Plex, a popular do-it-all streaming service that also supports live programming, is currently offering three months of live television for free. The announcement comes as other services, including CBS All Access and Sling TV, are also giving out extended trials like candy as folks are spending more time at home amid the ongoing horror show that is our collective reality.
Plex announced this week that live TV through the service will be available through June 30 without a Plex Pass to anyone who has a tuner and an HD antenna. (Specific information about supported devices can be found right here.) Some of the premium features that you get with a Plex subscription won’t be available, including DVR functionality. Users who take advantage of the freebie will also only be able to see 48 hours of guide data rather than the standard guide data of around two weeks. And again, you’ll need supported hardware to access live programming.
The offer comes as a bundle of other services are rolling out limited-time extended trials, meaning you can set yourself up pretty well right now with a ton of free content you’d normally have to pay to see. Sir Patrick Stewart, star of Star Trek: Picard, announced this week that the show’s exclusive home, CBS All Access, was offering a month of the streaming service for free with the code GIFT to correspond to the show’s Thursday finale.
If you haven’t given CBS All Access a shot, now may be a good time to jump on the extended trial. Aside from Picard, the service also has The Good Wife and a spin-off The Good Fight, supernatural series Evil, Star Trek: Discovery, and Jordan Peele’s The Twilight Zone.
If you don’t mind streaming on your phone, there’s still time to snag Quibi’s pre-launch promo for three months of free streaming. And since Quibi started rolling out trailers for some of the roughly 50 shows it’ll offer when it launches April 6, I reluctantly admit that some of them—including the absolutely unhinged Murder House Flip—seem like they’d actually be worth watching.
If you’re a parent, Amazon Prime Video is also currently offering free streaming for kids programming, with possible plans to introduce additional programming down the line, according to TechCrunch. And lastly, Sling TV—a very good live programming service—is offering ad-supported on-demand content through its free site, which also has limited live TV. It also announced Thursday that it’s offering an extended two-week trial for its Sling Blue bundle.
If you sign up for a trial and don’t want to pay for the service long-term, set a reminder to cancel the service before you’re charged. But why not take advantage of some of the more premium offers in between your Animal Crossing breaks?