17 votes

Tubi is a good alternative to Netflix

10 comments

  1. [2]
    patience_limited
    (edited )
    Link
    Since I was late to the party as usual for this topic, I thought I'd give this alternative its own home with the relevant subject. Netflix has chosen to focus on its home-grown content, its disk...

    Since I was late to the party as usual for this topic, I thought I'd give this alternative its own home with the relevant subject.

    Netflix has chosen to focus on its home-grown content, its disk subscription is getting more expensive and erratic (about 1 out of 3 DVDs has been scratched or warped beyond readability), and FilmStruck has closed. That means there are fewer licensed sources for the great obscure films or the magnificently terrible ones. More and more often, the spouse and I can't find anything we really want to watch on Netflix, or found ourselves disappointed.

    I was delighted to discover Tubi's collection of award-winners, foreign, and independent movies, including cult classics. I never thought I'd find Werner Herzog's The Mystery of Kasper Hauser, Jackie Chan's 36 Crazy Fists, or the outrageously funny BBC Green Wing series (liberally ripped-off for the U.S. Scrubs) again.

    I'd never heard of Chicken People, which is a marvelous documentary about show chicken breeders that's more involving and far kinder to its extraordinary subjects than the mockumentary Best in Show.

    I'm looking forward to seeing a host of films I've never been able to get because they weren't licensed anywhere - Call Me Kuchu, another documentary obscured from my sight, on the struggle for LGBT rights in Uganda; Bill Hicks' One Night Stand; David Cronenburg's Shivers; Surf Nazis Must Die; and rewatching Diva, Galaxy Express 999, and Cowboy Bebop. (Yes, this is my opiate, but I've yet to successfully entertain myself to death.)

    There's plenty of more conventional or better-known worthwhile material on the "Not On Netflix" list - Hugo, Four Weddings and a Funeral, Iron Monkey, and so on.

    Tubi is ad-supported, but the ads are shown in 3 - 5 minute chunks which make perfect bathroom or popcorn breaks. I've found the ad volume levels remain consistent with the regular audio, unlike TV ads. https://help.tubitv.com/hc/en-us/articles/115000094813-Is-Tubi-really-free-and-legal-

    I have no idea if this model will remain viable, but it beats the relentless dumbing-down and escalating cost of Netflix.

    Also: Is Netflix’s global dominance a force for good or bad? - annoyingly, FT is now blocking Outline.com, so you'll likely have to sign in for the trial and allow cookies to enter their paywall.

    8 votes
    1. EightRoundsRapid
      Link Parent
      I used to use Tubi after stumbling across their Android app, and watched a fair few films on it. Unfortunately they don't currently operate in the EU, due to being noncompliant with GDPR, although...

      I used to use Tubi after stumbling across their Android app, and watched a fair few films on it.

      Unfortunately they don't currently operate in the EU, due to being noncompliant with GDPR, although they say they'll be back soon™. They stopped operating here in May, so "soon" appears to be a very moveable feast.

      5 votes
  2. patience_limited
    Link
    Note to whoever removed the "Netflix" tag and added "Tubi" - I appreciate the addition of Tubi, though I didn't think it would be a common enough search term, and should have just used "streaming...

    Note to whoever removed the "Netflix" tag and added "Tubi" - I appreciate the addition of Tubi, though I didn't think it would be a common enough search term, and should have just used "streaming services" instead.

    However, this is an entry discussing a comparison to Netflix, with a sublink specifically about Netflix, so removal of the "Netflix" tag was inappropriate.

    8 votes
  3. [3]
    jlpoole
    Link
    I am unable to determine how much Tubi charges and for what. Hidden pricing is a danger sign.

    I am unable to determine how much Tubi charges and for what. Hidden pricing is a danger sign.

    2 votes
    1. patience_limited
      Link Parent
      The topic comment indicated that it's ad-supported, and has a link to Tubi's FAQ, "Is this really free and legal?". This doesn't seem particularly nefarious to me. The privacy policy is concerning...

      The topic comment indicated that it's ad-supported, and has a link to Tubi's FAQ, "Is this really free and legal?". This doesn't seem particularly nefarious to me.

      The privacy policy is concerning and justifies a throwaway or faked PII account.

      6 votes
    2. Thrabalen
      Link Parent
      It charges exactly zero dollars.

      It charges exactly zero dollars.

      1 vote
  4. [4]
    demifiend
    Link
    There's no PS4 app, so Tubi is useless to me. Oh well.

    There's no PS4 app, so Tubi is useless to me. Oh well.

    1. [3]
      patience_limited
      Link Parent
      It's perfectly viewable in a web browser; I don't know if the PS4 supports TV streaming, but a Chromecast or Roku stick can be gotten relatively inexpensively as well.

      It's perfectly viewable in a web browser; I don't know if the PS4 supports TV streaming, but a Chromecast or Roku stick can be gotten relatively inexpensively as well.

      3 votes
      1. [2]
        demifiend
        Link Parent
        The PS4 browser is a pathetic joke, and I'm not going to buy additional hardware just because some ad-supported streaming service isn't compatible with the hardware I've already got. I don't like...

        The PS4 browser is a pathetic joke, and I'm not going to buy additional hardware just because some ad-supported streaming service isn't compatible with the hardware I've already got. I don't like TV and movies that much.