17 Best Educational Streaming Services

cord-cutting › best educational streaming services • April 15, 2024 • The Staff

One of the best things about the new streaming age is that many services, to stand out, specialize in a single thing. There are streamers dedicated solely to classics, reality shows, live TV, and horror films. In this list, we're rounding up the best of the educational streamers.

Some of them will be kids-focused, like Noggin and Hopster, but most of the services in this list offer quality lessons on topics like history, geography, race, and culture. Unsurprisingly, many also lean on documentary and non-fiction styles of reporting.

Our recommended five best educational streaming services:

Discovery+

Discovery+ is a streaming service from the famous mass media company that has an ad-supported plan for $4.99 a month and an ad-free plan for $6.99. This includes content from Discovery, TLC, Animal Planet, Food Network, HGTV, ID, A&E, History, Lifetime, OWN, Travel, Science Network, and The Dodo. But beware, you cannot stream these channels live with a Discovery+, you can only watch their TV shows in playback.

Go to Discovery+

Price: $4.99/month

Free Trial: 7 days

Device availability: Amazon Fire TV, Android, Android TV, iOS, Roku, Samsung TV, Xbox

Features: ad-supported option, likely to work with a VPN, multiple profiles, offline downloads, on-demand content, trial

Kanopy

Kanopy is an on-demand streaming service that schools and public libraries all around the US offer students and members for free. All you have to do is enter the details of your participating institution and you can start watching as you please. Because of the academic nature of the platform, Kanopy makes sure it streams only the most essential and important content available, which could mean hard-hitting films like Moonlight, Portrait of a Lady on Fire, Lady Bird, Dogtooh, Memento, and Howard's End for certain viewers, or The Adventures of Paddington, Richard Scarry, and The Monster Math Squad for even other, younger viewers. There are also storybooks, documentaries, and educational programs available to watch as Kanopy makes sure to cater to every learner regardless of leaning or age.

Go to Kanopy

Price: free for channels available

Device availability: Amazon Fire Stick, Amazon Fire Tablet, Android, Chromecast, iOS, Roku, Website

Features: free, on-demand content, unlimited simultaneous streams

True Story

True Story is an online streaming service that focuses on documentaries from all over the globe. The nature of the films seem to focus on relationships amongst real-life people in specific and unique contexts. If you enjoy exploring the complexities of interpersonal relationships while also learning surprising things about the world in an interesting and moving way, then this streamer is for you. The subscription is $8.49/month. True Story was launched in 2020.

Go to True Story

Price: $8.49/month

Device availability: Chromecast, Website

Features: annual subscription, on-demand content

Toon Goggles

Toon Goggles is an on-demand service dedicated to streaming kids' shows, including popular cartoons like PJ Masks, live-action features like Guinness World Record, and even games like Angry Birds. There are hours upon hours of content here, not to mention pre-screened ads and strict parental controls, making it a suitable service to leave the children with.

Some of Toon Goggles' shows can be streamed for free, but if you want full access and no ads, you'll have to subscribe to its premium tier, which costs $1.99 in the US and Canada and just $0.99 everywhere else.

Go to Toon Goggles

Price: $1.99/month

Device availability: Amazon Fire TV, Android, Android TV, Apple TV, Google TV, Hisense Smart TV, iOS, LG Smart TV, Panasonic Vera Connect, Roku, Samsung Smart TV, Sony Smart TV, Vizio Smart TV, Website

Features: ad-supported option, free, on-demand content, parental controls, trial

PBS App

PBS channels around the country are free on television, and thanks to the PBS app, they're now free to stream as well. The PBS app gives you on-demand access to many of the network's famously educational shows, including Nova and PBS News Hour, as well as the nearest local station in your area. You don't need an account to start watching on the PBS app, although you might have to activate it beforehand. Again, PBS is free, but if you want to support your local PBS station and gain extended access to even more films and TV shows, then you can purchase a PBS Passport membership, which costs around $5/month or $60/year.

Go to PBS App

Price: free for channels available

Device availability: Amazon Fire Tablet, Amazon Fire TV, Android, Android TV, Apple TV, Chromecast, Comcast, iOS, Roku, Samsung Smart TV, Vizio

Features: ad-supported option, annual subscription, free, likely to work with a VPN, on-demand content, unlimited simultaneous streams

Noggin

Noggin is a subscription service catered specifically to preschool-age children. Powered by Nickelodeon's sister channel Nick Jr., Noggin boasts an extensive line-up of ad-free shows such as Peppa Pig, Blues Clues, and PAW Patrol. Aside from thousands of titles like this, the streaming service also has educational games, eBooks, and shorts, as well as exclusive Spanish-language content. With access to five accounts and multiple parental controls, Noggin is reasonably priced at $7.99 a month. It's also a strong competitor to YouTube TV and Netflix's own child-targeted content.

Go to Noggin

Price: $7.99/month

Device availability: Android, Android TV, Apple TV, Chromecast, Fire TV, iOS, LG, Roku, Samsung, Sony, Vizio

Features: on-demand content, trial

NASA+

NASA+ is the space agency's official, ad-free, and on-demand streaming service. It carries original shows and movies that feature NASA's discoveries on the cosmos and beyond and intimate interviews with the astronauts and scientists behind these projects. There are also animated kids' shows and Spanish-language content for younger viewers and families to enjoy, as well as high-definition intergalactic videos set to interesting sounds, in case you're not in the mood to watch anything too heavy. The app, which can be downloaded on iOS, Android, Roku, and Apple TV, is completely free and requires no sign-up to access.

Go to NASA+

Price: free for channels available

Device availability: Android, Apple TV, iOS, Roku, Roku TV, Website

Features: free, on-demand content

MagellanTV

MagellanTV’s content focuses mostly on documentaries. New movies and series are added weekly, so the library is frequently updated. This streamer is for people who love learning about science, space, and the earth. MagellanTV provides a thoughtfully curated selection of films that focus on current events and global topics of importance. The cheapest subscription it offers is $4.99/month and it has a 14-day free trial. It was launched in 2019.

Go to MagellanTV

Price: $4.99/month

Free Trial: 14 days

Device availability: Amazon Fire TV, Google Play, iOS, Roku, Samsung, Vizio

Features: 4k-compatible, likely to work with a VPN, offline downloads, on-demand content, quarterly subscription, up to five concurrent streams

Lingopie

Described as the Netflix of language learning, Lingopie has a wide array of international movies and TV shows to watch in nine languages: Spanish, French, German, Italian, Russian, Portuguese, Japanese, Korean, and English. Mainly, it has a flashcard feature that allows you to learn the words in the subtitles as you go along. The flashcard lets you hear the right pronunciation of the word, while also giving info on its position of speech, tense, etc. It's a great option for those interested in learning through entertainment.

Go to Lingopie

Price: $12/month

Free Trial: 7 days

Device availability: Android, iOS, Website

Features: annual subscription, lifetime subscription, on-demand content, quarterly subscription, trial

Hopster TV

Hopster TV is a kids-oriented streaming service that offers a variety of educational and entertaining shows. It also offers games, books, and songs in the platform, allowing kids to navigate between depending on their mood.

Go to Hopster TV

Price: $5.99/month

Free Trial: 7 days

Device availability: Android, iOS

Features: on-demand content, trial

1 2 >

Discovery+ 7 days free trial	$4.99	Watch

Kanopy No contract, cancel anytime	free	Watch

History Hit TV 14 days free trial	$6.99	Watch

CuriosityStream No contract, cancel anytime	$4.99	Watch

Lingopie 7 days free trial	$12	Watch

Discovery+

Kanopy

True Story

Toon Goggles

PBS App

Noggin

NASA+

MagellanTV

Lingopie

Hopster TV

More lists