The hidden costs of using Tubi and other free TV services

It’s no secret that streaming services are expensive, and subscribing to them all brings you a price that rivals or exceeds the cost of a traditional cable plan. While it was a good idea while it lasted, ditching the cable and going for streaming platforms isn’t guaranteed to be a better deal than cable. There are still some ways to save money and keep up with a variety of TV and movies, and it’s done by checking out free streaming services.

Popular options include Tubi and Freevee, although the latter option goes to Amazon Prime Video. The draw for these services does not include a subscription fee, so you can log in and watch what you want without a monthly or yearly commitment. The downside to this is that ads get in the way of what you’re doing, and while you may not be charged a dollar amount, you still have to pay a price for your information. Whether that’s important or not varies from person to person, but it’s a hidden cost of going to a streaming service that doesn’t have a monthly fee.

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Free is not free

There is always a price to pay

Unsplash / Dario / Erol Ahmed / Erik Mclean / Pocket-lint

Many people turn to services like Tubi to avoid subscription fees, and that’s a completely understandable thing to do. Although the ads that appear during the movie are wrong, it beats paying $20 a month for the more expensive Max tier for most people. Tubi doesn’t come with bells and whistles Max likes 4K or Dolby Atmos, but that’s not what you’d expect from a service like this. Instead, you get a wide variety of movies to choose from that cost nothing to start watching.

While your wallet won’t take a hit, you’re still paying for your experience. In fact, you may be paying more for your knowledge than you first thought. It shouldn’t come as a surprise that companies have your data when you sign up for a service, but Tubi was the target of a class action lawsuit recently alleging that the broadcaster “disclosed “personally identifiable information” (as defined. in the VPPA) of Tubi users in connection with advertising allegedly targeted to those users,” according to the wording of the court.

While not all services are subject to a crime like this, it’s foolish to think that your data isn’t being taken for the same reasons, no matter what you sign up for. For streaming services, it can come in the form of targeted ads that the free service uses to keep them free. The same thing applies to ad-supported tiers and other services, so you’re subject to the same conditions even if streaming costs money. Netflix raised prices in 2024 to make its ad category more attractive, and at $6.99, it has room. If you want the highest quality on Netflix, it’s out of the question, but there are a lot of people out there who don’t care what their show looks or sounds like.

In the case of Netflix, you get a limited experience for paying less, but in Tubi, you get the full fat version as it is all on offer. The only charge comes in the form of your data, and if that’s the price you’re willing to pay, there’s a lot of mileage you can get out of the service. For that matter, I’m a big fan of Tubi as it often has obscure movies that I can’t find anywhere else. It doesn’t have the same streaming quality as some of the bigger services, but aside from the premium, I can’t find much to complain about. For the record, I submitted my claim form for the Tubi class action lawsuit as well.

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There is no clear alternative

A new future

If you want to keep watching free streaming services, there doesn’t seem to be much you can do to prevent them from harvesting your data. The only real comfort you can take is that any service you log into, whether it’s Google Chrome or a mobile game, takes your data. If that’s okay with you, you can go ahead. As it is, it’s hard to imagine the genie being put back in the bottle, so this is indeed a new future.

As we move ever closer to a digital world, it’s hard to see things getting better when it comes to data collection. You can take preventive measures yourself by reducing your digital footprint. You can cut down on using streaming services by building a portable media library. Although Best Buy has moved out of the movie and TV show scene, there are still plenty of boutique stores like Shout! Factory and Criterion Collection that houses your favorite films.

A similar trend can be seen outside of movies and TV shows. Vinyl records are growing in popularity, and there are entire sections dedicated to them at Walmart and Target. Although streaming services are more popular than ever, there seems to be an increasing number of people looking to build their own libraries. Virtual media not only prevents companies from getting your monthly subscription fees and data, but ensures that nothing will ever be taken from you. Movies on Netflix may leave the service at the end of the month, and some broadcasters have removed all shows and movies that can’t be viewed any other way. That’s not going to happen on anything you really have except a damaged disk, so there’s value there.

On the other hand, going physical has a high upfront cost, and it’s rare to spend $30 on a movie. It all depends on your viewing habits and what you are good at. If you want to stop streaming services and protect your data, it’s a price to pay.

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