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5 free streaming services you should be using
Netflix prices are increasing again. Now's the time to search for free streaming services for your movie and TV needs.
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If you haven’t heard already, your Netflix subscription price will increase starting next month – the second time the company has raised prices in the last year. With streamers continuing to charge more for less, it’s understandable why you would begin searching for a free streaming service for your movie and TV needs.
I’ve noted this trend in several previous editions of The Queue, but it bears repeating: The big streaming players like Netflix and HBO Max have made their value proposition consistently worse over time through a mix of price hikes and slimming down their libraries of movies and TV shows. This year, for example, Netflix is on pace to release its lowest number of original movies in at least 8 years.
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That makes free streaming alternatives even more enticing.
If you’re willing to tolerate advertisements, there are a staggering number of free movie and TV streaming services to choose from. You likely have one or more built into your smart TV already.
In my eyes, there are two free services that stand head and shoulders above the rest: Tubi and Pluto TV. But I’m also going to highlight a few others worth considering – two of which are ad-free.PS: If you’d like me to cover more free streaming options in the future, email me and let me know. I’d love to do a monthly roundup of the best free movies and TV shows streaming now if there’s enough interest.
5 free streaming services you should be using
Tubi
With more than 50,000 movies and shows, the single-largest streaming library by far belongs to Tubi, the free, ad-supported television (FAST) streaming service owned by FOX.
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A lot of the movies and shows on Tubi are low-budget trash, which can be entertaining in its own right. But if you’re searching for quality, Tubi’s algorithm learns quickly and feeds you Oscar-nominated movies like “A Few Good Men” and classic TV shows like “Columbo.”
Pluto TV
The Paramount-owned Pluto TV has an impressive library of movies and shows, and is about on par with Tubi when it comes to ease of navigation. I appreciate that its On Demand section lets you know what movies are new this month and which are leaving soon, so I can prioritize catching “Catch Me If You Can,” for example, before it departs at the end of April.
As Paramount completes its Warner Bros. Discovery acquisition, it will be interesting to see if older WBD-owned shows from TBS, TNT, Food Network, and more end up on Pluto TV in the future.
The Roku Channel
If you own a smart TV, there’s a good chance it uses the Roku operating system. Easily accessible from your TV’s home screen, the Roku Channel has a robust list of offerings as well as a number of Roku originals you won’t find anywhere else.
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Roku gets the third spot on this list because its channel navigation is inferior to Tubi and Pluto TV, and it is prone to bait-and-switch tactics, where you’ll click on a show like “Yellowjackets” and find out only one episode is available for free. They also pin a “popular” tab at the top of the page that are all paid options. Still, there’s plenty to enjoy. I recently watched a certified New England classic, 1981’s “On Golden Pond,” streaming on The Roku Channel. Check out The Roku Channel here.
Hoopla and Kanopy
The last services on this list, Hoopla and Kanopy, are different from the rest. They don’t offer live channels, they don’t have ads, and they are only accessible if you have a (free) library card.
Once you have them connected to your library card, however, both Hoopla and Kanopy offer access to thousands of movies and TV shows on demand.
The list of available streaming titles varies depending on agreements with your local library branch. My library card, for example, lets me stream Armando Iannucci’s 2017 satire “The Death of Stalin” via Kanopy and the Reese Witherspoon comedy “Legally Blonde” via Hoopla.
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The only drawback to Kanopy and Hoopla is that your local library must pay a licensing fee after a title is checked out a certain number of times, which has led some libraries to end their partnership with the companies.
Check out Hoopla and Kanopy here.
Play or Skip
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Have a show you can’t stop watching? Email me about it at [email protected], and your recommendation may appear in a future edition of The Queue.
Press play on these new movies and shows:
“Hacks” Season 5: Ending a TV show is never easy, much less a beloved show with nine Emmy wins like “Hacks.” The show has evolved beyond the early-season battles between Jean Smart’s talk show vet and Hannah Einbinder’s up-and-coming writer into a multifaceted Hollywood satire that frequently aims its ire higher up the studio org chart. (HBO Max)
“The Boys” Season 5: Another show in its fifth and final season, Eric Kripke’s dark superhero series continues to pull its plot from the front pages, with Homelander (Antony Starr) becoming increasingly fascist, other Vought-aligned Supes running a prison camp for dissenters, and anyone who dares speak up being labeled a pedophile or traitor. Isn’t fiction fun? (Prime Video)
“Pizza Movie” (2026): Two child stars (“Stranger Things” actor Gaten Matarazzo and Sean Giambrone of “The Goldbergs”) play a Gen Z “Harold and Kumar,” whose lone quest is to successfully pick up a pizza after ingesting an experimental drug. The movie’s plot is knowingly threadbare (as its generic title indicates), but the laughs from individual, largely disconnected scenes mostly makes up for it. (Hulu)
But go ahead and skip this one:
“Outcome” (2026): Jonah Hill’s movie about a beloved actor (Keanu Reeves) who could soon be canceled if an incendiary video (that may or may not exist) is released, occasionally grapples with some tough truths. But it mostly comes off as self-congratulatory, obtuse, and more to the point, not particularly funny. (Apple TV)
End Credits
That’s a wrap on this edition of The Queue. If you’re a fan, please consider recommending this newsletter to your friends.
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Until next time, good stream hunting, everyone!
— Kevin
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