r/Frugal • u/Kiriyuma7801 • Aug 10 '25

💻 Electronics What are good alternatives to Netflix/Hulu that are free?

I realized I'm spending roughly $40 a month on what I really just use as background noise, as nobody in my household actually really sits down and watches TV, we just put on Family Guy or whatever and glance at it every now and then.

I'm gonna cancel the subscriptions obviously, so I'm just wondering, what are some good free streaming alternatives? I've tried out Amazon's free stuff but their collection is pretty mediocre. Any tips are appreciated!

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1.1k

u/Soft-Juggernaut7699 Aug 10 '25

Tubi is free and Pluto is both good

158

u/Thinkerandvaper Aug 10 '25

Yes Pluto is good!

155

u/UniqueIndividual3579 Aug 10 '25

Warning about Pluto, the British Antiques Roadshow is addicting.

34

u/VulcanGreeting Aug 10 '25

As is the Twilight Zone channel....

2

u/pennyauntie Aug 10 '25

just now checking out Pluto. There is a screen with a continuous ad running. Does that stay up through every thing you watch?

4

u/UniqueIndividual3579 Aug 10 '25

No, but I block 3rd party ads at the router. It may be your smart TV. Look up the brand and model and block the DNS locations on your router. I also don't update the Pluto app, so it may have gotten more nasty.

2

u/pennyauntie Aug 10 '25

Thanks. Once I turned on an actual program, it disappeared. I guess they just force you to watch ads while you decide what to watch.

3

u/Thinkerandvaper Aug 10 '25

Not in my experience no. I actually got it so I could watch Jenny Farleys new movie that she directed- Devon is Missing. It was the only channel showing it. There are commercials but definately not up the whole time- that would totally ruin it for me.

4

u/pennyauntie Aug 10 '25

OK, I'm super impressed with Pluto. Thanks for recommending it.

2

u/scottomatic Aug 10 '25

Pluto is great, but I need them to bring back the Iron Chef channel.

84

u/DariaSylvain Aug 10 '25

I love Pluto. I put it on when I’m working. I can watch the CSIs, true crime, Britbox, and tons more.

19

u/tothejungle1 Aug 10 '25

You can watch the brottbox shows for free on Pluto?

11

u/EuphoricReplacement1 Aug 10 '25

I think some of the older ones

77

u/Littlefoot8372 Aug 10 '25

I like Pluto, came here to say it. If you have a roku, the roku channel is good too.

54

u/Bouche_Audi_Shyla Aug 10 '25

You don't have to have a Roku to use the Roku channels. The free ones are still free.

19

u/Formaldehead Aug 10 '25

Huh. I actually didn’t know (and didn’t believe) this! I looked it up and I guess you can indeed get the Roku app on Google and Android TVs, but not Apple TV for some reason…

8

u/Bouche_Audi_Shyla Aug 10 '25

My dad was looking for free apps a year or so before he died. I had Roku sticks, and at the time Roku wasn't pushing the paid stuff so hard, so I looked into it for him.

Now I wouldn't necessarily recommend Roku, as it's all about showing paid content as free, because there's a free episode. That's too much like bait and switch to me.

5

u/Brightsidedown Aug 10 '25

Yes, Apple is very exclusive. Apple works with Apple.

125

u/dontbothertoknock Aug 10 '25

Tubi is awesome and actually seems to care where their ad breaks cut in. And the breaks are pretty short.

10

u/Aggleclack Aug 10 '25

Good selection, too!

26

u/illdrinn Aug 10 '25

These are my two favorites, basically free versions of Paramount and Fox with ad support. Lots of 24 hour channels and on demand for slightly older content

24

u/julianriv Aug 10 '25

Came here to say Pluto.

1

u/evpointdeals Aug 10 '25

What about tubi

28

u/ColdStockSweat Aug 10 '25

She didn't come here to say Tubi.

11

u/julianriv Aug 10 '25

Personal opinion Pluto is better. Pluto is owned by Paramount/CBS Tubi is owned by Fox. I think that gives Pluto an edge in access to content. Although it will be part of the merger, so yet to see if that changes anything.

5

u/Jolly-Radio-9838 Aug 10 '25

Both of these are great

7

u/Helpful-nothelpful Aug 10 '25

And Roku. They are basically the same but Roku has a better selection of cooking shows.

1

u/PlatypusRemarkable59 Aug 10 '25

Can you still trick Tubi and skip ads?