Watching free movies online is a convenient and frugal way to see the films you love right from the comfort of your own home. Yes, there are plenty of sites where you can get movies “for free” but the ones listed below, although ad-supported, are clean from viruses and completely legal to use.
There’s a huge variety of freely available movies on these sites, from comedies and dramas to horror and action films. There are movies from big-name studios, but also many older and independent movies that you’ll love to watch over and over again.
Our Top Picks
Best Overall: Crackle
Crackle has hundreds of mainstream movies and original content. Content is regularly cycled, so there’s always something new to watch.
Best for a Variety of Movies: Popcornflix
With Popcornflix, you can watch free movies on your TV, computer, or mobile device without setting up an account.
Best for Finding Movies Around the Web: Yidio
Yidio doesn’t host any content, but it has a robust search feature that finds where you can watch films and shows for free online.
Best for High-Quality Movies: Vudu
Vudu has free high-definition movies organized so that you can see all available content in a single genre all on one page, including a New to Free list.
Best for Popular Titles: Freevee
Best for a TV Experience: Pluto TV
In addition to on-demand movies and TV, you can even watch live TV channels and listen to radio stations.
Most of these sites have a mobile app for watching their movies. Take a look at our list of the best free apps for streaming movies so you can take the films with you wherever you go.
Crackle
Crackle tops our list for the best place to watch free movies online because it offers hundreds of full-length films you can watch any time, including original programming. These are big-name movies with stars you know.
Big selection, including recent films.
Good video quality.
Really great mobile app.
Can’t sort films by popularity.
Available only in the US and its territories.
These high-quality movies look spectacular on whatever size of monitor or screen you’re watching them on. You’ll have to sit through a few commercials every once in a while, but they’re short and there are only a few commercial breaks during a feature-length movie.
A closed captioning toggle is available directly from the video player for all users, but if you sign up for an account (it’s free), you can also enable parental controls (options are kids mode, teen mode, and grown-up mode).
Some of the site’s most recently added films include Charlie’s Angels, Headhunters, Starsky & Hutch, Desperate Measures, High-Rise, and Arthur & Merlin: Knights of Camelot.
Popcornflix
Popcornflix is another great place to watch free movies online. Their constant flow of new titles from Screen Media Ventures means that they have lots of movies being added all the time.
Clean, smooth website layout.
Includes subtitles.
Has a one-page list of every movie available.
‘Continue watching’ section.
Can’t sort by date or popularity.
Strange site navigation.
This site has several hundred movies that include comedy, drama, horror, action, romance, family, documentary movies, and foreign films. They also feature web and film school originals, and list some titles by a common theme, like A Dose of Adrenaline, To Boldly Go, Calling the Cops, and Offbeat Comedies.
No account is needed; simply choose any movie and enjoy. It supports resume playback, so you can watch these movies in pieces if you like.
Some of the newest additions include Bad Milo!, The Warlords, Apartment 143, The Last King, 2030, The Eclipse, and A Stand Up Guy.
YouTube
YouTube isn’t just the place to go to watch the latest movie trailers or videos of skateboarding dogs. They also have dozens upon dozens of movies that you can watch for free.
Movies are rated by real viewers.
You can leave comments.
Single, easy-to-scroll-through list.
Most movies have subtitles.
Many aren’t in HD.
Films are often taken down without notice.
YouTube has its own curated list of new and popular movies that are easily accessible from the Movies & Shows section, via the link below. There are also some movie companies that have channels here where you can watch their full-length films for free.
A few films that were recently added to the collection include The Perks of Being a Wallflower, Prairie Home Companion, Steel Magnolias, Anaconda, Trust, Georgia Rule, and Beauty and the Beast.
Yidio
Yidio is a website with several categories showing you where you can watch movies online. One such category is designed specifically for free movies.
Makes it easy to find free movies around the web.
Lots of unique filtering options.
Sort by popularity and date added.
Can be helpful for renting and buying, too.
Films are streamed through other sites.
Movies are DVD quality.
Incorrectly labels some paid movies as free.
Shows the wrong synopsis and photo for some films.
What sets Yidio apart from the rest is that it’s really like a search engine for free movies; it helps you find all the free places to watch movies online.
It’s super easy to sort the films by the site they’re hosted on as well as by genre, when they were released, MPAA rating, decade, IMDb rating, and more. Beyond the regular genres you’d expect, like action and drama, are interesting ones like Art House & International, Special Interest, Indie, Faith & Spirituality, Disaster, and Neo-noir.
Some popular films listed on Yidio include Back to the Future, Seven, 12 Angry Men, It’s a Wonderful Life, The Hunt, and Taxi Driver.
Tubi
Tubi has thousands of free movies and TV shows that you can stream right now. Some of them can only be rented and not viewed for free, but many are no cost to stream.
High quality, popular movies.
Lots of categories.
Subtitles can be enabled for most movies.
Has a section just for kids.
Doesn’t separate movies from shows.
There are dozens of genres and collections to pick from, even fun and unique ones like Only Free on Tubi, Black Cinema, Movie Night, Cult Classics, K-Drama+, and Bollywood Dreams. We also particularly like the Leaving Soon and Trending Now sections.
Some titles listed as the site’s most popular films and recent additions include The Hangover, The Final Destination, Pearl Harbor, Little Nicky, The Fifth Element, Blade, and Annie.
Tubi Kids is a section of this site perfect for streaming just kid-related films. It’s available from the top of the website and has categories just for preschoolers and other kids, including Toon TV, LEGO, Animé, and Friendly Monsters films. There are also parental controls you can set through the normal website.
Vudu
Vudu might not be your first pick when looking for free sites for streaming movies, but there are in fact thousands of movies here that you can watch right now. All you have to do is put up with a few commercials.
Lots of high quality movies.
Several useful ways to find just the free movies.
Most are popular and well known, and include subtitles.
Films can be filtered and sorted in a number of ways.
Also supports buying and renting movies.
Some movies here cost.
You must log in (registration is free).
You can filter these films by genre and sort them by most-watched or release date. The genres are pretty basic, so your options include action, comedy, crime, romance, and a few others.
Something unique to call out about this movie site is that not only can you browse the new releases, but you can do so on a single page for every genre. The New Releases page lists each genre to make looking through the newly added films really easy, like The King’s Speech, Son of Bigfoot, Time Trap, and The Philadelphia Experiment.
Other fun areas of the site you don’t want to miss include Most Watched Movies, Critically Acclaimed, Hidden Gems, and Big Time Movie Stars. There are a few hundred videos in each section.
One great thing about Vudu’s movies is that some of them are in 1080p, so you don’t have to sacrifice quality just to watch some free movies.
Once you settle on something to watch, you might be given the option to buy or rent it, but so long as you found it through one of the free pages, there will be a button you can use to stream the movie without paying. Of course, you could also pay for movies here, too.
The Roku Channel
Free movies, TV shows, and live TV is also available from The Roku Channel. If you have a Roku TV or streaming player, you can add the Roku Channel just as you’d add any channels to Roku devices. Even if you don’t have a Roku device, you can still stream all of these movies free to your computer or mobile device.
Provides high quality movies.
Includes newer films.
Works on computers, mobile devices, and TVs.
Offers customizable captions.
No user account necessary.
Several ways to search for something to watch.
Might not work in most countries.
Can’t filter or sort any genre list.
Doesn’t separate movies from shows in category lists.
There are some ads in these movies, but the trade-off is really high-quality videos and well-known movies. There’s a countdown for titles about to be removed, so you can plan accordingly.
While there are typical genre lists you can browse through, none of them let you sort by popularity or filter by rating or year. However, you can search for actors and directors to find movies they’re associated with, plus browse trending videos and titles that were added this month.
On the home page are handy categories you won’t find elsewhere, like Not on Netflix, Best Friends & Frenemies, Family Night, and Spotlight Movies.
A few of the newest movies added over the last month include Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story, Cinderella Man, Underworld, Saw, Evan Almighty, and Lee Daniels’ The Butler.
Plex
Plex is an interesting service because it’s actually a much bigger package than it might seem at first. In addition to free full-length movies, it also has TV shows, podcasts, live TV, and associated software that serves as an at-home media server.
Most if not all movies have subtitles.
Doesn’t require a user account.
Several ways to browse the films.
Create a queue for easy passive watching.
Standard, uninteresting genres.
Lists shows alongside the movies.
Currently, there are over 20,000 free movies and shows here. They’re sectioned off in traditional genres like action and crime, but you can also browse by actor or channel, like BBC, Crackle, Popsy, Lionsgate, and Maverick Black Cinema. Plex has its own unique categories, too, including Crime Time and Cheap Thrills.
On a movie’s watch page are similar titles and additional details that help build a total picture of the film, like the full cast list, reviews, and trailers. See which movies on Plex are leaving soon to catch them before they go!
Here are a few of the ‘Plex Picks’ titles: Empire Records, The Island, The Ring, The Sunlit Night, Don Jon, Heat, and The Men Who Stare at Goats.
Freevee
Uncluttered video player.
Great collection of newer free films and shows.
Browsing for movies is easy.
Includes original videos.
Locate movies with subtitles in your language.
User account required.
Most in-video ads are long.
Relatively small collection.
Unhelpful search tool.
For US users only.
Some of this site’s newly added movies include Identity Theft, Red Sparrow, Freaky, Widows, The Smurfs, Little Fockers, Click, Booksmart, The Purge, Let Him Go, and The Devil Wears Prada.
Pluto TV
Pluto TV works in two ways, as both an on-demand movie streaming website where you can pick from a list of films, and a live TV service that lets you watch movies and TV shows as they become available. No user account is necessary, and you can even still build a watch list without ever entering your email or name.
Has the same feel as a TV’s channel guide.
See what will be on later in the day.
Lets you start the movie from an earlier time or watch it live.
Includes thousands of on-demand movies.
Streams TV shows, news, music, and more.
Has only a dozen or so channels for just movies.
Live-streamed movies can’t be watched again on demand.
There’s always a video playing; you can mute, but not stop it.
You can watch live TV and movies from your web browser or the mobile or desktop app by downloading the appropriate software. Among several other devices, it’s available as an app for iOS and Android.
Find comedy, drama, action, horror, and other movie types here, both on-demand and live. If you’re streaming live TV, the movie channels start at 51; others have live sports, music, and news.
If you’re tired of the traditional genres most movie sites let you pick from, you’ll be pleased with Pluto TV’s. Science Docs, PGA Tour, World Cinema, Sports Movies, LGBTQ Cinema, Comfort Movies, and ’90s Throwback are a few examples of the creative categories offered here.
Some of Pluto’s newly added on-demand movies include titles like Clueless, Ferris Bueller’s Day Off, Cloverfield, Like a Boss, Adventureland, 13 Hours, and The Rum Diary.
Kanopy
Kanopy is different from these other free movie streaming websites because you need a valid library card or university login before you can watch anything. However, there are zero commercials in the movies, and new films are added every month.
Includes thousands of free videos.
Adds new movies often.
No ads display within the movies.
Loads of genres to pick from.
Unique movies.
Must have a supported library card or school account.
Use the Kanopy signup page to search for your library, whether it’s a public library or one attached to a school. Once you’ve been approved, you can start watching the movies they have on their website.
Kanopy has thousands of movies. Some categories you can look through include Short Film, History - Ancient, LGBTQ Cinema, War & Action, Sociology, Performing Arts, Human Rights, Everyday Health, and K-12 Lessons.
There’s an entirely separate section for Kanopy kids movies. You can also set up parental controls to force only age-appropriate content.
A few of the popular and new movies include Godspeed, Hereditary, Memento, Lady Bird, There Is No Evil, Horses on Mars, Donnie Darko, The Florida Project, and The Immigrant.
Peacock
From NBCUniversal is the Peacock service, which includes thousands of hours of movies and TV shows, including some originals that you won’t find on any of these other sites. Films are from studios like Universal, DreamWorks Animation, and Focus Features.
Unique films.
It’s easy to see what’s not free.
Categorizes films into fun sections.
Includes captions.
Also has news and live TV.
Some titles aren’t free.
Few traditional genres to choose from.
Must make a user account to watch even the free movies.
We’ve seen films organized in categories such as 90s Movies, Pride Is Undeniable, Comic Relief, Rom-Coms, Serious Cinema, Celebrating Black-Led Movies, Fright Night, and Controversial Movies. This is a fun way to find movies through a new lens.
You can pay if you want more features like access to additional titles and ad-free videos. The movies that cost have a purple feather in the corner of the thumbnail to make it easy to distinguish from the free ones.
Some free movies just added include 9/11, Boxed In, Annie, and The Spy Who Dumped Me.
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