What’s included: For all subscription tiers: ad-free video and music streaming and downloads along with background playing of YouTube
Free trial or deals: 3-month free trial for standard subscribers, 1-month free trial for family and student subscribers (more info on free stuff from YouTube below)
No funds, no problem: Free streaming services and alternatives
If you’re on a shoestring budget or simply don’t want to pay for what you watch, there are free (and totally legal!) alternatives available.
YouTube
YouTube is the most popular streaming service online, and it offers endless hours of video. We covered the paid plans on premium services above, but YouTube can also be a trusty, free choice for hours of entertainment—you may just have to endure some ads (some are skippable, though!).
Twitch
Into gaming? Twitch is the platform for streaming and watching gaming content. Watch prominent gaming streamers, including Ninja, auronplay, Rubius, ibai, xQc, and Pokimane, along with staple gaming channels, such as IGN and GameSpot. Ninja is the top streamer on the platform with 19 million followers, and auronplay is in the second spot with 16 million followers. Twitch also features emotes (or emoticons), including the popular <3 (Twitch heart), PogChamp, LUL, 5Head, CurseLit and many others you can download and use. You don’t need to register for an account to watch streams on the desktop version of Twitch, but you’ll need to if you’re streaming through the app.
Tubi.TV
There’s a lot to like with Tubi, which offers more than 200,000 movies and episodes, along with more than 55 live news channels from premium outlets including NBC Fox, Bloomberg, People TV and CBC. Prominent shows on the platform include Kitchen Nightmares, Hell’s Kitchen, Forensic Files, Wolfblood, Missing, Fear Factor and The FBI Files. Tubi is a division of media giant Fox Entertainment, whose network has over 400 entertainment partners from major Hollywood studios. You do not need to register an account to stream Tubi, but having one allows you to queue up movies and save them for later. With a strong content library, Tubi is a great free choice for streaming. However, you will have to endure short commercials—remember those?
Kanopy
Kanopy is a streaming service that’s available through public libraries in Canada, as long as you have a library card (if you’re a student, you can access it through your college or university, too). Offering both entertaining and educational content, the platform has a unique video selection including, The Mask You Live In, The Central Park Five, I Lean American, Concerning Violence, Dunder, Litterbugs and Patema Inverted.
Dailymotion
Though nowhere near the size of YouTube or Twitch, Dailymotion has features worth checking out. The site has five main verticals: news, sports, entertainment, tech and music. Prominent news publications like The Canadian Press, Vogue and Teen Vogue have channels.
