Streaming media is one of the coolest technological innovations of recent years. Allowing you to watch movies and television episodes from wherever you are over the internet.
However, with so many streaming services, it's hard to find out where your favorite movies and TV shows are available to stream. Fortunately, you have various tools at your disposal.
Search These Sites to Find Where to Stream Movies
If you know what movie you want to watch, the fastest way to find out where you can stream it is to search on one of the sites below. Each of them scans dozens of streaming services and digital stores to let you know exactly where you can watch what you're looking for.
JustWatch: Search Streaming Services Across the Globe
JustWatch is the most popular site to find out where movies and TV shows are streaming. It returns fast results with a crystal clear UI that tells you where you can stream a movie or, if not, how much it will cost to buy it from various stores.
With JustWatch, you can check for movies on Netflix, Amazon Prime, Disney+, Hulu, HBO Now, YouTube, and many other streaming services with a single search. In fact, you'd be hard-pressed to find a streaming service that doesn't come up on JustWatch.
You can even tap or click the service you want to use from the search results and JustWatch automatically opens a new tab for that particular movie. Another great feature of this site is that it has many filters so you can sort through content by genre, price, release date, and more.
You can access JustWatch through the website or download the app for Android or iOS.
Download: JustWatch for Android | iOS (Free)
Reelgood: Find Movies to Stream From Multiple Services
Similar to JustWatch above, Reelgood scans the content from Netflix, Hulu, Amazon Prime, Disney+, and over 60 other streaming services so you can find whatever movie you want to watch. Simply type the movie you want in the search bar, then select it from the results page to see all the places it's available to stream.
Unlike JustWatch, which lets you choose your part of the world, Reelgood only checks availability for streaming in the US.
You get plenty of information about a movie from the search results to help you decide if you want to watch it. This information includes a plot summary, IMDb and Rotten Tomatoes scores, age ratings, runtime, tags, and more.
Follow the Stream Movie, Rent, or Buy links to jump straight to that movie on a streaming service or digital store.
Outside of the website, you can download the free Reelgood app for Android or iOS.
Download: Reelgood for Android | iOS (Free)
If You Only Watch a Couple of Streaming Services
Both JustWatch and Reelgood search their entire library of streaming services when you're trying to find out where to watch a movie or TV show. But that isn't particularly useful to you if you only subscribe to a couple of services.
For instance, it's no good finding out that The Godfather is available to stream on Hulu if you only subscribe to Netflix and Disney+.
Luckily, both services allow you to filter your results by the services you subscribe to. You can even create a free account to save your preferences, so you don't need to add them again every time you perform a search.
From the JustWatch website, click the services you use from the top of the search results page. This filters your results to only the movies and TV shows available on those platforms.
Reelgood invites you to Add Your Services from the homepage. Follow that link and choose a selection of services to save to your account. When you are ready to search for a movie, Reelgood only shows the ones available to you.
Search on Apple TV, Fire Stick, and Other Hardware
There's a good chance you've got some kind of streaming hardware connected to your TV. This might be an Apple TV, an Amazon Fire TV Stick, or a Roku device. You can use any of these devices to search across a range of streaming services when you're trying to find a particular movie or TV show.
Even without a physical streaming device, you might find that the search feature on a Smart TV works in a similar fashion.
All you need to do on most of these devices is to use the search function built into the operating system. You can even speak to Siri or Alexa to perform a voice search for movies instead.
None of these devices are quite as comprehensive as JustWatch or Reelgood. They seem to favor the streaming services available to watch with that particular device. But it's a very convenient place to start your search if the remote is already in your hand.
If You Have No Idea What You Want to Watch
The sheer number of choices on streaming services means some people spend more time deciding what to watch than actually enjoying movies and TV shows. If you can relate, the websites we showed you above might not actually help you speed up the decision-making on movie night.
Have no fear, there are plenty of other resources at your disposal. Take a look at these film recommendation sites for help deciding what kind of flick you're in the mood for tonight.
Once you know that, jump back to JustWatch or Reelgood to find out where you can start streaming that movie.
How to Find Movies to Stream for Free
Using these websites and apps makes it easier than ever to find out where a specific movie is available for streaming. But just because you know where you can stream a movie, doesn't mean you already subscribe to that service.
There are far too many services these days to subscribe to them all. But if you're tired of everything on your current services, don't jump the gun and pay for another just yet. There are lots of ways to stream movies online for free, and they're all completely legal.