8 Streaming Services with a Refer-a-Friend Program

cord-cutting • March 31, 2023 • Staff

Referral programs are a great way to earn something extra from your existing subscription. Most streaming services have you share a unique code or link, and once that’s used, you're rewarded in the form of either discounts or free-month passes.

For instance: after a friend signs up upon your invite, Sling TV ensures that you each get $5 off the first four bills that arrive, while Fubo offers you $30 in credit each. Likewise, Amazon allows you to earn $5 in credit when your friend signs up and makes at least a $5 purchase. Vudu and iQIYI have similar setups where you receive in-house rewards for your referrals.

Meanwhile, YouTube TV gives you a referral discount on your next payment, but you can only use it up to 10 times. And over at Mubi, once you get someone to join, you both get a month of free access, plus a cute tote bag once five of your friends start a free trial with Mubi.

We list all the streaming services with a refer-a-friend program and other relevant details, like their subscription prices and channel lineups, below.

Sling Orange

Sling Orange used to be more expensive than Sling Blue but they now both cost $40 each, or $28 if you get both of them ($55/month if you get Sling Orange+Blue)

Go to Sling Orange

Price: $40/month

Device availability: AirTV, Amazon Fire TV, Android, Android TV, Apple TV, Chromecast, Cox, iOS, LG TV, Mi Box, Roku, Samsung TV, TiVo, Vizio, Windows 10, Windows 11, Xbox, Xbox One

Channel lineup: A&E, AMC, AXS TV, BBC America, Bloomberg Television, Cartoon Network, Cheddar, Cheddar Big News, CNN, Comedy Central, Disney Channel, EPIX Drive-In, ESPN, ESPN2, ESPN3, Food Network, Freeform, Fuse, HGTV, History, IFC, Investigation Discovery, Lifetime, Newsy, TBS, TNT, Travel Channel, Tribeca Shortlist, Viceland

Sling Blue

Sling Blue used to be cheaper than Sling Orange, but they now cost the same - $40 per month. If you get both of them, they cost $55 for the bundle, so around $27.5 each.

Go to Sling Blue

Price: $40/month

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

Channel lineup: A&E, AMC, Android, AXS TV, BBC America, BET, Bloomberg Television, Bravo, Cartoon Network, Cheddar, Cheddar Big News, CNN, Comedy Central, Cox, Discovery Channel, E!, EPIX Drive-In, Food Network, Fox News, Fox Sports 1, Fuse, FX, HGTV, History, HLN, IFC, Lifetime, Mi Box, MSNBC, National Geographic, NBC, NBC Sports Network, Newsy, NFL Network, Nick Jr., SYFY, TBS, TiVo, TLC, TNT, Travel Channel, Tribeca Shortlist, truTV, USA

Fubo

Fubo is a live TV and on-demand streaming service. The platform had it beginning as a soccer stream service, but it quickly became popular as a viable alternative to expensive cable subscriptions in the U.S, offering an attractive bundle of more than 100 live channels as well as an endless array of on-demand movies.

Go to Fubo

Price: $64.99/month

Free Trial: 7 days

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

Channel lineup: A&E, ABC, ABC News Live, ACC Network, AccuWeather, AMC, Animal Planet, BBC America, Bein Sports, Bein Sports 4, Bein sports 5, Bein Sports 6, Bein Sports 7, Bein Sports 8, Big Ten Network, Bravo, CBS, CBS Sports Network, CBSN, Cheddar, CMT, CNBC, Comedy Central, Comet, Cozi TV, CW, Discovery Channel, Disney Channel, Disney Junior, Disney XD, E!, ESPN, ESPN2, ESPN3, Estrella TV, Food Network, FOX, Fox Business Network, Fox News Channel, Fox Sports 1, Fox Sports 2, Freeform, fubo Sports Network, FX, FXX, FYI, Galavision, GetTV, Golf Channel, Hallmark Channel, Hallmark Drama, Hallmark Movies & Mysteries, HGTV, History, IFC, Investigation Discovery, Local Now, MotorTrend, MSNBC, MTV, National Geographic, NBC, NBCLX, NBCSN, Newsmax, NFL Network, Nick Jr., Nickelodeon, Olympic Channel, OWN, Oxygen, Paramount Network, Pop, SEC Network, Smithsonian Channel, Sundance TV, SYFY, Tastemade, Telemundo, The Weather Channel, TLC, Travel Channel, TUDN, TUDNxtra1, TUDNxtra10, TUDNxtra11, TUDNxtra2, TUDNxtra3, TUDNxtra4, TUDNxtra5, TUDNxtra6, TUDNxtra7, TUDNxtra8, TUDNxtra9, TV Land, TVG, Unimas, Universal Kids, Universo, Univision, USA, VH1, Vice, WE tv, WGN America

Mubi

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.

Go to Mubi

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 Prime

Amazon's premium membership program includes access to the streaming platform Prime Video, more commonly referred to in this publication as simply “Amazon Prime.”

If you live in the US, the UK or Germany, you have the option between paying a yearly or monthly subscription fee for an Amazon Prime account, which comes with a bulk of other retail and delivery services. People in other countries where Amazon is not operating may be able to access it from a browser only.

In addition to on-demand streaming, you can rent or purchase TV shows that are not on the service for an additional fee. As well as Amazon devices, the app is available on any mobile device, including iOS, Android, or Windows. The app also works on Apple and Windows computers, on a wide range of TVs, mobile devices, and games consoles.

Go to Amazon Prime

Price: $12.99/month

Free Trial: 30 days

Device availability: Amazon Fire TV, Android, Apple TV, Changhong, Chromecast, Haier, Hisense, iOS, LG, Nvidia SHIELD, Panasonic, Philips, PlayStation, Roku, Samsung, Sharp, Skyworth, Sony, TiVo, Vestel, Vizio, Wii, Xbox

YouTube TV

Youtube TV launched in some areas in the U.S.in mid-2017, first with a limited offering but quickly signing deals with providers like Turner Warner, Warnermedia, and Viacom CBS. This allowed it to carry channels as varried as the BBC and HBO.

Go to YouTube TV

Price: $64.99/month

Free Trial: 7 days

Device availability: Amazon Fire TV, Android, Android TV, Apple TV, iOS, LG TV, PlayStation, Roku, Samsung TV, Sharp, Vizio, Xbox

Channel lineup: ABC, ABC News Live, ACC Network, Adult Swim, AMC, Animal Planet, BBC America, BBC World News, BET, BET Her, Big Ten Network, Bravo, Cartoon Network, CBS, CBS Sports Network, Cheddar, CMT, CNBC, CNBC World, CNN, Comedy Central, Comet, Court TV, Cozi TV, CW, Dabl, Discovery Channel, Disney Channel, Disney Junior, Disney XD, E!, ESPN, ESPN2, ESPN3, ESPNews, ESPNU, Food Network, FOX, Fox Business Network, Fox News Channel, Fox Sports 1, Fox Sports 2, Freeform, FX, FXM, FXX, Golf Channel, HGTV, HLN, IFC, Investigation Discovery, Local Now, MLB Network, MotorTrend, MSNBC, MTV, MTV Classic, MTV2, Nat Geo Wild, National Geographic, NBA TV, NBC, NBC News Now, NBC Universo, NBCLX, NBCSN, News Nation, Newsy, NFL Network, Nick Jr., Nickelodeon, Nicktoons, Olympic Channel, OWN, Oxygen, Paramount Network, PBS, PBS Kids, Pop, QVC, SEC Network, Smithsonian Channel, Start TV, Sundance TV, SYFY, Tastemade, TBS, TCM, Teen Nick, Telemundo, TLC, TNT, Travel Channel, truTV, TV Land, TYT Network, Universal Kids, Universo, USA, VH1, WE tv

Vudu

Vudu is an on-demand streaming service that allows users to rent or purchase more than 200,000 new releases. Founded in 2007, it's one of the first companies to offer digital films in HD. Vudu's main strength is its ease of access and jam-packed catalog of movies and TV shows, but it also boasts free content, which they run on ads. In 2020, media and ticketing firm Fandango acquired Vudu and merged both companies' streamers into one. They decided to keep the Vudu name because of its large and loyal customer base.

Go to Vudu

Price: free for channels available

Device availability: Amazon Fire TV, Android, Chromecast, iOS, LG Smart TV, Playsation, Roku, Samsung Smart TV, TiVo, Vizio, Xbox, Xfinity Flex

iQiyi

Largely known as China's Netflix, iQiyi is a popular and wide-ranging streaming platform that hosts the best of East Asian content. Among its catalog are Asian blockbusters, Chinese variety shows, Japanese anime, and of course, Korean dramas. iQiyi also has multiple deals with studios all over the world, including Netflix, so it's able to stream global content to its Chinese audiences.

Perhaps the best part about iQiyi is that it comes for free; no need to pay to see its plenty and diverse titles, although you will be subject to some ads. To avoid ads and avail of perks such as concurrent viewing and download privileges, iQiyi offers a VIP membership that costs $2 per month.

Go to IQiyi