10 ways to watch movies online for free — legally, of course

Although most people use Hulu(opens in a new tab) to catch up on their favorite TV shows, the streaming service is making a push to get the attention of movie lovers too. Hulu has a lot of new movies available to watch that aren't available on Netflix or any other streaming competitor. (Take a peek at the latest news about Hulu, including a list of everything that's coming to the streaming platform on any given month, right here.)

In fact, more and more movie studios are opting to put their movies on Hulu first because they have control over the joint-venture streaming service. Warner Bros., Universal, 20th Century Fox, and Disney have some controlling stock with Hulu, so you're going to see movies like Annihilation, RBG, and I, Tonya before you see them anywhere else.

Since major movie studios own it, they're pulling their movies from other services like Netflix and putting them on Hulu to drive more people to subscribe. However, Hulu is also investing in new original movies and documentaries on their platform with films like Minding The Gap and Fyre Fraud.

Hulu offers a 30 day free trial for new subscribers, so if you're interested in watching documentaries and new movies, be sure to check out Hulu. 

While Netflix is considered the gold standard in video streaming, Amazon Prime Video(opens in a new tab) is making a play for the crown. Amazon announced their own on-demand video streaming service before Netflix, but appears to be catching up in terms of the amount of original movies and TV shows.

However, the original movies it does have are considered more upscale and high quality. Amazon Studios has produced more award nominated movies than Netflix with an eye towards more sophisticated movie watchers. Films like You Were Never Really Here, Last Flag Flying, and Cold War cater to the arthouse crowd, while movies like The Big Sick and Manchester By The Sea appeal to general audiences. 

Not to mention Amazon Prime Video's vast library of new releases like Robin Hood, Bohemian Rhapsody, and Widows are on-demand to rent or buy. You really can't say the same thing about Netflix and Hulu when it comes to renting or buying new releases.

On top of that, a subscription to Amazon Prime Video(opens in a new tab) also features two-day free shipping on thousands of products, Whole Foods benefits, and access to Amazon Prime Music and free books and magazines via Kindle.

Amazon Prime Video has a 30-day free trial(opens in a new tab) available for new subscribers, if you want to watch movies for free. After your trial is over, a membership runs $139 per year, or $14.99 per month with a Prime membership.

Crackle(opens in a new tab) is a free video streaming service from Sony. Yes, you read that correctly. You can watch everything on Crackle for free. However, you have to watch ads every 20 minutes or so during movies. 

While it might seem annoying to watch ads on a streaming service, Crackle is free and the ads give the company an opportunity to indirectly make some money from members. It also gives you the opportunity to go to the bathroom or make a sandwich without pressing pause on your remote control. 

The streaming service has a lot of really good films to watch, even if you have to watch them with ads. However, the movies are a few years (and even decades) old, so you're not going to find the latest and greatest from Sony on Crackle. There are good ones in just about every movie genre though, including (but not limited to) horror, sci-fi, and drama.

Crackle's biggest selling point is its price — you really can't beat free. If you don't mind sitting through ads, then give Crackle a shot. It won't cost you a dime.

Do you like free movies? Do you like arthouse films? Do you have a library card?

If you answered "yes" to all three questions, then Kanopy(opens in a new tab) is the streaming service for you. Kanopy is one of the few ways to legally stream foreign and indie movies for free. And yes, it's true, Kanopy is 100% free — if you have a current and valid library card.

After you link your library card, you can then stream up to 10 free movies on the platform every month. This includes documentaries, foreign movies and TV shows, and the Criterion Collection, which is the service's biggest selling point.

Although it doesn't feature every movie in the collection, it does have some of its most well-known and popular, like Breathless, The Seven Samurai, Umbrellas of Cherbourg, and more.

Kanopy offers a film school education for the price of a library card, which is free.

Believe it or not, but you can watch movies on YouTube(opens in a new tab) for free. We're not talking about illegal bootleg films either. YouTube has partnered with a few movie studios to showcase movies on the platform with ads attached for free.

The films are mostly older films spanning from the '80s to the early 2010s and from various genres like family, sci-fi, and comedy. While a majority of the movies were forgotten as soon as they were released in theaters, there are others that are popular and well-known, including All Dogs Go To Heaven, Get Shorty, Dirty Rotten Scoundrels, and more.

YouTube isn't really putting these films front-and-center on their platform, opting to push YouTube TV(opens in a new tab) instead.  The movies are there though — look for the option on the left side menu for “Movies & Shows” under the “More From YouTube” category — and ready to stream on web browsers, if you're looking for a free way to watch movies online.

The SHOWTIME(opens in a new tab) streaming app unlocks almost everything found on Showtime, making this a great option for cordcutters. For just $10.99 per month, you can stream Showtime Original Pictures, as well as new movies from major movie studios.

SHOWTIME boasts a good selection of comedies on the platform, while they also feature quality dramas and documentaries that aren't available on any other streaming service.

The service also dabbles in adult-only movies, so if you want to watch after dark entertainment for free, this is a good option with a 30-day free trial.

SHOWTIME is also an add-on for Hulu and Amazon Prime.

If you own a Roku streaming device like the Roku Express(opens in a new tab), Premiere(opens in a new tab), or Streaming Stick(opens in a new tab), then you have access to the Roku Channel(opens in a new tab). This is where you can watch movies and TV shows for free.

The streaming device company recently started to offer free movies to their platform as a way to sweeten devices with an additional streaming service. 

Ad-supported movies are free to watch, while the Roku Channel also offers free live TV for news and weather updates and premium content from Showtime, Starz, and more. You can actually subscribe to premium channel networks from the Roku Channel, so you can have one bill and one place for all your premium movies.

The movies that are available to watch for free on the Roku Channel are pretty good too. There's a wide selection of dramas and comedies like Paddington, Jackie, A League of Their Own, In Her Shoes, Up In The Air, and more.

The Roku Channel is free to watch and available in the Roku Channel Store. You can also watch the Roku Channel without a Roku Box or device, but you need a Roku account, which is free to sign up. The Roku Channel is also available online via web browser and can also be accessed via Samsung TVs running the Tizen operating system version 2.3, 2.4, 3.0, or 4.0.

Although it's mostly known as a movie rental service (you can also buy movies online too), you can actually watch older films for free on VUDU(opens in a new tab). 

The movies aren't the newest of titles, but there are definitely some high quality feature films to browse, such as Batman Begins, Harold & Kumar Go To White Castle, The Cabin in the Woods, and more. If you don't mind watching ads every 20 minutes or so during a movie, you can get a lot out of VUDU's free library of films, TV shows, and animation. 

The catalog mostly consist of movies from the 2000s and the 1990s, while there are a few titles from '80s sprinkled throughout. However, you're not going to get older movies from the '50s or '60s, or arthouse and foreign films. What you are going to get is a great selection of comedies, cult classics, and dramas.

The service is available on just about every online platform, including iOS, Android, Roku, and Chromecast, while it gives users the option to rent or buy new releases. There's no need to start a free trial because VUDU is free to sign up and create an account, which gives you access to the service's free movie library.

MUBI(opens in a new tab) is a curated streaming service that focuses on indie and foreign arthouse films. Every day the service adds a new movie that expires in 30 days. This means you have 30 days to watch a new movie with a rotating selection of high quality films.

If you're into arthouse and off-the-beaten-path films, then MUBI is a great option to watch the best movies and documentaries from all around the world. The service is available for almost every platform out there, including Apple TV, Roku, Chromecast, and more.

You should really consider MUBI as a good way to discover cinema with its great selection of hand-picked movies in nearly every genre. The streaming service is $10.99 per month, but MUBI offers a free 7-day trial period so you can get a better idea what the service has to offer.

A division of FOX Entertainment, Tubi is a streaming service that packs over 40,000 movies and TV shows into its growing catalog. Its library at the time of writing includes impressive box office hits like Coraline, Fifty Shades of Grey, Inception, and Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. There's also plenty of hit TV series, Tubi Originals, 100+ local and live news and sports channels, and a Tubi Kids library just for the little ones. Best of all? It's completely free.

Tubi partners with studios like MGM, Lionsgate, and Paramount, as well as indies like Full Moon Pictures to offer premium content. It pays those partners through ad revenue, which means you'll have to watch a few short ad breaks every hour. But considering it costs exactly zero dollars to watch, a few ads are no big deal.

You don't even need to sign up for an account to start watching Tubi content, but by signing up you can unlock the ability to set parental controls, build a queue, and see your viewing history.