Watching movies at home lets you maximize comfort while you also maximize entertainment (and allows access to your favorite snacks). Want some great movie snack ideas? Just tap or click here.
Streaming makes watching movies at home easier than ever, but what if you could stream free movies online? We know a few sites where you can access free movies online right now, from your computer or laptop, and a few of them from streaming devices like a Roku or an Amazon Fire TV stick.
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Check out the list below to see the 10 best sites for watching movies free. Make sure to bookmark your favorites, so nights at home can be just as amazing as going out to the theater — while costing you nothing
1. Kanopy
If you particularly love artsy or classic films, Kanopy is the best site for your free movie streaming purposes. With some gems from the Criterion Collection, as well as modern indie masterpieces, Kanopy does its best to get high-quality and critically acclaimed cinema into people’s living rooms, and all at no cost.
To use Kanopy, your local library, university or college needs to be connected to it. Learn how to check if your library is connected by tapping or clicking here. With a library card or your college email login, you can access Kanopy’s catalog at any time.
2. Popcornflix
For those who prefer comedies, thrillers and more mainstream movies (“popcorn flicks,” if you will), Popcornflix is the perfect free streaming site. It gives you access to tons of movies and TV shows to choose from in exchange for playing ads while you watch.
If ads annoy you, this may not be your favorite site, but you won’t be able to deny the selection is vast, covering a variety of film eras, along with recent releases.
Popcornflix can be accessed through the web, but you can also download an app on Roku, Apple TV, Google Play, Amazon or Xbox to watch on your TV screen. We’ve recommended Popcornflix before, and we stand by that recommendation now.
3. Vimeo
Vimeo is a video platform like YouTube, allowing users to upload their own movies and clips to share in HD quality. You have to pay to watch some movies on the site, but many are free, particularly short films.
Vimeo exists as a website and as an iOS and Android app. You can watch movies through streaming or download them for later, when you’re not on Wi-Fi, so Vimeo gives you some great watching options at no cost.
4. Internet Archive
Do you love classic movies? Like the silent and black-and-white films, with the great stars of yore? Many of these now live at Internet Archive, a site that captures all media, like books and music in addition to film, that have entered the public domain.
When content is old enough, it is no longer subject to copyright laws, so it’s free to utilize and watch. That’s how Internet Archive can have feature-length movies streaming for free — but it’s also why many of them are from the 1920s and 1930s. For classic movie buffs, you can’t find a better site.
5. Sony Crackle
Sony Crackle, formerly known as Crackle, is another great site to watch modern movies and TV shows for free, but, like with Popcornflix, you do so with ads. We know ads can be very annoying, but that’s the trade-off when you don’t want to pay for the film.
If you really like action and thriller movies, and some older TV shows that are hard to find on other platforms, Sony Crackle certainly makes sitting through some ads worth it.
6. Vudu
Though primarily a platform for buying movies and TV episodes, Vudu also has many free feature-length movies and TV show episodes for you to watch — once again, possible thanks to ads. Vudu is really good at reporting how long movies will remain free (the catalog changes monthly) and it has a ton of modern movies, in addition to some beloved older dramas and comedies.
You can get Vudu on your computer, game consoles, streaming devices, smart TV, Blu-ray players, phones and tablets. You just have to sign up for a free Vudu account to use the apps and site.
7. IMDb TV
Working through IMDb.com or Amazon Fire products, IMDb TV is a way to watch critically acclaimed films free from the comfort of your home. Like most of these streaming sites, this one is ad-supported, but if you have Amazon Prime, you can watch movies free through Prime on IMDb TV without ads.
To watch movies, you need an IMDb or an Amazon account, and you can watch to your heart’s content. IMDb TV isn’t the easiest to navigate or search through, but their “Top Rated” category allows you to find movies other users love, so you have a better chance of enjoying what you pick from there.
8. hoopla
Libraries offer tons of amazing services as it is, just click or tap here to see what we mean, but your library card can get you hoopla as well. hoopla is the digital service of Midwest Tape, a company that provides media products and services like DVDs, CDs and audio books to libraries.
Just sign up for hoopla with your email and library card, and you’ll have access to tons of movies and TV seasons, plus the ability to use the hoopla app on your phone, tablet, Amazon Fire device, Roku, Chromecast, Apple TV and Android TV devices.
oopla doesn’t work with every library system, so make sure to ask the next time you’re at your library. If you don’t have access, ask what your library can do to get it. Free, streamable movies are a great offering, after all, so you could help yourself and your fellow library patrons by encouraging the signup.
9. The Roku Channel
If you have a Roku, you have access to The Roku Channel, which gets you free movie and TV content. You can stream live shows on the Roku channel, as well as watch an ever-changing catalog of movies and TV shows, all at no cost.
You can add your premium subscriptions to the Roku Channel, so you can watch things like HBO and Showtime all on one place on your Roku, but free content is available even without them, though you may find similar options on Popcornflix, FilmRise, Vidmark, American Classics and YuYu.
For access to all of these libraries together in one place, the Roku Channel is worth adding to your Roku. But if you don’t have a Roku, you can watch many of its options at the other places listed above.
10. YouTube
YouTube has its share of feature-length films uploaded illegally, and those tend to disappear quickly thanks to YouTube’s algorithms. Users who attempt this are pretty silly, since YouTube actually offers many movies for free, in addition ones available for rent or purchase — you just have to be willing to watch ads with them. Tap or click here for a list of available films.
Another way to see what free movies are available, just go to the Movies & Shows channel, available from the YouTube homepage, and click “View All” next to the “Free to watch” category. These free movies aren’t the most critically acclaimed, but there are a few gems you might enjoy (particularly comedies), and tons of kid-friendly content if you have little ones you want to entertain.
Streaming has made movie-watching much more fun, even more when it’s free. Fortunately, there are tons of free online movie streaming sites, and all you have to do is sign up for a free account or watch a few ads along the way.
