Amazon
Amazon was one of the very first companies to offer a streaming service, even predating Netflix. In that time it’s evolved considerably, and Amazon Prime Video has become one of the best streaming services on the market. Still, times are tight, and we’re all just looking to save a little money here and there. That’s where Freevee comes in. But what is FreeVee exactly? Good question.
This Amazon-owned streaming has thousands of movies and shows to watch, with no subscription required. It’s also 100% free, though there are ads. Unlike most other free streaming services, Freevee actually has quite a few exclusives you won’t find elsewhere for free. However, many of the shows are also available directly from the Amazon Prime app. You can also start watching right away directly from the Freevee website.
What is Freevee?
Amazon first launched the free, ad-supported, streaming video service in January 2019, under the name IMDb Freedive. Later that year, the company changed the name of the service to IMDb TV. In April 2022, the service got yet another name change, this time to its current brand Amazon Freevee. However, the basic business model hasn’t changed. It still offers a number of older and more recent TV shows and movies that you can watch completely for free, with some video ad breaks. It’s also been slowly adding a number of exclusive TV shows to the service as well.
What shows and movies are available on Amazon Freevee?
Amazon
While a streaming service may be free, that doesn’t mean much if its content is lacking. Thankfully, Freevee has a lot of great movies and TV shows to watch, and its library of original programming is not only growing, but getting better as well. There are a few different types of content on offer at FreeVee:
- Freevee movies: As with most streaming services, the selection of movies on Freevee can vary greatly from month to month. Amazon has set up contracts with many of the major Hollywood studios — including Disney, Sony, Universal, and Lionsgate — that will allow Freevee to access a portion of their movie libraries. Some examples include Jurassic World, Super Troopers 2, The Emoji Movie, and F9: The Fast Saga.
- Freevee TV shows: Freevee’s selection of television shows is a bit more stable, with removals occurring much less frequently. You can look forward to watching lots of classic TV like Bewitched, The Waltons, Little House on the Prairie, and more. There are also more recent shows like Mad Men, Schitt’s Creek, Bones, and Lost.
- Live TV channels: Freevee’s main focus is on-demand streaming, but it also has its own list of channels. While not as big as Pluto TV, Freevee channels run content 24/7 that the user has no control over, like a typical broadcast or cable TV channel. You can select from truly live news content like Newsy or AccuWeather Now, or watch constant reruns of shows like Unsolved Mysteries, classic Doctor Who, and more. Recently FreeVee expanded its channels to include NBCuniversal content including channels for Little House on the Prarie, Top Chef, Keeping Up with the Kardashians, Saturday Night Live, and more.
- Freevee Originals: Amazon is going all-in for Freevee, even including original TV shows and imports that can only be streamed on the free service.
The best Freevee originals
Freevee doesn’t have nearly as many originals as you’d get with a subscription service, but the number is certainly growing with over 20 shows or movies, and several new projects slated for release in 2023. Here’s just a spattering of the shows we recommend watching.
- Bosch: Legacy — The continuation of Amazon Prime Video’s Bosch crime drama series is only available via Freevee.
- Judy Justice — The star of the hit daytime court show Judge Judy returned to TV via Freevee. Judge Judy Sheindlin once again presides over her civil case court, with a whopping 120 episodes to watch already, and more to come.
- Leverage: Redemption — The former TNT series about a group of con artists who now try to help people is back on the service with new episodes, starring much of the original cast.
- Alex Rider — This UK import, based on the novels about a teenage boy who works as a super-spy, is a Freevee exclusive in the US.
- Pretty Hard Cases — This is a Canadian import show about two female police detectives, a Freevee exclusive in the US.
- Sprung — A comedy series about a man who’s just been released from jail and moves in with a former cellmate. Unfortunately for both of them, a global pandemic is starting to affect the world. It’s a limited run series that fans of Raising Hope or My Name is Earl will love.
- Play-Doh Squished — Modern Family’s Sarah Hyland hosts in this family-friendly reality competition show centering around Play-Doh. My 6 year old adores this show; we watch it every week when a new episode airs.
Where is Freevee available?
Amazon Freevee is currently available in the US, UK, and Germany. Watching Freevee in other regions with a bit of VPN magic is possible, but doing so is a gray area at best due to local licensing restrictions.
Where can I watch Freevee?
Amazon
If you have a Windows or Mac PC, you can access Amazon Freevee via the Amazon Prime Video web site. It’s listed as one of the Prime Video “channels”. However, you don’t need a Prime subscription to access Freevee on your PC.
On other devices, you can download a stand-alone Amazon Freevee app to watch the content. They are available for iOSandAndroid mobile devices, along with Roku streaming sticks, boxes, and smart TVs. You can also get the app for Amazon’s Fire TV sticks, boxes, and smart TVs, the Amazon Fire tablet, and Android/Google TV-supported devices. There’s even an app available for Samsung and LG smart TVs, along with Sony’s Playstation 4 and 5 game consoles and Microsoft’s Xbox One and Xbox Series S/X game consoles. Finally, it’s accessible for Comcast’s Xfinity cable TV and internet users.
In other words every major streaming device supports Freevee.
Best Amazon Freevee alternatives
Amazon Freevee is most definitely not alone in offering free streaming video content. Here’s a look at some of its biggest competition for your eyeballs.
Crackle
Crackle
Crackle was one of the first free streaming services to be launched, and it’s still one of the best. It includes a number of library movies and TV shows to watch, plus a small number of exclusive movies and shows. It even offers parental controls if you sign up for a free account. You can start watching Crackle free right from their website.
Tubi
Fox owns Tubi, and as such uses that relationship to quickly show recent episodes of Fox reality shows only a few weeks after they drop, like The Masked Singer. The service also has a number of exclusive films from B movie outlets like The Asylum, and a few original shows like the animated series The Freak Brothers. Tubi TV also offers live local news from over 200 Fox TV affiliates across the United States. Start watching Tubi now!
Pluto TV
Pluto TV
Pluto TV was the leader in offering a cable TV-like experience for streaming, with hundreds of channels to watch content. Paramount owns Pluto TV, so you can check out many classic and current movies and shows from that studio, including Star Trek, Mission Impossible, and more. Get started watching Pluto TV right from their website.
The Roku Channel
Roku
Roku, the same company that makes streaming TV sticks, boxes, and the OS for several smart televisions, is also offering the free Roku Channel streaming service for severalplatforms. Like Freevee, it also has both on-demand and live streaming “channels” to check out. It also has a growing number of original shows and movies. You can check out the Roku Channel for more great shows and movies.
Other FAQs
Since Freevee is free, you can stream on as many devices you want, all at once.
A few Freevee originals, like Bosch: Legacy, do support 4K streaming with HDR.
Unfortunately, there’s no way to download content on Freevee to your mobile device for free. Most library movies and shows can be downloaded to your smartphone, but you will have to pay for each movie and TV show for that to happen.
If you access Freevee via the Amazon Prime Video “channel” on the PC web browser, or on the Fire tablet or Fire TV device, you can access the same parental control features that Amazon Prime Video has. This feature is not available on the mobile apps, nor on any of the smart TV or game console apps.
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