Free Streaming Trials to Watch On-Demand and Live TV Online

When searching for a live TV free trial, the streaming service you pick is going to be critical. The ideal situation for a cord cutter is to get all the great content they had before quitting cable but with no commitments and fewer monthly fees.

That said, everyone is different. So it can sometimes be hard (and expensive if you’re not careful) to find that perfect cable TV alternative. Use these free trials to find the right streaming service for you!

To help make that search for the right streaming service a little easier, we’ve compiled a list of online streaming services that offer free trial periods. None of these services include contracts.

If you sign up for a service using the free trial and you don’t like the service, you won’t get charged if you cancel during your free trial. This gives you a risk-free way to try out all of the best streaming services, including live TV free trials!

Try out these free trials!

Live TV Streaming Free Trials

Fubo Free Trial

Fubo is an excellent live TV streaming service offering over 130 channels and one of the biggest starting lineups in streaming. You’ll get content for everyone in your home from local news channels to sports, nationwide general entertainment, and more. It also allows streaming on up to 10 devices at once and gives you 1000 hours of cloud DVR storage. You can learn more in our Fubo review.

Trial Details: Fubo allows you to try out its service free for 7 days. If you don’t cancel in the first week, Fubo will cost you $74.99/mo plus a potential RSN charge.
Why You Should Sign Up: Fubo offers a big package, which means that there’s something for the whole family. This package is especially suited to sports fans as it offers over 35 sports channels to go with all of the other content in this plan.
Fubo Deals

DIRECTV STREAM Free Trial

DIRECTV STREAM is not flashy like many other streaming services but it has a lot to offer. And it is probably the best streaming service for fans of MLB, NBA, and NHL. It comes with unlimited DVR and streaming on unlimited devices. (You heard right!) And finally, it provides an excellent interface on the most popular devices. For details, see our DIRECTV STREAM review.

Trial Details: A 5-day free trial is now available for DIRECTV STREAM. That should be more than enough for you to see if it works for you. After that, you’ll be charged the usual amount. Plans start at $74.99/mo but most of our readers upgrade to the Choice plan for $99.99/mo to get access to their unmatched selection of RSNs. (DIRECTV STREAM offers other deals throughout the year.)
Why You Should Sign Up: DIRECTV STREAM offers everything you are used to from a cable or satellite provider. You get all the channels you expect from all the local network affiliates (including Spanish-language ones) to the standard “cable” channels like BET, CNN, Comedy Central, Discovery Channel, Food Network, HGTV, TBS, TNT, and the rest. And it’s decked out with the features that will make large, diverse households very happy.
DIRECTV STREAM Deals

Get DIRECTV STREAM Free for 5 Days

Philo Free Trial

Philo is an amazing streaming service because it’s so much like what we used to think of as cable. It’s got Comedy Central, TV Land, Hallmark, MTV, AMC, Nickelodeon, and much more (70+ channels in all). But it’s only $25/mo. It’s an especially good deal if you combine it with an HD antenna to get all your local channels. See our Philo review for more information.

Trial Details: Try Philo free for 7 days. That will allow you to check it out including its excellent user interface. You can also try out their add-ons: Movies & More ($3/mo), MGM+ ($6/mo), and Starz ($9/mo).
Why You Should Sign Up: Philo offers a basic selection of channels with a modern interface. For most viewers (especially those who aren’t into sports), it’s all you are likely to need.

Try Philo Free for 7 Days

YouTube TV Free Trial

YouTube TV offers 100+ channels for just $72.99/mo. Most of the top cable channels are available and local channels are found in most locations. Our YouTube TV review has more details.

Trial Details: YouTube TV comes with a 7-day free trial by default but often offers longer trials.
Why You Should Sign Up: YouTube TV offers a great lineup filled with a variety of channels. The cloud-DVR comes with unlimited space.

General Streaming Free Trials

Paramount+ Free Trial

Paramount+ features the best of CBS for just $4.99 per month. You’ll get live content in most homes and an on-demand library offering more than 10,000 episodes of CBS shows, movies, and everything that has aired live recently. You can find out more in our Paramount+ review.

Trial Details: Try Paramount+ free for 7 days. You can cancel anytime. You can also get special deals at different times.
Why You Should Sign Up: If you’re looking for CBS content and nothing else, this service is exactly what you need. You’ll have the full CBS catalog that’s airing currently plus a wide range of classic CBS content. It’s definitely worth checking out if CBS is one of your favorite networks.
Paramount+ Deals

Get Paramount+ for 7 Days Free

Showtime Free Trial

This subscription gets you on-demand access to all of the content that Showtime offers. You also get a live stream of several Showtime networks. But it is no longer a standalone service. You can get it as an add-on with Paramount+ — including with the free trial.

Trial Details: After the free trial, Paramount+ is $4.99/mo or $11.99/mo with Showtime. That’s just $7/mo for Showtime, which is a great deal.
Why You Should Sign Up: If you’re a fan of Showtime, there is no other service that is going to give you all of the content you enjoy. This alone makes it worth signing up!
Showtime Trials

Get Showtime With Paramount+!

Hulu Free Trial

Hulu is a great service for those who don’t care about waiting for a day or two to watch new TV shows — particularly those on ABC and Fox although there are also many from the various related “cable” channels. But many people subscribe just for the Hulu Originals like Only Murders in the Building and The Princess.

Trial Details: Try Hulu free for one month! After that, it is $7.99/mo for the basic ad-supported plan or $14.99/mo for the ad-free plan. The deal does not apply to the Disney+/ESPN+ bundle, but you can easily add it after you’ve had time to check out the base service. Sometimes Hulu offers even better deals.
Why You Should Sign Up: If you aren’t subscribed to a live TV streaming service, then Hulu is essential. And if you do get live TV, Hulu is still virtually essential. It just has many great licensed TV shows and Originals you won’t find anywhere else.
Hulu Deals

Try Hulu Free for 30 Days!

Amazon Prime Video Free Trial

Amazon’s online streaming platform has managed to become one of the largest and most popular in the on-demand streaming sector. It also doesn’t hurt that signing up to Amazon Prime gets you a ton of other features including free shipping at Amazon.

Trial Details: The Amazon Prime trial is available for 30 days. After the trial, you can choose between a monthly or annual subscription. The annual subscription is the best deal at $119. You can also choose a monthly plan.
Why You Should Sign Up: Amazon is like a full entertainment suite, for one price. Your plan includes access to Amazon Music, free ebooks and magazines, Prime Video content, and much more. Add that to the amazing original content Amazon is putting out, and it’s easy to see why it’s worth trying.
Amazon Prime Deals

Try Amazon Prime Free for 30 Days!

Peacock Free Trial

Peacock is the streaming service for NBC and related content. It includes popular TV shows like Mrs Davis, Poker Face, The Calling, Vampire Academy, and Yellowstone — all for just $4.99 per month. It also comes with a lot of sports including Olympics, horse racing, auto racing, and more.

Trial Details: Peacock doesn’t offer a typical trial. Instead, it offers the first episodes of many of its shows so you can try it out. There’s no time limit, however. This dates back to its early days when it had a free version.
Why You Should Sign Up: Fans of NBCUniversal will not want to be without Peacock. And if you want to dig deep into NBC Sports programming, it is essential.
Peacock Deals

Apple TV+ Free Trial

Apple TV+ has become a must-have streaming service because of its outstanding original TV series like Ted Lasso, Severance, and The Problem With Jon Stewart. But it has also recently begun streaming sports and is now the home of Major League Soccer.

Trial Details: There are various ways to get Apple TV+ for free. You can get it by purchasing an Apple device or service. But the most direct way to get it is with its free 7-day trial.
Why You Should Sign Up: Apple TV+ provides more great content than you are likely able to watch — all for $6.99/mo.

Live Sports Streaming Free Trials

Fanatiz Free Trial

Fanatiz is a niche service for soccer fans. It offers over a dozen live channels from around the world for $9.99/mo to US viewers. These include soccer staples such as beIN Sports and GOL TV, as well as two in-house channels, AFA Play, and Brasileirão Play. Learn more in our Fanatiz review.

Trial Details: Fanatiz comes with a 7-day free trial.
Why You Should Sign Up: Fanatiz is the best package for Central and South American soccer fans, and has exclusive coverage of Colombian top league games. It’s also the cheapest way to watch beIN Sports. If you’re a soccer fan, you’ll want this service in your favorites.

Sign-up for Fanatiz Now!

NFL+ Free Trial

NFL+ is a great streaming service that allows you to watch all the local and nationally broadcast NFL games each week on your mobile devices for about 25 cents per game. And if you go up to the premium plan, you can watch all the games on any device on replay.

Trial Details: The base plan is $4.99/mo and the premium plan is $9.99/mo. Through the NFL season, NFL+ normally offers a week’s free trial so you can get the full experience.
Why You Should Sign Up: NFL+ is the best service for NFL fans on the go. And at its rock-bottom price, you will want to combine it with any other services you use.

Get NFL+ from $4.99/mo

Canceled Free Trials

After Netflix ended its free trial, many other companies followed suit. Below are the main services that have offered a free trial. We maintain them here because sometimes free trials come back. Barring that, many offer special deals.

Check out these canceled trials to see what special offers are available now.

Sling TV Free Trial (Canceled)

Sling TV is a great low-cost streaming service. But it’s more. It’s also the most customizable streaming service with an unmatched selection of add-ons. It has two base plans for $40.00/mo. But it also has a number of foreign-language plans starting at just $10/mo. You can also get specialized plan if you are fan of NBA or cricket. Check out our Sling TV review for all the details.

Trial Details: Save 50% on Sling TV now! On some devices, you can still find 30-day trials if you sign-up in the app itself. We haven’t seen this with iOS or Android phones, however. Otherwise, even at full price, Sling TV is worth checking out for a month. Sling also offers great deals.
Why You Should Sign Up: Sling TV allows you to have a solid selection of TV without spending much. And in most cases, if there is a particular channel you want, you can get it for little money.
Sling Deals

Save 50% on Sling TV Now

Max Free Trial (Canceled)

HBO Max is now just Max. With it, you’ll get HBO’s full library of current and former classics. You can choose to watch content live or on-demand. If you’re a fan of HBO and its vast library of titles, this is a must-have service. Our Max review has more details.

Trial Details: Max no longer offers a free trial.
Why You Should Sign Up: Max gives you full access to all of your favorite HBO shows.
Max Trials

Get HBO With Hulu!

Hulu + Live TV Free Trial (Canceled)

Hulu Live is one of the leaders in cable replacement services — offering over 85 channels of live TV in combination with all of the amazing content on the Hulu on-demand service. At $69.99/mo, this service gives you a lot of content for your money — including ESPN+ and Disney+. Learn more in our Hulu review.

Trial Details: Hulu Live has joined the ranks of other large streaming services like Netflix in ending its trial. We guess when you are offering the best on-demand library, a great selection of 85+ live TV channel, and ESPN+ and Disney+ you don’t need to offer a trial! But you can still get the 30-day free trial of Hulu On-Demand, which should give you a good idea if you want to make the step up to Hulu Live.
Why You Should Sign Up: Hulu Live offers the best of both live and on-demand TV. There is a wide range of content including some international options. At the end of the day, Hulu Live is a feature-rich service with some of the most popular channels, making it worth checking out.

Try Hulu + Live TV Today!

Disney+ Free Trial (Canceled)

Disney+ is the ultimate streaming service if you’re a fan of Disney, Pixar, and Star Wars! Offering much of the Disney vault in one spot, this streaming service is a huge hit with both children and adults. You can learn more in our Disney+ review.

Trial Details: Disney+ no longer offers a free trial. However, the Hulu, Disney+, ESPN+ bundle is an amazing deal. Give it a try!
Why You Should Sign Up: If you have kids (even if you don’t), Disney+ offers some of the best animated and sci-fi content in streaming. You’ll also get the full slate of National Geographic reality shows if you enjoy reality TV. There are no contracts, so you have nothing to lose when you try Disney+!
Disney+ Deals

Get Disney+ for $7.99 Now!

Vidgo Free Trial (Canceled)

Vidgo works a lot like the other streaming services on this list. The main difference is that it is new to the streaming game. They offer social streaming with friends on their mobile app. They specialize in live TV with no current on-demand options at this point. You can learn more in our Vidgo review.

Trial Details: Vidgo no longer offers a free trial.
Why You Should Sign Up: At just $69.99/mo, you’ll have over 100 channels. The lineup is pretty impressive and includes many of the most popular cable channels. For example, your package will include ESPN, FS1, and FX.
Vidgo Deals

Netflix Free Trial (Canceled)

Netflix was one of the original on-demand streaming services. Sure, they don’t offer live TV, but they do offer some of the best original content in streaming. For many homes, Netflix is a staple, offering original content, and a wide selection of TV and movies from the top networks and studios. You can learn more in our Netflix review.

Trial Details: Netflix no longer offers a free trial.
Why You Should Sign Up: Netflix has a lot of content that you can’t find anywhere else. There are dozens of original kids shows and even more content available for the adult. It seems like a few new or returning originals come out each week. There’s always something new to watch and it’s much cheaper than cable!

FAQs

What devices can I stream these trials on?

Every streaming service supports a wide range of devices. Amazon Fire TV, Android Mobile, Android TV, Apple TV, Chromecast, iOS (iPhone), and Roku devices are pretty much universally supported. Many of the services also support smart TVs from LG, Samsung, and Vizio. And gaming systems like Xbox and PlayStation are also well-supported.

Are there any streaming services that are completely free?

There are many free streaming services. All you need is a decent internet connection. They generally aren’t great for newer shows. But if you want to binge seasons of The Rockford Files or Gilligan’s Island, they are great. An especially good one is Tubi, which has the slogan, “find your next rabbit hole.” There are also many services with live channels. Here are the services we like most:

Crackle
Freevee
Plex
Pluto
The Roku Channel
Tubi.

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Page Updates ▼▲

May 23, 2023

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Mar 21, 2023

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Mar 14, 2023

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Frank Moraes

Frank Moraes is Content Editor at HotDog.com. He specializes in technology, business, and film/television. You can see his writing on low-budget and weird film at Psychotronic Review — and many other places.

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