There’s a New, Free Alternative to Netflix

You get what you pay for.

October 21, 2016 9:00 am

Law-abiding cord-cutters rejoice: You can now watch True Grit and Point Break for free.

Vudu, an on-demand streaming service owned by Walmart, just launched Movies On Us, a service that offers thousands of movies and TV shows for free.

The catch? You have to sit through a few commercials. And the streaming quality is a bit lower than Vudu’s standard 4K service (it’s still HD, though — and if you’re watching through a phone or tablet, it probably won’t matter).

A look at their initial selection leaves a lot to be desired. For every Mad Max or School of Rock, there’s an Iron Eagle XIII. This is a fairly limited option best suited for cord-cutters, as your average cable service will have a far better free on-demand section.

That said, Vudu does feature a much better selection than recently launched Yahoo View (which is basically Hulu’s old free tier) or Snagfilms (all the indie films you’ve never heard of, in one place!). It’s also a bit more mainstream than Crackle, the free Sony app that features cool flicks like Attack the Block and Dazed and Confused.

As far as movie torrents and such … that’s on you. Unlike music streaming sites like Spotify, where you can get pretty much what you want for free as long as you’re glued to your desktop, movie streaming sites are always going to be limited. And the free ones, even more so.

While Netflix streaming is limiting, it’s worth the few extra bucks a month … and there are plenty of hacks that’ll improve your streaming.

To use Vudu Movies On Us:

  1. Sign in/Sign up at Vudu on your desktop, mobile or living room device
  2. Click on the “New” tab on your desktop, or “Spotlight” tab on your living room or mobile device
  3. Then click on “Movies On Us” to access thousands of free movies with limited ads

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