Free Anime Streaming Services Ranked Worst to Best

With Crunchyroll’s announcement that it will be raising subscription prices across all paid membership tiers, the cost of being an anime fan keeps climbing, and it's getting harder not to feel discouraged. It’s not an inexpensive subscription, and it can be hard to justify the membership cost, especially if you, like me, are on a strict budget.

Let’s look at the best free streaming services for anime fans. And good news, there are more out there than you might have expected — it’s mostly a matter of knowing where to look.

YouTube is often cited as a free alternative for anime, but personally, I’ve found that access to full series (especially those uploaded legally) is pretty limited. Most YouTube anime watchers cite the channels Muse Asia and Ani-One Asia as comprehensive resources, but their uploads are only available in Asian countries.

That’s not to say that YouTube’s anime options are lacking, though, given that they have access to quite a few classics, such as the entire “Gundam” series, “Revolutionary Girl Utena” (subbed), English and Spanish episodes of the “Beyblade” series, among others. But if you want full series uploads of newer releases, you might be out of luck.

As far as free alternatives go, YouTube isn’t the worst choice. The UI is crisp and easily navigable, content is available on demand, and I’ve found that most series are sorted into playlists for a more streamlined watching experience. At the very least, it’s worth plugging whatever you are looking for into the search bar to see if it’s available, but most of the time, you probably won’t find any official release outside the first episode or a teaser trailer.

Read more: Best Streaming Services for Anime

Pluto TV has become a solid destination for anime fans since its May 2025 Ani-May event, which added over 800 hours of content across several new channels.

As of 2026, Pluto TV has 10 dedicated anime channels available 24/7 — including Pluto TV Anime, Pluto TV Anime Movies, Crunchyroll, and Anime x HIDIVE — plus dedicated channels for “Sailor Moon,” “One Piece,” “Naruto,” “Boruto: Naruto Next Generations,” “Inuyasha,” and “Yu-Gi-Oh!” All channels are accessible on mobile devices.

The biggest drawback with Pluto TV's anime library is that nothing is on-demand. That works for viewers who like background noise, want to avoid decision paralysis, or don't mind tuning in mid-season, but I found the lack of control over episode timing and show availability pretty disheartening. It’s not the worst free option, but if you want more control over what you watch, I’d look elsewhere.

Available only in the United States and Canada, RetroCrush is a streaming service with anime series primarily from the ‘70s, ‘80s, and ‘90s, but it does have some newer titles that fit into their old-school aesthetic, with the newest being the “Shin Ultraman” movie from 2022.

While RetroCrush offers some of its selection for free when you create an account, you’ll need a paid subscription to unlock its full library. A seven-day free trial is available with a premium plan, after which it’s $4.99 a month. It’s worth noting that RetroCrush offers free select titles each month, but it seems like the shows are chosen at random.

For anime fans who are nostalgic for older series or just prefer old-school animation, RetroCrush is a great resource. More casual or contemporary fans, however, might not find a lot of its available content quite to their taste. To be transparent, the paid plan isn't worth it for me. I don't have enough interest in older anime to justify the cost. I'm intrigued by the classic “Magic Knight Rayearth,” which was recently one of RetroCrush's free titles — I enjoyed it during my watch of the first episode.

As mentioned in my anime streaming services review, Tubi has a robust anime collection for a free streaming service. It’s no surprise to me that Tubi reported more than 97 million active monthly users in 2024, because its extensive catalog, popular titles, and neat UI are consistent enough for me to regularly pick the platform when trying to find something to watch.

Tubi’s anime selection is nothing to sneeze at either, with access to the 1997 Pokémon show, “Naruto,” “Hunter x Hunter,” “Death Note,” and “Sailor Moon.” Its titles are constantly in flux, but I’ve personally never experienced anything leave the platform before I finished watching it. So while it can be frustrating to lose access to older titles, I generally find the new options to be more refreshing than annoying.

There isn’t an ad-free Tubi plan or an option to download content offline, and streaming resolution caps at 720p. I do think the ad breaks inherently ruin my immersion into whatever movie or series I am watching, but again, my frustration is significantly tempered by the fact that Tubi’s content isn’t costing me anything.

Overall, Tubi is the best on-demand free streaming service for anime, given the sheer scope of its collection — not to mention you don't even have to make an account to start watching — and should be your first stop for a free anime streaming alternative.

For this article, I selected four free anime streaming services available to me as someone located in the United States without a VPN, and tested them all on my laptop, TV, and mobile device. I navigated menu options, changed playback settings, and browsed each service’s available content library. I also looked at other user reviews, news posts, Reddit comments, and articles, where applicable, for alternative opinions and experiences.

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