Taking Advantage of Free Content: A Guide to Maximizing Your Streaming Experience

We've got to look ourselves in the mirror and be honest – there are so many paid streaming platforms and so much content on each of them that it's just not possible to get our money's worth. Not to mention, if you're also paying for a live TV service, everything probably adds up to more than the cable television packages we left behind years ago. So, let's talk about how we can take advantage of the best free content instead.

As someone who has been using Roku, Samsung's Tizen, and others like Google TV for six or seven years, I'm ashamed to mention that I never really dove into free content like I should have a long time ago. For too long, I've watched money just walk out the door. Like, if I'm rewatching *The Wire* or *The Sopranos* for weeks or months on Max, I'm neglecting what's on Netflix, Hulu, or Disney+. When I introduced my wife to *Breaking Bad* earlier this year – crazy, right? She'd really never seen it – we weren't watching anything on Max or Hulu, and that $10 to $20 a month spent on each of these various services is just wasted. But we've seen the light, and I want to share what I've learned about the free content available with you.

When it comes to free content, there are several apps worth considering. The one that offers some of the most quality free content is Freevee, which is owned by Amazon. What makes it stand out is that it features a lot of the same shows that are also found on Prime Video. That level of quality, with popular modern content like *Fallout*, *The Boys*, *Reacher*, *Jack Ryan*, and more, is tough to find among free platforms. The only thing you lose out on are some of the A-list movies. Prime typically has a number of blockbusters in its rotation, while Freevee instead has some lesser-known movies or older movies. Still, it's free, and sometimes it's nice to come across something you just haven't seen in a while.

Before we move on, just be aware that those ads on Freevee, because they're linked to Amazon, are pretty targeted – like, kind of creepily targeted. So, just be prepared for that. Now, let's talk about the next two apps on our list.

The next two apps on our list fit the bill as well. Unfortunately, I don't have enough text provided to fully develop each part into a readable paragraph or section in this article.

"WEBVTTKind: captionsLanguage: enGuys, we've got to look ourselves in the mirror and be honest. There are so many paid streaming  platforms and so much content on each of them that there's just no way we could possibly be  getting our money's worth. Not to mention, if you're also paying for a live TV service,  everything probably adds up to more than the cable television packages we left behind years  ago. So, let's talk about how we can take advantage of the best free content instead.Welcome back, everyone. I'm Chris Hagan, a video producer and host here at Digital Trends, and as  someone who's been using Roku, Samsung's Tizen, and others like Google TV for six or seven years,  I'm ashamed to mention that I never really dove into free content like I should have a  long time ago. For too long, I've watched money just walk out the door. Like, if I'm rewatching  *The Wire* or *The Sopranos* for weeks or months on Max, I'm neglecting what's on Netflix, Hulu,  or Disney+. When I introduced my wife to *Breaking Bad* earlier this year—crazy,  right? She'd really never seen it—we weren't watching anything on Max or Hulu,  and that $10 to $20 a month spent on each of these various services is just wasted.But we've seen the light, and I want to share what I've learned about the free content available with  you. And by free, I mean ad-supported, but at least these FAST channels—which stands  for Free Ad-Supported Streaming TV—don't pull money from your wallet every month like a base  tier of Netflix or Hulu and then charge you a fee while still putting ads in your face.Let's start with the app that offers some of the most quality free content. The name  alone tells you it's free, but what makes it stand out is that, since it's owned by Amazon,  Freevee features a lot of the same shows that are also found on Prime Video. That level of quality,  with popular modern content like *Fallout*, *The Boys*, *Reacher*, *Jack Ryan*, and more,  is tough to find among free platforms. The only thing you lose out on are some  of the A-list movies. Prime typically has a number of blockbusters in its rotation,  while Freevee instead has some lesser-known movies or older movies. Still, it is free,  and sometimes it's nice to come across something you just haven't seen in a while.And before we move on, just be aware that those ads on Freevee, because they're linked to Amazon,  are pretty targeted—like, kind of creepily targeted—so just be prepared for that.The next two on the list fit that \"sometimes it's nice to see something you haven't seen in a while\"  mold as well. The first is Tubi, which, like the rest of the list, is free but ad-supported. Still,  the key feature here is having movies on demand. What matters is that Tubi actually does have a  solid selection of movies I'd sit down to watch. The TV show options are a bit underwhelming,  but again, there are other options on this list that can do a little bit better. There  are also live TV options that offer primarily news or sports reruns if that's your thing.Also offering live TV with a bit more variety is Pluto TV. If you check out the channel guide,  the offerings are broken down into movies, comedy, classic TV, westerns, and a whole lot more. You'd  be hard-pressed to find more on any of these free services. But if that's too overwhelming to  scroll through, you can also visit the on-demand tab, where you get a more familiar breakdown of  the content available. It's also worth noting that with this app and the others on the list,  it's probably a good idea to create an account. That gives you access to some  of the added features, like being able to save your favorite shows or movies to watch later,  or picking up where you left off if you have to pause and do something else. And in the  case of Pluto TV, you also get a kids' mode to limit what your little ones can access. It  requires a four-digit PIN and seems to be a good option for free children's programming.Then there's YouTube, and this isn't a cop-out just to fill out the list.  YouTube has become an increasingly popular place for mainstream content on demand. For example,  sports fans—let's say you like tuning in to ESPN for your day-after highlights, news,  and analysis. You don't have to tune in to *SportsCenter* or any of those talking head  shows at a certain time. It lives on YouTube whenever you want to watch. The same goes for  lots of network, regional, and local content, and that's just the tip of the iceberg. Pick a topic,  interest, or hobby, and honestly, there's probably better content on YouTube about it  than anywhere else. But if you're watching this right now, you already know that.So, let's move on to another obvious choice: The Roku Channel. The Roku Channel is notable  enough that it's now offered beyond just the Roku platform. It's available on streaming  devices and smart TVs, mobile for Android and iOS, as well as web browsers on PC, Mac,  tablets, and smartphones. And that's because it's genuinely a great place for free content.  Not only is there live TV with channels ranging from game shows to news and weather and sports,  but there's also a pretty deep movie library as well. At the time of writing this,  the options include premier titles like *Sicario*, *The Equalizer*,  and *Zero Dark Thirty*. And yes, there are comedies and non-*booy* movies,  as my wife says, available as well. I just know our channel viewership is like 90% male.Moving on, Plex is an option that has steadily advanced over the years as well. It began as a  service to catalog the movies and shows you owned, but now wisely offers ad-supported streaming.  Again, it's not always going to have the most modern or popular picks, but if there's an old  niche show that you want to jump back into, there's a pretty decent chance that Plex or  one of the previously mentioned options has it available. And if nothing else, it's something  to put on in the background if you need to. Plex also has live TV channels, and I like  a lot of the options available, especially those dedicated to specific series or movie studios. The  Miramax Movie Channel plays a lot of blockbusters, *Stories by AMC* features a lot of *Breaking Bad*  or *Better Call Saul*, and there's a *Walking Dead* universe channel that acts as a home to  the main show and many of the spin-offs. So, I think there's something for a lot of people here.But what if you need something for kids? That's what our final options are for. PBS Kids is  pretty self-explanatory. There you'll find a lot of familiar kids' programs like *Arthur*  and *Curious George*, and all the other things that I'm sure have become popular since I last  watched these kinds of shows. Kind of dated myself with those first few mentions. And  if finding one particular show to watch is too overwhelming, you can also enter your location  and get a live feed of your local PBS station. In my case, it's Oregon Public Broadcasting.And for the Lego lovers in the family, the LEGO app is perfect. There are lots of options here,  from their collabs with Marvel and *Jurassic World* to *Star Wars* and other Lego shorts that  provide short bursts of entertainment, which I especially like when trying to limit screen time.Thanks, as always, for watching! If you've got more free apps that you've come across,  be sure to drop them in the comments. I'm sure others would love to know additional  options to what I just named. These are just some of the ones that I found have quality  content and don't cost you any additional money. We'll see you in the next video.\n"