How To Get Streaming Services For Free

If you purchase an independently reviewed product or service through a link on our website, Rolling Stone may receive an affiliate commission.

What’s the old saying? The best things in life are free. Well, in 2026, it may be tough to find something high quality that’s free, but in the case of these streaming services, they really are free (for at least a limited time).

Although Netflix, Disney+, and HBO Max, Paramount+ don’t offer free trials anymore, there’s still quite a few top-tier streaming services that do. Rolling Stone rounded up the best streaming services with free trials to access popular movies, TV shows, and in some cases, live TV channels.

At a Glance: The Best Streaming Services with Free Trials in 2026

Moreover, all of the streaming services are compatible to watch on iPhones, iPads, Android smartphones and tablets, Google Chromecast, Roku devices, Amazon Fire TV devices and sets, Google TV, web browsers, and smart TVs. The streamers listed below include free trials that varies in time period from five days to 30 days — that’s one whole month of service for free. Here are our top choices.

In This Article

What Are the Best Streaming Services with Free Trials?

Below are the best streaming services with free trials to consider in 2026. All picks are streamers we’ve watched and tested ourselves, are from reputable companies, have high customer reviews, and offer free trials.

Instead of traditional cable that physically comes to your TV with a cable, DirecTV is streamable through an app or the company’s own Gemini and Gemini Air devices. But, it’s compatible with other streamers, including Apple iPhone, Apple iPad, Apple TV, Roku, Google Chromecast, Amazon Fire TV, and more.

Starting at $19.99 per month with the streamer’s current deals, DirecTV comes with dozens of broadcast and cable networks — including NBC, ESPN, FOX, CBS, AMC, Bravo, CNBC, TNT, Disney Channel and others. The streamer has a free five-day trial available, which you can either cancel the service or keep watching.

Hulu is one of the most popular streaming service, thanks to its low entry-level price at $11.99 per month; near-universal compatibility with Android, Roku, Amazon Fire TV, and Apple devices; and wide range of original movies and TV shows — including Shōgun, Fleishman Is in Trouble, Prey, The Bear, Solar Opposites, Only Murders in the Building, and others.

Meanwhile, Hulu has a number of add-ons, like Disney+ for Disney originals, ESPN Unlimited for sports coverage and originals, and Hulu Live + TV for live TV channels. The streaming service has a very generous 30-day free trial available, so you can try out the service for yourself.

Additionally, there’s a three-day free trial available for Hulu + Live TV, which features nearly 100 networks, like NBC, FOX Sports, Discovery Channel, A&E, Food Network, and more. Starting at $89.99 per month, the live TV service also comes with access to Hulu, Disney+ and ESPN Unlimited at no extra cost.

Fubo is cable alternative streamer that starts at $48.99 for the first month, $73.99 per month afterwards, with the streamer’s current deals for the “Pro” plan with more than 200 news, entertainment, and sports channels, such as ABC, CBS, FX, MSNBC, FOX News, Nickelodeon, HGTV, and others. The service comes with a cloud DVR with more than 1,000 hours to record, while Fubo is available to watch on your smartphone, tablet or smart TV too.

However, one of the main draws for Fubo is its top tier sports offerings, including ESPN, NFL Network, FOX Sports, Big Ten Network, Boxing TV, GolTV, MLB Network, NBA TV, NBA League Pass, MotorTrend, NHL Network, ACL Cornhole TV, and much more.

It’s the tech company’s very own streaming app that’s available across Apple devices, as well as Android, Samsung, Roku, and Sony devices too.

While the streaming service doesn’t have as many originals or legacy titles as other streamers, Apple TV focuses more on quality instead of quantity. Apple Originals are known for their big production values, epic scope, heartfelt storytelling, and gigantic special effects with titles, like The Morning Show, For All Mankind, Ted Lasso, Long Way Home, The New Look, Monarch: Legacy of Monsters, Masters of the Air, CODA, Severance, and more. It has big budget movies from world-renowned directors, like Martin Scorsese’s Killers of the Flower Moon and Ridley Scott’s Napoleon.

The streaming service offers live sports for pro leagues like Major League Baseball and Major League Soccer. Apple TV starts at $12.99 per month ($99 per year), while it has a seven-day free trial available for new subscribers. You can get a three-month free trial when you buy a new Apple device, such as iPhone, iPad, Apple TV 4K, or Apple MacBook.

Philo might be a very good and simple streaming service for you with hundreds of free channels to watch with sign up.

However, without sports, news, or broadcast TV, Philo is very wallet-friendly with a monthly price of just $25 (reg. $33). It has more than 70 of the most popular networks, such as A&E, BBC America, Comedy Central, Hallmark Channel, IFC, MTV, Discovery, HGTV, and others, but it doesn’t include any sports, news, or broadcast networks, like ESPN, CNN, or CBS. In addition to AMC, Philo gets you access to AMC+ for even more hit movies and TV shows.

It’s offers an unlimited 12-month DVR and over 70,000 on-demand titles in the streamer’s content library. Philo has a seven-day free trial, so you can give the streamer a shot before you decide to keep or cancel the service.

Fans of anime, rejoice! Crunchyroll is a streaming service that completely caters to fans of all things anime. In fact, the service’s collection is so up-to-date that new episodes (which are dubbed and subtitled in English) of a series are ready to stream shortly after they premiere in Japan. It doesn’t get more current and new unless you actually live in Japan.

Crunchyroll even has a 7-day free trial available for new subscribers to check out what the streaming service has to offer, including Demon Slayer, One Piece, Hunter × Hunter, My Hero Academia, The Rising of the Shield Hero, My Dress-Up Darling, Fruits Basket, and much more. After the free trial is over, you can just keep watching with prices starting at $7.99 per month or just cancel the service altogether. No harm. No foul.

Although Prime Video is one of the best streaming services out there — with high-quality and critically-acclaimed originals, like Mr. and Mrs. Smith, The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, Fleabag, Jury Duty, Sound of Metal, and Manchester by the Sea — it’s actually just an add-on to the larger Amazon Prime subscription service.

For $14.99 per month or $139 per year, Amazon Prime includes access to Prime Video, Amazon Music, and Prime Gaming; fast free shipping in less than two days with Prime Delivery; in-store discounts at Whole Foods Market across the U.S., access to exclusive shopping — like Amazon Prime Day and Black Friday — and more. Learn more about Amazon Prime perks and benefits here.

With pricing starting at $10.99 per month, the streaming service features new and classic movies, TV shows, and originals straight from the United Kingdom, including Gavin & Stacey, Toast of London, Staged, Luther, Time, Agatha Christie’s Murder Is Easy, and others.

BritBox is available to stream on just about any device, such as Apple iPhone, Apple iPad, Google Chromecast 4K, Roku, Android, Samsung smartphones and tablets, various web browsers, smart TVs, and Amazon Fire TV. Check out a complete list of all compatible devices here.

The streaming service has a seven-day free trial for new subscribers to try BritBox to see if it’s a good fit.

Although live TV streaming services, like DirecTV and Fubo, are great, if you forget to cancel your free trial, you’re on the hook for a hefty amount of cheddar month after month. However with Sling Freestream, you’ll actually get live TV streaming for free, no trial necessary.

Sling Freestream offers 100% free live TV streaming for up-to-the-minute news reports and programming from popular networks, like ABC News Live, CBS News, Live Now From FOX, Cheddar News, USA Today, BBC News, Scripps News, and more. It even offers local news from your area’s broadcast affiliates.

Sling Freestream features on-demand ad-supported talk shows, select TV show episodes, and even movies.

With the growing popularity of the WNBA, one of the best ways to watch women’s pro basketball for free is with a subscription to Frndly TV. The streaming service is a cable alternative that features a number of networks, like ION Television — which broadcasts a number of WNBA games throughout the regular season. Aside from ION, Frndly TV has A&E, The Hallmark Channel, History, Lifetime, Vice, and others with prices starting at $6.99 per month.

Plex is an all-in-one service that combines free streaming with your own media. It works like a streamer and a media server, while it’s branded as a “TV concierge.” Once you sign up for free, you’ll have access to hundreds of free live TV channels for news, sports, and entertainment, while the service has free on-demand movies and TV shows in various genres.

It can also let you rent and buy movies, add your favorite streaming services, like Netflix and Hulu, and lets you upload your own media that you can watch anywhere with an internet connection — thanks to the Plex app. Learn more about Plex and its features here.

Buying Guide; How to Pick the Best Streaming Service with Free Trial

There are many factors to think about when choosing the best streaming service for yourself. Below, you’ll find a few important factors that I considered when putting this roundup together.

Titles: In the digital age, content is king. Choosing the best streaming service comes down to the titles. The reason why anyone would subscribe to a service is the catalog of movies and TV shows to watch. If you like anime, give Crunchyroll a shot. For live TV, DirecTV might be a good fit. For live TV with sports, then Fubo could be the answer. You have to consider your tastes and whether a streaming service lines up with them.

Price: Although all of the streaming service listed above offer free trials, you’re going to have to either cancel it or start paying a monthly subscription, if you enjoy the access to countless movies, TV shows, or live TV. Prices range from $6.99 per month with the ad-supported version of Frndly TV all the way up to $119.99 per month with DirecTV’s “Ultimate” package, which comes with all of the TV you can handle.

VPN: If you’d like to access free streaming services overseas, then any service listed above paired with a VPN could be an interesting proposition. For the uninitiated, a VPN, or virtual private network, is one of the best ways to connect your internet access to a server in the United States — even if you’re in another country. I recommend ExpressVPN for its ease of use, large number of servers in the U.S. and internationally, and its low starting price of $2.79 per month. Learn more about ExpressVPN here.

One of the best things about streaming services is you’re not tied to a long-term contract. You only have to commit to one month at a time. If you want to subscribe one month and then cancel the next, only to re-subscribe again the following month, that’s your prerogative.