today I'm sharing 20 streaming apps that I've got downloaded on my Roku and the best part they're
all free let's get started the first three apps I want to talk about today are my favorites in the
free category Pluto TV 2B and freebie I spend most of my time with Pluto TV this service is owned by
Paramount and it features a lot of Library shows and movies from the company's various Brands Pluto
TV is known for its cable-like guide that you see here with hundreds and hundreds of channels one
of Pluto's longtime employees told me the two best places to find content first under featured in the
live TV section and then the movies tab in the on-demand section Pluto TV's content is always
changing and here's a tip sometimes the service will only license a movie for a month or even less
so that's a reason to check back frequently one of my viewers put it this way the best thing about
Pluto TV it is never the same now if you find Pluto TV little bit overwhelming you may prefer
to be and I think this fox Zone service does a pretty good job of organizing its content from
the category section you see filters like leaving soon new releases and trending to be struck a deal
with Warner Brothers Discovery in early 2023 to add 14 WB branded channels that's to the live
section as well as more than 225 titles available on Demand with 2B I recommend starting with the
movie because it has a lot of films that you're not going to find on Pluto TV Amazon's freebie is
a must-have service for its original programming now a lot of freebies Library content can be found
elsewhere but not the shows and movies that I'm showing you on the screen now these are
all freebie exclusives and there's something for everyone too dramas comedies and reality shows
number four on my list is Plex and although I'll admit that I don't spend as much time using Plex
as the first three services I I have tested out a recent feature that Plex added and that is the
ability to skip credits of the shows and movies that you're watching I should also mention that
one of plex's unique features is that it lets you add your own media to the service I'm hoping
to try that out soon let me know your experience down below YouTube is number five today and it's
the number one place to watch long form user generated content like what's on Michael saves
but did you know about the movies and TV section this is it and it's just another option for free
shows and movies let's continue number six on my list may surprise you it is sling free stream
formerly sling free you can access sling free stream from the sling app but the free version
it is nothing like the bundles of cable channels that sling TV sells you are not getting free cable
with sling TV or any other service instead sling free stream offers more than 210 channels and 41
000 on-demand titles at launch with more on the way no payment or credit card information required
to use it and if you're already familiar with sling TV's user interface you're probably going
to like free streams look and feel I'm on the home screen right now and notice as you scroll through
suggested content at the top of the screen the thumbnail switches to a live preview moving away
from the home screen the guide section also looks similar to the paid version and with sling free
stream you have the ability to favorite channels and you can filter the guide by categories those
are along the top of the screen like the other services I've mentioned there's also a separate
on-demand section if you prefer that over the guide view now you should know that every time
I open up the sling app to access free stream I am prompted with options to subscribe to one
of sling's paid plans so there is an upselling component to this free service sling TV is one of
the more affordable live TV options and I want as much competition as possible to keep prices down
so if watching a few ads on free stream is going to help sling TV out I'm happy to do
it the next four apps on my list are for the major broadcast TV networks ABC CBS FOX and
NBC these apps require a pay TV login to stream live but in many cases you can watch the latest
episodes of shows on demand either about a day or a week after they air the ABC app does a nice job
letting you know what's actually free look for the section called unlocked TV and this is where you
can find content that does not require signing in with the pay TV provider number 11. I've separated
the CW app because you don't have to worry about what's locked or what's unlocked the CW app never
requires a login and you can watch episodes of your favorite CW shows on demand the day after
they air on broadcast TV the next two apps on my list are PBS and PBS Kids and like many of
the apps I've mentioned today there's an on-demand Library of shows and films to watch but with the
PBS app you can also watch a live stream in many areas number 14 is local now and this is one of
the free apps that I've downloaded most recently this app features a lot of live local and national
news coverage plus weather and I downloaded this one shortly after local now announced a deal to
add PBS live streams to its app that rollout is happening throughout 2023. 15 and 16 are two
other news apps news on and Haystack news both of them bring together news from various sources and
depending on where you live your local station's live news may be included that brings me to number
17 your local news app if your favorite news station has a dedicated app for Roku or whatever
device you're using it may be worth downloading especially if your local news is your primary
source of news canopy and hoopla are different because there is no advertising but these two
apps require that you have a library card don't have one check your local library's website for
an electronic library card and once you've got that card you can access canopy and hooplus apps
to stream movies TV and audiobooks in my opinion these are both underrated apps I may Save The Best
For Last let's talk about number 20 on my list the Roku Channel now there's a lot of content overlap
with many of the free services that I use that's true with the Roku Channel as well but the service
has been building out its Roku Originals for the past few years so if you're looking for something
new and something different you're gonna find it here for those who like roku's simple interface
you may prefer using the Roku Channel over the other services for example here's the live TV
section that lets you browse by thumbnails but you can also select the live TV channel guide
option if you want to scroll through channels like a traditional TV Guide Roku and other
streaming platforms are making it a lot easier to browse multiple free streaming options all at
once let me show you for those with a Roku head to featured free to get content recommendations
across many services not just the Roku Channel and for some programs you're going to have the
option to add to a save list and then when you're ready to stream you can head to the what to watch
section to view your save list most free apps have their own watch list features but a sign
in may be required and another way to get the most out of free services is to move your favorites to
the top of your home screen and that way they are always front and center from a Roku click
star move Channel and use the arrows to place the channel remember if you're just starting out you
do not need to download all of these apps right away it's just not necessary viewers on my channel
really like Pluto TV 2B and the Roku Channel and even if you don't use a Roku to stream many of
the free apps I mentioned today are available on your preferred streaming device let me know your
favorite free app down below comments and I hope to see you back here next time thanks for watching