There is no shortage of entertainment apps to indulge in these days. But services like Netflix, Disney+, and Apple TV+ all charge a monthly premium to grant users access to movies, TV shows, and other original content. Fortunately, there are several advertising-based video on demand (AVOD) platforms to take advantage of. One of these is Amazon Freevee.
Formerly IMDb TV, Amazon transitioned to the new name in 2022. Home to a large collection of movies and TV shows — featuring both modern titles and older options — Freevee is a unique alternative to traditional VOD services. Is the app worth the download, though? We want you to be able to make that decision for yourself, which is why we’ve put together this explainer guide on Amazon Freevee.
What is Amazon Freevee?
Similar to services like Tubi, Pluto TV, and The Roku Channel, Amazon Freevee falls into this smaller camp of VOD platforms that get an extra “A” for advertisements. This means that every so often, you’ll have to watch an ad or two when you’re streaming a movie or TV show.
Content-wise, these films and shows are often a mixed bag of modern titles and older selections. Such is the case with Freevee, but these types of entertainment libraries see a lot of rotation, too. What’s streaming right now may not be available next week.
While you’ll be able to tune into themed live channels (Freevee’s take on linear programming), the platform’s main draw is its collection of on-demand titles. Home to thousands of movies and shows, Freevee also manages to deliver some decent original content.
How to watch Amazon Freevee
Freevee is available on just about every major smart TV, streaming device, and game console (sans Nintendo Switch) we can think of. The platform is even built into Xfinity cable boxes! Here’s a list of all the devices you’ll be able to enjoy the service on, as of May 2024:
- Amazon Fire TV (smart TVs, tablets, and streaming devices)
- Android TV and Google TV (smart TVs and streaming devices)
- 4th and 5th Gen Apple TV
- Samsung smart TVs (released between 2017-2021)
- LG smart TVs
- Sony smart TVs
- TCL smart TVs
- Roku TV OS (smart TVs and streaming devices)
- Xbox Series X/S and Xbox One
- PlayStation 5 and PlayStation 4
- Comcast Xfinity X1 set-top boxes
- Flex set-top boxes
Account options
Technically, Freevee doesn’t offer user accounts – -it’s Amazon that you’ll be signing up for the service with. If you already have an Amazon account, these are the credentials you’ll use to sign in to the Freevee app. If you have an Amazon Prime membership and are using Amazon Prime Video, Freevee is built into that app’s UI, so you won’t have to use the standalone Freevee app (if you don’t want to).
If you want to watch Freevee on your web browser, searching for “freevee.com” will automatically bring you to Amazon’s Prime Video homepage, with a Free with ads filter applied to all titles.
While you don’t need to sign into Freevee on your smart TVs, streaming devices, and game consoles, we recommend doing this though, as you’ll be able to save your viewing progress across devices, and receive personalized movie and TV show recommendations based on your viewing history.
Frevee user interface
We tested Amazon Freevee on three different devices: a Roku Streaming Stick 4K, a MacBook Pro running Safari, and an iPhone 12. The UI was similar between all three devices, although the Roku Streaming Stick offered the most intuitive layout and navigation.
Going with the tried-and-true streaming platform layout, Freevee on the Roku app has movies and TV show tiles separated into genre-defined rows of content. Example categories include action and adventure, fantasy, romance, sci-fi, and Westerns. Additional TV categories include talk shows & variety, and unscripted.
Navigating from one screen to the next feels fast and responsive, an experience that carries over to using Freevee via a MacBook and iPhone. If you’re already signed in to your Amazon account, just type “Freevee” into the Search Amazon field. Then just click the Freevee option at the top of the next page. (You can also type “freevee.com” into the URL field).
We like that the browser-based Freevee looks and feels just like Amazon Prime Video. There’s even a handy Live TV tab at the top of the page. When you click this, you’ll be able to apply filters like Crime, News, TV shows, Movies, etc. As you scroll, you’ll notice these live stations are laid out like TV guide tiles in a style similar to what you’d see when using a cable box or broadcast antenna.
When you click a movie or show, you’ll be brought to that title’s respective page, which looks identical to Prime Video title pages, as well as Amazon’s à la carte movie and TV show purchase pages. You’ll even be able to view cast and crew details, watch trailers, and share page links with friends and family.
The iOS version of the Freevee app was the most limited in terms of layout. There are four main tabs to choose from: Home, On Now, Search, and My list. We didn’t like that there wasn’t any distinction between movies and TV shows, but the search tool is smart enough to deliver results based on genre, cast, and some other unique criteria.
Movie and TV show selection
Even if a free streaming platform is easy to use, why would one bother if the movies and shows aren’t worth watching? Fortunately, Freevee doesn’t skimp in any way here. The zero-dollar service is constantly adding movies and TV shows to its library, and the archive is enormous. But because we’re dealing with an AVOD service, do keep in mind that Freevee doesn’t offer the same quantity or quality of content as paid VOD platforms like Netflix and Disney+.
However, we were pretty impressed by some of Freevee’s current selections. These include films like:
- The Croods
- Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs
- The Invisible Man
- Nobody
- Wind River
- Fast and Furious 9
- Jeff Dunham: Unhinged in Hollywood
Freevee’s TV offerings are nothing to shake a stick at either. Some May 2024 programs include:
- Schitt’s Creek
- Dance Moms
- Raising Hope
- Anthony Bourdain: A Cook’s Tour
- Alone
- All in the Family
- Bones
Freevee offers original content, too. Amazon has plans to add even more Freevee exclusives down the line. For now, some of these titles include:
- Jury Duty
- Bosch: Legacy
- Bug Out
- Leverage: Redemption
- Luke Bryan: My Dirt Road Story
- Moment of Truth
- Timewasters
Like other VOD and AVOD services, Freevee may not have every season or episode of a show you’re interested in watching.
Even though Amazon walked away from the IMDb TV branding, you can still rate the movies and shows you watch on Freevee via IMDb. And if you’re signed in to your Amazon account, you’ll be able to add titles to your watchlist.
What are the ads like?
You might think otherwise, but watching a commercial or two during a movie or show isn’t too bad. There’s something about the interruption that reminds us of the classic, linear cable TV experience, and we’re suckers for A/V nostalgia. But you might be asking, “how aggressive are the ads?” Not too bad. We streamed several movies and TV shows to get a sense of how often ads would rear their heads.
The horror film The Invisible Man has a runtime of 110 minutes. There were eight ad breaks throughout the film, including a 10-second pre-movie Freevee bumper. The average commercial was about 90 seconds long, with the longest being 105 seconds, and the shortest being 75 seconds. That’s about 10.5 minutes of ads for a 110-minute film.
A Season 1 episode of The Twilight Zone entitled “Where is Everybody?” was 25 minutes long. There were only three breaks, including the 10-second pre-show Free bumper. The first ad was 66 seconds, and the second was 63 seconds. That’s about 2.3 minutes of ads for a 25-minute show.
We appreciate that all ad breaks are clearly marked on the player timeline. During an ad, you won’t be able to rewind or fast-forward, but you can still play and pause.
As mentioned earlier, Freevee isn’t the only game in town when it comes to AVOD platforms. We’ve also got write-ups on competitive services like Pluto TV, if you’re looking for another free entertainment hub to use alongside your Freevee account.
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