The 10 Best Free Streaming Services You Need To Try in 2024

Here at Decider, we love streaming services. But we also understand that stacking streaming services can get pricey, especially if you subscribe to a live TV service.

Several streaming services are known as FAST services — free, ad-supported streaming TV services. Using these won’t cost you a penny, and they often offer a wide variety of content.

All of the services listed below are FAST services, so you’ll have to sit through ads no matter what you choose to watch, but they’re all great options if you’re looking to save a few bucks.

Related: 10 Streaming Subscriptions That Make Perfect Virtual Gifts

Many services overlap in content; aside from a few exclusives or originals per service, many of them have libraries made up of the same shows and movies. So it’s mostly up to personal preference from there, but we’ve broken down 10 of our favorite free streaming services to check out now.

• Sling Freestream

  Sling TV, better known for its live TV plans, has introduced Freestream, which gives users free access to over 270 live channels, including ABC News and CBS News, and 40,000 titles on demand.

  While you don’t need an account to access everything Freestream has to offer, joining opens you up to a ton of opportunities on the service, like favoriting channels, creating a watchlist, making profiles, enabling parental controls, and adding paid subscriptions to premiums services.

  If you ever find yourself wanting more channels or have recently cut the cable cord, it’s super easy to convert your Sling Freestream account into an account on one of Sling TV’s base plans.

  STREAM ON SLING FREESTREAM

• Freevee

  Freevee, which was known as IMDB TV until last year, is a FAST streaming service that lives inside Prime Video. While you don’t need an Amazon Prime subscription to watch everything on Freevee, you’ll need at least a free Amazon account. Freevee boasts a number of original series, including Jury Duty, Judy Justice with Judge Judy Sheindlin, Leverage Redemption, and High School.

  That’s in addition to a rotating library of critically acclaimed movies and beloved TV shows; right now, that includes Promising Young Woman, The Post, Schitt’s Creek, and Mad Men.

  STREAM ON FREEVEE

• Tubi

  Tubi is owned by the Fox Corporation, which means it can pull from Fox’s large library of film and TV. Everything is free with ads, and you don’t even need an account to watch. The service is really well organized, with tons of genre-specific categories and a section specifically tailored toward children.

  After HBO Max axed some original titles from their service, they ended up streaming on Tubi. Right now, check out movies like Crazy Rich Asians, Space Jam: A New Legacy, and It Chapter Two, and shows like Hannibal, Dance Moms, and Next Level Chef.

  STREAM ON TUBI

• Pluto TV

  In addition to a huge library of on-demand content streaming free with ads, Pluto TV features live channels, including nationwide CBS News and a few local CBS channels for major US markets, 24/7 movie channels by genre, and channels that play shows like Star Trek and Degrassi continuously.

  Pluto TV also has new episodes of currently airing CBS comedies and dramas available free for a limited time following their airing on TV. Like Tubi, an account is not necessary to use Pluto TV.

  STREAM ON PLUTO TV

• The Roku Channel

  Despite the name, you don’t need a Roku streaming device to stream everything The Roku Channel has to offer. In addition to live news and entertainment channels, the Roku Channel has a rotating selection of movies and TV shows that stream for free, like early seasons of The Great British Baking Show and Booksmart.

  The Roku Channel also releases original series and movies, including Martha Cooks, Reno 911!, Weird: The Al Yankovic Story, and Die Hart 2: Die Harter. Additionally, you can check out some of those same HBO Max titles that are on Tubi on The Roku Channel.

  Like Sling Freestream, you can add premium streaming subscriptions onto The Roku Channel for an additional monthly price and then watch all of that content right within the Roku app.

  STREAM ON THE ROKU CHANNEL

• The CW and CW Seed

  The CW is the rare network channel that makes its content available to stream online for free, with no traditional cable log-in required. That means you can head over to its website right now and watch the five most recent episodes of every currently-airing CW series.

  New episodes are added the day after they air on TV and are removed approximately five weeks after, so if you want to stay up to date with Riverdale or All American, you’ll need to be quick about watching new episodes.

  CW Seed is the second half of The CW’s free offerings, made up of full seasons of relatively recent TV shows. Right now, you can check out things like Scream Queens, Bunheads, Prodigal Son, and 90210 in their entirety.

  STREAM ON THE CW

• Plex

  Alongside a large library of YV and movies, TV channels similar to those on Pluto and Freevee is a highlight of Plex. Right now, the service is highlighting some cult classics that are streaming for free, including Heathers, Empire Records, and Pulp Fiction.

  STREAM ON PLEX

• PBS

  As you’d expect, PBS has a ton of documentaries available to stream without a subscription, but there are also select episodes of the Masterpiece series, including Sanditon, episodes of Call The Midwife and new shows like Marie Antoinette available for free.

  If you love the content PBS has available for free and want more of it, there’s an option to pay and unlock everything the channel has to offer as well. It’s called PBS Passport, and users can unlock Passport episodes by donating $60 or more a year to PBS.

  STREAM ON PBS

• Crackle

  Crackle is similar to Pluto and Tubi, in that you don’t need an account to stream everything the platform has to offer. Their library includes some original content, like Outbreak, and some content that’s exclusive to their service, like Sherlock. There are also a number of movies, though don’t expect any of them to be new — Crackle’s selection is mostly made up of older films.

  If you love British TV, Crackle is the service for you, with full seasons of some of the most popular British dramas, comedies, and mysteries.

  STREAM ON CRACKLE

• Vudu

  You may think of Vudu as a site for movie rentals, but did you know they also have a free-with-ads section? Though there is some TV, the main event here is movies. There are hundreds of movies to stream for free across every genre. There’s a bit of digging required to find something you’re interested in since the selection is so large, but among it, you’ll find gems like A24’s Mid90s and Waves.

  STREAM ON VUDU

All of the titles listed for each service are up-to-date as of the time of publishing.