These are the FAST services you need to know about

FAST, or ad-supported free streaming TV, is the closest thing you can get to having cable without actually paying for it. As the name suggests, FAST services allow you to watch a wide variety of content as you flip through individual “channels,” all without a subscription. While FAST services may not have the latest and greatest content, they're still a nice option to have whenever you want to jump to some random show or movie without taking ages to decide what to watch on Netflix. Plus, you don't even need to create an account to watch shows on most FAST services, allowing you to drop in and out as you please. All you have to do is watch some ads.

Here, we've compiled a list of some of the most popular FAST services you might want to try when you're suffering from Netflix exhaustion.

Pluto TV, which is owned by Paramount, offers over 250 different channels to browse, along with thousands of free shows and movies that you can watch on demand, with no account required. It has one of our favorite user interfaces, starting from the channel you last watched instead of forcing you to select a channel every time you open the app. Like most other FAST services, Pluto TV offers channels dedicated to specific shows and their genres, but because it's Paramount, that means it has a lot of Paramount properties you've heard of, including Star Trek and CSI.

There are also a number of movie channels to choose from, and Pluto TV also has a few of its own, including Pluto TV Spotlight, Pluto TV Crime Movies, and Pluto TV Staff Picks, which feature shows and movies curated by service.

And επειδή η Paramount κατέχει το CBS, το Pluto TV προσφέρει επίσης πρόσβαση σε τοπικούς σταθμούς ειδήσεων CBS σε μεγάλες πόλεις, όπως η Βαλτιμόρη, το Σαν Φρανσίσκο, το Σικάγο, το Μαϊάμι, η Νέα Υόρκη, το Ντιτρόιτ και άλλες, κάνοντας να αισθάνεστε σαν να χρησιμοποιείτε πραγματικά μια γραμμική τηλεόραση και όχι μια υπηρεσία FAST. Μπορείτε να χρησιμοποιήσετε την εφαρμογή Pluto TV στο a range of smart TVs and devices, including Android, iOS and the web.

Roku, the company known for its set-top boxes and Roku-enabled smart TVs, also has a FAST service called The Roku channel. Εδώ, μπορείτε να αποκτήσετε πρόσβαση σε τόνους εκπομπών και ταινιών σε περισσότερα από 350 κανάλια χωρίς να δημιουργήσετε λογαριασμό. Αυτό περιλαμβάνει μερικές από τις διακοπείσες εκπομπές που έστειλε η Warner Bros. Discovery νωρίτερα φέτος, καθώς και μέρος του αρχικού περιεχομένου του Roku, όπως Die Hart 2 with Kevin Hart or Martha Cooks with Martha Stewart.

What really separates Roku from other services is its UI. Browsing The Roku Channel is a bit more like scrolling through Netflix than standard linear TV, with live content appearing in a carousel toward the top of the screen and all other on-demand content divided into categories below. It has a pretty wide range of content, including classic movies and TV shows, sitcoms, reality shows, and sports.

The Roku Channel also lists premium content from services like Paramount Plus, Showtime, and AMC Plus, which you have to pay for. While some of these Premium shows let you play the first episode for free, you'll need to pay for a subscription to the service it's from if you want to go any further. This makes The Roku Channel seem like a cross between a FAST service, a traditional media store, and a hub for your subscriptions.

Now for the bad. One of the biggest disadvantages of the service is that You can only watch it from your TV if you have a Roku device, Amazon Fire TV device, or Samsung Smart TV. Otherwise, you can use the service from Roku's desktop website or mobile app without allowing streaming.

The Tubi belonging to the fox has a huge collection of live and on-demand content. It is behind the Roku channel as the second most popular FAST service, netting 64 million monthly active users in February. With over 50,000 movies and TV shows on tap, Tubi has one of the largest streaming libraries in the FAST space. It also has a wide variety of local news stations from networks like Fox, ABC and NBC. This makes it one of the most exciting options for people looking to replace cable (or their ancient TV antenna).

Like Roku, Tubi also has a few of its own Tubi Originals, although some of them seem a bit cheesy. The service added even more content when Tubi and Roku reached a deal with Warner Bros. Discovery earlier this year, bringing Westcomb, The Time Traveler's Wife, Raised by Wolves, How is it made?, και άλλα και στις δύο platforms. Εκτός από αυτό, μπορείτε να βρείτε βασικά σχεδόν οποιοδήποτε είδος ταινίας ή τηλεοπτικής εκπομπής που ψάχνετε (απλώς κοιτάξτε αυτό το τεράστιο μενού όταν τοποθετείτε το δείκτη του ποντικιού πάνω από το κουμπί Αναζήτηση).

Tubi is available on multiple platforms including Android, iOS, Roku, Apple TV, Amazon Fire TV, Xfinity X1, Xbox, Samsung Smart TVs, Sony Smart TVs, PlayStation, the web and more. You can see the full list of supported devices on the Tubi website.

freevee – formerly called IMDb Freedive and then IMDb TV – is a FAST service owned by Amazon. And because that It's made of an Amazon-owned product, this means you'll need to sign in to your Amazon account (or create a new one) to actually use the service. Once signed in, you can access a treasure trove of movies and TV shows on demand in an interface very similar to Amazon Prime Video.

Freevee, too, has its own prototypes, including one Judge Judy reboot, one Alex Ryder σειρές και ντοκιμαντέρ για stars όπως ο Post Malone και ο Luke Bryan. Υπάρχει επίσης κάποιο ζωντανό περιεχόμενο, συμπεριλαμβανομένων καναλιών με ειδήσεις, ριάλιτι, κλασικά και άλλα, αλλά πραγματικά αισθάνεται ότι το Freevee δίνει προτεραιότητα στις εκπομπές κατ ‘απαίτηση.

You can access the Freevee app almost anywhere. Είναι διαθέσιμο σε πολλές έξυπνες τηλεοράσεις που κατασκευάζονται από την LG, τη Samsung και την Amazon και μπορείτε επίσης να έχετε πρόσβαση σε αυτό από Appliances ροής, συμπεριλαμβανομένων των συσκευών Amazon Fire Stick, Apple TV και Roku, καθώς και στον ιστό, το Android και το iOS.

While Plex it is mainly known as a kind of build-your-own Netflix server software, it also has its own FAST service that you can use with or without a server setup. It includes a large library of live and on-demand content, with a channel guide with a user-friendly interface that lets you sort content by genre.

The over 200 channels on the service include those dedicated to some of the shows you'll often see on other FAST platforms, such as Portlandia, Top speedand Ice Road Truckers. It also has a large collection of over 50,000 shows and movies on demand such as Pulp Fiction and Hannibal. But the flexibility – and accessibility – of Plex is what really makes it stand out.

Not only can you use the service to set up your own media server, but you can also access it almost any device, including smart TVs, streaming devices, game consoles, mobile phones and even VR systems. Plex also claims to be available in almost every country around the world.

Comcast property Xumo Play is another FAST option you can try. It comes with a number of live national and local news channels along with a wide range of networks playing movies, sports, cop TV shows and more on a 24/24 loop. It's also very easy to browse through all the content as you can either navigate through the live TV guide or choose from a list of different networks.

The content on Xumo Play doesn't really stand out from the other services listed here, but it does have some (very cheesy) originals as well as some semi-recent exclusive shows and movies that you can only stream on the service, like 2021 Fortress and Grab the bullet. Xumo's software also helps enable FAST channels Google TVs as well as LG channels app built into LG Smart TVs, so you may see some of the same content in all three apps.

Xumo is part of Comcast's broader goal of creating a Roku-like streaming hardware ecosystem as part of its partnership with Charter. While it comes embedded in the company renamed Xumo TVs and Xumo Stream Boxes, is also available on the web, Android, iOS, Roku and Amazon Fire TV.

Sling doesn't just offer a paid live TV subscription — it also has its own Freestream sling FAST service that just released in February 2023. So far, it has over 270 live channels with 40,000 on-demand titles, including Hell's Kitchen, The Living Deadand Bob's Burgers. While you don't need to sign up for a Freestream account, doing so allows you to unlock features that let you save channels, shows and movies, as well as create profiles for different members of your household.

And if you want to watch some more recent content, you can go to the Rental tab where you can pay to rent a variety of movies like Doctrine and tar. This obviously isn't ideal if you can already access these movies on another streaming service, but it's a nice option to have if you don't mind paying a fee.

Sling Freestream is available through the Sling TV app on various platforms including web, iOS, Android, Apple TV, Roku, Fire TV and many more.

Samsung TVPlus it is the company itself that undertakes a FAST service. While it was initially only available on Samsung smart TVs, Galaxy smartphones and even its own refrigerators, the company is slowly expanding its reach. The service is now free to watch from the company's website and Android application, and reports suggest that Samsung is considering bringing it to other manufacturers' smart TVs.

As Samsung tries to develop its service, it has also developed content. Last year, he added Top Gear, Law &; Order: Special Victims Unit, and NCPS to the service and announced plans to triple the amount of on-demand content it has on the platform this year through "new and expanded partnerships" with Lionsgate, Vice Media and others.

It has also created some of its own original channels, such as the Home.Made.Nation channel launched in partnership with A&E. Samsung TV Plus currently offers access to 220 different channels in the US, a small fraction of the 1.600 total channels it offers in 24 different countries.