Updated on: May 3, 2024
Short on time? Here’s the best CouchTuner alternative in 2024:
- Plex. It has a large library of free TV shows, it’s easy to browse, and it’s available in most parts of the world. I also recommend using a high-quality VPN when watching your favorite shows on Plex to anonymize your streaming activities. My no. 1 pick is ExpressVPN, which is fast, secure, and has easy-to-use apps for all of the popular operating systems.
CouchTuner offers a lot of content, but it has too many downsides. A lot of the TV series it hosts are copyrighted, which is why it often has to change domains. This makes it difficult to figure out which one is the real site as there are a lot of copycats, and you may get in trouble for watching content that’s illegally distributed.
I did my research and found these 7 free and legal alternatives to CouchTuner, so you don’t have to waste time on figuring out the best websites where you can watch your favorite TV series and shows without any risk. I also discuss the best ways to ensure your streaming data is safe and anonymous.
WATCH YOUR FAVORITE TV SERIES WITH EXPRESSVPN NOW
Neither I nor anyone else at SafetyDetectives condones using VPNs for illegal purposes, including copyright infringement. All the VPNs I recommend have strict no-logs policies, which means that they don’t track your online activity, so you alone are responsible for what you do online. Please keep yourself well informed on any applicable laws and regulations.
Editors' Note: Intego, Private Internet Access, CyberGhost and ExpressVPN are owned by Kape Technologies, our parent company
Is CouchTuner Legal?
No, because the site hosts copyrighted content without the proper licensing agreements from copyright holders, which is illegal in most countries. This is why CouchTuner is banned in some countries and why it has to frequently change domain names (it’s often taken down).
This essentially means that you may face legal consequences for using CouchTuner. In most places, you’d have to pay a fine, but if you live in a country that has harsh copyright laws, you may even face jail time. That said, some countries don’t have any laws regarding the use of such sites and other countries only punish the distributors (in this case, CouchTuner) for hosting content illegally.
Whatever the situation with CouchTuner’s legality is in your location, I always recommend being on the safe side. There are many free platforms that are legal and safer to use than CouchTuner.
7 Best CouchTuner Alternatives in 2024
1. Plex
Plex is my top recommendation for a free and legal alternative to CouchTuner. It has a large library of free on-demand content, covering every genre from action to documentaries that you can watch without even creating an account. It also offers a more traditional TV experience, if that’s what you prefer — you can tune in to any one of its 180+ themed channels and just watch what’s on at the moment.
I really like its Discover feature, which aggregates content from your streaming service accounts, so you can watch anything from Plex’s interface, without having to switch from app to app.
Note that if you’re watching Plex’s free content, you’ll have to endure the occasional in-stream ad. I think this is a small price to pay for the amount of free content it provides.
Plex is available worldwide, and you can download its app onto your streaming device, including your smart TV or gaming console.
2. YouTube
YouTube is a great place to find TV shows from different countries. I particularly like how many new Asian shows are legally available for Western audiences on official channels. You can find full episodes of a lot of old cult classics like Unsolved Mysteries and more modern shows like Taskmaster on it as well.
YouTube has YouTube Movies & TV, too, which is its own library of TV shows and movies you can watch for free. However, this library is currently only available in the US.
One downside of YouTube is that it’s pretty aggressive with ads. You may also have to do a bit of digging to find the shows you’re looking for if you’re not using YouTube Movies & TV, since the shows are not conveniently gathered in one place for you like other free streaming sites.
3. Pluto TV
Pluto TV is a good CouchTuner alternative that has an excellent library of older content, including some real gems like The Twilight Zone, Star Trek (the original series), The Fugitive, and more.
Plus, like Plex, it offers both live and on-demand content, so you can opt for a more traditional TV experience by watching one of its 20+ live TV channels. What I don’t like about Pluto TV though is how busy its interface is and how it’s constantly auto-playing content.
Pluto TV is available in the US, most of Latin America, and most of Western Europe. You can also watch all of its content without creating an account.
4. Tubi
Tubi is a great free streaming site for streaming classing and popular TV series. It carries TV shows from as recent as last year, like Hell’s Kitchen 2023 season, and titles like Gotham, Heartland, Merlin, and Midsomer Murders.
It’s great for kids, too — there’s an entire section, TubiKids, dedicated to kids TV shows, including series like the Magic SchoolBus, the Flintstones, and Scooby-Doo Where Are You?
Tubi isn’t as widely available as some of the other sites on this list though. You can only watch it if you live in one of 10 countries, including the US, Canada, Mexico, Australia and New Zealand.
5. Amazon Freevee
Amazon Freevee is good for streaming a lot of original content (Amazon Original and Freevee Original) that you won’t find elsewhere. It’s available as a separate section in the Prime Video app, but it also exists as a standalone app if you don’t want to sign up for Prime Video.
However, this platform is only available to people in Germany, Austria, the US, and the UK, and to use it, you must create an Amazon account. Additionally, while it does have a Live TV section, the content there is only available to paying users.
6. Crackle
Crackle is a decent free streaming site but only for people living in the US (it isn’t currently available to users in other locations). It offers ad-supported TV shows in 30 different categories, from Drama to Reality Show, and is home to some interesting Crackle Originals.
I also like that creating an account for Crackle is optional, though making one does let you use its parental controls functions, build a watchlist, and save your watch progress.
7. Fandango at Home (Vudu)
Fandango at Home (formally Vudu) is a great free alternative for exploring titles in different genres. If you click on a title, you can see the series summary, individual episode summaries, the cast and crew, the community rating, and even a parental guide.
The biggest downside is that the site may only offer some seasons of your favorite TV shows available for free. However, Fandango at Home is only available in the US, and you do have to create an account to use it.
Why You Need a VPN for Free Legal Streaming Sites Like CouchTuner
I recommend using a VPN on legal sites like CouchTuner to maintain your privacy. A VPN encrypts your internet traffic, which makes your data unreadable, so free streaming sites can’t track your watch history to build a personal profile of you. This also stops third parties, including your Internet Service Provider (ISP) and government, from seeing what you’re watching and where.
By hiding your real IP address behind an IP address owned by your provider, a VPN prevents your streaming activities from being traced back to you as well.
Additionally, high-quality VPNs come with extra security features like ad, tracker, and malware blockers to protect you against shady streaming sites that prey on people looking for free CouchTuner alternatives. These sites are usually full of malware and try to steal your personal info for malicious purposes.
As a bonus, VPNs can stop ISP throttling. Many ISPs reduce your internet speeds during activities that use a lot of data, such as streaming. This can worsen your streaming experience by causing constant buffering and long loading times. But when you’re using a VPN, your ISP can’t tell that you’re streaming, so they’re much less likely to throttle your speeds.
Quick summary of the best VPNs for streaming sites like CouchTuner:
- 1. 🥇 ExpressVPN — Best overall VPN for streaming on sites like CouchTuner (high speeds + strong security).
- 2. 🥈 Private Internet Access — Great VPN for safe streaming (excellent mobile apps + has servers in all 50 US states).
- 3. 🥉 CyberGhost VPN — User-friendly VPN for streaming on CouchTuner alternatives (great for beginners).
Editors' Note: Intego, Private Internet Access, CyberGhost and ExpressVPN are owned by Kape Technologies, our parent company
Frequently Asked Questions
Which streaming service is the best free alternative to CouchTuner?
My top recommendation is Plex. It’s free to use and, unlike many free and legal streaming apps, it’s available worldwide. It has a large library of TV shows and it also lets you connect your profiles from other streaming platforms to expand your library with titles Plex itself doesn’t have available. This way, you don’t have to switch from platform to platform when searching for something to watch.
What are some good free alternatives to CouchTuner for Europe?
Most of the sites I recommend. Both Plex and YouTube are available worldwide, while Pluto TV is available for most of Western Europe, excluding a few countries like Portugal, Ireland, or the Netherlands. Amazon Freevee is also available in the UK, Germany, and Austria.
What happened to CouchTuner?
CouchTuner often gets taken down because it hosts pirated content. Whenever that happens, it takes on a new domain with a slightly different URL from the one it was using. Unfortunately, I found lots of CouchTuner copycat sites, which means lots of the ones available may not have any link to the original CouchTuner and may be phishing sites that could potentially infect your device with malware.
This is why I recommend streaming movies and TV shows on free and legal alternatives to CouchTuner instead, which are safe, reliable, and won’t get you in trouble for pirating content.
What’s the best VPN for streaming on sites like CouchTuner?
ExpressVPN is the best VPN for streaming on CouchTuner. It works reliably with all popular streaming platforms, provides lightning-fast speeds, so you can watch content in HD without any interruptions, and has easy-to-use apps for every major operating system. Additionally, it has a dedicated router app and smart DNS tool to help you stream on devices without native VPN support, like certain smart TVs and gaming consoles.
