It’s easy to stream your savings away on subscriptions to Netflix, Max, Peacock, Prime Video, and other paid streaming platforms, but if you’re on a budget, you can save your dollars and sign up for accounts on free streaming services. Services like Pluto TV, Tubi, The Roku Channel, and Amazon Freevee require nothing more than your email address to get started, and Kanopy only asks for your local library card info. Once you’re in, these platforms allow you to watch anything in their content library on demand and completely free of charge—though you should be prepared to sit through a few ads on all of the services (except Kanopy).To save you some time and trouble, we have hand-picked the best movies from each platform. Everything in this list is available on the first of the month unless otherwise noted.
The Best Free Streaming Services
The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy (Kanopy)
If you’re missing adventures of time and space that intersect with British countryside scenes now that the latest season of Doctor Who is done, you can watch the 1981 television adaptation of The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy. It’s based on the book of the same name by Douglas Adams, who wrote some classic Doctor Who episodes and served as a script supervisor as well. The Fifth Element (Tubi)
Whether you first watched The Fifth Element for Jean Paul Gaultier’s costumes (like I did), peak-era Bruce Willis, another transformative performance by Gary Oldman, or simply for the sci-fi fun, you undoubtedly fall in love with all of it and will gladly watch it again. And if you haven’t seen it yet, go to Tubi and press play immediately. Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again (Freevee)
How could the Mamma Mia! sequel live up to the campy original? By adding Cher. This film goes into Donna’s backstory and Sophie’s future after she’s gone. The Partridge Family (Roku)
Come on, get happy. The Brady Bunch gets all the glory as the family show of the 70s but it has nothing on The Partridge Family when it comes to music (sorry not sorry to whoever wrote Sunshine Day). The Witches of Eastwick (Tubi)
Everybody knows that getting together with Jack Nicholson is bad news. Especially when he is the literal devil. But even the devil is no match for Cher, Susan Sarandon, and Michelle Pfeiffer when they team up. Practical Magic (Pluto TV)
If The Witches of Eastwick leaves you in the mood for more beautiful women in New England towns practicing witchcraft (it is almost October, after all), Practical Magic should top your list. Especially since the Owens women are coming back for a sequel soon.
Recommended by Our Editors
Colossal (Kanopy)
Anne Hathaway plays a woman whose life has fallen into disarray. She notices that when her emotions run amok, so does a creature that is destroying South Korea. Annihilation (Kanopy)
Area X and the mysterious phenomena that happen within it as the center of Annihilation. How much is real there and how much is hallucination is what’s up for debate both in the movie and out of it. Scary Movie (and Scary Movie 2) (Pluto TV)
One thing that runs in the Wayans genes is comedy. So it’s no surprise that they looked at Scream and knew they could make it hilarious.
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About Chandra Steele
Senior Features Writer
My title is Senior Features Writer, which is a license to write about absolutely anything if I can connect it to technology (I can). I’ve been at PCMag since 2011 and have covered the surveillance state, vaccination cards, ghost guns, voting, ISIS, art, fashion, film, design, gender bias, and more. You might have seen me on TV talking about these topics or heard me on your commute home on the radio or a podcast. Or maybe you’ve just seen my Bernie meme. I strive to explain topics that you might come across in the news but not fully understand, such as NFTs and meme stocks. I’ve had the pleasure of talking tech with Jeff Goldblum, Ang Lee, and other celebrities who have brought a different perspective to it. I put great care into writing gift guides and am always touched by the notes I get from people who’ve used them to choose presents that have been well-received. Though I love that I get to write about the tech industry every day, it’s touched by gender, racial, and socioeconomic inequality and I try to bring these topics to light. Outside of PCMag, I write fiction, poetry, humor, and essays on culture.
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