Up next in 10
7 Free Streaming Apps That Are Actually Worth Downloading in 2023!
3K views
Feb 25, 2023
Free streaming services are becoming more popular than ever! You can watch some live TV, plus thousands of shows and movies -- without spending a single penny. In today's video, I break down the best free streaming apps. Which service is your favorite? Leave a comment and be specific about why you like that particular service over the other free options! Check out my guide to cutting the cord here: https://michaelsaves.com/streaming/how-to-cut-the-cord/ CHAPTERS: 0:00 Intro to Best Free Streaming Channels 0:16 Pluto TV 2:06 Freevee 3:28 The Roku Channel 4:46 Peacock (No longer free to new subscribers) 6:02 Tubi 6:46 PBS 7:38 YouTube 8:49 Viewer Picks 9:01 Almost Free Option! 📺 More Cutting the Cord Videos and Articles 7 Streaming TV Bundles Under $50/Month! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6vLB3UveR8Q
View Video Transcript
0:00
move over netflix the streaming services we'll talk about today have thousands of tv shows and
0:05
movies plus original content and you won't have to pay a single penny keep watching in today's
0:11
video seven free streaming apps that i use and why you should consider them too let's get started
0:16
with pluto tv and this is the free service that i recommend people check out first because of its
0:22
massive content library pluto tv is owned by paramount which used to be called viacom cbs
0:29
i mention that because it explains why you'll see so much content from networks owned by paramount
0:35
including cbs we've got survivor ncis the neighborhood and cbs sunday morning just to name
0:42
a few pluto tv combines live tv and on demand here's the services live tv guide which includes
0:48
more than 200 channels but this is no ordinary live guide most of the channels are genre based
0:55
so there are channels dedicated to whatever you're interested in reality shows true crime news game
1:01
shows music lots more too but this is an important distinction i'll use pluto tv's comedy central
1:07
channel to explain pluto's 24 7 comedy central channel features content mostly older content
1:14
that that channel is known for but it is not the same as the comedy central cable network that you
1:20
would get with the pay tv subscription and much of pluto tv's content library in general is older
1:26
for example i navigated to the on-demand section the most popular movie is transformers that's from
1:32
2011. meanwhile shows like gunsmoke cops and matlock are the most popular tv shows on the
1:39
service and going into it you got to know with pluto tv that there are going to be commercials
1:44
the same for most free streaming services i recently polled my youtube community about
1:49
the free streaming service with the worst ad experience nearly 20 of those who responded said
1:55
pluto tv now i found that pluto tv has more ads than some of the other services i'm about to talk
2:00
about but i do think it is worth downloading because of the massive content library let's
2:06
move on number two on my list is amazon freebie and this is the new name for imdb tv this service
2:12
made my list because of its original series you definitely recognize freebie highest paid star it is Judge Judy Shinelin Her show was called Judy Justice and it is just a remake of her syndicated show judge judy at recording time it the service biggest original
2:27
hit and it has been renewed for a second season you see here some of freebie's other original
2:32
series which includes scripted and unscripted programming to prepare for this video i checked
2:37
out a few episodes of hollywood house lift this one is similar to jeff lewis's bravo show called
2:43
flipping out but it features celebrity homes instead let's talk about the ads this episode
2:49
is 40 minutes long it had three ad breaks and they were each less than a minute and 30 seconds
2:55
so that is less than five minutes of commercials per episode not bad aside from originals freebie
3:00
has a library of movies and tv shows that it has licensed and you're gonna see some overlap with
3:06
all of these free services one example is with freebies live channels you see unsolved mysteries
3:12
has a 24 7 channel but so does pluto tv the service we just talked about so for that reason
3:18
my advice is to download freebie just to browse the exclusive original content and if there's
3:24
nothing that interests you just move on to the next service maybe this one number three is the
3:29
roku channel and like amazon freebie the roku channel has some original content that you won't
3:35
find anywhere else that library of original series is growing too here's an example the reboot of reno
3:41
9-1-1 is a comedy series that roku has been promoting pretty heavily episodes for this series
3:47
are 21 minutes just like a regular tv show but as you watch other roku originals you may notice that
3:54
some of the episodes are much shorter like 10 minutes the length of a youtube video the mystery
3:59
comedy series mapleworth murders is one example and the reason some roku originals have such short
4:06
episodes is because the content was actually acquired from quibi that is a failed streaming
4:12
service that made short form content i've actually watched quite a few of these roku originals and i
4:17
don't mind the shorter episodes i usually just end up watching a few of them in a row and it ends up
4:22
adding up to the length of a full show in addition to roku originals i like the roku channel for its
4:28
library of tv shows and movies and the easy to use navigation that roku is known for another example
4:34
If you want to watch live TV the Roku channel has an excellent guide and you may actually prefer this guide over Pluto TV It got a mix of free news sports and entertainment channels We already made it to number four and that is Peacock
4:49
a paid service that has a free tier with advertisements. Let's take a look. Peacock
4:54
is owned by NBCUniversal. So you'll find a lot of content from its brands, NBC, Bravo, Universal
5:00
and more. Peacock is ramping up its original series as well. I stream season one of Rutherford
5:06
falls last year and i really liked it recommend that one but if you want to stream the latest
5:11
season season two you will need to upgrade to the paid version of peacock i show this example because
5:17
this is pretty common with peacock some free episodes upgrade to watch them all i'm on the
5:22
movies tab now and whether you're streaming a show or a movie you want to look for the feather
5:27
on a thumbnail because that means a premium subscription is necessary you gotta pay so if you
5:33
want to stick to the free content select titles that do not have the purple feather and there's
5:39
more free content when you switch over to the channels peacock's channel guide should look
5:43
familiar if you watched earlier portions of this video to me it sure looks like it was modeled after
5:48
pluto tv's live guide the bottom line with peacock is you've got to go into it being prepared for that
5:54
frequent upselling to the paid tiers but i do like the content and the ad load is pretty light
6:00
for a free service let's move on to 2b that's number five and this service makes the list because
6:06
it is the streaming home for some fox shows after they broadcast fox acquired to be back in 2020
6:13
and according to this article from deadline 2b is planning to add 100 new original titles to the
6:19
service over the next year one thing i really like about 2b is how it organizes content this is the
6:25
category view from a tv set one good place to start is the only free on tubi filter and that
6:31
way you can see what tubi offers that other services do not like the other services tubi
6:37
has movies and tv shows i will say that the movie library may be stronger than some of the other
6:43
services we've talked about let's continue coming in at number six is the pbs app and this may
6:49
surprise you but the reason this app made my list is because in many areas you can watch the live
6:54
stream of your local pbs station absolutely free but even if that not an option you can stream 4 000 pbs shows on demand free of charge and there is always an upgrade to pbs passport take a look here i selected america test kitchen for season 22
7:12
you see a passport logo in the upper left corner of the thumbnail and that means you need to upgrade
7:18
to pbs passport but some episodes are available free and when i select this episode without the
7:24
passport logo i've got the option to play it or add it to my watch list and by the way i haven't
7:30
mentioned this yet but most of these free services have some sort of a my list feature just an easy
7:35
way to track the programs you want to stream later on we've made it to number seven on the list of
7:40
free streaming apps and this one is the app you're using right now youtube you know youtube as a
7:45
place to watch your favorite creators but take a look as i navigate youtube on my tv set to the
7:51
movies and shows section this is where you'll find lots of free content to explore but be careful
7:56
while browsing there's also paid content mixed into this category that stuff is labeled buy or
8:02
rent i stick to the programs labeled free with ads there's nothing that really stands out about
8:07
this library to me but if you're already using youtube a lot you may prefer this over downloading
8:13
pluto tv or another free app just like regular youtube videos there are ads with these movies
8:19
and shows in fact in that poll that i showed earlier in this video the majority of people said
8:25
youtube had the worst ad experience i watch a whole lot of youtube and there are definitely
8:30
more frequent ads with the service but unlike the others on this list youtube will let you skip some
8:37
of the ads after a few seconds and if you use youtube all the time of course there is youtube
8:42
premium to remove those ads usually there is a one month free trial then it is 12 per month i've
8:49
got a few other free streaming apps on the screen right now these have been recommended often by
8:54
members of my youtube community in the comments of other videos let me know down below your
8:59
favorite free apps and why you like them and if you're looking for an almost free service
9:04
keep an eye out for deals on hulu especially around black friday hulu has offered its ad
9:09
supported plan for as low as 99 cents a month for 12 months the regular price 6.99 per month
9:16
and this gives you access to popular hulu originals and some network tv shows
9:20
learn more in my beginner's guide to cutting the cord and i'll see you back here soon thanks for watching
#Entertainment Industry
#Entertainment Media Rentals
#Online Media
#Online Video
#TV & Video
#TV Networks & Stations
#TV Shows & Programs