What is Tubi? Free TV service explained

Tubi is a free steaming service that many people are interested in, especially after Fox bought Tubi for $440 million.

Tubi offers over 20,000 older TV shows and movies to watch for free. Their library includes content from studios like Paramount, MGM and Lionsgate and networks like A&E, Lifetime and Starz. The company claims to have 25 million monthly active viewers who spend over 160 million hours per month watching content on Tubi.

Tubi is one of several free streaming services that is a growing market. ViacomCBS bought Pluto TV last year and Comcast bought Xumo in February 2020.

Tubi explained

Tubi is a video streaming service, not unlike Netflix, Hulu, Amazon Prime Video and others, with an extensive library of TV shows and movies that you can stream from your phone, smart TV or streaming device at no charge. The only catch is that you'll have to watch some ads while streaming content.

Tubi price

Yes, Tubi is actually free. No lie. In a world dominated by the fear of piracy, it may be hard to imagine that a video streaming service can be free and legal, but, yes, Tubi is legal.

The secret ingredient in Tubi's business model is advertising. The company tries to use the appeal of "free" to bring more and more people to its service. It then charges advertisers to connect with those customers.

These ads appear before and during a movie or TV show, so you're sure to see them often. They're not that bad though - at 15 seconds to 30 seconds, they're not hard to get through. However, they are unreachable, so if you try to race through them, you won't be able to.

Tubi TV and Tubi movies

Tubi's library size of over 20,000 movies and TV shows is surprisingly large for a service that has yet to reach mainstream status like Netflix and Hulu.

Tubi has managed to amass so much content by partnering with over 250 providers, including Hollywood heavyweights Paramount, Lionsgate, and MGM. You'll also find programming from A&E, Complex Networks and more.

When it comes to actual shows and movies, it's a bit of a mixed bag. There are some totally popular options on the site, like Hell's Kitchen, Duck Dynasty, and others. But on the movie front, you won't find the latest and greatest hits.

Tubi has a handy most popular section that gives a glimpse of the most famous movies it offers. As of this writing, Johnny Depp's 2011 film Rango tops the list, followed by documentaries Pride and Glory, Little Women: Atlanta, Lionheart, Rock Dog and Congo also top the list.

You'll also find a number of categories designed to help you find content you like. For example, there are TV dramas, anime, "classics" for old school favorites and "preschool" for kid-friendly shows.

Perhaps Tubi's most interesting category is "Not on Netflix," a collection of movies and TV shows that for one reason or another you can't get on Netflix. But this category is like everything else on the service, a collection of mostly misses (including Rob Schneider's The Animal and Bulletproof Monk with Chow-Yun Fat and Seann William Scott) and a rare hit or two (like the 2010 remake of True Grit).

Tubi Reviews

Tubi received a positive review on CordCutting, which gave high marks for its interface and clever categories. The site noted that while Tubi's library is limited, compared to the big titans like Netflix, that should be understood since it's free and meant to be supplemental material. Lifewire also recommended the service, noting how short the commercial breaks are.

Tubi app

Tubi offers a ton of options, including apps for Roku, Amazon Fire TV, and Chromecast. We have links to all the app stores below. Tubi is also available on PS4 and Xbox One. And if you're a Comcast Xfinity or Tivo user, you'll also find Tubi apps on those platforms.

Smart TVs and Blu-ray players from Samsung and Sony also work with Tubi.

Tubi is also available in web browsers at tubitv.com. So, if you're looking to watch it from your laptop or Chromebook, head on over there and you'll find all the content you want.

On the mobile side, you'll find Tubi is available in both the Apple App Store and Google Play marketplace, so you can access it on almost any iPhone or Android device available now.