How to watch movie online for free in 2021?

I know how much you love to get together with a big company on Friday night to watch interesting movies. Or maybe you like to watch movies alone, without prying eyes?

Anyway, I offer an innovative approach to watching movies without overpaying for cable or satellite TV.

Did you know that media companies expecting a 25 million decline in Pay TV consumers over the next five years? The CNBC says US pay-TV subscriptions will remain at 50 million. Do you want to stay among those 50 million and pay for movies that you can watch free?

If not, you have come to the right place, because today I will tell you how to watch movies on the Internet for free!

I have collected for you the 11 best free apps to watch movies in high quality online!

Well, let's go plunge into the world of good cinema!

My review: winner in the TV app battle

• Sony Crackle
• Popcornflix
• Yidio
• Resume

I confess to you − I'm a movie fan. I like good cinema, science TV shows, and detective TV series. I am sure that there are also many movie lovers among you, so I decided to test all free app to watch movies and TV shows online and choose the best ones for you.

I tested 11 free online app to watch movies and TV and chose the undisputed top 3 for myself − these are Sony Crackle, Popcornflix and Yidio app.

At first glance, they are similar because they perform the same functions − broadcasting movies and TV shows online. But, after several weeks of testing, I still managed to see the differences.

So, let's take a closer look at each of the top 3 apps to find out which of these took first place!

Sony Crackle

Pros	Cons
High Definition Movies and TV Series Unobtrusive advertising Player is smooth Large catalog of films and TV shows	Not detected

Image source – apkpure.com

Sony Clarkle is a famous free TV app from Sony Pictures. This app is considered one of the best and includes a big catalog of free movies from different years.

Want to watch an old movie? Maybe a new TV show? No questions asked − the app contains all TV shows and movies!

The movie player is smooth and easy to use.

Even in-app ads seem almost invisible and do not annoy the viewer. In a word − everything is perfect!

True, Sony Crackle may not be available for download in some countries. For example, if you live outside the United States, access to the app may be restricted.

But there is no need to be sad − this problem is easy to fix. You can change the region in App Store or Play Market or use VPN applications.

For IOS users:

• Open App Store
• On the Main Page, click on your photo in the upper right corner
• Click on your name

  

• Select in the menu settings “Country/Region”

  

• Change your country to the USA.

However, if you have active subscriptions, you will have to cancel them and wait until the subscription expires to change the region.

This same rule applies so to the Play Market on Android smartphones. It's not very convenient because you will have to wait a long time to download the app.

Then, free VPN applications for watching movies, Japanese TV and TV series come to the rescue. From free VPN applications, I can recommend Windscribe VPN.

This application provides uninterrupted access to many countries' servers so you could download the Sony Crackle app without problems. However, we will talk in more detail about the advantages of using VPN apps a little later, but now let's return to our rating.

Platforms: Android, iOS, Amazon Fire, PlayStation, Xbox, and other devices.

Popcornflix

Pros	Cons
Multiple platforms support The movies are of good quality & streaming works smoothly All films are categorized	Intrusive adware

Image source – apkpure.com

Popcornflix is a free app for watching movies and TV shows. In my opinion, the only drawback of the app is the presence of annoying commercials longer than 5 seconds.

While watching the “Together Together” film, the ads appeared more than ten times: at the start and during watching.

It really interferes with browsing, so I found a universal way to hide ads in all free apps:

• Open Browser Brave.
• After opening the necessary link, enable Brave Shields in the upper right corner of the screen. To do this, click on the lion sign and turn on the slider.

  

  

• The Brave Shields feature blocks trackers, so you can watch movies and TV shows without intrusive ads.

Platforms: Android, iOS, game consoles, and web.

Yidio

Pros	Cons
Huge catalog of films Yidio will recommend many other free movie watching apps that you can use to watch movies online for free The app combines content from many other movie services	Many movies and TV series are paid, although the app is claimed to be free

Image source – news.microsoft.com

The app has a unique system for selecting films and makes individual recommendations for users by their preferences.

The only significant drawback that confused me is that some films are available for viewing only after payment.

Platforms: Android, iOS, Apple TV, and others

Resume

Each application is unique in its way and does an excellent job with the assigned duties ─ it broadcasts movies and TV shows for free.

Let's summarize and see what advantages these 3 free TV apps have:

• These applications are available and function on most platforms − iOS, Android, Roku, Xbox One, PlayStation 4, Amazon Kindle Fire (Yidio – IOS, Android, Amazon Kindle Fire)
• The ability to watch all TV shows and movies for free and without interruptions in the broadcast
• Huge selection of films and TV series

It would seem that these applications are identical. However, Sony Clarkle stills a first place in my ranking thanks to the big name in the cinema industry − Sony Pictures.

The app fully justifies the reputation of its stellar parent, has a unique library of movies, TV series, and shows of good quality.

Sony Clarkle works without crashing and is free! Of course, as with any free app, Sony Clarkle has ads. But even, here the developers did their best and took into account the interests of the viewers because advertising in the application lasts only a few seconds and is unobtrusive.

What's wrong with other apps?

Popcornflix viewers complain about intrusive ads and the Yidio catalog includes many paid movies and TV shows, although the app be claimed to be free.

Agree Sony Clarkle is an absolute leader in my ranking of the best free TV apps!

The Best Free Apps to watch movie online

• Xumo
• Pluto TV
• Vudu
• FilmRise
• Tubi TV
• Plex
• Crunchyroll
• Roku

Sony Clarkle turned out to be my undisputed leader, but this does not mean that there are no more applications that can compete with the eminent ancestor of Sony Pictures.

Rejoice, moviegoers − here is a list of the best free apps for watching movies online!

Xumo

Pros	Cons
Free access to over 160 TV channels Films and TV shows in good quality	The app is only available in the USA

Image source – corp.xumo.com

Xumo is a free streaming service that provides direct access to over 160 TV channels. The service is available in the United States, but people from other countries can use Xumo's service using VPN applications.

Platforms: Apple TV, Chromecast, Roku, Smart TV, Android, iOS, and more

Pluto TV

Pros	Cons
Simple user interface, despite packing in so many features Subtitles available for most free movies	You must sign in to customize Pluto TV to your needs

Image source – pluto.tv

Pluto TV is a multifunctional free application for watching movies and TV shows. Despite its many features, the app has an intuitive user interface.

Platforms: Android, iOS, Apple TV, Amazon Fire TV, Roku, and more.

Vudu

Pros	Cons
A large catalog of films, television series and novelties in the world of cinema The application works smoothly	You have to sign in order to watch movies

Image source – vudu.com

Vudu boasts a big collection of free movies. New hits from the world of cinema added to the app with enviable regularity, so you will be one of the first to watch a new film in high quality without leaving your home.

Platforms: Android, iOS, Apple TV, Amazon Fire TV, Roku.

FilmRise

Pros	Cons
Convenient system for selecting and filtering content Built-in list of movie trends	The catalog mainly consists of old films and TV series

Image source – filmrise.ru.aptoide.com

FilmRise is a free app for watching movies and TV shows without ads. As with most movie apps, you can choose the genre you are interested in when you launch it.

Platforms: Apple TV, Android, iOS, The Roku Channel, Samsung TV Plus, Amazon IMDb TV, and Vizio.

Tubi TV

Pros	Cons
Film catalog sorted by genre The player works smoothly Movie subtitles are available TV shows & movies in high quality	In order to add films to the queue, you need to register in the Tubi TV system

Image source – tubitv.com

Tubi TV is a great app that has an impressive catalog of free movies sorted by genre. Users can add movies to favorites and watch the most popular movie hits.

Platforms: Android, iOS, Roku, Apple TV, Amazon Fire TV, Xbox, PlayStation, smart TVs, and the web.

Plex

Pros	Cons
An app works on almost any multimedia device Convenient search engine for movies and TV series The application remembers at what point in the movie you stopped so that after a while, you can continue watching	Mandatory account linking before you can start streaming

Image source – plex.tv

Plex is a free movie-watching app that is available on almost any multimedia device. But, you must create account to enjoy playback from your personal media server on your device.

Platforms: Available on all platforms.

Crunchyroll

Pros	Cons
Large selection of Japanese films, TV shows, and anime The player works smoothly	The ability to watch movies without ads offline is available only in a paid subscription

Image source – crunchyroll.com

Crunchyroll is a popular Android and iOS app for Japanese culture fans. The app offers viewers a wide variety of anime, Japanese movies, and TV series to watch.

Platforms: Android, iOS, Xbox, PlayStation, Apple TV, Roku, Amazon Fire TV, and more.

Roku

Pros	Cons
A large catalog of movies and TV shows Roku app large number of platforms supported	A limited number of TV channels supported

Image source – roku.com

The Roku is better known as one of the leading manufacturers of streaming devices, but it's also an app with a big catalog of free movies and TV shows.

Platforms: Apple TV, Android, iOS, Roku, smart TVs and others.

VPN services to watch movies and TV shows online

Sometimes it happens that the app may not broadcast some local TV series or shows due to location. In such situations, VPN services for watching free TV come to the rescue − our best friends.

These services can not only provide a secure connection to the web but also take us anywhere in the world online. Do you live in America but want to watch a local show in Australia? Not a problem! Just use the VPN apps for watch movies free, and you'll be instantly in Sydney from the comfort of your home.

Using VPN services is legal! I have identified 4 main advantages of VPN services:

• Reliable protection. The transmitted information is available only if the encryption key is available.
• Geolocation masking. Geolocation data does not come from the device but the VPN server.
• Access to local content. A secure connection “spoofs” your location with the location of an intermediate server located in another country. This way, you can travel the world right in your bed.
• Secure data transmission. When working remotely, you may need to access sensitive corporate data. To reduce the likelihood of their leakage, use an encrypted data connection.

Conclusion

The era of cable and satellite television will soon sink into oblivion. It makes no sense to install a satellite dish, because thanks to streaming platforms, we can watch any TV shows and series both in real-time and in the recording.

I wonder which app from my rating did you like the most? Please, share your opinion in the comments!

Dear readers, if you like such a detailed review, let me know, and we will publish even more helpful guides and life hacks.

Enjoy your viewing, and see you soon!