Do you want to watch movies online? The good news is that you can watch free movies without having to pay a dime.
Despite copyright issues, you can still hack away to watch free movies online without having to download them from unlawful movie torrent websites.
But if you don’t know the best websites to watch online movies, your experience would be ruined. You will spend countless hours to find a decent quality website with minimal interruptions. I’m sure a lot of you would give up on the idea of watching a free movie online.
The secret is to watch movies online free. Below, you will find websites where you can watch online movies. I have reviewed each of them, using a proper reviewing methodology. You can explore my methodology below before you read the reviews of these websites.
How I Reviewed These Online Movie Websites for This Ultimate Guide
In order to help you find the best online movie website, I took a lot of factor into consideration.
- Database Size: How many online movies and TV shows are available?
- Website Update Frequency: How regularly is the website updated?
- User Interface: Is the website user-friendly? Can you find a movie or a TV show easily?
- Content Variety: Can you find online movies, TV shows, cartoon, anime on the website? Or does it have only a few types of video content?
- Streaming Quality: Does the website stream videos at a fast rate? Is there any lag? Can you watch a movie in 1080p with Dolby Digital Surround sound? Can you change the video quality to low bitrate when using a slow internet connection?
- Ads: Does the website load your screen with ads?
- Additional options: Does the website give you any other additional services such as the ability to make your own playlists and so on?
Websites Reviews – Watch FREE Movies Online
1- Tubi TV
Tubi TV is one of the best websites out there to watch modern-classic and cult favorite movies online. Don’t expect to watch the latest Hollywood release.
All the content on this website is free to access. It uses an ad-supported model to generate revenue to keep the servers up and running.
It’s a 100% safe and legal website. When you use this online movie service, you don’t have to worry about your spyware giving you hundreds of alerts. You can watch your favorite cult movies online in total peace using Tubi TV.
Tubi TV Review
Database Size – Library
This website has only modern classics and cult favorite movies. There is a lack of variety in the library. However, it does offer a huge variety of cult favorites online movies free.
Website Update Frequency
The website updates content regularly. You will not run out of options to watch free movies whenever you come back to the website.
User Interface
User-interface is where this website beats others when you want to watch movies online free. You keep scrolling and you’ll continue seeing lists of movies auto-generated. Like, you would see ‘Highly Rated on Rotten Tomatoes’ and ‘Fan Favorite’ and so on. The movie lists are also sorted according to user age groups and interests. You can pick movies suitable for kids, family, and so on.
There is even a feature to browse movies. You can bring up the huge Browse menu from the top menu. In this menu, you will find all the content on the website listed under online movie genres. Pick a genre of your choice and start watching. It’s that simple with Tubi TV.
Content Variety
Tubi TV provides some content variety but it can’t compete with other online movie services such as FMovies, YesMovies, PrimeWire, nd GoMovies that upload content from a wider variety of genres and eras. On Tubi TV, you can watch some comedy shows and sports videos in addition to the cult classic, but they seem to be there only to fill gaps. They are rarely updated.
However, when looking for cult movies online free, Tubi TV is the best place to visit.
Streaming Quality
You can stream movies in 714p. You can change the kbps value between 342kbps and 2687kbps. The website uses the famous JW Player so you won’t feel any problems with streaming. Movies stream without lag even on slower internet connections.
Ads
You’ll need to DISABLE any ad-blocker app installed in your browser to watch free movies online on this website.
We tested it with Adblock and there is no way to bypass the requirement. The only way to watch free movies on this website is to see the ads that come with it.
Memory (RAM) usage and Performance rating
When you run Tubi TV in your browser, you don’t face much of a memory problem. Your laptop will remain stable and your browser won’t run out of available memory.
I actually tested this.
- When you play a movie online on Tubi TV using Chrome, it uses nearly 90 MB of memory.
- Microsoft Edge (Internet Explorer) uses around 100 MB of RAM when running a movie on Tubi TV.
This is not a huge memory reservation considering you are watching a video on your PC.
Running this website in any internet browser on a laptop didn’t cause any significant change in CPU usage. The 2%-5% change is usually what you always get when playing a video in a web browser.
Pros | Cons |
100% legal and safe | You can only watch modern classics and cult favorite movie - no other content type available. |
Excellent user interface | No way to bypass ads |
Minimal ads | |
Watch online movies without downloading | |
Excellent streaming speeds | |
High-quality video up to 2687 kbps | |
Has an app for every platform - PC (Windows), Android, iOS, Roku, Apple TV, Amazon, Xbox, and Smart TV are currently supported. |
2. FMovies.se
Fmovies is yet another video website that gives us a huge collection of free movies online to watch. You can also watch free TV shows on this website. You can watch movies/TV shows online or download them for offline view.
FMovies Review
Database Size – Library
FMovies has a huge database. It lets you watch both new and old movies. You will never run out of content on this website.
Website Update Frequency
The website is updated regularly with new content. You can watch all the latest movies, TV shows and anime on this website. If you visit the website daily, you will still have more content that what you can stream in 24 hours.
The website updates all new content. So if something aired at night, you can expect it to be on this website by the morning. You can watch movies on this website as soon as they are released in the theater.
You can watch the trailer of a movie before you start streaming it.
User Interface
YMovies is easy to navigate. It includes a search feature that works like a charm. As you start typing the movie name, you see suggestions. Either click one of those suggestions or simply hit enter to see all the relevant results.
The content on this website is arranged into different categories and genres. Here are some of the sections on the homepage.
- Categories and genres
- By country
- Recommended
- Most watched this week
- Most watched this month
- Most favorited
- Latest Movies
You will also see a huge slider on the homepage that shows latest and the most popular content. This could help you pick a movie or a TV show to watch today.
Content Variety
This website, FMovies, has a good variety of content. You can find movies and TV shows. The website provides links to new and old content so you come to this website whether you want to see a movie that’s currently running in theaters or a movie that was a hit in the ‘70s.
FMovies also has Anime and other content. Since it’s also arranged by countries, it will be easy for you to find whatever you want to watch today.
You can also request free online movies and TV shows on this website. The admins actually listen and upload requested content as soon as they find it.
Streaming Quality
FMovies streams movies and TV shows in HD quality. You can watch movies in 720p. On top of that, the website offers multiple streaming servers to make your life easier. If you can’t stream from one server, you can move to the next and so on.
Ads
This website allows you watch movies without having to pay any cost for it. However, you have to bear with the ads.
Whenever you click something, whether you want to go full screen or lower the volume, an ad will pop up in a new tab.
Memory (RAM) usage and Performance rating
Since FMovies uses a lightweight media player on the website, you don’t have to worry about your computer resources. When you run a movie, it doesn’t consume more than 100MB of RAM.
Your processor also remains relatively free, allowing you to run other processes while watching movies on your computer. CPU usage will rise only by 3-5% when running this website inside a Chrome tab or be using another web browser.
Pros | Cons |
Watch free movies online and TV shows | A new popup window with an ad loads every time you click somewhere on the website |
One-click download option | Streaming quality limited to 720p only |
High-speed streaming | |
Minimal ads | |
Easy to navigate | |
Country-specific movies online and TV shows | |
Huge library of Kung Fu films | |
New content is added regularly |
3- Gomovies.to (formerly 123movies)
GoMovies (123movies) is one of the oldest and most popular free movie websites. This website keeps changing its tld due to copyright problems so you might have to change your bookmarks every other week.
GoMovies probably has the largest collection of free movies and TV shows. It’s the biggest free movie website. You can sort online movies based on rating, genre, country, and popularity.
GoMovies Review
Database Size – Library
GoMovies allows you to stream movies online, without any costs. It has a huge database, which means you can all types of movies and TV shows on this website.
Website Update Frequency and content variety
The website is updated daily with new content. Most of the times, free online movies are uploaded on the website as soon as they are released in theaters.
For TV shows, this website doesn’t disappoint. You can watch all the latest shows on GoMovies, free of charge. Usually, new TV episodes are updated within 24 hours of them going on air.
You can watch trailer of a movie before you start streaming it
User Interface
GoMovies is easy to navigate. You have a top menu that gives you movies and TV shows sorted by categories. You can also display them according to IMDB rating. There is also an option to search for your favorite titles on this website.
GoMovies arranges the content on the homepage using the following filters.
- Featured
- Top Viewed
- Most Favorited
- Top IMDB
- Latest Movies
- Latest TV Series
- Requested
The last section on the page is for the content that users request. The website doesn’t take long to fulfil your wishes. So, if you want to watch a movie or a TV show that you can’t find anywhere on the internet, send GoMovies a request for it. They will upload it for you.
Streaming Quality
Just like FMovies, GoMovies has numerous server options to watch the movie. Most of the content is available in HD 720p quality. You can also lower the quality if you are on a slow internet connection.
Ads
Like many other free online movie websites, GoMovies doesn’t charge anything to let you watch movies online. However, you have to let the ads run. The ads, like FMovies, open as a popup in a new tab whenever you click somewhere on the website.
So before you start watching a movie, be ready to deal with a few ads. During the streaming, there won’t be any ads as long as you don’t have to click anywhere.
Memory (RAM) usage and Performance rating
GoMovies uses the same player as FMovies. That means you won’t be putting much load on your computer when watching online videos on this website.
The maximum load on CPU increases its usage by 5%. Similarly, the RAM used when this player is running is always under 100MB unless you decide to run more than one videos from this website in different browser windows or tabs.
Pros | Cons |
Huge collection of free movies and TV shows | Some tlds don’t work in certain regions |
Sort by popularity, ranking, and number of views | |
Very nicely organized content | |
Excellent streaming quality | |
High-quality HD videos available | |
Daily updated content | |
Huge collection of free movies and TV shows | |
Sort by popularity, ranking, and number of views |
4. Yesmovies.to
Yesmovies.to is a free movies website that offers enough content to keep you engaged for weeks. The website updates regularly so you will always have something new to watch. Moreover, it shows minimal ads and allows you to watch TV shows and movies without interruption.
The video quality is great and you can watch English, Hindi, and Chinese online movies. You don’t have to download movies to watch on this site. Just stream them online.
YesMovies Review
Database Size – Library
YesMovies is similar to GoMovies and FMovies. Call it their clone for free movies. Just like those two websites, YesMovies has one of the largest collection of free movies and TV shows on the internet.
All these three movie sites upload almost the similar content and they have a similar database. If you can’t find a movie with YMovies or GoMovies service, chances are good that you won’t find it in YesMovies database as well.
Website Update Frequency and content variety
YesMovies uploads content every day. So, if a movie released yesterday, you can expect its ‘cam’ print to become available on YesMovies today.
It’s the same for TV shows. This website uploads new episodes within a few hours of them being on air. You can watch all your favorite TV here.
You can watch trailer of a movie before you start streaming it
User Interface
YesMovies has an easy-to-use and user-friendly interface. On the homepage, you are able to navigate using the top menu. It allows you to watch free movies online based on their genre and country. You also have a section for news. Using the top menu, you can also sort content in Movies and TV Shows.
Moreover, the homepage lays out the following sections to make your life easier when it comes to finding something interesting to watch today.
- Hot
- Top Viewed Today
- Top Favorite
- Top Rating
- Latest Movies (All, Action, Thriller, Romance)
- Latest TV Series (All, US, Korea, Japan)
- Requested
You can also request content that you can’t find elsewhere on the internet. It will appear under ‘requested’ section on the homepage when uploaded.
When streaming a movie on YesMovies, you can add it to your favorites. You can also share it on social media so that your friends can also watch the movie/TV show free of any cost.
Streaming Quality
YesMovies allows you to stream free online movies in true HD quality. You can stream them in 720p and 1080p. But you can also lower the resolution if you have slow internet connection.
Like GoMovies and YMovies, YesMovies also provides different server options so that you can choose a server that is closer to your location. That will increase the streaming speed and give you an interruption-free experience. However, YesMovies has server options only for a few movies and rest of the content is hosted on a single server.
Ads
Like many other free movies online websites, GoMovies doesn’t charge anything to let you watch movies. However, you have to let the ads run. The ads, like FMovies, open as a popup in a new tab whenever you click somewhere on the website.
So before you start watching free movies, be ready to deal with a few ads. During the streaming, there won’t be any ads as long as you don’t have to click anywhere.
Memory (RAM) usage and Performance rating
YesMovies consumes more resources compared to GoMovies and FMovies. When you stream 1080p, the RAM consumed is more than 100 MB but it’s always under 150 MB. It means you won’t have a significant performance issue even when streaming on an older laptop.
When it comes to processing power, YesMovies uses around 7% of your CPU when watching a movie in 1080p HD quality.
Pros | Cons |
Huge library to watch free movies online | Doesn’t allow to download movies for offline viewing |
Regular updates | Serves ads |
Awesome video streaming quality | |
Watch movies and TV Shows | |
English, Hindi, Korean, and Chinese films | |
No need to download movies |
5. CartoonHD.online
CartoonHD.online is yet another online streaming website that allows you to watch free movies online. This website specializes in bringing you cartoons but you can also watch other movies and TV shows on this website. However, the focus of the website is on a younger audience.
CartoonHD.online has a lot of content and they keep adding new content regularly.
CartoonHD.Online Review
Database Size – Library
CartoonHD.Online lets you watch many new and old TV shows and movies. However, the content is strictly focused on young audience.
Despite the fact that this website won’t provide every show that airs on TV, it has a huge variety of available content within its niche. You can watch cartoons, shows, and online movies targeted at kids and teenagers.
Website Update Frequency and content variety
CartoonHD is an active free movie service. You can watch latest movies online and TV shows here as the admins update the website regularly.
Apart from cartoons and teenage TV shows, this website also updates popular shows such as Game of Thrones, Big Brother, The Flash and so on.
You can also enjoy new and old movies on this website. You will find many popular teen movies online on this website but they also add new popular movies.
User Interface
This free online movie service has a nice user interface but it’s ‘very’ user-friendly. You have the option to see the list of free movies and TV shows. You can also access newly uploaded content. All three options are located in the top menu so it should be easy for anyone to access it.
You will see featured content on a big slider.
On rest of the homepage, the website serves content under the following sections.
- New TV Episodes
- Trending Series and Movies
- Popular on Cartoon HD
- Watch free cinema Movies
- TV Shows With New Episodes
- Top Cartoons
- Watch Movie Trailers
- Watch TV Series on [Yesterday’s Date]
- Recently Added Movies
You also have a large search form right next to website logo. It works like a charm and it can help you find your favorite cartoon or movie in a matter of seconds.
Streaming Quality
When it comes to streaming quality, CartoonHd won’t disappoint you.
You can watch movies and cartoon shows in 720p HD picture and high-quality audio. You can also watch videos in 320p and 480p. You can easily lower the resolution if you are on a slow internet connection.
You can stream free movies online and other videos from different servers. For most of the videos, your options are limited to GoogleVideo and Open Source server. Both servers stream fast so you won’t suffer from any lag even when watching videos in 720p HD quality.
Ads
Since this website allows you to stream free movies and TV shows, you have to live with the advertisements. However, the interruption is minimal and ads don’t show up once you have played the video.
The ads show up when you click something. So if you want to watch a movie, you may have to do 2-3 clicks on this website. With each click, an ad will open in a new browser tab/window.
Ads pop up even when you are using AdBlock Plus. However, using this extension doesn’t display any ads on the website itself. The only ads you have to deal with will pop out.
Memory (RAM) usage and Performance rating
CartoonHD.Online uses a very efficient video player. You don’t have to close down all the apps running on your PC before you decide to watch videos on this website. The maximum load on your processor when watching an HD video on this website is under 3%.
The video player used by this website doesn’t consume a lot of RAM. When tested with a 720p video in Chrome browser with a few other tabs open, the maximum RAM consumption was 80MB.
Pros | Cons |
Lots of content | The library has teen-focused content only |
New content added regularly | |
A dedicated category for upcoming movies | |
You can also download their app to watch free movies on your phone |
6- The Internet Archive
The Internet Archive isn’t exactly a movie site. Nevertheless, you can watch old movies online and TV shows using this public archive of the internet. This website has archived thousands of classic free movies, documentaries, and TV shows. You will even find some free music album on this website.
The Internet Archive Review
Database Size – Library
The Internet Archive has a huge library, filled with classic content. You can watch classic movies free online, documentaries, news videos, and videos from many other categories.
Unfortunately, you won’t be able to see the latest movies and videos.
You can also browse through a huge list of community videos and music videos on this website. This is one of the features that make this website unique.
All the videos and movies on this website are 100% legal and free to watch.
Website Update Frequency and content variety
The Internet Archives don’t work like other free movie websites. Instead of updating contents, this website actually archives videos from all over the web. However, it doesn’t archive new and copyright protected videos so you won’t find anything recent.
You can also watch free movies trailers on this website. Many recent trailers are available on this website. They are 100% legal to stream.
User Interface
User Interface is where this website lacks behind other popular websites such as GoMovies and FMovies. If you want to find a specific movie or a video on this website, you may have to spend a few minutes on the website.
You can sort videos according to their archive date, creator, and title. Apart from these filters, you also have the option to see videos only from one category. You have many broad categories and then many sub-categories under that.
The main categories or groups are the following.
- Media Types
- Topics and Subjects
- Collections
- Creators
- Language
Streaming Quality
The streaming quality on this website depends on the available quality of the video. Since this website only archives videos as they are available from their creators.
Since all the videos on this website are 100% legal to watch, you can get HD videos if the publisher has provided them for the public domain.
Ads
You don’t have to see the ads when you watch free movies online on this website. There are no popups and you don’t have any on-page ads either.
Memory (RAM) usage and Performance rating
This website doesn’t use much RAM or processing power. For some videos, the RAM consumption could go higher since the website plays videos in the player that runs them on the original website.
So the processing power and RAM consumption is variable.
Pros | Cons |
Watch classic movies and TV shows | You can’t watch the latest movies or TV shows |
Huge collection of documentaries | Poor user interface |
Watch music videos | Lots of categories that could make it difficult to find a video to watch |
Free to watch | |
No ads | |
Stream movies legally |
7. SeeHD.se (SeeHD.ws/SeeHd.Club)
SeeHD.se is a website for watching movies online. You can stream online or simply download free movies from this website to watch offline. This website doesn’t require you to register to watch TV shows and films.
SeeHD.se Review
Database Size – Library
SeeHD.Club (seeHD.ws) has a huge library of both new and old movies. However, they don’t add every movie that comes out so you will only be able to watch hit movies and TV shows here.
Website Update Frequency and content variety
This website updates whenever there is new content. However, they don’t upload everything that’s released or goes on air. Still, you will get to see a few new movies online and some TV episodes every day.
The website provides free movies and TV shows only. There are no community videos or cartoons/anime.
User Interface
SeeHD.Club doesn’t have a user-friendly homepage. You will see movies and TV shows on the homepage, without any sections or categories. You can sort films and TV shows but there are no other filters.
When you go to movies or TV shows section, you don’t get any filters. You will have to browse through hundreds of pages to find the videos that you want to see on this website.
Fortunately, there is a search feature available. Even if you don’t use the search feature on the other websites, you will find yourself using this feature all the times. It’s the only way to find the content you want to watch on this website.
Streaming Quality
This website offers variable streaming quality. You can watch movies and TV shows in 720HD quality. You can also lower the quality of videos when you have a slow internet connection.
When you watch movies using this website, you can easily select your favorite server. The website lists many different servers so you can easily choose the one that works the best for you. Different servers have different streaming quality so it shouldn’t be a problem to find a video in a suitable video quality.
Ads
Like many other free online movies services on the internet, this website also serves ads in exchange for free content.
You won’t see ads when you are browsing the website but when you want to play a video, you will be served ads. These ads will pop up in a new window. This pop-up window will close automatically in most cases.
When watching a free movie on this website, you won’t see any ads during streaming.
Memory (RAM) usage and Performance rating
This website consumes 70-100MB of RAM if you stream a high-quality video. It means your laptop won’t slow down and there won’t be any memory problems even when you are running a few other apps on your PC.
When you watch a free movie or a TV show on this website, you won’t have to worry about your PC getting slow and there will be no lag. It hardly uses 2-3% CPU of your laptop.
Pros | Cons |
Watch movies online free + TV shows | Free movies are somewhat outdated |
Stream online or download | |
Stream in 720p HD quality | |
Excellent user interface |
8. Viewster
Viewster is a free movies online website. The website serves ads as its revenue model. This website has a huge collection of anime series. Unfortunately, this website doesn’t upload the latest content so you will have to live with classic movies only.
Viewster Review
Database Size – Library
Viewster has a huge variety of anime series. It lacks somewhat when it comes to movies and TV shows but you will find all anime series here, from new to old. There is everything here that anime fans want to see.
Website Update Frequency and content variety
You can watch latest anime shows and web shorts on this website as they are updated regularly. However, feature films and TV shows are a low priority so they don’t often get updated every day.
This website also allows you to watch free gaming videos. You can also stream comedy and popular animation videos on your desktop or mobile using this service.
This website specializes in Korean and Japanese dramas and TV shows. So, if you like those regional videos, this is the place to visit.
User Interface
When it comes to user interface, this website makes it easy for viewers to find their favorite videos. You have a big slider on the homepage that displays recent and popular videos. Using the top menu, you can browse this website according to channels.
You will also see a ‘browse’ menu item that will open up further free movies categories. These categories include anime, sci-fi, comedy, action, adventure, documentary, drama, Korean drama, animation, classics, crime and gangsters, romance, thrillers, LGBT, war, horror and so on. This makes a lot of categories for fans to find their favorite videos to watch tonight.
You have a search feature on this website that can help you find something specific in an instant. You also have a blog that helps you to stay up to date with the latest anime news.
On the homepage, you will see videos sorted by the following.
- Channels
- More Series
- All Movies
This website has a mobile app as well. So if you are not in the mood to watch your favorite anime and Korean dramas on the desktop, you can always install the mobile app and enjoy your favorite content on the go.
Streaming Quality
You can stream videos on this website in 720p HD quality. You can also lower the quality and go down to 234p, which runs like a charm even when you are on a very slow internet connection.
You can only watch movies online free from one server. That means you don’t have the option to choose a different streaming source if the main server is down or overcrowded.
Ads
When watching free movies on this website, you have to deal with a lot of ads. They are everywhere.
The good news is that you can use AdBlock Plus or other adblocking apps on this website. If you are using Google Chrome, then Adblock Plus works like a charm. It blocks all the ads and delivers a wonderful movie streaming experience.
When running a video on this website with AdBlock Plus, it showed that seven ads were blocked. When the extension was disabled, the entire web page was flooded with ads.
Memory (RAM) usage and Performance rating
This website makes excellent use of available resources. It uses hardware acceleration to deliver excellent video experience but it doesn’t eat up your computer’s memory or processing power.
During my tests, I noticed that sometimes your processor usage goes above 10% but it never crosses 15%. It’s a bit on the higher side but you can live with that as the website delivers impeccable video quality without any lag or other streaming issues.
When streaming free movies online or shows on this website in Google Chrome browser, the maximum RAM consumption (running a video in a tab) is around 120 MB.
Pros | Cons |
Huge collection of anime series | Ads may distract your viewing experience |
Watch movies online free | No latest hit movies except anime and short videos from the web |
Simple interface | |
Legal and free |
9. TopDocumentaryFilms.Com
TopDocumentaryFilms, as the name suggests, gives you access to all the best documentaries. You can watch documentary films from all over the world. However, this site uploads movies that are in the free domain.
This website has arranged documentaries into different categories so can easily find the video you want to watch. You can also browse a list of top 100 documentaries on this website.
TopDocumentaryFilms Review
Database Size – Library
If you are looking for documentaries, then this is the ultimate website. Here, you will find both new and old documentaries from a dozen of different categories. They have documentaries from the 1990s to 2017 so you can expect to spend hours on this website.
Website Update Frequency and content variety
This website is updated regularly, depending on the availability of new documentary films.
The content variety is limited to documentaries only. Within this genre, you will find videos under every imaginable documentary category.
User Interface
TopDocumentaryFilms.com has a very nice user interface. They display most popular documentary films on the top of the homepage. Below are the other sections that you will find on the homepage.
- Featured Documentaries
- Recently Added
- Most Voted
- Most Shared
- Top 100
- List
- Browse
You also have categories on the homepage. You can click a category to see all documentaries under that particular category. Additionally, you can use the search feature to find a documentary to watch when you already know its name.
You can sort videos by title, comments, rating, and popularity.
If you like a documentary on this website, it’s easy to share it with your friends on Facebook, Twitter, and Google+.
Streaming Quality
Since this website mostly embeds free movies from YouTube, you will have all the standard YouTube streaming options. You can stream some videos in HD, where available, but old documentaries will not have the HD version.
You can change the streaming quality to lower or higher resolution depending on your internet connection. It’s just the way you are used to changing the streaming quality on YouTube. If you don’t want to experiment with the video quality, you can leave it at ‘auto’ setting where YouTube automatically streams a video at the rate suitable for your internet speed.
Ads
Apart from the typical YouTube ads that appear within videos, you won’t have many ads to deal with. The website uses standard Adsense ads that can be easily turned off by using AdBlock or another similar extension.
Memory (RAM) usage and Performance rating
As most of the videos run directly from YouTube, you won’t have much issue with the RAM and processor usage. Usually, YouTube engages only 3-5% of your CPU and consumes under 100 MB of RAM for videos up to 720p.
Pros | Cons |
Watch free documentaries | You can only watch documentaries |
One of the largest collection of documentary films from all over the world | The website lists documentaries in public domain so don’t expect to watch premium documentaries here |
Search feature makes it easy to watch your favorite documentaries | |
Top 100 documentaries feature gives you access to top content |
9- YouTube
YouTube is the world’s largest video website. Millions of new videos are uploaded every day on this website. You can watch movies online free, community videos, news, music videos, and TV shows on YouTube. YouTube also hosts a huge collection of documentary films, cooking shows, and has channels with original content.
When it comes to watching popular movies and TV Shows, YouTube might disappoint you to some extent. You may be able to watch some new free movies and shows by paying for them but if you want to watch free latest movies, you won’t find them on YouTube.
YouTube Review
Database Size – Library
YouTube is bigger than all other streaming websites combined. It has that huge a database that you need thousands of years to watch all the videos uploaded on YouTube in a week.
Website Update Frequency and content variety
There is no other website where you could see millions of videos being uploaded in a day. YouTube is the true king when it comes to updating frequency and content variety.
You will find videos from every thinkable genre. There are tons of community uploaded videos but you will also find many channels and brands sharing videos with users through YouTube. Some prime videos are also available on YouTube.
Recently, YouTube started giving users the true theater experience. This service launched a few featured films – that you could see on YouTube just the way you’d see them in a theater. You have to buy a ticket (pay on YouTube) to watch these latest movies.
You will also find many movies available on YouTube for free. These are mostly old classics that have been moved to public domain.
User Interface
Of all the video websites on the internet, YouTube probably has the simplest but the most functional interface. Users can find their favorite videos on their homepage as YouTube records history and serves videos based on your activity.
If you want to find a video on YouTube, it’s as easy as doing a quick search using the built-in search feature.
You can also subscribe to your favorite channels on YouTube to receive updates from those channels directly on your homepage.
Streaming Quality
No other website beats YouTube when it comes to streaming quality. You can play HD videos with the option to lower the resolution for slow connections. YouTube, by default, uses ‘auto’ settings to select the best streaming quality according to your internet connection.
YouTube videos don’t lag even when using the website on a slower internet connection.
Ads
YouTube serves ads. It’s a free website where you can watch millions of free videos. The only limitation is that you have to watch ads as you watch videos. YouTube serves an 2-3 ads in a standard video typically but if you are watching a full-length free movie, expect a video ad to be served every 10 minutes or so.
There are no popup ads on YouTube. The focus will always be at your video player. Ads only display within your video or on YouTube homepage within the content sidebars.
Memory (RAM) usage and Performance rating
YouTube uses an extremely efficient video player. It doesn’t put a lot of load on your processor and requires minimal free RAM. During tests, I found that this website only consumes 100 MB RAM when watching a video in 720p HD quality. The processor consumption remained around 2% throughout the video.
Pros | Cons |
A huge variety of content | You can’t watch the latest films |
Massive video library | YouTube displays ads, even during the videos, unless you buy premium membership |
Lots of new videos to watch every day | |
Some free movies online and TV shows available without subscription | |
Excellent streaming quality | |
Community feature | |
Tons of original content |
10- SnagFilms
SnagFilms has a huge collection of movies and you can also watch TV shows on this website. It does serve some ads but it doesn’t disturb your movie viewing experience. The ads are minimal and the movies are of the highest quality. You will enjoy a variety of movies on this website.
SnagFilms Review
Database Size – Library
SnagFilms has a huge list of free movies for you to watch. You will find new and popular movies on this website in addition to classic films.
The database size is huge. You can expect to watch movies and other videos from a variety of genres on this website.
This website has more than 10,000 free to watch movies.
Website Update Frequency and content variety
SnagFilms is updated regularly. The website has a huge variety of content. You can watch documentaries, music videos, foreign films, thrillers, action films, comedy films and TV shows, and so on.
User Interface
The user interface of this website is very nice. You will see many sections on the homepage. These sections will give you plenty of videos to get started. If you want more, you can explore different genres. Within each genre, you will find many sub-genres. This structure helps you find a movie easily.
For TV shows, this website doesn’t use genres or categories. Instead, it organizes the shows using different collections.
If you are watching a TV show on this website, you will see other episodes of the same show on the same window, below the media player. When watching films, the website displays similar/suggested films instead.
The website has also added a button for the player, on the right bottom, to help you change between different episodes with just a click.
You can also use the search function to find your favorite title from over 10,000 movies.
Streaming Quality
Despite being a free movie website, SnagFilms allows you to watch free movies online in high definition. Many films are available in 1080p and 720p HD quality.
When streaming movies or TV shows on SnagFilms, you can go to full-screen mode and change quality of the video. You can easily change volume from the media player. Sadly, there is no way to see subtitles on this website.
This website has social sharing options that make it easy to share your favorite films and shows on social media websites such as Facebook and Twitter.
Ads
SnagFilms is an ad-supported free movie streaming service. You will watch ads when watching a video. The ads are served within the media player so there is absolutely no distraction.
Unlike some other websites (YesMovies, GoMovies etc), this service doesn’t bother you with a lot of ads. You will only watch 2-3 ads during a full-length film.
Memory (RAM) usage and Performance rating
Out of all the websites reviewed here, SnagFilms consumes the most memory. It uses 120-150MB RAM even when you are streaming a movie in low resolution. The RAM consumption can go as high as 200 MB when watching HD movies.
When watching a video on SnagFilms in Chrome or another web browser, expect around 8% of your processing resources to be used.
Pros | Cons |
Watch free movies online | No subtitles |
Enjoy TV shows in high quality | Only one streaming server |
Minimal ads | |
Clear user interface | |
Suggested movies and related episodes display on the same window as the video player |
11- ShoutFactoryTV
ShoutFactoryTV is a website for streaming contemporary cult favorites. This website has a huge library, filled with cult classic TV shows, free movies, comedy, original episodes, and much more.
This website allows you to watch movies online and TV shows free of charge. It uses an ad-supported model but that shouldn’t be a problem as the majority of other video websites also use a similar model.
ShoutFactoryTV can be viewed on Amazon Fire, Roku, and Samsung TV. The company is working hard to roll out channels on other devices as well.
ShoutFactoryTV Review
Database Size – Library
This website has a huge library of cult classics. You can watch TV shows and movies on this website. It’s 100% legal content so you don’t need to use a VPN to avoid getting into the trouble.
Unfortunately, the library is limited only to cult classics.
Website Update Frequency and content variety
This website updates regularly. Most of the times, the new content is ‘original’ content, produced by the company behind this website.
This website features a lot of content that falls into the category of classics. However, you won’t find any new films or TV shows.
You can watch movies and shows from comedy, thriller, sci-fi and many other genres.
User Interface
The user interface of ShoutFactoryTV is simple. The website is easy to use as you can use the search feature on top of find whatever you are looking for on this website.
You also have a TV and a Movie section. Click the relevant link from the top menu.
Within TV and movie section, you will see numerous categories that make it easy to find your favorite content.
The homepage also contains a long list of cult favorites. From comedy to action, you are sure to find something interesting on the homepage. The VHS Vault section features the best movies and TV shows from the VHS time.
Streaming Quality
Streaming quality isn’t great here. The video player often hangs and it won’t run in some countries due to region restriction. So, if you are living somewhere in Asia, you might need to use a proxy to fake a different location.
I tested it from a US location and it works fine.
The video player that this website uses needs updates. It doesn’t respond to controls. You can’t click the ‘settings’ icon, which means you have no way to adjust resolution or even to find out the resolution of the currently playing media.
When the video player became responsive eventually after refreshing the page several times, I was able to adjust video quality. The website offers HD video streaming. You can adjust video resolution anywhere between 420p and 1080p.
Ads
ShoutFactoryTV is a free to use website that uses ads to generate revenue. The ads are non-intrusive and you can easily disable all of them by using AdBlock Plus or another advertisement blocking extension.
Memory (RAM) usage and Performance rating
This website uses only 1-2% of CPU power and consumes minimum RAM. Your computer won’t hang or lag when you watch free movies online.
When watching a video on this website in Chrome, the RAM consumption was around 300-400MB.
Pros | Cons |
A huge collection of cult favorite classic online movies and TV shows | Library is limited only to free-to-user cult classics |
Excellent user-interface | Video player becomes unresponsive sometimes |
Trademark media company gives you 100% legal content | Ad supported website |
Original shows available | |
Read the latest news in the blog section | |
Works with Roku, Samsung TV, and Amazon Fire | |
100% legal and free to watch content |
12- Crackle
Crackle allows you to watch your favorite movies and hit TV shows. You can also watch originals here, which aren’t available elsewhere.
Although you need to register with Crackle to watch movies and TV shows, it won’t be much of a trouble. The registration is free and it gives you access to hundreds of new and old movies and shows.
Crackle Review
Database Size – Library
At any given time, you can find around 100-150 movies on Crackle. You will also have around 50 TV shows to watch.
Crackle has a unique policy when it comes to content. The website adds a movie or a show only for a few days. Once it has been available for a limited duration, it gets removed. So be sure to watch videos in full because they might not be available you visit the website on the next day.
Website Update Frequency and content variety
Crackle is one of the best websites when it comes to watching updated content. The website updates every day so you will have something new to watch daily.
Crackle allows you to watch free movies and TV shows. They include all free videos starting from 1960s. Unlike other cult movie sites, Crackle also serves new and recent content.
movies and TV shows. They include all free videos starting from 1960s. Unlike other cult movie sites, Crackle also serves new and recent content.
You can also watch originals on Crackle. These videos are usually not available elsewhere on the web.
User Interface
Crackle has a nice user-interface with all newly available titles on the homepage. You can easily find your favorite free online movies or TV shows on this website within a few minutes.
Crackle also allows its users to search the library to find a movie that users might not find on the homepage.
Streaming Quality
Crackle is behind YouTube and other popular streaming websites when it comes to streaming quality. You can only stream videos at 480p. This resolution works for a smaller screen (laptop/mobile) but if you watch a movie or a show on your big TV, the picture will not be as clear and crisp as you wish.
Ads
Crackle serves ads to support its free-to-user model. You can stream movies and TV shows without having to pay anything but you have to watch ads.
When you start watching a video on Crackle, you are instantly served with an ad. If you watch a 20-minute long video, you will have to watch three more ads. For a full-length movie, the number of ads can go as high as 10.
Memory (RAM) usage and Performance rating
Crackle doesn’t have HD videos. You can stream only at 480p. Because of that, the RAM consumption and CPU usage is low. It uses around 1-2% of CPU while the RAM usage remained under 100MB at all the times when using this website.
Pros | Cons |
Powered by Sony Network | Videos are added and then removed after some time |
100% legal content | Ad-supported |
Free to watch | Registration required |
Watch originals free online movies | Streaming quality isn’t great |
Old and new movies and shows available | |
Subtitles available | |
Works on Apple TV, Xbox, PS4, and some other devices |
13- ClassicCinemaOnline
As the name suggests, ClassicCinemaOnline lets you watch classic films and TV shows. It’s a free website so you don’t need to pay anything to watch your favorite classics.
The website has a nice interface and you can easily browse through available content. There is also a search feature that makes it easy to find your favorite content. Unfortunately, the movies available on this website usually have poor video quality.
ClassicCinemaOnline Review
Database Size – Library
This website has only classic films so don’t expect a huge library. You will only have a few hundred titles to choose from.
Website Update Frequency and content variety
ClassicCinemaOnline doesn’t update content regularly. Since the website only gives you classic and very old films, they rarely get updates.
The content variety is limited to only classics. The majority of these films and TV shows are already in public domain, which means they are 100% legal to watch free.
Within classic videos, you will find movies and TV shows from different genres such as comedy, animated, sci-fi, documentary films, musicals, and so on. One special feature of this website is that you can watch silent films here.
User Interface
ClassicCinemaOnline has a nice interface. The homepage gives you direct access to popular classic films and TV shows. Additionally, you can browse the content according to their categories. You can watch free movies online or TV shows and display content from a specific genre.
To open movies/TV shows from a specific genre, simply hover over the top menu. You will see sub-genres in the drop-down menu.
Streaming Quality
Since all the movies and TV shows on this website is very old, you can’t expect a good streaming quality. Some of the movies have such poor print that you won’t be able to see a thing when you go full screen.
Ads
This website doesn’t serve any ads. You can watch free movies without being distracted by advertisements of any sort.
Memory (RAM) usage and Performance rating
ClassicCinemaOnline doesn’t consume much memory or processing power. The processor showed only 2% increase in usage when I played a movie on this website. It used around 100MB of RAM when running a video in a Chrome tab.
Pros | Cons |
Classic movies and TV shows available free of cost | Only classic videos so don’t expect to watch new and popular films here |
Most videos run in a YouTube-like player | Poor streaming quality |
Some videos have subtitles option | |
Free movies and TV shows can be downloaded | |
Silent films available | |
No ads |
14- MoviesFoundOnline.com
MoviesFoundOnline.com features some good films in various categories. Short films and animation videos are regularly updated so you can expect to find recent hits in that section. With a nice front-end, it’s a cool place when you are in mood to watch hit movies online.
MoviesFoundOnline Review
Database Size – Library
It’s not impressive. This website features free movies online which is available on YouTube as free movies.
For short films and animation, it has a nice collection of videos.
Website Update Frequency and content variety
This website really needs to do something about updating the content regularly. You only see regular updates in Short Films and Animation category. Other than that, everything is weeks old, if not years.
For whatever content this website has, it has got some variety. You can stream free documentary films, short films, full featured films, animation video, viral videos, series and TV shows, and stand-up comedy shows.
That will keep you busy for a while.
User Interface
MoviesFoundOnline has a very impressive front-end. Everything is laid out nicely with content from all categories displayed on the homepage. You can also browse categories from the top menu. If you have something special in mind, you can use the search feature to find it.
Streaming Quality
Almost all the videos on this website are hosted on YouTube. That means you can expect high-quality streaming. The majority of videos can be streamed in 1080p HD quality.
Ads
You will see some ads throughout the website. However, it works like a charm with an ad blocking extension.
While watching a video, you will have to see YouTube ads as per YouTube policy.
Memory (RAM) usage and Performance rating
This website is lightweight. It runs all the videos from YouTube so RAM consumption is minimal. Since YouTube player uses the latest web and video streaming technology, it doesn’t slow down your computer.
Pros | Cons |
Very neat and elegant interface | Content is updated after two weeks (except for short films) |
Watch movies online | Only a few movies and TV shows |
Excellent collection of short films, including recent releases | No recent full movies or TV shows |
High-Quality streaming (mostly YouTube videos) | |
100% legal and free to watch videos | |
Content is well organized |
The Final Comparison – What is the best website to watch movies/TV shows?
Now that you have read details about all the websites that allow you to watch movies and shows, it’s time to pick the best one.
The problem is that you can’t decide one top website because every website in our list has something special. To solve this problem, we will do a detailed comparison of each website.
The comparison is based on content variety and updates, website interface, and streaming quality.
The Interface – The Most User-friendly Website
GoMovies, YesMovies, Fmovies, and YouTube has the best interface. Clearly, out of these websites, GoMovies was the easiest to navigate around. It’s the most user-friendly website where finding content takes just a click.
It comes with the search feature and displays a lot of content on the homepage. You can also browse content on YesMovies using the top navigation bar.
Content Variety Update
When it comes to content variety and regular updates, no one beats GoMovies. Although YouTube is a contender here, it doesn’t upload new TV shows and movies so I didn’t consider it for the mere lack of the content variety from our perspective.
Other websites that were close to being the best for content variety and updates are Fmovies and YesMovies.
Streaming Quality
Streaming quality is one of the most important aspects of this review. You don’t want to watch a film on a website that has lag. The good news is that many websites in this list have impeccable streaming quality, both in terms of buffer and number of servers available.
Gomovies, Fmovies, and YesMovies allow you to pick a server of your choice prior to watching a movie or a TV show. That means you can easily control the streaming quality by choosing the right server.
The clear winner in this race was Fmovies. The movies don’t lag and you can even change the server based on what suits your location.
Who is the winner?
Below, you can see the big comparison table. It gives us a winner.
User Friendly | Content Variety | Streaming Quality | Total Score | GOMOVIES is the Winner! | |
GoMovies | 8 | 9 | 8 | 25 | |
FMovies | 7 | 8 | 9 | 24 | |
YesMovies | 7 | 8 | 8 | 23 |
Paid/membership websites where you can watch HD movies and TV shows
Apart from the free movies sites you explored above in this article, there are various paid options for those who want to experience HD video experience free from ads and other limitations.
Below is a list of the best TV and movie streaming websites on the internet.
- Netflix
- Amazon Prime Video
- Hulu
- YouTube TV
- VUDU
- CBS All Access
- Showtime
1- Netflix
Netflix is one of the first few services to take streaming to the next level. Even today, it clearly remains the leader of streaming online movies and TV shows online. You pay a monthly subscription fee for streaming all the content on this portal.
Pros | Cons |
Huge content library | Somewhat expensive as compared to other streaming services such as Amazon and YouTube TV |
On-demand movies and TV shows | Titles are often removed from the library |
Original series | |
Optimized interface for easy video streaming | |
Recommendation system makes it easy to watch the best videos | |
Excellent streaming quality | |
Works on different platforms |
2- Amazon Prime Video
Amazon Prime Video is the best choice for those who pay for watching videos online. It offers a huge library of both old and new free movies online and TV shows at only $99 per year. This single membership gives you access to Amazon Music, Amazon Prime Video, and a free Kindle book each month.
Pros | Cons |
One membership gives you access to various Amazon premier services | No monthly membership - only subscription model available |
Huge library and a lot of choices when it comes to what to watch | You might be disappointed with the new videos as they are far and few these days |
Original shows just like Netflix | |
Good streaming quality | |
Works on various platforms |
3- Hulu
Hulu has incredible selection of TV shows and movies. It’s a paid service available as a monthly and annual subscription. This American subscription is a joint venture between The Walt Disney, Comcast, Time Warner, and Comcast. It means you can expect a lot of highly rated TV content.
You can watch some of the best TV shows on this website. The streaming quality is exceptional with HD and UHD options available. The service runs on various platforms including PC, mobile, and streaming TV boxes.
Pros | Cons |
New movies every week | Lacks variety when it comes to original content and films |
Shows for kids | You have to watch ads with the basic plan |
Exclusive TV shows | |
Full episodes available for many hit TV shows | |
Live and on-demand premium TV channels | |
Excellent selection of TV shows for the fans of American TV |
4- YouTube TV
Apart from tons of free content, YouTube also offers subscription based service. Although it sounds great, it’s not impressive. You pay a lot of money for YouTube TV but it still gives you unskippable ads. The irony is that has to still sort out its issues with major streaming devices such as Apple TV and Roku.
Pros | Cons |
Excellent user interface on PC and mobile | Limited number of channels |
High quality HD videos | Doesn’t work great when you want to use it with regular YouTube (free) |
Cloud DVR comes with unlimited storage option | Unskippable ads even after buying the paid membership |
Great for live sports fans | Doesn’t work with many TV devices |
Many new movies are available on YouTube TV |
5- VUDU
VUDU started as a set-top box company but it changed its direction when Walmart acquired it in 2010. Ever since, it has become one of the best places on the internet to rent TV shows and movies. You can use this service to catch-up on your favorite TV shows as it updates content daily.
Pros | Cons |
Many new and popular TV shows are available on VUDU | Online movies or TV shows you rent can’t be viewed offline |
You can rent movies from a large collection, comprising of both old and new films | Closed captioning often doesn’t work |
High Definition content available |
6- CBS All Access
CBS All Access is a new streaming service for the fans of CBS shows. It has a huge library, full of popular CBS shows that you can watch at your leisure. There are roughly 7,000 TV show episodes on this website. You can also stream CBS live using this subscription.
Pros | Cons |
Watch CBS shows live or watch them afterward with CBS All Access | Mainly contains CBS content |
Over 7,000 TV show episodes available | Works only if you live within one of local CBS broadcasting market |
Ad free entertainment | Limited number of local CBS channels |
Shows from other networks are also available | |
Stream on your PC, laptop, or mobile device |
7- Showtime Anytime
If you are looking for a premier service that offers all your favorite Showtime shows, then go nowhere else and buy a Showtime Anytime subscription. This service gives you access to tons of TV shows. You can also download and watch your favorite shows offline. You have stream on-demand as well as stream live option with this subscription.
Pros | Cons |
Watch CBS shows live or watch them afterward with CBS All Access | Lacks variety as you have shows from Showtime and a few shows from other collaborators |
Over 7,000 TV show episodes available | A limited collection of movies |
Ad free entertainment | |
Shows from other networks are also available | |
Stream on your PC, laptop, or mobile device |