Ads per hour: Under 2 minutes
- Number of TV channels: 0
- Local TV: No
- On-demand library: 60+ movies, 75+ TV shows
- Devices: Android, iOS, Fire Tablet, Apple TV, Chromecast, Fire TV, Roku, Smart TVs, Browsers
- Max Quality: 1080p
#10: Xumo Play
Xumo Play has a slick and responsive interface, which is currently the best thing going for it. Its 300+ channels are mostly linear channels rather than live TV, including most of the sports channels.
Xumo has a lot of licensing deals with major content producers, but the on-demand library is full of second-tier TV shows and direct-to-video movies.
You don’t need an account to watch Xumo Play—in fact, you can’t create an account just for Xumo Play. You’ll need to create a Samsung account and link it to that in order to use parental controls.
With 4 to 6 commercial breaks during 45-minute TV shows, each break had 1 to 2 ads, averaging about 3½ minutes per hour. That’s puts Xumo Play comfortably in the Low Ad Load category.
What’s Xumo Play good for?
International channels (Indian, Arabic, Korean, etc.), true crime shows, food and travel shows, and games shows.
Recommended free movies on Xumo Play
Halloween, The Concrete Jungle, Nymphomaniac Volume I & II, Phantasm, Lady Bird
Xumo Play at a glance
- Owner: Comcast
- Launched: 2011
- Account required: No
- Original content: Yes
- Ads per hour: 3½ minutes
- Number of TV channels: 300+
- Local TV: None
- On-demand library: 10,000 titles
- Devices: Android, iOS, Apple TV, Fire TV, Roku, Xfinity, Rogers Ignite, Smart TVs, Browsers
- Max Quality: 720p HD
#9: The Roku Channel
The Roku Channel was created for Roku devices, but can now be watched on mobile devices, smart TVs, Fire TV devices, and web browsers. (But the browser experience is terrible.)
The free streaming service has 350+ linear channels and 13,000+ movies on demand. It’s also got some original programming as Roku acquired Quibi’s entire catalogue of original shows, after the short-lived streaming service went belly up.
You can expect around 10½ minutes of ads every hour on The Roku Channel. Furthermore, paid content is mixed with the free content, so finding on-demand content can take some patience.
What’s The Roku Channel good for?
News, sports, FilmRise channels, MGM movies, and (the old standby) classic TV shows.
Recommended free movies on The Roku Channel
PussyCake, Terrifier 2, Knights of Badassdom, Witness for the Prosecution
The Roku Channel at a glance
- Owner: Roku
- Launched: 2017
- Account required: No
- Ads per hour: 10½ minutes
- Original content: Yes
- Number of channels: 350+
- Local TV: None
- On-demand library: 13,000+ movies, 100s of TV shows
- Devices: Android, iOS, Apple TV, Fire TV, Roku, Smart TVs, browsers
- Max Quality: 720p HD
#8: Sling Freestream
Sling Freestream has nearly 400 channels that include some live TV but are mostly linear channels. It claims to have 41,000 titles in its on-demand library, but we’ve had trouble finding them given the terrible user interface and navigation.
Sling Freestream has a low ad load of around 4 minutes per hour. Ad breaks are more frequent, but they’re short (15 to 30 seconds) and contain just a single ad.
You can subscribe to paid streaming services like AMC+, MGM+, and Paramount+, and Upgrade to Sling TV is a permanent option in the main navigation. All this makes it feel like selling is the main purpose of Sling Freestream.
What’s Sling Freestream good for?
International channels (Indian, Arabic, Korean, etc.), true crime shows, food and travel shows, and games shows.
Recommended free movies on Sling Freestream
Armageddon, As Good As It Gets, 28 Days Later, (500) Days of Summer, Friday, The Goonies, The Shining, The Shawshank Redemption, Urban Legend
Sling Freestream at a glance
- Owner: Dish Network
- Launched: 2021
- Account required: No
- Original content: No
- Ads per hour: 4 minutes
- Number of channels: 380+
- Local TV: None
- On-demand library: 41,000 titles (purportedly)
- Devices: Android, iOS, Air TV, Apple TV, Chromecast, Fire TV, Roku, TiVo, Cox, Xfinity, Echo Show, Google Nest, Xbox, Smart TVs, Browsers
- Max Quality: 720p HD
#7: Vudu
Vudu is completely on-demand and you need an account to watch or even browse the on-demand library. The on-demand library has a staggering 12,234 movies (at last count) and more than 770 TV shows. But most of the titles are low-budget, direct-to-video movies and second-tier TV shows.
We counted just over 7 minutes of ads in a 45-minute TV episode, which works out to almost 10 minutes per hour.
What’s Vudu good for?
Horror (2,100+ titles), music docs & shows (530), romance (860+), and documentaries (2,700+).
Recommended free movies on Vudu
Let the Right One In, Lair of the White Worm, Ginger Snaps, Drugstore Cowboy, When the Wind Blows, Suburbia (1983), The Decline of Western Civilization, Rockers, Let’s Get Lost
Vudu at a glance
- Owner: Fandango Media
- Launched: 2016
- Account required: Yes
- Ad load: High (10 mins/hour)
- Original content: No
- Number of TV channels: 0
- Local TV: None
- On-demand library: 12,000+ movies, 770+ TV Shows
- Devices: Android, iOS, Apple TV, Chromecast, Fire TV, NVIDIA Shield, Roku, TiVo, Xfinity, PlayStation, Xbox, Smart TVs, Bluray Players, Windows, Browsers
- Max Quality: 1080p
#6: Samsung TV Plus
Samsung Plus TV jumped up 4 spots on the list from 2023 for a single reason: Ads.
Or rather, the lack of ads.
Watching episodes of shows like Numbers and Medium to count ads resulted in counting nothing. Watching Drugstore Cowboy from start to finish revealed the same thing. Same for The Devil’s Rejects.
No ads.
At some point anomalies stop being anomalies, but we’ve never seen an ad on Samsung TV Plus’s on-demand content. However, all show and movie pages state Contains Ads, so they must be somewhere.
There are commercial breaks when watching the live channels.
Samsung TV Plus was only available on Galaxy mobile devices and Samsung TVs, so it almost didn’t make our list of best free streaming services. It’s now watchable to anyone with a web browser, although some content still requires a Samsung device.
Samsung TV Plus has linear channels, live TV, and an on-demand library. Its slate of channels is 1,600 globally and 275+ in the USA. Samsung claims to have “thousands” of movies on demand, but we could only find 100+ movies and just over 60 TV shows in the browser. Perhaps those thousands of titles are only available to Samsung device owners.
A few episodes of lifestyle TV shows—and 7 different fireplace videos—are in 4K, but they can only be viewed on Samsung 4K TVs.
What’s Samsung TV Plus good for?
Local news and weather, Conan O’Brien TV (exclusive to Samsung TV Plus), and channel surfing.
Recommended free movies on Samsung TV Plus
The Boondock Saints, The Devil’s Rejects, Drugstore Cowboy, The Cotton Club, Hard Candy, The Way of the Gun, Trespass, The Gate, Rob Zombie’s Halloween, The Ghost Writer, Zulu (2013)
Samsung TV Plus at a glance
- Owner: Samsung
- Launched: 2015
- Account required: No
- Original content: No
- Ads per hour: On linear channels only(?)
- Number of TV channels: 380+ (USA) / 1,600+ (Worldwide)
- Local TV: Yes
- On-demand library: 100+ movies, 60+ TV shows
- Devices: Samsung smart TVs, Galaxy phones, web browsers
- Max Quality: 4K (but mostly 1080p)
#5: Crackle
Crackle is completely on-demand. It doesn’t have a lot of new (or recent) blockbusters, but Crackle is one of the few free streaming services producing original content.
The on-demand library has over 4,000 movies and 380+ TV shows.
We counted an ad break every 12-13 minutes, which is a bit better than the standard 10 minutes. But it still has a high ad load at 11 minutes per hour
You can watch Crackle without creating an account, but you won’t be able to set parental controls, create lists, and save your watch progress.
What’s Crackle good for?
Classic TV shows, reality TV, direct-to-video fare, and B-Movies. It also boasts a solid selection of movies in its Foreign Language section.
Recommended free movies on Crackle
Brain Dead, Cashback, Compliance, Highlander, Ong Bak 3, The Nun, The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo, VHS Nasty
Crackle at a glance
- Owner: Chicken Soup for the Soul
- Launched: 2004
- Account required: No
- Ads per hour: 11 minutes
- Original content: Yes
- Number of channels: N/A
- Local TV: None
- On-demand library: 4,000+ movies, 380+ TV shows
- Devices: Android, iOS, Fire TV, Apple TV, Roku, Smart TVs, PlayStation, Xbox, browsers, and more
- Max Quality: 1080p HD
#4: Freevee
Freevee has 300+ live and linear channels, including almost 2 dozen new channels of MGM and Warner Bros. Discovery content.
There’s local news in select markets and the on-demand library has almost 13,000 movies and over 2,000 TV shows.
Amazon chose its free streaming platform (rather than Prime Video) for some of its high-quality originals, such as Bosch: Legacy, Alex Rider, and Jury Duty. You can also watch select episodes of Prime Video originals—including the incredible Fallout—but it’s typically just the show’s first episode.
It’s got a low ad load at around 2½ minutes per hour. That’s better than a lot of ad-supported paid subscriptions.
What is Freevee good for?
Freevee Originals, Prime Video Originals, complete TV series, classic TV shows, horror movies, action movies, and local news (depending on your location).
Recommended free movies on Freevee
The Blair Witch Project, House of 1000 Corpses, Planet Terror, Wolf Creek, Hostel, Eden Lake, Stir of Echoes, Frozen (2010), Last Night in Soho Harlem Nights
Freevee at a glance
- Owner: Amazon
- Launched: 2019
- Account required: No
- Ads per hour: 2½ minutes
- Original content: Yes
- Number of channels: 300+
- Local TV: 16 local and regional news channels
- On-demand library: ~13,000 movies, 2,050+ TV shows
- Devices: iOS, Android, Fire Tablet, Air TV, Apple TV, Chromecast, Fire TV, Nvidia Shield, Roku, TiVo, Xiamo, Xfinity, Smart TVs, Xbox, PlayStation
- Max Quality: 720p HD
#3: Pluto TV
Pluto TV has 250+ channels of linear and live TV, which includes local news in 14 markets. The on-demand library has around 1,700 movies and 850 TV shows. Being owned by Paramount means there are blockbuster movies and CBS TV shows to choose from.
Parents will like the Kids Mode, which they can lock with a 4-digit PIN to exit.
Pluto TV also has a high ad load with about 15 minutes per hour. That’s the most commercials among the free streamers on our list—by a full 4 minutes!
What’s Pluto TV good for?
Top-tier content, CBS sitcoms and crime dramas, classic TV shows, blockbuster movies, sci-fi TV shows, and news (in select markets).
Recommended free movies on Pluto TV
District 9, mother!, Wild Things, New Jack City, Crawl, Poetic Justice, The Aviator, The Godfather trilogy, and the Indiana Jones franchise (except for The Dial of Destiny)
Pluto TV at a glance
- Owner: Paramount
- Launched: 2013
- Account required: No
- Ads per hour: 15 minutes
- Original content: No
- Number of channels: 250+
- Local TV: News in 14 markets
- On-demand library: ~1,700 movies, 850+ TV shows
- Devices: Android, iOS, Fire Tablet, Apple TV, Fire TV, Roku, TiVo, Xfinity, Smart TVs, Xbox, PlayStation, Windows, browsers, and more
- Max Quality: 720p HD
#2: Tubi
Tubi has 200+ linear and live TV channels and an on-demand library. There is definitely a lot to watch.
Delivering local news in nearly 60 markets is impressive on its own. However, they’re overshadowed by the largest on-demand library among free streaming services, which surpasses a staggering 50,000 movies and TV episodes.
There are Spanish and Kids content hubs, and a mega menu lets you browse 46 genres, 26 curated collections, 17 networks, and 18 “popular” lists.
Tubi has a low ad load, with 3 minutes of ads (or less) per hour. (Tubi states it has “4 to 8 minutes of ads every hour”, but we didn’t count that many.)
Great content, local news, user-friendly interface, specialized content hubs, and a low ad load make Tubi a contender for the #1 spot on our list of the best free streaming services. It may be in second place right now, but it’s not that far behind. (It’s almost a coin toss.)
What’s Tubi good for?
Movies. Tons of movies.
From B-movies to blockbusters in action, comedy, horror, sci-fi—just about every genre you can think of. There’s even a Find Your Next Rabbit Hole collection if you find yourself taking too long to decide on what to watch.
It’s also good for local news, kids’ content, and Spanish-language movies and TV shows.
Recommended free movies on Tubi
The Batman, Heat, The November Man, Snowpiercer, Tombstone, Red State, The Mask, Training Day, The Suicide Squad, Train to Busan, Tango & Cash
Tubi at a glance
- Owner: Fox
- Launched: 2014
- Account required: No
- Ads per hour: 3 minutes
- Original content: Yes
- Number of channels: 206
- Local TV: News in 58 markets
- On-demand library: 44K+ movies, 4,400+ TV shows
- Devices: Android, iOS, Roku, Apple TV, Fire TV, Xfinity, Smart TVs, PlayStation, Xbox, browsers, and more
- Max Quality: 720p HD
#1: Plex
Why does Plex take the top spot among the best free streaming services? It’s not the content it offers. And it’s definitely not the ad load (which is among the highest, second only to Pluto TV).
It’s the whole package.
The user interface is by far the best, it’s international, and it’s much more than a free streaming service. You can add your own videos and music to it.
Plex (currently) has 954 channels in 195 countries. 760 of those are available in the United States. Channels include live TV, linear programming, music, and karaoke.
The Plex web app (which is different from the browser version) is the best web interface of any streaming service, free or paid. Plex also supports the most devices among free streaming services.
You can create queues, rate movies, TV shows, and episodes, and also access your other streaming services from the Plex app. You can even connect to your own media library.
The only negative point is the high ad load, which is over 11 minutes of ads per hour.
What’s Plex good for?
Local, national, and international news, sports, Spanish-language content, top-tier movies, and documentaries.
Recommended free movies on Plex
Heathers, Requiem for a Dream, L.A. Confidential, Once Upon a Time in America, Lord of War, Rashomon, Glengarry Glen Ross, Train to Busan, Memento, Donnie Darko
Plex at a glance
- Owner: Plex Inc. (privately owned)
- Account required: Yes
- Ads per hour: 11+ minutes
- Original content: No
- Number of channels: 950+
- Local TV: Yes*
- On-demand library: 19,000+ movies, 1,200+ TV shows
- Devices: Android, iOS, Apple TV, Chromecast, Fire TV, Roku, Smart TVs, Facebook Portal, Windows, Mac, Nvidia Shield, PlayStation, Xbox, Alexa, Sonos, Caavo, VR headsets, Web app, Browsers
- Max Quality: 1080p HD
* The free plan gets you local news channels, but upgrading to a paid Plex Pass lets you hook up to a home tuner and antenna to watch and record OTA (over-the-air) channels.
Final thoughts on the best free streaming services
We love ad-free viewing. But as streaming services keep increasing prices—and embrace ad-supported paid plans—it gets harder to subscribe to all the ad-free plans. So adding some of the best free streaming services into the mix can help lighten the load.
Of course, they’re not for everyone. Another option is to stagger your subscriptions so you’re not paying for them all at the same time. After all, you can only watch so many movies and show at once!
What do you think of our list? Do you agree with the order in our ranking of the best free streaming services? Did we leave one out? Let us know in the comments below and we’ll check it out!
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