20 Best Streaming Services for Cinephiles

It's clear that streaming services like The Criterion Collection and Mubi, with their tasteful curations and global titles, were created for movie lovers. In fact, thanks to their branding as film-first streamers, they've each built loyal followings that tune in to their latest releases. 

But did you know there are plenty of others like them? Enthusiasts will find plenty to love in our list of the best streaming services for cinephiles right now. Some mainstream names like Max and Amazon Prime are included in this list because of the enviable licensing rights they hold (Max has Warner Bros., Turner, and New Line under its belt, while Amazon has MGM and Orion, among others). But there are also more niche streamers such as Arrow Player and Curia that will surely appeal to indie lovers everywhere. Read on to learn about these streaming services and more. 

Our recommended five best streaming services for cinephiles:
Hulu $7.99 Watch
Starz $3 Watch
Apple TV+ $9.99 Watch
Amazon Prime $8.99 Watch
Magnolia Selects $4.99 Watch

Plex is a media management software that doubles as a free streaming service. Its main function is to organize your own library of content—that is, your own video, photo, or sound files—and make it streamable alongside Plex's offerings of 200+ live TV channels and 50,000+ on-demand movies and shows. Plex's basic package comes at no cost, but it also has a premium package starting at $4.99/month that boasts additional features, such as the ability to download content and watch them offline, among other things.

Price: free for 85 channels available

Device availability: Amazon Fire TV, Android, Android TV, Apple TV, Chromecast, Google Daydream, iOS, LG Smart TV, Nvidia SHIELD, Oculus, PlayStation, Roku, Samsung Smart TV, Website, Xbox

Channel lineup: 80s Party, AFV Espanol, AFV Family, AsianCrush, BAMBU, Beast Mode, Bedroom Beats, CBS News, CBS Sports HQ, Channel With, Choppertown, Comedy Dynamics, CONtv, Cooking Panda, DarkMatter TV, Deal or No Deal, Docurama, Dove Channel, DrinkTV, EDGEsport, Electric Now, Electro Anthems, ENTERTAINMENT Tonight, ESRevolution, FailArmy, Footballers Live, Friday Feels, fubo Sports Network, Game Show Central, Glewed TV, Gravitas Movies, Hip Hop Bangers, Hollywire, Hollywood Classics, Hometalk TV, Hot R&B, Hottest of the Hot, IGN TV, Kidoodle.TV, KidsFlix, KMTV, Law & Crime, Like Yesterday, Love Destination, Made In Hollywood, MAV TV Select, Maverick Black Cinema, Midnight Pulp, Monster jam, Monster Kids, Neural Focused, Nosey, Only 90s Kids Will Understand, Party, Party Tyme Karaoke, People Are Awesome, PlayWorks, Popstar!TV, Real Nosey, RetroCrush, Reuters TV, Revry, Revry 2, RevryNow, So…Real, SportsGrid, SQAD, SURF NOW TV, Tankee, Tastemade, TG Junior, That 70s Channel, That’s Hot, The Archive, The Boat Show, The Design Network, The Film Detective, The Pet Collective, Toon Goggles, Trending, TV Classics, Unidentified, Unwind, WASH TV, Wipeout Xtra, Wu Tang Collection, Yacht Rock, Yahoo! Finance, YUYU TV

Mubi is a movie-streaming service featuring a curated selection of 30 movies on a daily rotation, as well as a large library of movies from previous rotations. The subscription costs $10.99 per month or $95.88 for an annual subscription. If you just want to browse the database before paying up front, you can sign up for a free account for access. Mubi has a Now Showing section, with the newest entries to the library on a given day (the library is updated daily), and a Library section featuring a back-catalog of other highlights and previously “showing” movies. You may see a section called 'Live' for live broadcasts once in a while. Aside from the options to stream via web browser, Mubi also has mobile apps for Android and iOS, media streaming devices (Apple TV, Chromecast, Fire TV, and Roku), and you can subscribe to Mubi as a Prime Video channel. While Mubi is not available on the Xbox One, you can access the service on a PlayStation 4 console.

Price: $10.99/month

Free Trial: 30 days

Device availability: Amazon Fire TV, Android, Android TV, Apple TV, iOS, LG TV, Roku, Samsung TV

Amazon Freevee, or simply freevee, is a free, ad-supported streaming service powered by Amazon. It has a notable library of licensed titles and original shows, not to mention 24/7 live channels, plus it's easy to access since it runs on most if not all available devices. Although other free streamers have it beat in terms of range and variety, freevee is still a great option for newbie cord-cutters, especially since it already comes on most Amazon platforms.

Price: free for 38 channels available

Device availability: Amazon Fire TV, Android TV, Apple TV, Echo Show, Google TV, LG, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Roku, Samsung Smart TV, Xbox, Xfinity Flex

Channel lineup: ABC News Live, Amazon Originals, BBC Earth, Bosch, Confess by Nosey, Court TV Live, Criminal Minds, Filmrise British TV, From Asia With Love, Hot Ones, Hunter, Judy Justice, Jury Duty, Latino Vibess, LiveNOW by Fox, MLB, Neighbours, NHL FAST, OUTtv Proud, PGA Tour, Project Runway, QVC, Real Crime, Swerve Sports, Tastemade en Español, Teen Wolf, The Ed Sullivan Show, The Price Is Right: The Barker Era, The TED Channel, The Washington Post, Top Gear, Unsolved Mysteries, Unspeakable, USA Today, USA Today Sports, Vevo, Washington Post, World's Most Evil Killers, XITE

If you lived through the '80s, you may have heard of Night Flight, the nighttime cable channel that aired punk rock music videos, low-budget monster flicks, psychedelic documentaries, and adult cartoons, among many others. It went under at the turn of the '90s but has recently returned to join the streaming wars, seemingly bigger and better than ever. As a subscription-based streaming service, Night Flight Plus gives you access to classic gems, plus new content from partner studio companies. It's basically a time capsule with extra room for all the new niche movies it could've aired during its prime. If you're looking for carefully curated nostalgic picks, Night Flight Plus is a great choice to consider.

Price: $4.99/month

Free Trial: 7 days

Device availability: Amazon FireTV, Apple TV, Roku, Website

IndieFlix is an online streaming service dedicated to independent filmmaking and is available in 85 countries. 

In the US, you can access IndieFlix for $6.99 per month, or a one-year subscription at a discounted $69. Patrons of IndieFlix may access IndieFlix free of charge. 

Price: $4.99/month

Free Trial: 7 days

Device availability: Amazon Fire TV, Android, Android TV, Apple TV, iOS, Roku

FlixFling is a flexible video on-demand streaming platform available in the US.

A subscription costs $7.99 per month (or $95 per year) and includes streaming access across 5 different devices and access to movies and shows on the on-demand library.

Without a subscription, you can still access on-demand rentals/purchases that range from $0.99 to $7.99. Meanwhile, on-demand subscribers have to pay for some titles that are available only as premium rentals.

FlixFling works across devices, smart TVs and media services. 

 

Price: $7.99/month

Free Trial: 7 days

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

Film Movement Plus is a video on-demand platform dedicated to independent and foreign films, and is currently available in the US and Canada.

In the US, it costs $5.99 a month (after a 14-day free trial) and can be accessed via any device, including IOS and Android mobile devices, Apple TV, Amazon Fire and Roku.

Price: $5.99/month

Free Trial: 14 days

With its curated lineup of over 100 hand-picked, top-quality independent films every month, Curia indulges viewers with seasonal and permanent film collections for only $3.99 a month. The service ensures an experience less reliant on the impersonal algorithm that has dominated the likes of Netflix, and more on the personal recommendation setup where friends and experts help you pick out the next best watch. Aside from thoughtful curations, signing up also gets you unlimited access to award-winning feature-length and short films from beloved festivals around the world, all in the comfort of your home. 

Price: $3.99/month

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

Cultpix is a streaming subscription service made especially for genre fans. But not only does it cover the entire gamut of old, weird, and beloved cinema (it has everything from horror, sci-fi, erotica, martial arts, and fantasy from before the '90s), it also collects such titles from all around the world, giving it a unique global edge over the many other cult streaming services out there. Japanese Kaij, Danish erotica, Italian Westerns—you name it, Cultpix most likely has it. 

Price: $6.66/month

Device availability: Airplay, Chromecast, Website

Criterion Channel is a curated movie-streaming service that offers ad-free and on-demand access to films from The Criterion Collection in HD. It is currently only available in the US and Canada. The subscription costs $10.99 per month or $99.99 per year. Like Netflix, the Criterion Channel also offers a physical rental service. The number of movies you can rent each month, for a flat monthly rate, depends on how quickly you can return them. You don't need to subscribe to The Criterion Channel to buy or rent physical media on DVD and Blu-ray, but subscribers may get discounts.

Price: $10.99/month

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

Ready to cut the cord? Here are the 14 live TV streaming services that offer a free trial.

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The streaming services on this page were chosen by our editors. If you choose to subscribe to a streaming service we recommend as a result of our research, analysis, and curation, our work is sometimes (but not always) supported by an affiliate commission from the streaming service when you make a purchase.

That's all from us for the 25 Best Streaming Services for Cinephiles!