Free streaming sites that are legal

Tunnelcheck lists only services that hold the rights to what they show. Most make money from ads, the way broadcast TV does. Two of them, Kanopy and hoopla, are paid for by public libraries. We checked each service against its own help pages or its owner's site on November 13, 2026. Nobody at Tunnelcheck has tested these apps; this page reports what the companies themselves publish.

Free streaming services compared

Ad-supported services anyone can use

Tubi. Tubi calls itself a free streaming service with more than 110 million monthly active users. It is part of Tubi Media Group, a division of Fox Corporation. Its corporate site says it is available in the US, Canada, Mexico, Latin America, the United Kingdom and Australia (Tubi). The UK version launched on July 2, 2024 (The Desk). The European Union isn't on Tubi's list.

Pluto TV. Pluto TV mixes scheduled channels, which feel like cable TV, with an on-demand library. Paramount's corporate website now redirects to Skydance, whose brand list includes Pluto TV (Skydance). Pluto runs separate country versions with different channels. Its own site map points to versions for Latin America, Brazil, Germany, Switzerland, Austria, France, Italy, the Nordic countries and others, alongside the US (Pluto TV). Outside those markets the site shows a message that Pluto TV is not available in your location.

The Roku Channel. Roku's help pages now describe the free content as "Roku Free TV". Roku says it is available on Roku streaming devices in the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom and Mexico. It also works on Samsung TVs, Google TV through the Roku app, and the web and phones in the US. On Amazon Fire TV it is US only. You can watch free content on Google TV without signing in (Roku support).

Plex. Plex started as software for streaming your own media files, and it now also carries free, ad-supported films, shows and live channels. Its support FAQ says users in almost every country can watch the free catalogue. It lists countries where on-demand content is not available at all, including Bahrain, Cuba, Egypt, Iran, North Korea, Qatar, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, Sudan, Syria, Turkey, Turkmenistan and the United Arab Emirates. Free titles can't be downloaded for offline viewing (Plex support).

Xumo Play. Xumo is the streaming joint venture of Comcast and Charter (Charter). Xumo's support page says Xumo Play is free and needs no account, login or credit card (Xumo support).

Samsung TV Plus. This one only runs on Samsung hardware: Samsung TVs, Galaxy phones and tablets, Smart Monitors and some fridges. Samsung says it carries more than 5,000 ad-supported channels across 30 countries (Samsung TV Plus, Samsung Newsroom).

Prime Video's free titles. Amazon's free collection says you can watch movies, shows and live TV with ads and no payment (Prime Video). You still need an Amazon account. What's free changes by country.

YouTube free movies. YouTube runs an official free, ad-supported movie program. Its help center says it is available in the US, Australia, Japan, Germany and the UK, and free TV shows only in the US and Australia (YouTube Help). These are licensed uploads. Random full-length movies posted by individual accounts are a different thing and are often removed for copyright reasons.

Free through your library or public broadcaster

Kanopy. Kanopy streams classic and independent films and documentaries. You sign up with a public library card or university login, entering your card number and PIN (Kanopy help). OverDrive, the library e-book company, bought Kanopy in 2021 (OverDrive). Availability depends on whether your library pays for it.

hoopla. hoopla offers films, TV, e-books, audiobooks and music, which its site describes as "all free from your public library". The site is copyright Midwest Tape, LLC (hoopla). As with Kanopy, your library has to subscribe.

PBS. The PBS app is free. PBS says many videos stream without a Passport membership, local station livestreams are free in the station's area, and PBS KIDS content is always free. Passport, a perk for station donors, opens up a larger back catalogue (PBS Help, PBS Help: Passport).

BBC iPlayer. iPlayer has no ads, but it isn't free in the usual sense. In the UK you need a TV licence to watch or download anything on iPlayer, and TV Licensing says you can't stream or download iPlayer programmes while abroad (TV Licensing).

Can you watch these from another country with a VPN?

Each service licenses its catalogue country by country, and most of their terms forbid hiding your location. Services also block known VPN addresses, and what works changes week to week. Tunnelcheck doesn't promise that any VPN will reach any of these services. If you're travelling, read streaming while traveling for each big service's own rules, and why streaming services block VPNs for how blocking works.

How to spot an unsafe free movie site

Sites and apps that stream pirated movies are a common route for malware and scams. The US Federal Trade Commission warns that if you download an illegal streaming app or add-on, chances are good you'll get malware too, and that malware can spread to other devices on your home network (FTC).

Research funded by the entertainment industry points the same way, so weigh it with that in mind. A 2022 Digital Citizens Alliance study with White Bullet found that about 12% of ads on pirate streaming sites linked to malware, and nearly 80% of the sites studied served at least some malware ads (Advanced Television).

• New releases or live sports for free. The FTC says a free site offering brand-new movies, popular shows or live sports is probably hiding malware.
• It asks you to install something. Requests for a "player", codec, browser extension or app download before playback are a classic malware trick.
• It asks for card details to "verify" a free account. Xumo, for example, says plainly that it needs no credit card. Be suspicious of any "free" site that wants one.
• Pop-ups, redirects and fake virus warnings. The FTC lists unexpected redirects and frequent pop-ups as signs your device may already be infected (FTC: malware).
• No company behind it. The legal services above all name a real owner. If you can't tell who runs a site, don't give it your data.
• Sideloaded TV-box apps. "Fully loaded" streaming sticks and apps from outside official app stores are the route the FTC's warning describes.

If you think a device is infected, the FTC's malware guide explains what to do. Using a VPN doesn't make a pirate stream legal or safe; it hides your traffic from your internet provider, but it doesn't block malware you choose to download.