Where to Watch Anime Online Legally for Free in 2024

Crunchyroll has the largest anime library, offering over 1,000 anime shows. This number has increased, as Crunchyroll has merged with Funimation.

Up until recently, it was fairly easy to watch anime on Crunchyroll without paying for an account, as all episodes became free with ads a week after release.

This has now changed, as fans are now only able to stream a limited number of anime episodes, not including simulcasts unless they pay.

The premium Crunchyroll membership starts from $7.99 or £5.99 per month.

Newcomers are offered a free trial, so you have a little time to decide if it's for you.

HIDIVE is another popular option that entered the anime scene relatively recently and offers affordable anime viewing starting at $5.99 per month or $59.99 per year.

It doesn’t get as much hype as Crunchyroll, as it tends to get fewer of the currently ongoing new titles.

Following Crunchyroll and Funimation's merge, HIDIVE looks like the next major competitor, with at least a couple of popular titles per season.

Netflix isn’t an anime-only platform, but it is progressively getting more up-to-date with the latest anime trends.

It’s currently one of the few places that have all the Ghibli movies available to watch online and it’s even changing its signature streaming method.

Anime such as My Happy Marriage have recently been featured on Netflix with new episodes weekly, instead of landing as a full season.

Once again, Hulu isn’t an anime-only streaming service, but some of the best anime are on Hulu!

When it comes to new titles, anime-specific platforms are likely to get them first, but several recent works such as Mushoku Tensei have been streamed on Hulu.

So far, we’ve talked about anime you can watch at a low cost, as part of a relatively inexpensive subscription, but there are a few free options.

Anime-Planet is an anime database with information about every anime title you can imagine.

While you can’t use it to watch anime for free as they come out, certain popular works are available to watch for free – the videos can be found underneath the descriptions.

This is a legal, industry-approved way to watch anime due to partnerships with platforms such as HIDIVE and Crunchyroll.

Like Anime-Planet, MyAnimeList (MAL) is not just an anime database; it also allows you to watch selected titles due to partnerships with other streaming services.

While this option used to be free, it's now available to MAL supporters who pay $2.99 a month or £29.99 a year.

RetroCrush is a a great option for those looking for older anime that are hard to find elsewhere.

Plans start at $4.99 a year but bear in mind that a lot of content is not available outside of the US.

Prime Video is a great place to find older anime that never made it to Crunchyroll or HIDIVE.

As is the case with other platforms we talk about here, bear in mind that most of these anime videos are only available in the US.