It feels like every time you switch on the TV another streaming service magically appears – and it’s getting harder to filter which ones are worth signing up for.
But while paid subscription on demand services (SVODs) like Netflix, Prime Video and Disney+ rule the roost when it comes to shows people can’t stop talking about, there are plenty of alternatives for people who can’t, or simply don’t want to, part with hard-earned cash for their telly.
AVODs (that’s ‘ad-supported video on demand’ for the uninitiated) and FAST (free, ad-supported television) channels have thousands of hours of TV ready for anyone with an account, and include everything from film and must-watch TV to classic sitcoms and panel shows for a fraction of the cost of their pricy rivals.
Even the main broadcasters have got involved – with ITV, Channel 4 and Channel 5 all having FAST and AVOD services at your fingertips.
As we say goodbye to summer and curl up on our sofas to hibernate for the autumn and winter, here’s a guide to some of the best FAST and AVOD channels available right now – and which ones are worth signing up for.
U
Cost: Free, with factored in ad breaks of around 90 seconds every 15-18 minutes.
Pros: U is one of the newest FAST and AVOD services, bringing four broadcast channels under its umbrella as U&Dave, U&W, U&Yesterday and U&Drama. In most cases, each of these channels (which are also on TV) do what they say on the tin. Dave has long been known as a place for British comedy panel show repeats like 8 Out of 10 Cats and Mock the Week. Yesterday focuses largely on historical documentaries, W is more celebrity focused, with modern topical docs like Emma Willis Delivering Babies, while Drama is well… full of drama shows. There’s something for nearly everyone.
Cons: The site has very little to offer for kids (unless your kids have a project on the Second World War, in which case, you’re sorted). A lot of content is aimed at a millennial or older audience. It can also be overwhelming: U as a service boasts more than 8,500 hours of programming, so it’s difficult to know where to start. At least the streaming service breaks it down by channel to help you narrow your search a bit.
What should I watch?: While it is very tempting and easy to whack on a classic episode of Would I Lie to You? or Gavin and Stacey (especially with the finale coming up on Christmas Day), U has some genuinely interesting original shows that have slipped under the radar. Orlando Bloom fronts his own adventure series, To the Edge, which sees him push his physical, emotional and mental capabilities across three episodes. Mel Giedroyc grills celebrities on their embarrassing moments in Unforgivable and it’s hilarious, plus there are box sets of cult favourites Mad Men and Sons of Anarchy available, too.
Should I bother? Absolutely. It’s full of easy watches and box sets that other services will try to bill you for. It’s a no-brainer.
Find it here.
The Roku Channel
Cost: Free and already built into Smart TVs from Chiq, EMtronics, Ferguson, JVC, Logik, Metz, Polaroid, RCA, Sharp, TCL, Vispera and Veltech. So if you have another brand of telly, like LG or Samsung, you can buy a Roku stick to plug in the back, but they start at £29.99 for HD. Ads air at the start of each episode, and every nine minutes thereafter, for up to two minutes.
Pros: The Roku Channel offers more than 400 free live linear TV channels, as well as its own original material. A lot of its original content was bought from short-lived service Quibi, which died after less than a year of operation. It also has a lot of US-based shows that aren’t available elsewhere.
Cons: It’s a little confusing and easy to ignore. As well as its own channel, Roku is a service that combines all other streaming sites into one list – meaning its own channel disappears into the abyss of alternatives that – more often than not – have more must-watch TV.
What should I watch?: If you fancy a giggle, Daniel Radcliffe’s delightfully barmy Weird!: The Al Yankovic Story is a great watch, as well as the reboot of Punk’d with Chance the Rapper. For the drama-lovers, you have British medical drama Malpractice or US psychological drama Swimming with Sharks, and for the homebodies you have a bunch of Martha Stewart cooking specials to dig into.
Should I bother? As it’s built into your TV already, it’s hard to pass up, but gems are a little harder to find in comparison with its rivals. The Roku stick is also great for turning non-Smart TVs into Smart TVs, but it’s not worth the money otherwise.
Find it here.
Freevee
Cost: Free, with up to two ad breaks per hour, of up to a minute
Pros: A free alternative to Prime Video, Amazon’s Freevee offers free movies, television shows and original content, as well as a host of live channels you can tune into at your leisure. It’s particularly good for sports fans – with a dedicated tennis channel, EuroSports and TNT Sports airing live.
Cons: Especially in films, which don’t factor in ad-break time, Freevee can sometimes prove jarring by pulling you out of something to flog another show. It can also be difficult to tell which shows are Prime Video shows (i.e., paid for on their subscription) and which are Freevee when watching from your computer rather than on your TV.
What should I watch? Jury Duty. Always Jury Duty. It’s a comedy series where everyone’s an actor except for one, poor, unsuspecting member of the public as he’s put through a bizarre “trial”. James Marsden’s in it, and it’s incredible. The service also brought about the return of Neighbours, for the soap lovers out there, and has live channels airing tennis, CNN sports, Dog the Bounty Hunter and Tiny House Hunting.
Should I bother? Yes – especially if you have Prime Video already, which charges subscribers for much of its content, or a sports nut in the house. Plus, it’s free. Why not?
Find it here.
Rakuten TV
Cost: Free on Samsung, LG, Philips Android TVs, Panasonic, Hisense, Sony Android TVs, Roku devices, Vestel, TCL Android TVs, Xiaomi TVs, Chromecast, Fire TV, PS4/PS5s and on the web. Does not require a sign-up, with ads appearing around every 10 minutes for a stretch of two minutes on its live channels. On demand some episodes are ad-free.
Pros: Rakuten has multiple live channels dedicated to specific genres (comedy, drama, sci-fi, sports), so it’s handy to switch on if you fancy “something” in the background, just not sure specifically what. On demand, there’s a string of old movies available to watch at your fingertips, and also some new releases available to purchase before they hit subscription services. There’s also an impressive array of Korean soaps and TV shows, with some kids’ classics thrown in too.
Cons: The interface is a mess and very difficult to navigate unless you know what you’re looking for. Also, a lot of its non-original content is available elsewhere, so if you have those services, there’s no point. Its content is also generally more on the… eclectic side, with celebrated Daniel Day-Lewis period drama The Age of Innocence sitting next to the accurately titled disaster flick Big Ass Spider! It’s just a lot to dig through for very little reward.
What should I watch?: If you don’t mind subtitles, we’d go with a Korean show like So I Married the Anti-Fan – a romcom in which a K-Pop star on a reality show marries someone who doesn’t like them. There’s also five seasons of Hell’s Kitchen USA to delve into, if you fancy seeing a stressed-out Gordon Ramsey yelling at people. For films, you have the entire Big Momma’s House collection, and for kids, you’ve got old episodes of The Smurfs and The Winx Saga. And we can’t lie, we’re now very curious about Big Ass Spider!
Should I bother? You probably won’t use it unless you switch it on by accident.
Find it here.
Tubi
Cost: Free with ads at the beginning of each title, and then one 30-second ad every 15 minutes.
Pros: Tubi has a cracking set of landmark movies on at the moment – Cruel Intentions, Saw I, II and III, and My Girl are among its collection. There’s also some guaranteed clunkers that you can’t help but be intrigued by, like romcom How to Catch a Baller, Winnie the Pooh: Blood and Honey, Born 2 Race – which is definitely some knock-off version of Fast and The Furious – or even TWO War of the Worlds spin-offs starring Billy Baldwin, subtitled Extinction and Annihilation, respectively.
Cons: There are quite a lot of ads, in line with what you would expect on typical TV, so every 15 minutes or so, five or six minutes per hour. They also pop up when you pause, so you can’t get away from them. It’s also extremely light on original content, kids’ shows and TV series in general – usually limited to “one and done” shows or series so old they’re outdated.
What should I watch?: For Drag Race fans, there’s horror-comedy Slay starring Cara Melle, Trinity the Tuck, Heidi N Closet and Crystal Methyd, which is pretty fun. But the service’s dedicated Y2K “Rabbit Hole” playlist – for those who feel like going “down the rabbit hole” of nostalgia – is a personal favourite. For the TikTok generation, influencer star Khaby Lame has been given his own show with Khaby Is Coming to America, which features an appearance by David Beckham.
Should I bother? Not right now – though it only launched in July this year, so it may turn itself around and it shows a lot of promise.
Find it here.
Pluto TV
Cost: Free, no sign-up required, with ads currently only on livestream.
Pros: More than 250 live channels, often dedicated to TV shows rather than genres, meaning you can mindlessly have something on in the background, whatever your taste – be it documentaries, old school TV shows like 90210, or even fishing. It’s also owned by Paramount, meaning some of shows you have to pay for on Paramount+, like old episodes of Geordie Shore, are available as a channel or on demand here.
Cons: On demand, Pluto plays REALLY fast and loose with the term “new movies”, considering one of them is the 1959 thriller The 39 Steps. The interface is also a big ol’ mess, with a constantly running livestream of a channel taking up half the screen, and menus difficult to navigate to see what else is available.
What should I watch? Honestly I would be content watching their channels dedicated to Judge Judy and CSI: Miami reruns all day.
Should I bother? Only if you’re a fan of a rerun.
Find it here.
Crunchyroll
Cost: A free AVOD tier is available, but with restricted access to content. Ads occur before each episode, and at least once mid-episode.
Pros: A dedicated service for anime and manga lovers, CrunchyRoll is unique in its direct approach to one market.
Cons: The restricted access on the AVOD tier means you will only be able to watch a handful of episodes per title, as well as “taster” shows. You will have to fork out the money if you want to actually go through an entire series.
What should I watch?: My Hero Academia has proven massively successful, and Dragonball Z is an international phenomenon with a cult following to this day.
Should I bother? If you don’t like anime, then this will do absolutely nothing for you.
Find it here.
Plex
Cost: Free with ads of one minute appearing every 15 minutes.
Pros: Plex has a little more available for young children than some rivals, with Teletubbies and Baby Shark both having their own dedicated channels, as well as a more generic kids’ channel. For an older crowd with a penchant for true crime or the paranormal, they have all 13 seasons of Unsolved Mysteries for you to get cracking on.
Cons: The service offers little that you can’t already get elsewhere. In fact, Plex has gone way too extreme with its channels, basically dedicating each one to having a series on loop for ever and ever and ever. It has no original shows.
What should I watch?: I’m going to recommend the Grace and Frankie channel, mainly because it’s feelgood and also the most recent show Plex seems to have on its books.
Should I bother? No. Especially if you run the risk of watching Teletubbies and Baby Shark on repeat for hours on end. Save yourself.
Find it here.
Samsung TV Plus
Cost: Free with ads of one minute appearing every 15 minutes, but only available on Samsung devices
Pros: A confession: I didn’t know this was a thing, and I OWN A SAMSUNG TV. The icon just looks so generic on my apps list I was completely blind to it, thinking it was for normal telly.
FAST channel wise there’s a pretty eclectic mix, including 27 factual channels, 42 entertainment channels, 20 kids’ channels and 13 music channels.
Cons: Apart from Cruel Intentions, which seems to be making the rounds on these services; Drive; and Charlize Theron’s award-winning Monster, it mainly features a string of weird B-movies starring A-list Hollywood stars that literally no one remembers. For example, did you know in 2022 John Travolta and Shania Twain starred in a Fast and Furious knock-off titled Burning Rubber? Me neither. It’s got a 4.5/10 score on IMDb, so that could be why.
What should I watch? After a bit of digging I found All Dogs Go to Heaven in the kids’ section (do not show your kids this movie unless you want to break their hearts). Generally the Kids’ TV section looks pretty good. But there’s not much on here you can’t find elsewhere.
Should I bother? No. Especially if you don’t own a Samsung device already. If you do, maybe it’s worth checking out the music channels, some sports to have in the background, or a schlocky film that you’ll love to hate.
Find it here.
FIFA+
Cost: Free with registration. Ads play before each title on demand, during half-time, and after.
Pros: This is definitely something for the football nut in your life. This service offers more than 40,000 hours of live national games from around the world, documentaries on demand, and highlights from World Cups dating all the way back to Engand’s triumph in 1966.
There are female and male tournaments, and even the podcast Voices, which features some famous faces giving their insight into the beautiful game.
Cons: You really, really have to like your football. It is literally the only thing on this platform.
What should I watch?: Highlights for me were The Happiest Man in the World, a FIFA+ original documentary on the life of Ronaldinho. Tracking his life in Brazil to becoming a footballing legend was a surprisingly touching watch, especially when hearing from the likes of Lionel Messi and former teammates explaining what he means to them. Icons – which focuses on stand-out players from womens’ football – was also really interesting.
Should I bother? Yes if you love your football and to be honest, even if you’re just curious and love some players. As someone who generally runs from football, I was impressed by this.
Find it here.