Tubi Review: Is The Free Streaming Service Safe?

Farhad Massoudi and Thomas Ahn Hicks launched Tubi in 2014 out of San Francisco headquarters, but it wasn’t until recently their viewership reached the 50 million marker.

Tubi is a free, ad-supported streaming service with access to hundreds of old movies, as well as some newer flicks, from Paramount, MGM, and Lionsgate. Fox owns this streaming service, and Disney owns Fox, some Disney content ends up on Tubi.

What is so special about Tubi? No other free streaming service has the selection that Tubi has. If you’re on the fence about downloading this app or visiting this website, this guide will illustrate everything you need to know to help you make a decision.

Tubi at a Glance

Features:

• Supported by most devices
• Works with Apple and Android
• No monthly subscription

Pros:

• Loads of content, including shows, movies, and sports
• Free
• Can curate content

Cons:

• Ads
• Older content
• Buffering and low-quality

Verdict? We think Tubi is an excellent choice to watch a wide range of free content online.

Tubi Key Features

1. It Is Free

Unlike every other streaming service, you do not need to sign any contract or fill out any paperwork to use Tubi. All you have to do is visit the website or download the app and navigate the server.

Since Tubi never asks for a payment or a subscription sign-up, you have to watch the ads on the server. Every video on the server has ads, and you will have to watch some annoying commercials throughout your programs, but depending on the program, you might have twelve ads during a movie or only one during a show.

Since ads generate revenue for Tubi, it makes sense you have to watch some to continue watching free content.

2. Great Content Selection

Tubi has an enormous selection of movies and TV shows from Paramount, Lionsgate, MGM, Starz, classic movies, and straight-to-DVD films. If you are into old movies, classic horror, and cult classic staples, Tubi is for you.

You might need to take a little time browsing the interface before finding anything you like, but Tubi is just like a good thrift store. You’ll find the good stuff if you look.

Tubi has more movies than it does TV shows, but you can still find some great classics like The Flinstones and Revolutionary Girl Utena among the server.

Tubi offers selections in categories such as:

• Romance
• Comedy
• Newly added
• Horror
• Original Tubi content
• Thriller
• Faith
• LGBTQ+
• Drama
• Family movies
• Westerns
• Kids
• Family movies
• Sci-fi
• Adult comedy
• Mystery
• Musicals
• Docuseries
• Standup specials
• And more

Tubi has something for everyone.

3. Regular Updates to Content

Tubi does have an older selection than other paid subscription services, but the server adds movies and TV shows regularly to keep the viewer interested. You might not see anything from the past five years on Tubi, but they do have a fair selection of Blockbuster hits and classic movies.

For example, Mulholland Drive, Heathers, The Hot Chick, and some Twilight spin-offs line the pages. You can check out Tubi’s newly added section to see some new titles.

4. Supported by Multiple Devices

Some specific platforms or devices do not support specific streaming services, but Tubi does not have that problem.

Most devices allow users to download and use Tubi for streaming, including:

• Computers
• Tablets
• Phones
• Rokus
• Smart TVs
• FireSticks
• Apple TVs
• Apple products
• Android products
• Game consoles

This is great because not all devices support every network, and since Tubi is free, you shouldn’t have to face any complications with using the service.

5. You Don’t Need An Account

You don’t need an account to use Tubi as it is free and open for anyone with internet access to use, but if you watch anything with a rating over PG-13, you need to make a free account. What this does is authenticates the user.

When using services like Netflix or Hulu, you need to make an account (paid) to curate your content and alert the server of your preferences. The interfaces curate content in a few different ways.

They track the type of material you watch frequently, and they ask you for some preferences. They combine this information and select a pool of content related to the titles you like or highly rate.

From this, you get a sense of the other kinds of content on the server and decide if there is enough for you to keep your subscription active.

When using Tubi, you don’t need to use an account to watch content below an R rating. You just type in the website and select the shows or movies you want to view. This is great because you don’t have to set up an account with an email or log in whenever you get to the website, but it doesn’t register you as a single person.

When you make an account, Tubi understands that you are a single human watching content and it has the ability to curate content catered toward your interests. So, if you watch a spooky movie on your account, the server will give you recommendations and selections based on your viewing history.

Using an account also tracks everything you’ve seen in a data cache. This helps finetune choices when you browse the server. It will pull the ones most like your previous viewing history and place them near the top of the server. This function helps keep Tubi customers interested and using the service.

6. It Is Legal

The best and most recognizable part about Tubi is that it is free. Not only is it free, but it is also legal. Some streaming services offer free content, but they are not necessarily legal. Tubi does not ask for a credit card even to store for later information.

Instead when and if you sign up for a free account, all you need is your email and a password. This attracts viewers because it assures them they will never have to pay for content.

Some free servers ask for a credit card just in case, but when you sign up for a free service, you shouldn’t have to input any payment information.

You do have to deal with ads, but the selection of free content makes up for watching ads during programming.

Why Should You Get Tubi?

If you are thinking of cutting the cord or want to explore new options for streaming services, Tubi offers a wide selection of great content for free. Here are some more reasons to think about getting Tubi and some things to consider.

1. Signing Up Is Easy

Tubi is great because it is an all-access free service that you don’t even need an account for. You can create a free account to help streamline your content selection and watch R-rated movies, but if you just want to visit the website to watch a show, you can do that as well. Tubi’s content is not as new as other paid subscription servers, but they do have a variety of quality programs.

2. Selection of Content

Tubi offers over 50,000 titles of movies and television series. The other free streaming service Pluto only offers over 2,000 titles. You get the best deal (free, of course) with a Tubi subscription. In addition to flicks and shows, Tubi offers news coverage, sports coverage, and original Tubi content.

As we mentioned above, since Fox owns Tubi and Disney owns Fox, you occasionally see programs from those companies. Although the programs won’t be the newest released films or shows, the content is great for a free service.

When you visit Tubi, you can select between live TV, kids, or browse. If you hover over the browse bar, some categories that pop up are

• Featured- content Tubi wants to promote the most
• First time on Tubi- content brand new to Tubi
• Leaving soon- content you need to catch before it leaves the server and ends up on a paid subscription service or only on video-on-demand
• Trending Now- content popular among users
• Tubi originals- films and shows from the server itself. Tubi original content is the most recent on the server.

Some genres to choose from are:

• Anime
• Crime TV
• Home and garden
• Lifestyle
• Martial arts
• Sword and sorcery
• TV comedies

Tubi also offers a range of collections. Content pooled together around a similar theme:

• Adult comedy
• Based on a book
• Black cinema
• British TV
• Cult classics
• Highly rated on Rotten Tomatoes
• Nostalgia TV
• Shark Week: Bitefest

If you have kids, you can scroll over to the Tubi Kids section. Tubi Kids has a great selection for children, including:

• Kids classics
• Under the sea movies
• Lego movies
• Horse and ponies
• Gymnastics and sports
• Dinosaurs
• Adventure
• Toon TV

This editor thinks Tubi TV has one the best free selection of content out of any other subscription today. Although it is a free, ad-supported service, Tubi offers a wide range of television and films for everyone.

3. You Can Curate Content

We mentioned this above, but if you have a free account registered to Tubi, you can curate your content. You watch the programs that capture your interest and Tubi takes note of that and tracks it for further use.

Each time you log in, the server will recall what you watched previously and pull content similar to your viewing history. This only happens when you use an account because Tubi cannot otherwise determine if only one person is on the server.

Other subscriptions curate content and while it may not work as well as Netflix, it is quite sufficient for a free service that never asks for payment information.

This editor thinks Tubi is a great choice for someone looking for free, curated content.

What Are The Downsides Of Tubi?

1. Ads

One major downside of Tubi is its use of ads. Now, we know it is a free service that uses ads to generate revenue and keep the platform running, but being bombarded by commercials gets annoying pretty quickly.

It depends on what program you indulge in, but let’s say you turn on a horror movie, and during one of the jump scares, you might have a disruptive ad about something random like a Juul pod advertisement.

The difference between Tubi ads and TV ads is that TV waits for the best pause in the content to introduce the viewer to a commercial. In both instances, you cannot fast forward ads, but with TV you can trust that the program won’t pause during a tense moment.

Sometimes Tubi programs don’t have as many ads as you think they do. So, going into a show or a movie, you never know what you will get until you watch the program. Some people might choose to invest in a non-ad-supported subscription like HBO MAX or Netflix instead.

But, then again, Tubi is free, so on any other free service, you will have to endure some kind of commercials. It’s all up to personal preferences.

This editor thinks Tubi is a good choice for those who want free content but also thinks some might turn away from Tubi due to its use of advertisements.

2. Older Content

 

The content on Tubi that is not Tubi original content ranges from Classic movies to the early 2000s with some pictures from the 2010s.

Since this program is free, you won’t get the same new releases as HBO MAX or Amazon Prime, but Tubi updates content regularly. Tubi has a section titled new releases and new to Tubi to help narrow down the newest content.

This editor thinks if someone is looking for a service with the newest content, they won’t like Tubi.

3. Buffering and Low Quality

Tubi may buffer a lot due to its host connection, low WIFI connection, or an increase of users on the network. Tubi also streams in lower quality than other services. The maximum it can stream in is 720P, but most of its content doesn’t reach that caliber.

This editor thinks Tubi’s streaming quality is a downside to the platform because it will stray a lot of users from using it. If you don’t mind lower-quality streaming, Tubi won’t bother you, but you won’t get an Ultra HD 4K viewing experience from this service.

Conclusion

Tubi is a decent free, ad-supported streaming service with a great amount of content. Tubi entertains kids and adults alike and the broad list of collections and genres caters to a wide range of viewers.