Best free sources for streaming entertainment
We have put together the best places to stream your favorite TV shows and movies. There are so many choices out there it can be confusing. You may find what others call a good source for the latest movie filled with dangerous looking pop-ups or you are asked to download software before you can watch. We are here to steer you through the most common issues with finding a good site to stream – for free.
Hulu – (free over the Web)
The free version of Hulu offers less than their pay site it both video quality and selection, but it still offers way more than a person can watch in a lifetime. You probably have already found Hulu, so you know the amount of free TV shows is impressive. What keeps the free Web-only site from more notoriety is that fact it isn’t available on mobile devices or apps. Hulu could do wonders for your TV watching, but you need to get a mini PC or laptop connected to your Television.
Crackle
The first time I found Crackle and attempted to play a movie, it just played. I was waiting for some type of pop-up or sign-up to present itself. It didn’t, just a completely free movie came my way. I was impressed. The list of movies and shows were familiar to me and content is rotated in and out.
SnagFilms
SnagFilms is another free and clear site, but you might not recognize too many titles. SnagFilms seems to specialize more in nature films and documentaries.
Popcorn Flix
Popcorn Flix has real movies like AeonFlux, Nobody’s Fool, True Colors and more. Cable TV series like Cheaters, The Man Show, and Re:Genesis too. Next to Crackle, Popcorn Flix is my favorite source for no-hassle viewing.
HitBliss
Never heard of HitBliss? Don’t worry, most of us haven’t. HitBliss is a streaming site that allows you to earn credit to apply to watching TV shows or Movies by watching commercials. The selection is similar to what Crackle offers, but the commercials are not much different than what you would have to endure on Crackle, YouTube or others. TV shows like Party Down, Spartacus, and Magic City are available. Movies like The King’s Speech, The Men Who Stare at Goats, and Brooklyn’s Finest are ready for viewing.
YouTube
My guess is that you have probably heard of this site. However, most people don’t know that YouTube has free TV shows and movies available. YouTube is trying to supplement their user-submitted offerings with pay movies, but they do have free movies and TV shows for those that know where to look. However, that is the frustrating part. To help, several users have compiled playlists and there is at least one studio, Paramount, that lists more than one hundred movies on their Paramount Vault YouTube channel. The channel contains over a hundred mostly older films, but a solid collection nonetheless.
Paramount Vault Channel:
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCzMVH2jEyEwXPBvyht8xQNw/featured
Check out these YouTube user playlists.
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLF435D6FFBD0302B3
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hR72j3ofbH8
YouTube is the place to go for documentaries and educational learning, but you need to work a little bit to find good entertainment choices.
Network and Cable Channel Sites
The best place for free TV is found on the network’s and cable channels own Web site. Episodes may only be available for a few days or you might have a delay before you can watch the latest show, but they are usually in very high quality and there is a lot to choose from. We mentioned this before in another article, but it might help if you saved your favorite channels as favorites and then it will be easier to navigate to the content.
If you are using a player, many channels will have their own app. Some content and channels will restrict access to cable customers who can sign in with their provider’s credentials, but still there are others that let the free entertainment flow. The major four networks and PBS have excellent free content. In fact ABC boasts they have at least 143 episodes without signing in. Not sure why they tout 143, that is an odd number since there are usually more than 150.
Documentaries/user submitted
There are lots of sites out there that will educate you for free. As we already mentioned YouTube has a large collection of education videos, Peter Weller’s Engineering an Empire series is my favorite. The History Channel and Smithsonian Channel are a couple more great cable channel sites that give you plenty. For pure documentaries take a look at topdocumentaryfilms.com and freedocumentaries.org to see two examples of what is available for these types of films.
Shady Sites
If you aren’t new to the Internet, you know there are sites out there that will offer you the latest releases of movies. The problem is that these sites aren’t exactly above board. We aren’t promoting these sites, but wanted to address them.
Sites like Primewire, Icefilms, and Movies4k.to will try to lure you in with movies that are still in theaters, but even if it isn’t illegal to watch movies on one of these sites you will probably encounter a lot of dodgy efforts to either get you to sign-up for something or click on something you shouldn’t. You need to ask yourself if it’s worth it.
Local Library
OK, you have officially found the largest collection of free and legal movies available anywhere. Yes, depending on the size of your local library it will usually stock many movies, even new BluRay releases. I live near smaller towns that have libraries with a hundred or more titles, but my first attempt at finding free movies in a city library made me feel like I was in a video store, remember them? It will be well worth the trip.
Conclusion
Getting by without cable was something I didn’t know I could do a few years ago, but after finding alternative sources on the Internet, I went all in, all free TV. Unless there is a particular show you can’t live without, the combination of free sources along with a good antenna will get you so much more than you thought it could. If you haven’t cut the cord (cable, not Internet – you will need that) try some of these sources to see if they could help with that decision.
