Although streaming is the order of the day, services like Netflix little by little seem to be starting to lose subscribers. Competition in the sector is becoming stronger, and while prices continue to rise, the content on these payment platforms is not always the best.
However, not everything is premium services that work through paid subscriptions. There are also online platforms from where we can watch series and movies completely free. For example, all on-demand TV apps for mobile phones, apps to watch free live TV or streaming platforms for series and movies, which are maintained through advertising.
The 20 best legal websites to watch movies online for free
Currently, several websites allow us to watch movies legally and at no cost. Now, some of these services have regional blocking activated, which means that they can normally only be viewed if we have an IP from the US.
Something that we can solve, for example, by installing a VPN on our computer. A piece of advice: if you don’t want to spend money on a VPN, take a look at THIS POST. There you will find a list of the best free VPN applications that we can currently find.
1. Pluto TV
Pluto TV is a free streaming platform that broadcasts on-demand content and live television. All this without the need to register or pay anything at any time. The service is maintained through advertisements like a traditional television channel and has the most varied series and movies.
Pluto TV landed in Spain and Latin America at the end of 2020 and since then it has offered fifty thematic channels of humour, crimes, crazy efforts, action movies, music and much more. The company’s idea is that by the end of 2021, the offer will expand to 100 live TV channels. In addition to its website, it also has an app available on both Android and iOS.
2. Rakuten TV
The Japanese company Rakuten has a streaming platform where, in addition to having more than 80 free live TV channels with series and movies, it also has a quite interesting selection of on-demand content.
It is clear that Rakuten is making an effort to differentiate itself from the competition, and to do so it provides several self-created productions, in addition to a catalog of free films that are generally a little above average (right now, for example, the latest Power Rangers (2017) and Nicholas Cage’s Willy’s Wonderland (2021) are available, among others).
3. Runtime
Runtime is a free streaming TV platform that broadcasts movies 24 hours a day, both live and through its on-demand content library. Unlike other similar services, Runtime “only” has 18 online TV channels, although each one is dedicated to a film genre: we have channels that constantly broadcast action movies, comedy, romance, thrillers, and more.
Additionally, Runtime is available in a large number of countries, such as Latin America, the United States, Canada, and some other European countries. In addition to being accessible from the browser, Runtime also has an app for Android, iOS, Android TV and other systems, making it the most accessible.
4. PLEX
If you haven’t used PLEX in a while and only remember it as a media player for your local files, maybe you should take a look at it again. Currently, PLEX has become a platform that also offers streaming content for free, both movies and series and more than 80 live TV channels.
No type of registration or installation is necessary, we just have to enter the web version of PLEX from a browser and start enjoying its entire catalog. One of the great advantages of PLEX is that, unlike other sites that offer free movies, regional blocking here is practically non-existent: almost its entire catalog is accessible regardless of our country of origin.
5. Freevee
Freevee, formerly known as IMDBTV is Amazon’s free TV platform. The service works with ads like other FAST (Free Ad Supported Television) platforms, and has series and movies on demand of above-average quality.
Unfortunately, for now, Freevee is only available in the United States, but Amazon’s intention is to add new content (up to 100 original productions in 2023 alone), so it would not be surprising if they also offer a similar service in the rest of the regions if The platform ends up being profitable.
6. VIX
One of the few websites that offer free online movies in Spanish legally. At VIX we will find action films, horror, science fiction, classic cinema, drama, romance and even children’s content. All this is accompanied by a good handful of series, more than interesting documentaries and an extensive selection of soap operas.
We are faced with a service that is maintained through the advertisements that are shown to us when we want to see some content, although it is very brief advertising and is not annoying. Another plus point is that it does not require registration of any kind and also has an app for Android and iOS devices for those who access it from their mobile.
7. Crunchyroll
If we are fans of anime in all its aspects, we cannot ignore Crunchyroll either. This streaming platform allows us to watch a large part of its catalog with series such as One Punch Man, Boruto, Hunter x Hunter or Black Clover without having to spend a euro.
All we have to do is register with a free account on their website to view the content (supported by ads). The platform still has some points to polish in terms of usability, but in general, it is a highly recommended legal alternative for lovers of the genre.
8. RTVE Play
If you live in Spain you can’t ignore the public television app either. RTVE Play allows you to watch live television channels, but perhaps the most interesting thing is its wardrobe, with a catalog full of series, documentaries and quality programs.
Within its on-demand content offer, RTVE Play allows you to stream the latest movies broadcast on TV on TVE, although due to licenses and so on, they are usually only available for a few days. In any case, the cinema offering is usually quite good and you always find some surprises.
9. Internet Archive
Internet Archive is the great digital library of the Internet where an attempt is made to collect a multitude of old and out-of-print material. Here we will find a lot of classic old black-and-white movies, horror and science fiction films, as well as music, old newspapers and magazines and much more. In total, it has more than 75,000 videos.
The section dedicated to films is classified by genre, where we will find the most varied material, from old short films, to silent films, trailers of classic films and much more. Of course, all content can be viewed online, with several download options for offline playback.
10. Movies Found Online
This is a website that is responsible for collecting free movies that are available online. We mainly talk about a multitude of independent films and classic films of all types of genres (action, horror, adventure, comedy, drama…). All the movies are available through YouTube, so we will not have any problems accessing and playing them.
We all know that there are many movies on YouTube that we can watch for free and online, but it is impossible to know what content is available. With this page, we can see in a clearer way some quite curious films, hidden among all that sea of videos that is YouTube. Some of the more recent additions are Ripped (2017), Miss Nobody (2010) and The Facility (2012).
11. Rlaxx TV
Free streaming platform with more than 40 live channels. Rlaxx TV differentiates itself from the rest by having a repertoire of channels aimed at relaxation, with a lot of content on music, travel, food, etc.
There are also several thematic channels about cinema such as Rlaxx Movies, Rlaxx Clásicos, Wrld Drama and Wrld Comedy, where they broadcast movies 24 hours a day, some of them in Spanish and others in English.
12. Distro TV
Distro TV is another streaming TV platform that broadcasts for free and without registration and is maintained through advertising. Today it has more than 150 thematic TV channels, some of them dedicated to cinema, such as The Grid or Monarch Channel.
Most of the content is in English. In addition to the live channels, there is also a section with series and movies on demand.
13. Peacock
If what we are looking for is quality, current content, as well as modern television and film classics, this is a platform that we cannot overlook. Peacock is NBCUniversal’s streaming service, and the good news is that in addition to having a paid subscription, it also offers free access plans supported by advertising.
At Peacock, we find free major movies, and authentic blockbusters like The Matrix, Jurassic Park or the Jason Bourne saga. If we like series we can also enjoy titles like Parks and Recreations, Battlestar Galactica or the legendary comedy and interview program Saturday Night Live.
14. Tubi
Tubi is another free site with a wide variety of quality online movies to watch streaming and without registration. It has a lot of interesting categories such as “Not on Netflix”, “Only free on Tubi”, Indie movies, cult classics or Martial Arts. If we don’t know where to start we can always go in and take a look directly on the Most Popular Movies page.
It currently has films such as Apocalypto, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (2014), Parker with Jason Statham, Knock Knock with Keanu Reeves, Magic Mike XXL and many other well-known titles by actors such as Nicholas Cage, Antonio Banderas or The Rock. A fairly powerful movie offering if we compare it with other similar competing services, although the big drawback is that due to broadcasting rights, the page is blocked in Europe. Something that on the other hand we can easily solve with a VPN connection.
15. Funimation
Funimation is a streaming platform very similar to Crunchyroll: it offers a multitude of anime for free and is supported by ads. A method that works quite well, and that allows Funimation to offer high-quality content. However, it has a big drawback and that is that it is not yet available in all countries, so we will need a VPN to access it.
Here we will find a good number of well-known Japanese animes such as My Hero Academia, Tokyo Ghoul and Dead Man Wonderland, among many others. One of the star features of Funimation is that it is the largest streaming platform offering anime dubbed into English.
16. The Roku Channel
Many people know Roku only as a streaming device, but what is not so well known is that it also offers free movies from its website, The Roku Channel. In fact, you don’t even need to have a Roku device to access its content, just create an account (something anyone with an email address can do), choose a movie, and hit the “Play” button.
The Roku Channel library is full of interesting things, such as the animated film How to Train Your Dragon or Wrath of the Titans, among many others. The difference compared to other similar platforms is that most of the movies are in high resolution. It also includes free TV shows and live television.
17. FilmOn
Well-known platform that has been offering on-demand content for free and legally for years. The only thing we have to do is swallow some advertisements, although the offer as such is quite varied. On the FilmOn website, we will find shorts, documentaries, action films, comedies and much more. Don’t lose sight of it!
18. Vudu
The Vudu website offers free movies legally and without registration, and is maintained thanks to advertisements (quite moderate, by the way). The service does not have new releases, but it still has a catalog full of blockbusters and very popular movies from a few years ago.
Here we will find films like Will Smith’s Wild Wild West, Super Agent 86, Risky Business and some Pixar-type animated films, among many other things. All in HD and with good audio quality.
19. Youtube
It is true that there are first-run movies that are uploaded to YouTube illegally, but they are usually deleted shortly after. Luckily, if what we are looking for is an alternative that does not violate copyright rights within YouTube, we also have options.
On the one hand, we find the channel with content created by the platform, YouTube Originals. A service that was going to be paid, for and that finally ended up being free. It has some really interesting things, like the first season of the Cobra Kai series and some curious documentaries.
20. Popcornflix
Although it reminds some – by name – of another pirate download page, the truth is that Popcornflix is a completely legitimate website to watch free movies. The movies aren’t exactly premieres, but most are Hollywood titles with actors we’ve all heard of (Star Trek, and Brad Pitt movies).
The interface is clear and it is easy to navigate and play any movie we want to watch at any given time. In general terms, one of the best sites within the guild with an interesting catalog.