Anime's popularity is growing year after year. More and more people are discovering this amazing fusion of fairy tales, art, music, and animation. However, many are reluctant to regularly spend money on Japanese animated films, and anime-focused streaming services are expensive.
There are several legal streaming sites with free anime. Each has its own advantages, so it's worth exploring them all rather than settling on just one. With a little research, you'll be able to watch the best anime without paying a dime.
Crunchyroll
Crunchyroll is a legal streaming service specializing in anime. You can watch videos without registering or creating a profile on the website. However, if you do register an account, you can track your viewing history and queue up movies and shows for later viewing. The service also has an app for iOS and Android, allowing you to watch anime on your phone.
In addition to the basic free version, Crunchyroll also offers several paid packages. The site boasts an excellent collection of videos across the shonen (anime, light novel, and manga for boys aged 12-18), shojo (manga and anime for girls aged 12-18), and seinen (manga and anime for men aged 18 and up) genres.
Crunchyroll also offers a decent selection of manga and comics. The site also boasts a good collection of Southeast Asian dramas and anime-based mobile games. In addition to streaming video, games, and comics, Crunchyroll publishes news, has a dedicated forum, and an online store.
The $8 per month package removes ads while watching, offers full HD streaming, and includes the full manga library. It also offers shows recently filmed in Japan and not yet available to other viewers.
Funimation
Funimation is a worthy competitor to Crunchyroll. Many fans of the genre are familiar with this resource, which has been releasing new seasons of Dragon Ball Z and other exclusive anime since shortly after filming ended. If you haven't found a new release on Crunchyroll, there's a good chance you'll find it on Funimation.
Like Crunchyroll, Funimation has apps for Android and iOS, and both versions allow you to stream anime videos. The functionality is similar, but the settings are even more extensive. Unfortunately, the service is not available in Russia, so you need to use a VPN. There are no Russian subtitles—only English.
Funimation has more menu options (accessed via the three-line icon in the upper left corner of the page). The menu lets you access your viewing queue or view your favorites. You can also sort and filter your search results.
Funimation also offers a wider range of paid plans. For example, the $8 monthly plan includes offline viewing. If you only need online viewing, you can pay less, at $6 per month.
Anime-Planet
Anime-Planet offers over 45,000 episodes. Before you start watching, the service will inform you that streaming videos is completely legal. Anime-Planet does not maintain its own collection. The content provider is the aforementioned Crunchyroll service.
Anime-Planet also has a unique advantage over its parent site. The service emphasizes user recommendations. It's more of an informational site where video streaming serves as a bonus. When you search for a movie or show by title, you'll see not only the title you're looking for but also other recommended anime. This feature is precisely why it makes sense to search for videos on Anime-Planet rather than on its parent site, Crunchyroll.
HIDIVE
If Crunchyroll and Funimation offer a huge selection of anime and focus on quantity, then HIDIVE This service takes others. This service groups short, free excerpts from full-length animated films into a separate section. Similar to the Crunchyroll Collection channel on YouTube.
You'll see a section with free episodes as soon as you visit the website. For each series featured in this section, you can watch the first episode for free. All episodes are categorized by category: subtitled anime, dubbed anime, or new releases.
To compensate for the limited selection in this section, HIDIVE offers ad-free videos. HIDIVE offers a 14-day trial, after which the service can be continued for a $5 per month subscription.
YouTube
Finding anime on YouTube isn't easy, but it's there. All the major streaming services have their own channels, but not all of them offer free videos.
Funimation uploads entire series to YouTube in SD quality (720x576 resolution), subtitled or dubbed. You can find them in the channel's playlists. Channel Two Crunchyroll offers clips and short excerpts.