These days, we’re like zombies when it comes to consuming movies and TV shows. It’s not your fault you’re being plunged into huge libraries of free media—emphasis on free, by the way.
Two Free Streaming Services
With so many streaming services to choose from, you can get lost in the sea of competing companies.
You start to compare prices, which can still be too expensive, and prices for streaming services seem to keep going up. It can be difficult to pick the one you like. But what if I told you there’s no need to pay to watch all the movies and TV shows you like? There are legal streaming services that you can use without paying a dime. Pluto TV and Tubi are two streaming ad-supported platforms online that offer free movies and TV series. It may even make you wonder who needs Netflix anymore.
Pluto TV is among the streaming services currently owned by the media entertainment company Paramount Global, with more than 80 million active monthly users. It was launched back in 2013 to match the standard cable television, with categories including: movies & television, lifestyle & reality, and news & sports. Some of Pluto TV’s notable shows include Star Trek, The Twilight Zone, Sailor Moon, Merlin, and many more. Some of these shows you can watch on “Live TV,” while others are “On Demand.” Pluto TV also has quite a lot of popular television channels, including: CBS News, NFL, CNN, Comedy Central, Bloomberg, MTV, Nickelodeon, and various anime.
Tubi is another streaming platform that allows you to watch for free. Tubi includes some of Hollywood’s popular movies, like The Revenant, Interstellar, The Departed, as well as television series such as Mr. Bean, Duck Dynasty, McLeod’s Daughter, and many more. Tubi also has a kids’ section (called Tubi Kids), which has a huge library of 1,200 age-appropriate movies and TV shows featuring popular titles like Sonic Boom, Clifford, Scooby-Doo, Power Rangers, and more. Tubi offers other movies in genres like indie films, horror, and anime.
What’s the Difference Between Tubi and Pluto TV?
While both Pluto TV and Tubi have a wide range of movies and television shows, notable exceptions pop out. Let’s take Tubi, for example, which has a deal with another entertainment company, Lionsgate.
This means that Tubi has more access to popular movies like Saw and The Expendables, which aren’t available on Pluto TV. Yet Pluto TV also has a partnership deal with another entertainment company, Viacom, which also provides access to content from Nickelodeon, Comedy Central, and MTV.
Pluto TV offers a wide range of live television channels and around 250 live channels, spanning different genres in classic television, movies, sci-fi, comedy, reality, and many more, but its on-demand library is relatively smaller. However, the latter gets offset by these popular shows and indie films: The Walking Dead and Nashville, The Big Lebowski, and This Is Spinal Tap. Plus, Pluto TV also has the option to watch traditional daytime TV, if you feel like it.
While Pluto live TV is not “live” in the traditional sense since most channels loop pre-recorded content rather than broadcast in real-time.
On the other hand, Tubi boasts a massive library of more than 50,000 television shows and movies with a wide selection of genres from major studios, which include Inception, The Dark Knight, as well as The Mummy. This streaming platform also has a strong lineup of television hits like Buffy the Vampire Slayer, The X-Files, and Angel. If you’re a fan of the classics, Tubi is a must-visit place. It also has some limited live TV options, with loop pre-recorded content, just like Pluto TV.
In short, Pluto TV focuses on live TV-style streaming with scheduled programming, while Tubi focuses on-demand content. Both are ad-supported and free, and the content rotates, so nothing on streaming platforms exists forever.
Who’s the Best Audience for Pluto TV?
You should stick with Pluto TV if you enjoy watching live television shows and you don’t mind the occasional commercials as well. This platform gives you that nostalgic feeling of cable television in your home when you’re younger but without the monthly fees. With over 250 live channels that include watching events with real-time updates as well as news and sports, you’ll never get bored. This is also a good choice if you like to have something on in the background when at home.
If you want little to no interruptions while watching a movie, you may not enjoy Pluto TV since it includes frequent commercial ads, a con if you’ve become used to ad-free watching. One feature that may also feel limiting is not having the option to rewind, pause, or skip live channels (though you can still do this for on-demand content).
Who’s the Best Audience for Tubi?
Tubi’s streaming platform is perfect for you if you enjoy immersing yourself in an extensive selection of movies and television shows without the commitment of a subscription. It includes more than 50,000 titles that will curb your movie cravings, allowing you to binge your way to a variety of genres, including horror, indie, or other foreign films.
If you’re okay with frequent ads, it’s a good choice. Though the ad frequency seems to be a little less than Pluto TV, Tubi also offers a personalized watching experience by creating a customized watch list with tailored recommendations based on your watching habits. This can be especially useful if you sometimes find yourself unsure about what to watch.
However, if you’re someone who loves to watch daytime TV, Tubi is unlikely to be the best choice for a streaming platform. Plus, it focuses more on on-demand media content and lacks the traditional cable experience found on Pluto TV.
Which Streaming Service Is Best for You?
Pluto TV is ideal for you if you seek the vibrant energy of live sports and the thrill of real-time news coverage, especially if you don’t mind ads. Just like any other for-profit business, money is made through ads. It’s also the best service to pick if you enjoy the experience of surfing channels like traditional cable television.
On the other hand, you can decide on Tubi if you crave novelty and want to have access to more than 50,000 of the extensive selection of mainstream films and television shows, including foreign films, anime, and horror. You’ll still experience ads running every now and then, but it’s not as frequent as traditional cable TV or even Pluto TV. It’s also perfect if you’ve got kids or grandkids due to Tubi’s extensive collection of kids’ cartoons. If you have specific or niche interests and can’t often find shows you like on standard streaming services, there are other specialty streaming services you can check out.
Can You Have Both Streaming Services?
Perhaps you’re wondering if you can have both. Of course you can! By choosing both, you can have the best of two streaming worlds and binge-watch as much as you like. With those two free streaming options to pick from, you may just end up canceling your Netflix subscription.
Either way, both streaming services are free, so there’s no harm in having both of them at your disposal. However, if you don’t like ads at all, here are nine streaming services that still offer free trials.
Movie night is about to get more exciting now that your choice of movies and television shows gets even broader. It’s perfect if you want to try out other streaming services without the burden of having to maintain a monthly subscription to watch movies and TV shows. Enjoy!
