Free Movie Streaming: Our top 11 picks for free films

It might be time to say goodbye to Netflix, Hulu, or Disney Plus, especially if you’re trying to lower your monthly costs. You’d be surprised how quickly all of those services can add up and match your cable bill, especially in 2023 with all the constant price increases. It can be hard, with so many new shows and movies rolling out each week.

If you need any more convincing, keep in mind that the Internet Archive is also one of the free movie websites that have no ads, and it’s completely free to access for everyone. AZMovies is one of the most popular free movie sites out there, and it’s been around for quite a while. It features thousands of movies and has a huge following of people tuning in every month. Wondering what the best VPN is for watching movies on free streaming sites?

Also, the site doesn’t sort movies into any categories, which can make exploring new films and shows a challenge. Kanopy is one of the more interesting options to watch free movies online. For starters, you’ll need a library card to access the movies on this website. This can be a library card from your university or even a public library.

You’ll have more luck looking for older, more obscure titles on the platform. That’s because streaming rights for these shows have largely expired, making them fair game. Shows like The FBI Files have entire seasons available in various playlists on YouTube. We also found a lot of exclusive content from indie developers, like the Fool’s Day short. As far as free streaming sites go, Sony Crackle looks great, and we found it easy to navigate.

You can watch it all online or on a number of devices including Roku, Apple TV, Xbox, Playstation, Samsung smart TVs, and Sony smart TVs. Popcornflix is another completely free video streaming site, offering about 2,000 movies with ads in a variety of categories. It’s available as an app for a variety of devices, and you can also watch in a web browser. There’s no account required; just open the website, select a movie and start viewing. But many free sites, like the ones included here, have all licensed their movies correctly. They remain free either because they are supported by ads like unpaid network television or because of specific library pay-per-use purchase agreements.

Some free movie websites we’ll list here are legitimate streaming platforms that own the distribution rights for the content they share. Others operate in a shadier area, offering a place to watch movies free online, even though they don’t have the relevant permissions. Crackle is an ad-supported streaming service previously owned by Sony Entertainment. While it has since changed hands, it still features over 1,000 movies, including popular titles like The Aristocrats and Bernie, and nearly 100 television shows.

Use the Kanopy signup page to search for your library, whether it’s a public library or one attached to a school. Filmzie is built for streaming movies from independent filmmakers and both small and large studios. The site and app are well-designed, and there are plenty of great titles to stream.

When we tested the site, every other click on a menu or movie launched an ad within a new tab. Get yourself an ad blocker, and you’ll be able to browse without interruption. Again, watch out for potentially malicious adverts on this website. You may see pop-out free movies adverts in a new tab that offer antivirus or other cybersecurity software. Installing software from ads like these can infect your device with malware. Never download these kinds of files, especially when prompted to do so by an unverified website or advert.

The content on Crackle or Peacock, for example, is available without the need to set up an account on the platform. Many premium streaming platforms, such as Disney+ and Apple TV+, offer free trial periods during which you can watch their content without paying. The same is true of many network streaming platforms such as STARZ or Showtime. The difference is that you’ll need to sign up for an account on the platform and provide payment information. You won’t be charged a subscription fee during the free-trial period. But if you don’t cancel by the time the trial period ends, your account will automatically convert to a paid subscription.

If you’re new to the VPN scene, we’ll give you a helping hand in getting started. We tested every free movie site on this list with NordVPN – the absolute frontrunner in online security. To summarize, in using a VPN to visit free movie websites, your location is protected, your activity is hidden, and you’re safer from malware attacks. You will also be able to access blocked sites from anywhere. At the very least, you should always be using a VPN on free movie sites. NordVPN offers robust protection against data snooping and malware attacks.

You don’t need to have a subscription or an account with these sites in order to watch these movies. They may require that you enter your birth date to verify that you’re old enough to watch movies intended for mature audiences. All the movies should be able to stream without download, and you often can watch in HD movie quality. Streaming movies and TV shows for free online can be legal, depending on a few factors. If the platform streaming said content has distribution rights for it, then yes, it’s legal.

Categories are filtered into easy scroll bars, a little like Netflix. The only difference between Yidio and MyBundle.TV is that Yidio’s interface is a bit outdated. Other than that, both sites feature pretty much the same links to content on free streaming platforms.

It’s easy to navigate, not too intrusive with its ads, and it boasts an extensive collection of both movies and TV shows. People usually steer towards Yify when the title they’re looking for isn’t available on other free streaming sites. Besides exclusive movies or free TV shows, there’s little incentive to choose Yify TV over an alternative. Yify TV is one of the free movie websites that has a substantial library and a very simple interface.

If YesMovies was a legitimate movie website, it’d be a treat. During our testing, we found that it has a friendly interface, good navigation, and an enormous library with thousands of free movies and TV series. It’s a popular free movie website for streaming, and it even has personalization features, like a favorite list. Yes, The CW isn’t a movie streaming service, but it’s full of trashy shows that are perfect for mindless binges. Do you want to watch a historical drama where all the facts are wrong, and everyone has an American accent? Plex doesn’t force you to create an account to watch, but if you decide to create one, you can use Plex to access your other subscriptions or upload content, so everything is in one place.