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.
By Kevin Slane April 14, 2026, 5 minutes to read
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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.
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.
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.
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