After many years of covering streaming services as a job, I have to admit: I don’t love Netflix.
Despite being the biggest video platform in the world, I barely use it nowadays. I’m cheating on it with a free alternative that I love.
Netflix used to have some solid shows and a great catalog of movies. But for the last few years, I’ve bounced off all its Originals, barely finding any third-party movies worth watching in its library, and think its use of GenAI to cut costs has resulted in some really bad-looking shows.
This pushed me to find an alternative. For a while, Prime Video was my go-to because of its solid movie library. But recently, it feels like Amazon has made the service frustrating to use, and I don’t want my entertainment to be a chore.
I’ve also spent time on Mubi, Now TV (a UK service for US shows, including many from Peacock and HBO Max), Disney Plus, and Apple TV Plus, but none feel like a well-rounded streaming home that Netflix used to be.
Then I discovered Tubi, and I’ve been using it all the time in the last few months.
My go-to Android TV streaming apps after trying nearly all of them
Most Android TV apps are garbage, but these are worth keeping
Introducing Tubi
Do you want Tubi entertained?
Tubi is a free streaming service owned by Fox, which used to be US-only for many years, but has slowly been rolling out around the world.
Its library is quite region-specific, but from what I can tell, here in the UK, our selection is more limited than elsewhere. If I were based in the US, I’d probably be even more emphatic about the service.
‘Free’ online means ‘ad-enabled,’ but Tubi reliably shows me far fewer ads than Netflix, Prime Video, and Disney Plus, when I was on the ad-enabled tier for those. So it actually feels like a less onerous streaming platform than the paid alternatives.
Tubi has 97 million monthly users, so it’s not a niche platform per se, but very few people I speak to in person actually use it. So I consider it quite underrated, especially given how little it’s forced down our throats than other, oft-advertised services.
A blessing for bad-movie night
My Tubi origin story
I first discovered Tubi when I was looking for a B-movie to watch with my partner, on our regular ‘bad movie night.’
I’d heard that Tubi had a reputation for this kind of film, and given how selective the library on Netflix is, I thought this little platform might serve me some unknown gems.
Boy, was I right. There are tons of low-budget, indie, and amateur movies on the platform, but I don’t use those words as an insult.
We’ve found loads of entertaining videos to watch on the platform, and while they’re generally not ‘good’ per se, it’s refreshing to watch something that hasn’t been polished down into dust like most Hollywood or streaming movies are.
Some of these are goofy flashes you’re meant to put on and laugh at, perhaps with a ‘cold one’ and some popcorn.
But I’ve seen quite a few now which have a lot of heart, as though the makers really cared about what they were making, and many which were actually pretty good. And that’s quite refreshing to watch.
A surprising array of good movies
Modern hits and oldies
While I was drawn to Tubi for the low-budget indies and B-movies, I was pleasantly surprised to find a solid library of other pictures.
Scrolling through the Tubi menu, there are plenty of big movies from the 90s, 00s, and 2010s. The kind that don’t always make their way onto the big streaming platforms, but are still solid watches to occupy an evening.
I’ve discovered plenty of studio movies, with seemingly big budgets and led by A-list stars, that I’d just never heard of.
I enjoy movie history, so it’s been great to catch up on some gripping 90s crime thrillers or goofy noughties comedies that I’d never have seen if I’d only watched what Netflix had.
There are often quite modern movies too, that I’m surprised to see offered for free. A quick browse of the UK catalog reveals Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, Call Me By Your Name, and Werewolves Within. It’s not just all oldies.
I also see that there’s a burgeoning library of Tubi Originals. I wish I could tell you I’ve heard good things about these, but I’ve heard nothing about them. The posters don’t instill much hope, though, so I’ve refrained from checking out any of them.
There are some TV shows in the library
Though it’s a weird mix
As you may have been able to gather, I’m more of a movie kinda guy than a TV show watcher. I’d rather enjoy a story over 90 to 120 minutes than countless 60-minute chunks. That’s why I’ve mostly talked about Tubi’s feature offerings.
Tubi does offer a catalog of TV shows, although it’s quite an eclectic mix: an odd true-crime documentary here, Viking drama there, occasionally an older British comedy or sci-fi serial thrown into the mix.
I can’t say there’s anything that’d personally appeal to me on the TV list, but if I ever wanted something out of my comfort zone, it’s definitely where I’d turn.
I’ve used Tubi so much over the last few months that my partner and I now no longer call them ‘movie nights’ but ‘Tubi nights’ (even if we don’t even use the platform every time).
It’s no wonder we recommend it as one of the best Google TV apps for streaming movies. It’s worked its way into my lingo.
