The internet has been a wonderful technology that has helped humanity in countless avenues of life. The Internet has become such a helpful tool for us due to its seamless integration into our day-to-day tasks, the adaptability and benefits of the internet are immense so much so that we are still figuring out new ways in which the Internet can be used. If we observe our daily happenings we’ll see that the internet has become the backbone of the work from the home process, business activities, long-distance communication, and the most innovative and economical medium of entertainment. These things make up the majority of our daily routine and the internet is involved in all of these tasks. This significant role of the internet was clearly evident during the COVID 19 pandemic in which the complete infrastructure of communication and economy was resting on the internet’s shoulder.
The benefits that we are enjoying have only become possible because the internet has become an essential service that is within everyone’s reach nowadays. This wasn’t always like this because there was a time when the internet was limited to only a lucky few who had the proper infrastructure and the ability to afford it. Today this infrastructure has tremendously expanded and is growing constantly to include more and more areas.
On the other hand, the prices of the internet have also reduced significantly and we can see that the internet has become quite cost-effective even for the higher speed tiers. Many big guns of the telecom industry by the likes of Charter Spectrum now offer amazing discounts on their internet plans so users can use this service for their various day-to-day tasks and entertainment needs. This rise in the usage of the internet has given birth to many new subsequent technologies, one such is streaming platforms that is our topic of discussion today.
The Boom of Streaming Industry
The entertainment industry is one such field that has progressed by leaps and bounds because of the internet. We see people gaming online, listening to music, and most importantly streaming their favorite content online anytime, anywhere. There was a time when cable was considered the major source of visual entertainment followed by the cinema industry and home media in the form of cassettes and DVDs. But there came a technology that integrated all these mediums on a single platform that is the streaming service. Streaming allows users to conveniently watch their favorite movies and TV shows regardless of the geographical location or device. A trend that started back in 2012 with the popularity of Netflix has grown into a full-fledged industry with there being hundreds of streaming services in the USA offering a variety of content to their watchers.
A streaming service only requires an internet connection and a device on which these apps can be installed and since most of the people already had internet services they realized that paying for cable subscriptions was a waste of money since they can enjoy the same type of content on the internet which they already have. This perception has given a boom to streaming services and it has grown quite exponentially in terms of the user base, Netflix the biggest streaming platform has an estimated user base of 214 million worldwide. After the pandemic, this trend has accelerated the pace even further with cinemas being closed and the only sort of entertainment left for users are these streaming services which they can conveniently enjoy from their homes. Now even big-budget movies are also getting direct releases on these platforms, further increasing the popularity of streaming.
3 Free Streaming Platforms
However, all these benefits and popularity of streaming services aside, one thing is also there that subscription costs of these platforms have also increased drastically due to the increase in demand and popularity. Plus there is a monopoly of these streaming services that allow only certain content to be present on a platform which forces users to get different subscriptions of at least two to three platforms in order to fully enjoy the streaming experience, which is enough to shake their budget. However, there are some hidden gems in the rubble of these streaming services that are offering free content for their users to enjoy, and here we are going to discuss some of them.
1. Peacock TV
Deservedly in the first place stands Peacock TV a streaming service backed by the broadcasting giant NBC is easily the best option to go for in terms of free streaming service. With over 13,000 hours of content and popular shows like the Office which users can watch free for the first five seasons and classic movies like Back to the Future, Jurassic Park, and Shrek as part of their content lineup combined with popular NBC shows. However, there is a paid plan as well to unlock the full content library but the free version still holds up pretty strong if you can bear a few ads. That is the reason peacock is on the top of many lists of best free streaming services.
2. Pluto TV
This Viacom-backed stream service holds up pretty strong if you consider that it not only offers the traditional prerecorded streaming stuff but the basic model of Pluto TV is to replicate the traditional cable broadcasting. With movies like the complete James Bond franchise and shows like Doctor Who and Survivor, Pluto TV is the perfect combination of on-demand and live content with clips of Fox and CNN and hundreds of channels to kill your boredom. The best part is all this comes for free even without any registration.
3. Crunchyroll
This is something for the anime lover which most of the youngsters are and anime is a genre that originated from japan which is rapidly gaining momentum in different parts of the world. Unfortunately, there is nothing much there out for fans of the anime. But not to worry as Crunchyroll is a platform that provides users with famous anime like One Piece and My Hero Academia and thousands of hours of many other famous anime shows and the best part is that all this comes free of cost but you have to bear some ads.
Summing Up
In today’s world, one has many options to choose from in terms of the wide variety of streaming platforms, however, this is also a fact that most of the time the cost of streaming subscriptions can be a bit much for a regular user to afford, especially if you have subscribed to two-three different services. In times like these when many people are financially unstable and have a very limited entertainment budget, these free platforms are a sign of relief that provides people with much-needed entertainment and that too without costing anything.
