Is Tubi good?
Tubi is a free, ad-supported streaming TV (FAST) service where you can watch 47,000+ movies and shows—and around 200 live TV channels—for nothing. That’s a pretty good deal.
You can watch Tubi with or without an account, but signing up lets you create a watchlist, get recommendations, and use parental controls. Unfortunately, the latter works only when a parent knows about an account, and Tubi has no age checks—but tons of sex and violence.
Tubi also lacks features like simultaneous streams (no reason for that with a free service) and offline viewing (can’t serve ads on downloads). So all that content is the main attraction, and it’s priced right—at only four to six minutes of ads per hour.
Pros
- Free
- Massive library
- Reasonable ad breaks
- Parental controls
Cons
- Ads
- No offline viewing
- Some NC-17 content
- No age checks
Tubi plans and pricing
Plan | Price | Library size | Streams | Resolution | Offline viewing | Details |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Tubi | Free | 47,000+ titles, 200+ live channels | N/A | 720p | — | View plan |
Data as of post date.
Simplicity is a huge selling point for streaming TV services, and Tubi keeps it extra simple: One plan, no price, 47,000+ movies and shows, and 200+ live channels.
Tubi vs. the competition
Service | Monthly price | Live channels | Library size | Streams | Cloud DVR | Details |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Tubi | Free | 200* | 47,000+ titles, 200+ live channels | N/A | — | View plan |
YouTube TV | $72.99/mo. | 100+ | Thousands of hours | 3 | Unlimited |
View plan Read YouTube TV review |
Hulu + Live TV | $76.99–$89.99/mo. | 95+ | 40,000+ movies and shows | 2 | Unlimited |
View plan Read Hulu Live review |
Philo | $28.00/mo. | 70+ | 60,000 movies and shows | 3 | Unlimited |
View plan Read Philo review |
Sling TV | $40.00–$55.00/mo. | 30–45+ | 10,000 hrs. | 1–4 | 50 hrs. |
View plan Read Sling TV review |
fuboTV | $32.99–$99.99/mo. | 65–260+ | 6,700† movies and shows | 10 | 1,000 hrs. |
View plan Read fuboTV review |
Netflix | $6.99–$22.99/mo. | N/A | 5,000+ movies and shows | 2–4 | N/A |
View plan Read Netflix review |
Amazon Prime Video | $8.99–$14.99/mo. or $139.00/yr. | N/A | 25,000+ movies and shows | 3 | N/A |
View plan Read Amazon Prime Video review |
Hulu | $7.99–$17.99/mo. | N/A | 40,000 movies and shows | 2 | N/A |
View plan Read Hulu review |
Data as of post date.
* CableTV.com’s count
† Count from JustWatch.com
Is it fair to compare free streaming services to paid ones? Well, again, Tubi’s biggest selling point is that it offers so much for so little. While the other services might have better content and more features, you just can’t beat free. If you’re on a budget and you don’t care about keeping up with popular Netflix or Hulu exclusives, Tubi gives you a ton of TV to watch.
Tubi movies and shows
You won’t get to stream hot new shows like Netflix’s Squid Game, Max’s The White Lotus, or Hulu’s The Bear on Tubi—but that doesn’t mean you’re left with a bunch of classic TV shows and Z-movies.
Tubi has movies and shows from many major studios, including Max, MGM, Lionsgate, Paramount, WB, and more. And, with 47,000+ titles and 200+ live TV channels organized into 77 genres, collections, and networks (see below), you’ll always find something to watch on Tubi.
Genres, collections, and networks on Tubi
- Action
- Adult Animation
- Adult Comedy
- Anime
- Arthouse Films
- Based on a Book
- Based on True Events
- Classics
- Comedy
- Crime TV
- Documentary
- Docuseries
- Drama
- Faith
- Family Movies
- Family Series
- Film Noir
- Foreign Films
- Foreign TV
- Heist Films
- Home & Garden
- Horror
- Indie Films
- Italian Horror & Giallo
- Killer Thrillers
- LGBTQIA+
- Lifestyle
- Martial Arts
- Music & Concerts
- Mystery
- Películas En Español
- Reality TV
- Romance
- Sci-fi & Fantasy
- Slashers
- Sports Movies & Shows
- Spy Movies
- Stand-Up Comedy
- Sword & Sorcery
- Thrillers
- Travel
- TV Comedies
- TV Dramas
- Westerns
- Award Winners & Nominees
- Before They Were Stars
- Black Cinema
- Black Independent Cinema
- Bollywood Dreams
- British TV
- Cinema Speculations
- Cult Classics
- Drafthouse Films
- Good Eats
- Highly Rated on Rotten Tomatoes
- K-Drama+
- Modern Classics
- Movie Night!
- Nostalgia TV
- Only Free on Tubi
- Remakes
- Series Spotlight
- Star Picks: Pam Grier
- Summer of Streaming
- Weekly Watchlist
- A&E
- Complex Networks
- CONtv
- Documrama
- Dove Channel
- DUST
- FilmRise
- FOX
- FOX SOUL
- FOX Sports
- Full Moon Features
- K-Content by CJ ENM
- Lifetime
- LOL! Network
- Shout! Factory
- So . . . Real
- TV One
Movies on Tubi (partial list)
- 10 Truths About Love*
- The Achievers
- Agent Cody Banks
- All Dogs Go to Heaven 1 and 2
- All That Jazz: From New Orleans to New York
- Amores Perros
- Arizona
- Babe
- Bad Boy Bubby
- Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure
- Bill & Ted’s Bogus Journey
- Bio-dome
- Blade
- The Boondock Saints
- Bone Tomahawk
- Boyhood
- CB4
- Cannibal Apocalypse
- Can’t Buy Me Love
- Christian Mingle
- Clambake
- Cotton Comes to Harlem
- Dead Zone*
- Destination Love*
- Dirty Harry
- The Enforcer
- Filmage: The Story of Descendents/All
- Far Out Man
- Fear of a Black Hat
- Fists of Fury
- Ghost in the Shell
- The Great Satan
- Hellblazers*
- Hollywood Shuffle
- Holy Motors
- Hoosiers
- How High
- I’m Gonna Get You Sucka
- I’m Not There
- Igor
- The Indian in the Cupboard
- Inglorious Basterds
- Judy Moody and the Not Bummer Summer
- Jurassic World
- Knock Knock
- La Nalgada
- The Little Rascals
- Little Shop of Horrors (1960)
- The Love Witch
- Mr. Nanny
- Mad Max
- Maniac Cop trilogy
- Mary and Max
- Martyrs (2008)
- Masters of the Universe
- The Net
- One Crazy Summer
- Pass the Mic: A Movement Generations in the Making*
- The Passion of the Christ
- Phantasm
- Redline
- Riding with Sugar*
- Santa Sangre
- Showgirls
- Sidekicks
- Somewhere in Time
- Sophie’s Choice
- Space Jam (1996)
- Speed
- The Stepmother trilogy*
- Suspiria
- Tales from the Quadead Zone*
- Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (1990)
- The Texas Chain Saw Massacre (1974)
- Time Pirates*
- Tokyo Gore Police
- Turbo Kid
- Van Wilder
- Who Framed Roger Rabbit?
- Who Killed Captain Alex?
* Tubi original
Art the Clown (David Howard Thornton) plays sadistic tricks in Terrifer on Tubi. (Video screenshot)
Shows on Tubi (partial list)
- 227
- A Man Called Hawk**
- Antiques Roadshow
- The Bernie Mac Show
- The Best of Fridays
- The Big Comfy Couch
- Blue Mountain State
- Cheaters
- Columbo
- Cosmos: A Spacetime Odyssey
- Death Note
- Degrassi: The Next Generation
- Diff’rent Strokes
- Duck Dynasty
- Everybody Hates Chris
- Extreme Cheapskates
- The Freak Brothers*
- Fantasy Island (2021)
- Fast Vengeance*
- Hannibal
- Hemlock Grove
- Kitchen Nightmares
- Lego Masters
- Lovecraft Country
- The Masked Singer
- MXC: Most Extreme Elimination Challenge
- Project Runway
- Quantico
- Queer As Folk (2020, UK)
- Rebel Without a Crew
- Rifftrax
- Scooby-Doo, Where Are You?
- So You Think You Can Dance?
- Spaced
- Transformers: Generation 1
- Unsolved Mysteries
- V (2011)
- What’s Happening!!
- Whose Line Is It Anyway?
- World Poker Tour
- Yo Gabba Gabba!
* Tubi original
** Tubi exclusive
The Tubi Originals page as viewed in the Chrome browser on a Windows 10 laptop.
Tubi original movies and shows
Tubi now has 163 original movies and shows. It’s primarily B-movies, true crime, celebrity profiles, and paranormal shows, but there’s some good stuff—especially in the adult animation category. Check out the counterculture cartoon The Freak Brothers and the film Pastacolypse from Aqua Teen Hunger Force creator Matt Maiellaro (Aqua Teen Hunger Force).
In the movie and show lists above, asterisks (*) denote Tubi originals.
The Tubi live TV channel guide as viewed in the Chrome browser on a Windows 10 laptop.
Live TV on Tubi
Tubi has 200+ live TV channels. Most are curated, themed FAST channels like the ones on other free streaming services like Pluto, Sling Free, and Xumo. The 24-hour channels are dedicated to a film or TV genre, lifestyle, news network, sport, or even a single TV series. You’ll also find many local broadcast affiliates—most are FOX channels (FOX owns Tubi).
Live entertainment channels on Tubi (partial list)
You’ll find at least half of Tubi’s 200+ live TV channels in the entertainment category. This is where you’ll look for movies, series, game shows, reality TV—basically everything except news, sports, and local broadcast affiliates.
- A&E
- ALTER Horror
- 21 Jump Street
- Baywatch
- The Bob Ross Channel
- The Carol Burnett Show
- Cinevault Classics
- Cinevault 80’s
- Comedy Dynamics
- Complex
- CONtv
- Court TV
- Cosmos
- Deal or No Deal USA
- The Dick Van Dyke Show
- Docurama
- Dove Channel
- DUST Sci-fi
- Estrella
- Fear Factor USA
- FilmRise
- FilmRise Black TV
- FilmRise Classic TV
- FilmRise Forensic Files
- FilmRise Western
- FOX (17 local broadcast affiliates)
- Full Moon Features
- Game Show Central
- Gordon Ramsay
- TheGrio
- Grit
- Heartland
- Hi-YAH!
- ION
- ION Plus
- K-Content by CJ ENM
- Lifetime
- LOL! Network
- The Masked Singer
- Moviesphere
- Mystery Science Theater 3000
- Places and Spaces
- Shout! Factory TV
- So . . . Real
- Supermarket Sweep
- Tubi Originals
- TV One
- VICE
- WB TV (14 channels)
Live news on Tubi (partial list)
Among Tubi’s live TV channels are 115+ live news channels. They’re organized into three categories on the Tubi live TV guide: Local (100+ channels), National (10 channels), Global (2 channels), and Business (2 channels). Among these are many FOX affiliates, nearly three dozen Hearst Television channels, and networks like Bloomberg TV, Cheddar, and NBC News.
- ABC Localish Bay Area
- ABC News Live
- Altice USA’s News 12
- Black News Channel
- Bloomberg TV
- Boston 25 News
- CBC
- Cheddar News
- Estrella News
- Euronews
- FOX (17 local broadcast affiliates)
- FOX SOUL
- KGW (Portland, OR)
- KGTV (San Diego, CA)
- KHOU (Houston, TX)
- KING (Seattle, WA)
- KNXV (Phoenix, AZ)
- KXTV (Sacramento, CA)
- LiveNOW from FOX
- NBC News NOW
- News 12 New York
- Newsy
- PeopleTV
- Today All Day
- USA Today News
- WFTS (Tampa, FL)
- WTAE (Pittsburgh, PA)
- WTVF (Nashville, TN)
- WMUR (Manchester, NH)
- WUSA (DC, Maryland, Virginia)
- WXYZ (Detroit, MI)
- WeatherNation
Sports on Tubi (partial list)
We wouldn’t expect it on a free service, but Tubi has a surprising amount of sports channels with live sports, prerecorded games, news, and documentaries. We’ve listed several of the sports networks on Tubi below.
- ACC Digital Network
- beIN SPORTS XTRA
- beIN SPORTS XTRA en Español
- Big Ten
- Concacaf Soccer
- FIFA World Cup
- FOX (17 local broadcast affiliates)
- FOX Sports
- FOX Sports en Español
- fubo Sports Network
- MLB
- NASCAR
- NFL Channel
- NHRA
- Outside
- Pac-12 Insider
- PBA Bowling
- PBC Boxing
- Real Madrid TV
- Stadium
- USA TODAY SportsWire
- Westminster Kennel Dog Show
- . . . and more!
Tubi specs and features
Tubi lacks two of the most popular features of streaming TV services: simultaneous streams and offline viewing. Also, the max resolution on Tubi is 720p, which isn’t great.
Tubi simultaneous streams
Tubi doesn’t have offline downloads.
Tubi offline viewing
Tubi doesn’t have this, either. Offline viewing is incompatible with ad-supported TV services because there’s currently no way to serve ads on downloads.
Supported devices
Amazon Fire Cube, Stick, TV | ✔ |
---|---|
Amazon Kindle Fire (2013 and later) | ✔ |
Amazon Echo Show | ✔ |
Android mobile devices | ✔ |
Android TV | ✔ |
Apple TV (4th gen.) | ✔ |
Chromecast | ✔ |
Chromecast Xfinity X1 | ✔ |
Cox Contour | ✔ |
Google Nest Hub | ✔ |
iOS devices (iPhone, iPad) | ✔ |
iOS devices (iPhone, iPad) | ✔ |
LG smart TVs (select models) | — |
Nintendo Switch | — |
NVIDIA SHIELD TV Pro | ✔ |
PC, Mac web browsers | ✔ |
PlayStation 4 and 5 | ✔ |
Roku platforms | ✔ |
Samsung smart TVs (select models) | ✔ |
Sony smart TVs & Blu-ray disc devices (select models) | ✔ |
TiVo | ✔ |
VIZIO smart TVs (select models) | ✔ |
Wii | — |
Xbox One, Series S, Series X | ✔ |
Xbox Series X, Xbox Series S | ✔ |
Xfinity X1 | ✔ |
Data as of post date.
With so many supported devices, only Nintendo fans will be disappointed.
Playback controls
Tubi has great playback controls on both Roku and the Android app. We think we prefer 10-second jumps (used by most streaming TV apps) to Tubi’s 30-second leaps, but that’s our only complaint.
* Mobile only.
- Play/pause
- Rewind/fast-forward
- 30-second jumps (both directions)
- Skip to previous/next title
- Closed captioning
- Status bar
- Timecode (elapsed and remaining)
- Chromecast icon*
- Full-screen toggle*
- Settings*
- Close app*
- Playback speed*
“I’ll [hold your hand] for $1,000,” says Bunny Lebowski to The Dude in The Big Lebowski. Viewed on the Samsung QN90A smart TV via the Roku Ultra.
Tubi video and audio quality
We tested the Tubi app six different ways, using five screens (two smart TVs, a smartphone, and a laptop), two set-top streaming devices, and two internet connections. Video and audio quality was largely consistent, with one exception.
Tubi testing details at a glance
Screen (TV, phone, tablet, or laptop) | Streaming device/app platform | Internet connection | Result | |
---|---|---|---|---|
Test #1 | Samsung QN90A smart TV (2021 model) | Roku Ultra | Google Fiber 1 Gbps | Consistent 720p* |
Test #2 | Samsung QN90A smart TV (2021 model) | Tubi app for Samsung smart TV | Google Fiber 1 Gbps | Consistent 720p* |
Test #3 | LG UH615A (2015) | NVIDIA SHIELD TV Pro | Google Fiber 1 Gbps | Consistent 720p* |
Test #4 | Samsung Galaxy Z Flip3 smartphone | Tubi app for Android | Google Fiber 1 Gbps | Consistent 720p* |
Test #5 | Samsung Galaxy Z Flip3 smartphone (2021) | Tubi app for Android | T-Mobile 5G | Near consistent 720p* |
Test #6 | Lenovo ThinkPad laptop (2021) | Google Chrome browser (Windows 10 Pro) | Google Fiber 1 Gbps | Consistent 720p* |
Data as of post date.
* Actual resolution depends on source material
Five of our tests occurred at home on a Google Fiber 1 Gbps Wi-Fi connection. For the other test, we used the T-Mobile 5G mobile network while driving around town. On the home tests, we experienced no perceptible differences in video and audio quality. On the mobile test, we experienced a few dips in video quality, but not as many as we have with services that stream at 1080p or higher.
Note: video and audio quality starts with the source and then the internet speed. Many older movies and shows—Tubi has a lot of these—still stream at their original resolution (480–720p).
Final take: Is Tubi worth it?
Tubi’s 47,000+ movies and shows—and 200+ live TV channels—are free to watch, thanks to ads that you can ignore. It’s totally worth it.
Tubi FAQ
What is Tubi?
Tubi is a free, ad-supported streaming TV service with 47,000+ movies and shows—and 200+ live channels—available to stream for free.
Does Tubi have live channels?
Tubi has around 200+ live TV channels. Many of them are themed channels like the ones found on other free streaming TV services—but 115+ of them are live FOX affiliates or Hearst News channels. And there are dozens of sports channels.
Is there live news on Tubi?
Tubi has 115+ news channels covering local, national, global, and business news.
How much is Tubi live TV?
Tubi is free. But, technically, you do pay for the service by watching ads.
Does Tubi have ABC live?
Tubi does not have ABC live, but it does carry ABC Local-ish and ABC News Live.
Does Tubi have CBS?
Tubi does not have CBS, but Paramount+ does.
How many live channels does Tubi have?
Tubi has 200+ live TV channels.
What channels can I get on Tubi TV?
Tubi has mostly themed, curated channels like the ones on other free streaming services like Pluto, Sling Free, and Xumo. Here is a sampling of Tubi live channels:
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Methodology
Our TV experts constantly research and test streaming TV services, including free ones like Tubi. For this article, we compared Tubi to paid streaming services based on overall value, content, features, and more to provide accurate, reliable recommendations to our readers. See the CableTV.com How We Rank page for more information about our process.