Patrick Hearn · April 16, 2024 · 5 min read No matter which side of the fence you fall on in the Dragon Ball Z versus Naruto debate, no one can deny the runaway popularity of anime in the modern world. The art form has exploded into the mainstream media and brought some of the most entertaining and deep storylines the world has ever seen.
That said, it can still be tough to find anime on TV. The next best option is the internet, but you have to know where to look to find anime online for free. There are a lot of websites that host your favorite series, but these websites will also inject your system with malware if given the chance.
This is a list of the best (and safest) places online to watch anime online for free. Grab some popcorn, a drink, and get ready to binge.
Crunchyroll
Crunchyroll is the king of anime streaming services. The company even has a presence at the majority of anime conventions across the country. Crunchyroll offers more than 1,000 different anime to choose from, as well as a lot of Asian dramas. You even have access to manga.
The downside is that the free version is ad-supported, so you have to sit through several ads per episode. The quality is also reduced to 480p. You also will have to wait a week to watch simulcast content, although it will become available to you if you’re patient.
If you’re willing to pay, there are three pricing tiers. The Crunchyroll Fan subscription is $7.99 per month for ad-free viewing and 720p to 1080p video content, while Mega Fan and Ultimate Fan offer the same quality with four and six concurrent streams, respectively. The later two options also offer discounts every few months.
If you’re looking for anime, Crunchyroll is the place to go. You can find everything from popular, current anime to much more obscure titles. If you’re interested in going ad-free, there is a 14 day trial you can check out.
Funimation
After Crunchyroll, Funimation is the next best option to watch anime online for free. According to Funimation, the service offers more than 13,000 hours of anime–most of it dubbed! While Crunchyroll tends to be the go-to option for people that prefer subtitled anime, Funimation is for those who would rather listen than read.
Funimation owns the rights to several popular anime franchises that Crunchyroll does not, like Dragon Ball and any of its spinoffs. You’ll also find more anime movies on Funimation than on Crunchyroll, although there is a lot of overlap between the two.
Funimation offers a free, ad-supported option, but if you want to watch on more than one screen at a time without ads, you’ll need to shell out the $5.99 for the Premium Plan. There is also the Premium Plus plan for $7.99 per month that gives access to member-only events.
KissAnime
KissAnime is one of the most popular “non-official” websites for finding your favorite series, and there are a lot of good reasons why. First of all, it has a huge amount of content–and it isn’t limited solely to anime. There are quite a few animated western shows on the service, too.
Many people remember KissAnime because it did not require sign-up, but that seems to have changed recently. In order to watch content, a free account is required. The account will help you save and manage all of your favorite shows, though, so there are benefits to creating one.
There are pop-up advertisements, so an ad blocker is a useful tool. You should also be aware that KissAnime doesn’t filter by default, so you might find more adult-oriented content right beside the franchise you’re looking for. It doesn’t have a fantastic search function, either — but it does have a lot of different series.
While it might not be as well-supported as services like Crunchyroll or Funimation, KissAnime offers higher resolution without the added cost.
ConTV
If you want to find more than just anime, ConTV is a great option. It has movies, TV series, and even comics on top of its vast anime selection. When you first visit the site, it asks you to sign up, but this isn’t necessary. You can navigate to the anime section of the site without making an account and watch content without any trouble.
There are ads, however, so you might want to install an adblocker for this site too. It has a lot of different content, but much of the anime is limited to older titles like Great Teacher Onizuka and Bubblegum Crisis. If you’re looking for brand-new anime, this might not be the best option.
That said, it even offers live TV–including an anime channel. If you just want a way to show anime 24/7 in the background, just pop on the live channel to stream it. There is a premium membership available that provides access to all of the content free of charge and gives you access to a wider range of shows.
ConTV is available as a channel on streaming services like Roku, Apple TV, and more, so you can watch it from the comfort of your couch, too.
Anime is more widely available than ever before. You don’t have to spend your time watching it on sketchy websites that require a virus scan after every episode. Instead, check out one of these safer, free options to stay up to date on your favorite shows.
