Classic films? Cult films? Horror films? Foreign films? There’s a streaming service out there for all of them.
Credit: Lifehacker (Photos: Shutterstock, apps.apple.com, play.google.com
As the likes of Netflix and Disney+ continue to get pricier all the time, it can be hard to justify the cost of all of your subscriptions, especially when you’re only likely interested in a small sliver of a given service’s library or shows and movies. Instead, why not subscribe to a streaming service laser focused on your niche interests?
Unsurprisingly—and reflecting the cable TV model of old—there is a niche streaming service out there for basically every kind of viewer. Below, I’ve rounded up 24 of the best options across a variety of programming types, including both paid and free offerings (though if you’re focused on free streaming services only, you have lots more to choose from). Whether you’re a budding otaku or a hard-core cinema snob, there’s something here you’ll find worth the monthly fee.
The best streaming services if you love classic cinema
Credit: The Criterion Channel
The Criterion Channel
From the dawn of the Laserdisc era through today, The Criterion Collection has been considered the gold standard of film labels among those who think of themselves as cinema buffs, but its streaming service—launched in the wake of the shutdown of Filmstruck in 2018—might be even better. Offering up a rotating monthly catalogue of classics from around the world, not to mention a healthy smattering of more recent critical darlings, it offers a movie for every mood, and the high level of curation—with movies grouped into monthly themes or paired off in related “double features”—makes exploration a delight (and makes up for the slightly byzantine way its offerings are sorted). I also love the Criterion 24/7 livestream, which allows you to drop in on a great movie already in progress, recreating that late-night cable TV experience.
Cost: $10.99/month or $99.99/year, 7-day free trial
The TCM hub on Max
All the bad press Max has received lately (from movies being ditched for a tax write-off to too many canceled shows to count) has obscured the fact that it’s still one of the best services around for movie-lovers—and for fans of classic cinema in particular. Max’s content is sorted into various subsections, or “hubs,” and one of them collects content from Turner Classic Movies. While not nearly as all-encompassing as The Criterion Channel’s offerings (though , the TCM hub is more than worth exploring if you dig movies from Hollywood’s Golden Age. Content is sorted by decade and subject matter, from “Nightmare Material” to “Remastered and Restored.”
Cost: $9.99/month with ads, $16.99/month ad-free, $20.99/month ad-free 4K
The best streaming services for anime
Credit: Crunchyroll
CrunchyRoll
If you’re a fan of Japanese animation, CrunchyRoll is basically a must, especially after it’s recent merger with its primary competitor Funimation into one mega-streamer). The service has a vast back catalogue of older series, and is the easiest way to stay current on what’s new and notable, as many shows are added to the service shortly after they air in Japan—if they aren’t actually simulcast. While there’s a free teir, it’s pretty limited: lots of ads and a much reduced catalogue with only a few episodes of most shows. If you want the goods, you’ll need to subscribe. A range of paid tiers offers access to extra goodies like more concurrent streams, streaming games, and merchandise discounts.
Cost: Free with ads, or $7.99/mo to $15.99/month depending on the plan, 7-day free trial
RetroCrush
There’s a lot of anime out there, and while you may look to CrunchyRoll for what’s new and trending, you might want to look elsewhere for the rarest titles from the golden age of anime. That’s where RetroCrush comes in. It’s a newer service that launched as a place to find forgotten gems and deep cuts. Given its angle of super niche, vintage anime, it comes with a narrower library but a high volume of movies and series that you just won’t find anywhere else. Paying subscribers get ad-free viewing of their library, plus exclusive (and euphemistically titled) age-gated content. If you’re looking for the marriage of niche and nostalgia, RetroCrush might be just what you need.
Cost: Free with ads, or $4.99/month or $49.99/year without ads
The best streaming services if you love horror
Credit: Shudder
Shudder
This Netflix for the horror freak, owned by the AMC Network, is an absolute must if you want the scariest scares and the most blood-curdling shrieks streaming. The content runs the gamut from popular franchises like Friday the 13th to bizarro cult entries to high quality originals like the quarantine-themed Zoom-based chiller Host. If you’re looking for truly classic movies—older than 1960 or so—the pickings are slim, but there’s plenty to choose from when it comes to the dark side of cinema from the ‘70s and ‘80s to today. The material could be better organized, but there are some curated collections as well as TV and podcast offerings.
Cost: $6.99/month or $71.88/year, 7-day free trial
Screambox
Though not quite as high-profile as Shudder, Screambox—which bills itself as having been “started by fans, for fans”—drips with authenticity. The primary difference is that you aren’t liable to spot nearly as many movies you recognize on Screambox. Aside from a few stone-cold classics like Audition, many of the subgenre-spanning entries are of the B-movie variety—which isn’t necessarily a bad thing when it comes to horror. You can access limited content for free (including a livestream), or subscribe for ad-free viewing and access to the whole catalogue.
Cost: $6.99/month or $59.99/year (plus 7 days free)
The best streaming services if you love independent film
Credit: MUBI
MUBI
This highly curated streamer is a cineast’s dream, and the answer to the “endless scroll” problem caused by services packed with too much content. MUBI’s “hank-picked” collection is limited to just 30 titles, and it changes every single day, with one title entering and one title leaving. [Correction: While the service was originally limited to 30 titles a month—and the “Now Showing” section still highlights 30 titles—MUBI now offers a much more expansive collection of previous selections in the “Library” section.] The unpredictable, limited lineup creates an urge to watch, and the offbeat selections, from recent indies, to deep cuts from celebrated auteurs, to choice imports, mean you’re always going to be able to find something new to you. (If you live somewhere with a participating theater, the more expensive MUBI Go option gets you a free movie ticket each week, but that service is limited to just nine U.S. cities.)
Cost: $14.99/month or $119.99/year, 7-day free trial
IndieFlix
Hey, waitaminute! IndieFlix also proclaims to offer the best hand-picked movie lineup around. Well, it’s certainly a worthy competitor: In addition to a grab bag of classics and Hollywood films, the service offers thousands of far more obscure independent and foreign films, as well as documentaries and TV series. The quirky organizational system sorts them not by genre but by broad categories like “Social Impact” (movies with a message of social justice) and “Snack Watch” (featuring short films under half an hour). The site also partners with film festivals like the 2020 Stony Brook Film Festival, allowing you to take part in exclusive screenings.
Cost: $4.99/month or $49.99/year (nice), 7-day free trial
The best streaming services if you are seeking works from Black creators
Credit: Urban Movie Channel
Brown Sugar
Brown Sugar calls itself the “biggest collection of the baddest movies” and comes with a library of Black-led films for the nostalgic viewer. The most fun you’ll have scrolling through Brown Sugar might be finding titles starring household name celebrities from before their careers took off (like the 2011 Kevin Hart vehicle 35 & Ticking), or longtime celebrities like Method Man in films you’ve never heard of, like the 2015 sports comedy #Lucky Numbers. Expect plenty of old movies from Robin Givens and Jeremy Hines, and old Blaxploitation films like Blacula. It’s definitely the best place for older viewers to find celebrities who are “blackfamous”—people who every Black person knows but are unknown to most non-Black people.
Cost: $3.99/month, 7-day free trial
Urban Movie Channel
Started in 2014 by BET founder Robert L. Johnson, Urban Movie Channel features both movies and ongoing TV series that star Black talent. It has its own original programming, like the soap opera A House Divided and the docuseries Behind Her Faith, as well as some external network programs like WE tv’s Growing Up Hip Hop and OWN’s Black Love. New content is added every week.
Cost: Limited ad-supported viewing or $5.99/month, 7-day free trial
kweliTV
Former journalist DeShuna Spencer launched kweliTV as a place to highlight the work of Black thought leaders and filmmakers. Here you can find everything from indie films and web series, to children’s programs and live events. Meaning “truth” in Swahili, kweliTV aims to offer a truer representation of the global Black experience than what’s often most prominent in pop culture. It touts that over 90% of their films have been official selections at film festivals, and more than half of them are award-winning. Expect not only Black American movies, but works from people across the African diaspora. kweliKIDS is a cheaper, limited subscription that only includes ad-free programming for children.
Cost: $2.99/month with ads, $5.99/month ad-free or $49.99/year (60% of your subscription goes to support the filmmakers featured on the service), 7-day free trial; $1.99/month for kweliKIDS with ads.
The best streaming services if you have weird taste
Credit: Night Flight Plus
Kino Film Collection
Film distributor Kino Lorber launched a free, ad-supported service called Kino Cult in 2021 as a haven for fans of eclectic classic and contemporary cinema. Unfortunately, it was shuttered last year, and now Kino’s digital offerings are limited to the paid service Kino Film Collection. For $6 a month or $60 a year, you’ll get access to hundreds of films from the company’s back catalogue, as well as early access to new theatrical releases. The offerings are hevy on indie and non-Englush language films, so if you have expansive taste or an interest in world cinema, the 7-day free trial is worth a shot.
Cost: $5.99/month or $59.99/year, 7-day free trial
Night Flight Plus
Sprung from the titular cult late-night TV 1980s series that aired on the then-nascent USA Network, Night Flight is the streaming equivalent of a back-alley curio shop run by an introverted weirdo, and the sort of thing the internet was made for. It houses all sorts of weird video, from cult films, to extremely specific documentaries (The Sacred Triangle: Bowie, Iggy and Lou, 1971-1973), to fringe music videos and a hell of a lot more. The highly curated lineup (which The AV Club likened to a pop culture fever dream) offers something for… well, not for everyone, and it’s definitely not all for anyone, but that’s pretty great.
Cost: $5.99/month or $49.99 annually, 7-day free trial
Shout Factory TV
The name says TV, but this streaming offshoot from the beloved boutique DVD label includes lots of movies too. Of course, their crown jewel combines them both: This is where you’ll find streaming episodes of the legendary bad-movie mocking series Mystery Science Theater 3000. But there are also a ton of great movies, most of which the company has also released on DVD, from fantasy schlock like 1982’s Sorceress to my personal favorite animated movie of all time, The Last Unicorn. You can stream a limited selection of content with ads for free, or subscribe to get the full catalogue.
Cost: Free ad-supported streaming, $3.99/month or $39.99/year, 7-day free trial
The best streaming services if you just want to watch something for free
Credit: Crackle
Tubi
Lifehacker’s self-declared pick for
the greatest streaming service ever
, free streaming site
offers movies and TV shows from several major studios with minimal (sometimes zero) advertising. The catch is that—judging by a spot-check—desktop streaming is limited to SD resolutions. But the real draw of Tubi is its vast catalogue of off the wall content; the wide range of options—more than 50,000—covers every viewing niche imaginable. There are several genre lists to help you browse the large catalog, and even a dedicated section covering movies “
.”
Cost: $0
is often overlooked when people discuss free streaming media on the web, but you can grab this service for
a number of mobile devices and set-top boxes
. You have to sign up for an account, but once you do, it’s easy to create a watchlist, get recommendations for new shows to stream and browse Crackle’s full library of TV shows and movies. These the films Charlie’s Angels, Black Snake Moan, and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (2014), and TV series like That Girl!, 21 Jump Street, and 3rd Rock From the Sun. That’s part of the beauty of Crackle: You’ll absolutely find movies you’ve heard of, shows you actually want to watch, and
Cost: $0
Fandango at Home (formerly Vudu)
Paid streaming service Fandango at Home (previously known as Vudu
) has a free section offering an assortment of recognizable movies
floating among less familiar titles. You’ll need to sign up for a free account and sit through some ads—and some movies are only available in SD, which isn’t great—but you’ll get access to more than 5,400 movies on your computer, phone or
. You’ll find a lot of films from the ‘80s and ‘90s (as the rights to supply them have gotten cheaper), as well as a ton of stuff you’ve never heard of before (mostly that, to be honest). But there are some decent hidden gems.
Cost: $0 (more or less)
The best streaming services if you’re a documentary buff
Credit: Kanopy
Curiosity Stream
If you like Discovery or History channel, Curiosity Stream might be a streaming service for you. It’s a documentary-based streaming platform with nature and science-based programs, where you can expect to find titles like Age of Big Cats, Scanning the Pyramids, and History of Food. As its name suggests, this one’s for the intellectually curious viewer who’s interested in the untold histories and discoveries of our planet.
Cost: $4.99/year or $39.99/year
Documentary+
The nonfiction film and television studio XTR‘s free documentary streaming service, Documentary+, is available online or via its dedicated app, or as a streaming channel on a variety of different services. It offers documentaries sorted into different buckets, from True Crime, to Pup Culture, to the Royals, and everything is free to watch (with ads).
Cost: $0
Kanopy
Kanopy is a hub for genre-based documentaries. Like Hulu and Netflix, Kanopy separates their films by category with a wide selection of titles—categories that include historical perspectives, art and artists, ethnicity and identity, and more. A great platform for indie and documentary buffs, you can expect everything from indie series to popular features like For the Love of Spock. The content is selected for its educational value, and Kanopy is free for librarians and students.
Cost: $0. Sign up with your student ID or library membership. If you don’t fit into one of those boxes, you’re out of luck.
The best streaming services if you love reality TV
Credit: Hayu
Hayu
Hayu is an international streaming service offering U.S.-based reality TV content to the U.K. and across Europe. Although it specializes in providing American content overseas and is technically not available in the U.S., if you use a VPN to change your geolocation, you can still access it from the U.S. to watch all the reality TV you want without a cable subscription. It focuses primarily on shows in the style of Real Housewives, Keeping up With the Kardashians, and Love and Hip Hop (you know, the classy stuff), with episodes dropping shortly after they first air in the U.S.
Cost: 4.99€/month or 43.99€/year, plus whatever you pay for your VPN
Sling
Sling is not a dedicated reality TV streaming service, but it does have access to a wide range of programs in the reality genre. Sling partners with stations like TLC—known for its roster of reality shows—and includes Here Comes Honey Boo Boo, Toddlers in Tiaras, and Say Yes to the Dress. It costs more than some other options on this list, but you’re also getting over fifty other channels to choose from—though you’ll have to check out which channels are included in the services different offerings to pick the one that’s the best fit (or pay $15 extra per month to get everything)..
Cost: $40/month, half off the first month
The best streaming services if you love comedy
Credit: Next Up
Next Up
Next Up is a U.K.-based streaming service catered to comedy. Its options include “on demand,” where you can choose from sketch, observational, character, alternative, and other comedy styles, and they also have live streams for tuning into stand-up comedy in real-time (once comedy clubs reopen, that is.) My favorite part of this platform is that they split their revenue 50/50 with content creators. Since it’s based in the U.K., you may not see the regular comedians you know from the states, but you’ll definitely find laughs.
Cost: £45/ 6 months or £60/ year
The best streaming services for live sports
Credit: Fubo TV
Fubo TV
If you’re missing sports after cutting your cable subscription, Fubo TV offers over one hundred channels of live and on-demand television. If your entertainment needs are high, the number of channels for the price makes FuboTV a contender for the most bang for your buck. Unfortunately, though, you’d still need to pay extra to watch any original Hulu, Netflix, or Prime content, so you’ll want to compare with cable and streaming costs to decide if paying for FuboTV is worth it.
Cost: Plans starting at $79.99/month
This story was originally published in October 2020 and was updated on Aug. 16, 2024 to update pricing and remove outdated information.
