16 Best Services to Watch Indie Movies on Roku in 2025

Hand-picked curation: The types of movies that are curated by Mubi tend to be especially niche, even more so than the Criterion Collection. Rather than by category, movies are tagged with descriptors such as Adaptations, Debuts, New Auteurs, etc. Community features: Mubi has two sections made for their subscriber community of movie buffs to interact: The Feed and the Notebook. The Feed is a list of user reviews and social media posts, while The Notebook includes reviews and commentary from Mubi staff and other contributors. You also get a profile page on which you can list all of your movie ratings. Offline downloads: You can stream the Mubi catalog 1080p and download on mobile devices at any time.

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.

Curated for cinephiles: The selection of films that are available each month will certainly appeal to film aficionados looking for classic and foreign cinema. Offline viewing: The Criterion Channel supports offline downloads and full HD streaming for most content for Android and iOS devices, which is a great perk for movie lovers who are often on the go. Extra video features: Aside from restored old movies, each title features extras such as interviews, supplementary footage, and trailers. The original 1954 Godzilla alone comes with 15 extra videos! Simultaneous streaming: With one subscription to the Criterion Channel, you can stream up to three videos on different devices at the same time, which is aboverage the streaming landscape average.

Curation: The amount of shows on-demand are limited to 67 series, so if you easily get overwhelmed by choice, Sundance Now offers more focused curation of high-quality movies and documentaries.

Exclusive streams: According to Sundance Now’s ‘Exclusive’ category it is the only streaming platform to offer the movies Jonestown: Terror in The Jungle, Liar, Motherland, Public Enemy, Sanctuary, and Wisting.

Unique programming: From high-budget documentaries to lower-budget indie films, the content available through Ovid.tv is far from mainstream, making the library is truly unique compared to other streaming platforms Amount of content: With 900 titles at the time of testing, not only is the programming unique, but it’s also varied and abundant.

Subgenre streaming: If you know what you like (and don’t like), you can circumvent the all-inclusive subscription and just pay $2.99 monthly for access to a specific genre of titles. Choose from horror, comedy, gangster movies, and more. Variety of content: There’s a great variety across the programming, particularly across indie films, with the library updated on a monthly basis.

There are many streaming services out there dedicated to specific and underrepresented communities. Black-oriented streamers alone account for a significant portion. But Kweli TV stands out for its far-reaching and careful curation. It hosts films and series worldwide, many of which are festival winners and official selections from Africa and the Caribbean. It also claims to dedicate 60% of its revenue to content creators, so you can be sure your money goes to a good cause. On top of all this, Kweli TV also has a 24-hour live streaming service; a worthwhile package for just $1.99/month (without ads, it's $5.99/month).

Klassiki is a streaming service dedicated to classic and modern films from Eastern Europe, the Caucasus, and Central Asia. The platform's team carefully curate the titles that go into their library, and every week, they handpick a special film for you to enjoy. Since Klassiki is still new, their library is not too stacked (they have about 50 titles as of this writing), but the leanness is perfect for those who value quality over quantity. A monthly subscription costs $10.99 (£9.99 if you're in the UK), and along with on-demand content, you get exclusive program notes, reviews, and interviews from different critics and filmmakers via their journal section.

Formerly Kino Now, which only offered rentals, Kino Film Collection is an on-demand streaming service featuring films that could rival the catalogs of Criterion and Mubi. Here you'll find indie darlings, hard-to-find classics, and international gems by the likes of  Jean-Luc Godard, Jafar Panahi, Jia Zhangke, Joanna Hogg, and Alfred Hitchcock. Some examples of their carefully curated collections are "Cannes Winners," "New York Times Critcis’ Picks," "Visionary Black Directors," and "Women Filmmakers." You can watch the Kino Film Collection on major streaming devices.

Niche programming: On IndieFlix, you’ll find a wide selection of independent and short films, a lot of top-notch documentaries, and even older TV shows, with the library regularly updated. Supports filmmakers: Indieflix originated an artist payment model called the RPM (Royalty Pool Minutes) that pays filmmakers for every minute watched of their content, so you can contribute directly while you watch.

Flexibility: You don’t need a subscription to access titles, thanks to the pay-as-you-go option. Also, you can access the FlixFling channel on pretty much any device you can think of, including up to 5 at a time. Choice: FlixFling has quite a lot of hard-to-find gems, so you get a lot in the way of choice of what to watch, and will likely find movies you can’t find anywhere else.

Flix Premiere is a subscription-based service that streams underrated and hard-to-find independent films. Founded in 2015 by Martin Warner, Flix Premiere is a treasure trove of fresh but forgotten gems—movies deemed too small or unprofitable are finally given a fighting chance here. The company states that it sources much of its content from prestigious festivals like Berlinale, Cannes, TIFF, and more. The streamer, currently available in the US and the UK only, is for hardcore cinephiles and anyone who prefers films over TV shows. The subscription is at $6.99/month, and the service offers a 30-day free trial.

FilmRise is a streaming app that's partnered with the likes of MGM, Warner Bros., and ITV Studios to provide over 20,000 films and TV shows you can watch for free. It's not immune to ads, but FilmRise more than makes up for those disruptions with its impressive selection of titles. On the film front, it has indie favorites, award-winning classics, and foreign gems, while on the TV front, it has murder mysteries (many imported from the UK), Gordon Ramsey-led competition shows, and oldies-but-goodies like The Dick Van Dyke Show, Roseanne, and the original 21 Jump Street. FilmRise isn't available to stream directly on the website, but if you have a compatible device, you can download the app and start watching for free.

Fandor is a paid subscription streaming service that curates independent, foreign, award-winning, and classic films, as well as documentaries from all over the world, making it a standout option for cinephiles. Depending on your location, it also offers a number of free movie titles. But Fandor doesn't only cater to fans; rookie directors also get some love as the service allows them to debut their work on the platform. It's a great option for film lovers and makers alike.

True to its name, Documentary+ is a free ad-supported service that streams documentaries as well as non-fiction shorts and series. It has a straightforward interface that has categories like "award winners," "true crime," "festival darlings," "women stories," and "Black stories," as well as films from renowned directors including Werner Herzog, Spike Jonze, Kathryn Bigelow, and Terrence Malick. Interestingly, the service also has a live channel you can put on anytime. It’s compatible on all major streaming devices, but you can also access it as a channel on live TV services like Amazon’s freevee and Sling’s freestream.

Arrow Player focuses exclusively on cult cinema, with a particular focus on horror and classics. If you love niche films and hidden gems, then this is for you. No one less than acclaimed director and cult fanatic Quentin Tarantino has recommended the service a few times. You'll also appreciate Arrow Player if you're into hand-picked content as it boasts a highly curated and carefully refined selection of titles. The streamer offers a month-long free trial, then charges $6.99/month afterward for a subscription. Arrow Player was launched in 2020.