Are you tired of forking out cash for the top streaming services? But maybe you're just short on time to select a quick movie or two during a family night-in, or you've called in sick and need a healthy distraction but don't want to spend hours browsing an app's selection instead of watching a film. Not every movie choice has to be the newest, award-winning feature or an expensive movie rental. Some of the best films can be watched for free on YouTube and don't require a subscription to any of the popular entertainment apps like Netflix, Prime Video, or Hulu.
Thankfully, you don't have to pay a premium for every movie hosted on YouTube. In fact, there's a dedicated channel for free movies (with ad-support). Our guide will teach you how to uncover this mystery selection of free movies you can watch on the YouTube website and app. And don't forget to hook up your favorite streaming box — it's time for a night filled with popcorn and movies!
How to watch free movies on YouTube from a PC
While browsing YouTube's catalog of free movies, don't expect to find the newest releases or some of the most popular classics. The collection of free movies won't be for everyone, but it is still a great option when you need a change of pace from your favorite streaming service (Netflix, Hulu, Amazon Prime). Below we will show how to navigate to this exclusive Channel.
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Visit the YouTube homepage and click on the Hamburger button.
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Click Movies & TV on the Explore sidebar.
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Scroll down to Free Primetime movies and click View all.
You do not need a YouTube account to watch movies rated PG and G, but films with maturity ratings (including 14A) will require signing in for age confirmation. But don't forget that the advantage of signing into a YouTube account is saving some of these videos (similar to a watch list on Netflix) to view later — or continue where you've left off after exiting the site or app.
How to watch free YouTube movies on mobile
Thankfully YouTube has incorporated a movies and TV section so you can browse via categories; you no longer have to search "free movies" to find this section manually. But to keep it simple, we've outlined the steps below — we've also included the app widget at the end of this section. We use the Android app in this example, but you can also access and watch free movies on iOS while navigating the app.
- Open the YouTube mobile app.
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Tap the Explore icon at the top next to categories.
- Tap Movies & TV.
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Scroll down to Free Primetime movies and tap View all.
Save your money and enjoy some free entertainment on YouTube
Popular streaming services don't always make it into the household budget, so shopping around for streaming that offers value takes time. And not to anyone's surprise, YouTube tops most of these lists, especially for finding free and safe alternatives for movies online. But the caveats of YouTube come at the cost of your patience for sitting through ad-supported content and handling a smaller selection of films — which may not be a big deal compared to sizing down on your monthly bills.