With so many different streaming services available, there are a lot of different places to watch movies and TV shows online. The sheer amount of options can make it difficult to find exactly what you're looking for, especially for anime with some major titles split up between multiple services.
If you're wondering where you can watch anime online in 2025, we've gathered some of the best sites and apps below. While some streaming services offer a full suite of options, others have only a smaller selection. Fortunately, there are plenty of ways to watch the best anime online across various subscriptions, and some are super cheap or even free.
Crunchyroll
Best Anime Streaming Service Overall
If you're looking for the absolute best overall anime streaming service, Crunchyroll is the way to go. With an enormous catalog of anime movies and series, the anime-focused streaming service is your best bet if you're looking for a lot of options. They also offer new episodes of many popular anime series shortly after they air in Japan. Whether you're looking to watch the classics or watch new episodes of anime like My Hero Academia: Vigilantes, Crunchyroll can provide that with a subscription.
Crunchyroll has three different tiers of their service that all offer streaming their full anime library without ads. They also offer a seven-day free trial for newcomers to test out the service, but the cheapest plan starts out at $7.99 a month after that. Crunchyroll does offer some anime for free with ads, regardless of your subscription tier, including Chainsaw Man and My Hero Academia. The most expensive tier of the service will get you additional perks like discounts at the Crunchyroll Store and access to their game vault.
Anime Recommendations on Crunchyroll:
Tubi
Best Free Anime Streaming Service
If you're looking for the best place to watch anime for free, Tubi is a surprisingly great option. Supported by ads, Tubi offers a selection of anime that includes Pokemon, Yu-Gi-Oh, Naruto, and various other popular franchises. They also have an enormous selection of classics and new anime to choose from in their catalog, all of which does not cost a dime. You can check out the full list of anime on Tubi to see what they have available.
Tubi doesn't require a monthly subscription to start streaming content, but you do need to register. You can create an account using your email or simply use your Google account to sign in. Tubi also offers free films and TV shows from a variety of other genres, making it one of the best free movie sites available.
Anime Recommendations on Tubi:
Hulu
Best All-in-One Streaming Service
Although Hulu isn't necessarily the best site for watching anime online, it does offer the unique advantage of being more than just for anime. A Hulu subscription can get you access to a huge variety of movies, shows, and anime all at once. While the service doesn't have quite the depth you'd get with Crunchyroll, they do offer popular anime series (both subbed and dubbed) like Dragon Ball, Attack on Titan, and Naruto. They also have the latest episodes of Spy x Family and Chainsaw Man if you're looking for something fresh.
You can check out the full catalog of anime on Hulu for more details about what the service can offer. Hulu has 2 different plans to choose from: No ads for $14.99 a month or with ads for $7.99 a month. Aside from standalone plans, Hulu is also available in plenty of streaming bundles.
Anime Recommendations on Hulu:
Netflix
Best for New Original Anime
Netflix is the biggest streaming service/app in the world, so it should be of no surprise that it has a pretty decent selection of anime. They have One Piece, Hunter x Hunter, Demon Slayer, and even a few Pokemon movies. However, the real draw of Netflix for anime fans is that they have originals that are actually pretty good. There are some great original films like Bubble as well as video game adaptations like Tekken: Bloodline. You can check out our guide to the best anime on Netflix for our top picks.
Although Netflix is currently going through some changes in it's subscription system, the ad-supported plan is currently $7.99 a month. The standard and premium subscriptions are more expensive, but add the ability to download Netflix movies for offline viewing.
Anime Recommendations on Netflix:
Max (HBO Max)
Best Streaming Service for Anime Movies
Now that HBO Max has officially become just Max, it's a lot harder to find what their selection of anime even is. That being said, Max does have all of the Studio Ghibli movies available to stream, making them worthy of note on this list. Whether you're looking to rewatch Princess Mononoke or dive back into Howl's Moving Castle, they are all available on Max. Max is also where you'll find anime picked up for American distribution by Adult Swim, like the new anime from creator of Cowboy Bebop, Lazarus.
Max has three different tiers of their subscription service starting at $9.99 for their ad-supported option.
Anime Recommendations on Max:
Anime Streaming Sites FAQ
What are the best sites to watch anime for free?
Aside from Tubi and the limited selection of free anime on Crunchyroll, there's a few more sites where you can stream anime for free. RetroCrush offers a wide selection of "vintage" anime and cartoons, including the original Astro Boy, Yu-Gi-Oh!, and City Hunter series. Sling TV's FreeStream program also includes several anime channels with on demand series like Fruits Basket, Maid-Sama, and Ghost Stories.
How can I watch anime live in the U.S.?
Most anime airs live in Japan before becoming available to stream in the United States. Crunchyroll's licensing deals allow the service to stream new episodes typically within a day of their original airtime, which is part of the reason why its the best streaming service for anime overall. With a couple of exceptions for exclusives, even anime that eventually comes to Netflix or Hulu typically arrives on Crunchyroll way beforehand.
If there's a new episode or special coming up that you really want to watch live, you'll most likely have to sign up for a VPN to get access to local Japanese channels like FujiTV.
Jacob Kienlen is an SEO Specialist and Entertainment Writer at IGN.
