Who doesn’t love free stuff? With the huge number of streaming services out there today, there’s a lot of competition for new subscribers. Because of this, lots of top streamers offer free trials for new customers. With a free trial, you can try out a streaming service and see if it’s right for you – without paying a dime.
But in the last few years, some major streaming services like Netflix have ended their free trial programs. If you’re wondering about the best streaming services with free trials in 2022, Flixed is here to help. In this guide, we’ll go over all your options for free trials of live and on-demand streaming services. Let’s get into it.
Live TV Services
Live TV services are replacements for traditional cable and satellite subscriptions. They usually offer lots of desirable channels like ESPN, Fox News, HGTV, and Food Network, which you can watch live just like you would with a traditional pay TV subscription. Here are the best live TV services that have a free trial in 2022.
fuboTV – 7-Day Free Trial
fuboTV currently offers a 7-day free trial, so you can try it out for free. After your trail, its cheapest “Starter” package costs $64.99/month. With this package, you’ll get 100+ top channels including ESPN, Fox News, HGTV, Discovery, and tons of others.
You’ll also get 250 hours of DVR storage, and you can watch on 3 devices at once. You have the option to pay or upgrade to a higher-tier package to upgrade those features, if you want.
Device support is also really good with fuboTV. You can watch on pretty much any device you want, including iOS, Android, Amazon Fire, web browsers, Chromecast, Roku, and Apple TV, among others. Click here to get started with a free 7-day trial.
Philo – 7-Day Free Trial
Philo has a 7-day free trial, so you can give it a shot for free and see if you like its entertainment-focused channel package. Unlike some competitors, Philo doesn’t have sports, news, or local channels. Instead, it provides channels like Food Network, HGTV, DIY Network, Comedy Central, and 60+ others. This focus on non-sports, non-news, non-local content makes it more affordable. It costs just $25/month.
As far as features are concerned, you can get unlimited DVR storage for up to 12 months, which is one of the best offers in the business. You also can stream on up to 3 devices at once, and create 10 individual user accounts.
Device support is great, with web browsers, iOS, and Android supported for on-the-go viewing. At home, you can watch on Amazon Fire, Chromecast, Roku, and Apple TV devices. Click here to get a free trial and see if Philo is right for your household.
Sling TV – 7-Day Free Trial
Sling TV offers a free 7-day trial. After that, you’ll pay $35/month for Sling Blue or Sling Orange, or $50/month for Sling Orange + Blue. Sling Blue has about 42 channels, including Fox Sports, NFL Network, and some other exclusives. Sling Orange has ESPN, Freeform, and a few other exclusives. If you get Sling Orange + Blue, you’ll get full access to both packages.
Along with your Sling TV subscription, you’ll get 50 hours of DVR storage. You can pay $5/month for 250 hours of storage. You can only watch on 1 device at once with Sling Orange, but you can watch Sling Blue channels on up to 3 devices simultaneously.
As you’d expect, Sling TV supports the same devices as its competitors. You can watch on iOS, Android, web browsers, Chromecast, Roku, Apple TV, Amazon Fire, and a few others. Click here to get your free trial and see if it’s right for you.
DirecTV Stream – 5-Day Free Trial
After removing its free trial for a little while, DirecTV Stream reintroduced a free 5-day trial just a few days ago, as of publication time. You’ll get 5-days free when you sign up for any of its plans. Currently, their cheapest “Entertainment” package starts at $69.99/month, and includes 65+ channels including ESPN, TNT, HGTV, and Nickelodeon.
With DirecTV Stream, you can store unlimited DVR content for up to 90 days, with a maximum of 30 episodes for each show. You can also stream on up to 20 devices on your home network, or up to 3 devices outside your home network.
Its device support is solid, too. You can watch on iOS, Android, web browsers, Amazon Fire, Roku, Chromecast, and Apple TV devices. Click here to get your free 5-day trial and see if DirecTV Stream is right for you.
Free Trial
YouTube TV – 7-Day Free Trial
YouTube TV has a week-long free trial. It costs $64.99/month after your trial expires, and it includes 85+ top channels like ESPN, local broadcast networks, Fox News, CNN, AMC, and plenty of others.
You can watch on up to 3 devices at once with YouTube TV, and record unlimited DVR content for 9 months, so it compares pretty favorably to competitors like Sling TV and fuboTV.
Since it’s owned by Google, YouTube TV also has some of the best device support. You can watch on iOS, Android, Amazon Fire, Roku, Chromecast, and Apple TV, as well as lots of smart TVs and gaming consoles from Xbox and PlayStation. Click here to try YouTube TV free for a week and see if you like it.
Vidgo – 7-Day Free Trial
Vidgo is a newer live TV streaming service that launched in the summer of 2020. It offers a free 7-day trial, and costs $55/month for its base-tier “English Plus” package that includes 100+ channels. You’ll get ESPN, ABC, Animal Planet, and FX, among a few others.
You can watch on up to 3 devices at once. There is no DVR, but you do have the option of using Stremium with Vidgo to add DVR functionality. That will cost an extra fee, however.
Device support is good, with support for web browsers, Android, Apple TV, Fire TV, Apple TV, Roku, Android TV, and Chromecast. To learn more, get your free trial, and see if Vidgo is right for you, just click here.
Live + On-Demand Services
In the last few years, services like DAZN, ESPN+, Paramount+ (formerly CBS All Access) and Peacock have combined a large selection of on-demand content along with live coverage of certain events and channels. Here are the live + on-demand services that currently offer free trials.
Paramount+ – 7-Day Free Trial
Paramount+ is the new name for CBS All Access, and it offers a free 7-day trial for new users. After your 7-day trial, the cheapest plan starts at just $4.99/month. You’ll get live streams of CBS and certain events like the Champions League, as well as a ton of on-demand content from ViacomCBS channels like CBS, Nickelodeon, MTV, Comedy Central, BET, and more.
You can watch Paramount+on up to 3 devices at once. There’s no DVR, but pretty much every show and event is available to watch on-demand. Paramount+ supports most modern streaming devices, too, including iOS, Android, web browsers, Amazon Fire, Roku, Chromecast, and Apple TV. Click here to get your free 7-day trial.
Peacock – 7-Day Free Trial
Peacock is NBC’s streaming service, and while it doesn’t exactly have a free trial, it’s got something even better – a free tier membership that never expires. You can sign up for free and watch lots of on-demand and live content without paying a cent. However, some premium content like the Premier League and WWE coverage are locked behind a paid subscription. Peacock’s cheapest subscription costs just $4.99/month.
Peacock also lets you stream on 3 devices at once. There’s no DVR, but you can bookmark or wishlist on-demand shows, movies, and sports to easily watch them later. You can watch on every modern streaming device, including web browsers, Android, iOS, Roku, Amazon Fire TV, Chromecast, and Apple TV. Click here to try Peacock for free, and see if you like it.
On-Demand Services
Netflix ushered in the era of VOD (Video On-Demand) streaming back in the early 2010s. Today, there are tons of paid on-demand video streaming services, but not all of them offer free trials. Here’s a quick overview of the best on-demand video services that still offer free trials in 2022.
Amazon Prime Video – 30-Day Free Trial
Amazon Prime Video is included in Amazon Prime, which offers a free 30-day trial. That makes this one of the most generous free trials in 2022, beating out all of the other streaming services on this list. When your trial runs out, Amazon Prime costs $14.99/month, or $139/year.
For your money, you’ll get tons of great content, like the upcoming Lord Of The Rings series, The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, The Wheel of Time, The Expanse, and much more. Considering that lots of people subscribe to Amazon Prime just for the shopping benefits like free 2-day shipping, this makes Prime Video very appealing.
Prime Video lets you stream on up to 3 devices at once. It also has good device support. Naturally, you can watch on all Amazon Fire devices, but also on iOS, Android, web browsers, Roku, Chromecast, and Apple TV. Click here to visit Amazon and get your free trial.
Apple TV+ – 7-Day Free Trial
Apple TV+ offers a free week-long free trial. You can also get a free 3-month trial with most new Apple devices like iPhones and MacBooks. After that, it costs just $4.99/month, making it one of the cheapest services on this list. Apple’s entry into the streaming wars started out slow when it launched in 2019, but now it has lots of hits like Ted Lasso, The Morning Shoes, For All Mankind, and Foundation, to name just a few.
You can watch Apple TV+ on up to 6 devices simultaneously, which is better than most other VOD services like Prime Video. As you’d expect, Apple TV+ supports iOS and Apple TV. You can also watch on web browsers, Chromecast, Roku, and Amazon Fire TV, though Android support is unfortunately absent. Click here to get your free trial, and see if you like Apple TV+.
Funimation – 7-Day Free Trial
Funimation is one of the leading anime streaming services in America, and it offers a 2-week free trial. After your trial, their cheapest plan is the $5.99/month Premium subscription. For your money, you’ll get access to ad-free streaming of more than 15,000 hours of anime including Demon Slayer, Attack On Titan, One Piece, and Afro Samurai. One thing to note is that Funimation mostly focuses on dubs, not subs, though some titles have both. But if you’re an anime fan and prefer subtitles to dubs, this is something to keep in mind.
Premium users can stream on 2 devices, while the $7.99/month Premium Plus and $99.99/year Premium Plus Ultra plans let you stream on 5 devices, and unlock some other benefits like episode downloads and exclusive members-only events.
Funimation supports tons of streaming devices, too. You can watch on web browsers, iOS, Android, Amazon Fire, Chromecast, Roku, and Apple TV, as well as some smart TVs and gaming consoles. Click here to try Funimation’s free trial, and see if it’s right for you.
Crunchyroll – 7-Day Free Trial
Crunchyroll is Funimation’s biggest competitor in America, and it also has a ludicrously large library of anime titles. It has a free tier, which lets you watch some titles without paying a cent. You can also get a free 2-week trial of its Premium memberships, including the $7.99/month Fan membership, $9.99/month Mega Fan membership, and $14.99/month Ultimate Fan membership.
All membership tiers include ad-free access to titles like Attack on Titan, Boruto: Naruto Next Generation, Demon Slayer, My Hero Academia, and more, along with access to new episodes 1 hour after they air in Japan. You’ll also get special store discounts, and a huge library of manga to read, among other benefits. Crunchyroll also doesn’t have dubs for most of its shows, and focuses on subtitles, though a few shows have both.
You can watch Crunchyroll on just 1 device with the Fan plan, on 4 devices with the Mega Fan plan, and on 6 devices with the Ultimate Fan plan. You can stream on web browsers, iOS, Android, Amazon Fire, Roku, Chromecast, and Apple TV, as well as some gaming consoles and smart TVs. Click here to check out the free trial, and see if Crunchyroll is the right anime streaming service for you.
What Streaming Services Don’t Offer Free Trials?
There are a lot of streaming services out there that used to offer free trials, but no longer offer any kind of free trial. However, some do offer a money-back guarantee, and all of them allow you to cancel your subscription without any penalties or other fees.
DAZN is one example. In the past, it offered a free one-month trial for new users. But sometime in 2021, this sports streaming service discontinued its free trial. Disney-owned ESPN+, one of DAZN’s biggest competitors, also no longer offers a free trial, after launching with a 7-day free trial back in 2018.
It’s probably not a coincidence that Disney+ and Hulu/Hulu With Live TV, which are also owned by Disney, no longer offer free trials. However, there is a bundle available where you can get Disney+, ESPN+, and Hulu for just $13.99/month.
Speaking of on-demand streaming services that no longer offer free trials, Netflix is one of the most prominent streamers that no longer gives new subscribers a free trial. In October 2020, Netflix ended its free trial offering in the U.S. Previously, new subscribers could try it out free for a full month.
Finally, HBO Max, a recent entry into the streaming wars, launched with a free 7-day trial in May of 2020. But by October of 2020, it had already discontinued this option, and it currently doesn’t allow new users to try the service for free.
Eric Liston is a content writer based in Columbus, Ohio. Since 2015, he’s been writing about technology, cord-cutting, and helping everyday people save money. He also has expertise writing about medicine, dentistry, insurance, and a variety of other industries. No matter what he’s writing, his focus is always on simplifying complex concepts and making them approachable for everyone. When he’s not slamming away on his keyboard at his home office, you’ll find Eric reading sci-fi novels, improving his disc golf game (he just hit his first 400-foot drive) and playing video games on his gaming PC.
