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Key Takeaways: Watch Free Movies Online
- Get ExpressVPN.
- Download ExpressVPN.
- Connect to ExpressVPN.
- Start Streaming.
Facts and Expert Analysis – How and Where to Watch Free Movies Online
- There is a huge selection of legal free streaming sites online. The best free streaming sites include Tubi, Pluto TV, IMDb TV, YouTube and The Roku Channel.
- Most free movie streaming sites are ad supported, so if you’re going to use them, be prepared for interruptions.
- To access free sites in geoblocked locations and protect yourself online, we recommend using a VPN. ExpressVPN is our top recommendation, closely followed by NordVPN and Surfshark.
Best VPN for Streaming Free movies
In recent years, both veteran and up-and-coming streaming services have been making life easier for movie buffs and Saturday night viewers alike. If you’re looking to save a few bucks, read on to find out how to watch free movies online securely and anonymously.
Major streaming services like Netflix and Amazon Prime Video are known and loved for their massive content libraries, but sometimes they simply don’t have the movie you want. As well as this, streaming sites — especially if you subscribe to a few of them — can be a bit of a drain on your wallet.
As a result, more and more people are searching for free movies online.
Unfortunately, most legal free streaming sites are limited to certain locations. Because of that, you’ll need a VPN to get past the geoblocks and enjoy the free content. We recommend ExpressVPN for this purpose, but there are other great streaming VPN alternatives like NordVPN or Surfshark.
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Learn more about our editorial team and our research process.
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08/02/2022
Updated to include more information about the risks involved in using some free streaming sites and to share recommendations for safe free movie sites. We also show you how to use a VPN to watch free movies online.
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10/28/2022
Added NordVPN as a second VPN recommendation.
- updates
Is It Legal & Safe to Watch Free Movies Online?
In some cases, yes. There are plenty of great options for streaming movies and TV shows completely free online, but more on that later.
Of course, there are less legal ways to watch free movies online, such as illegal movie sites. We have plenty of resources on this topic, from everything you need to know about torrenting to tools you can use, including Stremio and Kodi. In short, there are many free illegal streaming sites out there where you can stream anything you can think of, but in this article we’ll focus on ones that are legal.
If you do decide to go digging in the dirt for a good illegal streaming site, you should make sure to protect yourself with a virtual private network (VPN) as well as some antivirus software. However, we suggest sticking to the list of the legal websites listed in this article because they have more than enough movies to watch and the risk just isn’t worth it.
Should I Use a VPN to Watch Free Movies & TV Shows Online?
Definitely. You can tighten up your security when watching free movies online with a trustworthy VPN service. When connected, a VPN sends your data through an encrypted tunnel and masks your IP address, making it impossible for hackers, snoopers and even your internet service provider to view your online activity and personal information.
VPNs are also great for streaming, as they allow you to change your IP address and access content that’s geoblocked in your location. For example, if you wanted to watch something in the American Netflix library that’s unavailable on Netflix where you are, you would simply connect to a U.S. VPN server. It also helps you access free streaming services that are unavailable in your country.
In short, a VPN should be a crucial piece of security software on everyone’s device, whether you’re using WiFi at home or public WiFi. If you’re using unofficial free streaming sites, we also highly recommend that you use antivirus software and an ad blocker. Some VPNs offer ad blocking and antivirus protection as a feature.
How to Watch Movies Online Free With a VPN
Now we’re going to show you how to access free movie websites with a VPN. For this tutorial, we’ve picked Tubi, a popular, legal and safe American online streaming site for free movies and TV shows. It’s not available outside the U.S., Mexico, Canada and Australia, so read on to find out how to access geoblocked free streaming websites from anywhere using the best VPN for Tubi TV.
The 12 Best Free Movie Streaming Sites
Now for the fun part. If our Tubi tutorial has piqued your interest, you’ll be pleased to learn that it’s but one of many great free streaming sites that are perfectly safe and legal.
These services are ad based though, which is the trade-off for being able to watch content for free. There’s no way to get rid of those, we’re afraid, but we’re still massively impressed by the content selection on these free movie websites.
1. Tubi
Tubi is a popular free streaming platform with a huge content library.
We consider Tubi to be one of the best free services currently out there. It’s available in the U.S., Mexico, Canada and Australia (and everywhere else with a VPN) and doesn’t require a subscription to watch. Tubi is ad based and home to thousands of free movies, free TV shows, foreign films and documentary movies, so you’re sure to find something for everyone.
2. Pluto TV
Pluto TV is a free U.S. streaming site for live TV, on-demand movies and TV shows.
What if we told you that you could watch live TV channels and some of the world’s most famous movies — like Gladiator and Saving Private Ryan — completely free? We didn’t believe it either at first, but we gave ExpressVPN a run with Pluto TV and found a huge selection of great movies.
Pluto TV is available in the U.S., Germany, Canada, Austria, U.K., Australia and Switzerland. It recently launched in Sweden, Denmark and Norway together with AVOD service Viafree. Pluto TV, like Tubi, is ad based. If you’re outside these countries, you’ll need the best VPN for Pluto TV to access the free streaming channel.
3. IMDb TV
The IMDb site isn’t just for checking out star ratings — you can also watch
a selection of movies and TV shows on IMDb TV.
IMDb TV lets you watch online movies and TV shows, which it hosts on a range of platforms like Amazon Prime Video and Freevee. It is a U.S. streaming site, so make sure you connect to a U.S. server to watch the movies and shows. Just a hint — groundbreaking series Mad Men is one of IMDb TV’s current offerings. You’re welcome.
4. Vudu
Another safe, legal and free movie website is Vudu, which
also allows you to buy and rent content.
If you create a Vudu account, you can watch a selection of movies and TV shows for free as long as you can tolerate ads. We were pretty impressed with Vudu’s selection — a few notable movies we spotted were Snowpiercer and Under the Skin. Be sure to connect to a U.S. server when using Vudu.
As of 2024, Vudu is known as “Fandango at Home” as a result of NBCU Universal’s rebranding attempt. But don’t worry — this will not influence your movie-watching experience, because all of your favorite TV shows and movies will remain in the platform’s library.
5. YouTube
You can watch free, full-length movies with ads on YouTube.
No free content post would be complete without trusty old YouTube. Luckily, watching movies on YouTube doesn’t necessarily mean poor quality — there are some movies and shows you can watch for free with ads. Best of all, YouTube is available in most locations worldwide.
6. The Roku Channel
The Roku Channel has a wide selection of free content in the U.S., U.K. and Canada.
By far, the Roku Channel is one of the best places you can watch movies and TV shows online for free. You don’t even need a Roku device to enjoy it — simply go to The Roku Channel’s website in your browser and stream from there. It’s available in the U.S., U.K. and Canada, so hop on a VPN server in one of these locations.
7. Crackle
Crackle lets you stream movies from a variety of genres for free.
If you’re looking for something new to watch this weekend, Crackle has a pretty decent selection of movies and TV shows. We were impressed by how many genres Crackle has and its foreign film selection in particular, for which it has dedicated an entire category. It’s an American movie streaming site, so you’ll need to connect to a U.S. server.
8. Peacock TV
The streaming service Peacock has a wide selection of paid and free content.
Peacock is a paid and free streaming service. If you sign up for an account, you can gain access to a wide selection of free content, including Minions and 1917, two hit movies we found on the first page. Peacock is only available in the U.S. and a few other locations, so you’ll need a VPN if you’re outside somewhere it’s available.
9. Disney Plus Hotstar
Paid and free streaming service Hotstar is your go-to for your favorite movies from India.
Disney Plus Hotstar is an Indian streaming service. Unfortunately, you can only subscribe if you have an Indian phone number and payment method, but you can watch some free content without an account or subscription.
Make sure you use a VPN with Indian servers, like ExpressVPN or Surfshark. We have a comprehensive guide on how to watch Hotstar from anywhere.
10. Popcornflix
Popcornflix is another safe, legal site that lets you watch movies free online.
Another great option to bookmark is Popcornflix. Though its movie genre list isn’t quite as extensive as some of the other free streaming sites we’ve shared, it has a decent selection of movies and TV shows. Popcornflix is available in the U.S. and Canada, so by now, you know the drill — you’ll need to connect to a VPN server in one of these locations.
11. Open Culture
Open Culture is a free educational website with plenty of
classics and modern films to watch for free.
If you’re into classics, silent films, film noir and more, Open Culture is the place to be. It’s an educational site, so its movie selection will certainly appeal to film buffs and old souls who enjoy celebrated classics. It’s also got a great selection of modern films, so there’s a bit of something for everyone.
The Best VPNs for Streaming Free Movies Online
There are many VPNs available, but you should ensure you opt for one with strong security and a strict no-logs policy to stay secure online. This is especially important if you plan on using an illegal streaming website or torrent. Lets start with our favorite VPN, ExpressVPN.
1. ExpressVPN – Best Option to Watch Movies for Free Online
ExpressVPN is our top recommendation for using free streaming sites safely.
More details about ExpressVPN:
Pros:
- Excellent speeds
- Watertight security
- Gets into free streaming sites
If you’re looking for a recommendation for a VPN to use with your favorite free movie site, you can’t go wrong with ExpressVPN. As our top pick for the best streaming VPN, ExpressVPN works seamlessly with major streaming services like Netflix and free streaming services alike.
We took ExpressVPN for a spin with the free movie sites above and it worked like a charm every time.
It’s also one of the fastest VPNs on the market, so you’ll be able to enjoy your favorite movies without interruption (except for the ads on the free streaming services, of course). ExpressVPN is a very secure service, so you won’t have to worry about hackers and snoopers getting hold of your data. If you’d like to learn more about ExpressVPN, feel free to check out our full ExpressVPN review, or use the 30-day money-back guarantee to test it out for yourself.
ExpressVPN Plans
2. NordVPN – Fastest VPN for Free Movies Online
NordVPN is the fastest VPN available and it’s affordable too.
More details about NordVPN:
- Pricing: $3.09 per month (two-year plan + three months)
- Provider website: nordvpn.com
Pros:
- Fastest speeds
- Excellent security & privacy
- Accesses services easily
If you’re after something a bit more affordable, NordVPN is a great option. Like ExpressVPN, it can access streaming services with ease, and it has no problem streaming from free services and websites too.NordVPN is the fastest VPN you can get, as you can see from our ongoing speed tests, and it provides an excellent streaming experience.
Plus, it has some of the best security features on the market, meaning you’ll be safe no matter where you stream from. You can read more in our NordVPN review, but you can also test it for yourself using the 30-day money-back guarantee.
If you’d like an alternative Surfshark is also a great streaming VPN. To learn more about this service, check out our Surfshark review.
Basic
- *The prices are charged in the first billing cycle only. Renewal prices vary.
- Unlimited GB
- 6
- Yes
Plus
- *The prices are charged in the first billing cycle only. Renewal prices vary.
- Unlimited GB
- 6
- Yes
Ultimate
- *The prices are charged in the first billing cycle only. Renewal prices vary.
- Unlimited GB
- 6
- Yes
Final Thoughts
We’re not going to lie; we found a fair few movies in the process of writing this post that we’re going to have to check out ourselves.
To reiterate, we highly recommend using legal free streaming sites for better quality and security all around. Whichever site you’re using, a reliable VPN like ExpressVPN can really broaden your horizons streaming-wise and ensures you stay anonymous and secure online.
What do you think of our top free streaming site recommendations? Are there any we’re not aware of that you can share with our other readers? Any that we should avoid at all costs? If so, please drop them in the comments and let us know your experience. Thanks for reading!
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