Free Trial or Offers: 3-month free trial for standard subscribers, 1-month free trial for family and student subscribers (more information on free content from YouTube below)
No credit, no problem: free streaming services and alternatives
If you’re on a budget or just don’t want to pay for what you’re watching, there are free (and perfectly legal!) alternatives.
youtube
YouTube is the most popular online streaming service and offers endless hours of videos. We’ve covered the paid plans for premium services above, but YouTube can also be a trustworthy, free choice for hours of entertainment – you might just have to put up with a few ads (some are skippable though!). You can watch a variety of free videos from the YouTube Originals channel, such as: The Mandela Project, Seat at the Table, Onyx Family Dinner, The Outsiders and Demi Lovatos Dancing with the devil You can also watch YouTube stars like Marques Brownlee, Liza Koshy, and Rhett & Link Good mythical morning.
Pull out
into play? Twitch is the platform for streaming and watching gaming content. Check out prominent gaming streamers including Ninja, auronplay, Rubius, ibai and xQc along with popular gaming channels like IGN and GameSpot. Ninja is the top streamer on the platform with 18.4 million followers, and auronplay is in second place with 14.1 million followers. Twitch also offers emotes (or emoticons) including the popular <3 (Twitch Heart), PogChamp, LUL, 5Head, CurseLit and many others for you to download and use. You don't have to register for an account to watch streams on the desktop version of Twitch, but you do if you're streaming from the app.
Tubi.TV
There’s a lot to like about Tubi, which offers more than 45,000 movies and TV shows and over 100 local and live news channels. Prominent shows on the platform include MasterChef Canada, nightmares in the kitchen, hell kitchen and Forensic Files. Tubi is a division of media giant Fox Entertainment, whose network includes over 400 entertainment partners from major Hollywood studios. You don’t need to register an account to stream Tubi, but if you have one you can queue movies and save them for later. With a strong content library, Tubi is a great free choice for streaming. They do have to endure short commercials, though (remember those?).
canopy
Kanopy is a streaming service available through public libraries in Canada as long as you have a library card (you can also access it through your college or university if you’re a student). The platform offers both entertaining and educational content and has a unique video selection, including Canadian and independent cinema. title included Memento, Maurice, Boy, Sesame Street, Franklin, Quartet, Small Town Murder Songs and quality. Independent shows and films include Silo, The Call and Hunt for the Wilderpeople.
Dailymotion
While not nearly as big as YouTube or Twitch, Dailymotion has features worth checking out. The site has four dedicated verticals: news, sports, entertainment, and music. Well-known news publications such as The Canadian Press, Fashion and Teen Vogue have channels.
Is streaming cheaper than cable?
Want to know how streaming costs compare to cable costs? Let’s say you’re already paying around $70 for internet service every month. Here’s what it’ll cost you to add a streaming service (or two) to those editions. Note that prices vary based on where you live and the plans you choose. The table below compares streamers’ fees to the average cost of cable plans.
