How to Stream Freeform Live Without Cable: Your Best Options

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Freeform: the home of remarkable teen shows, such as Shadowhunters: The Mortal Instruments, Siren, The Fosters, and Switched at Birth. To add to its impressive arsenal of shows, Feeform also presents reruns of contemporary series and sitcoms, like Family Guy, The Simpsons, The Middle and more. But being a cable channel, it is hard to ignore the expensive cost of traditional television. Thankfully, there are alternatives.

Streaming services like Sling TV, Vidgo and Hulu + Live TV rivals the content found in cable TV. They offer cloud-based DVR, episodes on-demand and numerous top-tier channels.

The only question left unanswered is this: which streaming service is right for you? Keep on reading to find out.

A Few Popular Streaming Services and Networks

Freeform on Sling Orange

$35 per month ($10 for your first month)
30 Channels
3-Day Free Trial

To get Freeform on Sling TV, you have to subscribe to Sling Orange, which carries other Disney-affiliated networks, like ESPN, Lifetime, History Channel, A&E and more.

Sling Orange gives you a lot of bang for your buck. For only $35 a month, you get more than 30 high-end channels, 50 hours of DVR and more than one way of improving your subscription.

Unfortunately, it does not carry any local broadcasts from NBC and Fox, unlike Sling Blue. You can easily remedy this issue by pairing your Sling subscription with a decent-quality antenna. Thankfully, Sling offers a solution to this issue.

At the time of writing, you can prepay for two months of Sling TV to get a free AirTV Mini. Through this deal, you can access the wide selection of regional networks in your area. From ABC, CBS, PBS and more, you are guaranteed to gain hours and hours of content.

You can learn more about local channels and TV antennas through our other articles tackling the matter here.

Moreover, Sling Orange offers 50 hours of DVR storage. You can upgrade this to 200 hours with the Cloud DVR Plus add-on, which costs an extra $5 a month. The service also has a Lookback feature. This allows you to replay content that has aired within the past three days. Sadly, due to streaming rights, Freeform is not included in its DVR program.

If Sling Orange’s 30+ channels seem lacking, you can expand it by purchasing its numerous add-ons:

SLING ORANGE EXTRAS	PRICE	CHANNELS OFFERED
Sports Extra	$11/mo	SEC Network, ACC Network, Pac-12, The Longhorn Network, etc.
Comedy Extra	$6/mo	MTV, truTV, FETV, MTV 2, etc.
News Extra	$6/mo	BBC World News, WGN America, Newsmax TV, HLN, etc.
Lifestyle Extra	$6/mo	VH1, Cooking Channel, DIY Network, FYI, etc.
Hollywood Extra	$6/mo	REELZ, Heroes & Icons, Start TV, SundanceTV, etc.
Heartland Extra	$6/mo	World Fishing Network, Pursuit, Sportsman Channel, RIDE TV, etc.
Kids Extra	$6/mo	TeenNick, Disney XD, Disney Jr., etc.
AMC+	$7/mo	AMC+, Shudder, Sundance Now, IFC Films Unlimited

Sling Orange Extras

Purchasing add-ons can be expensive. Fortunately, Sling TV offers bundles. The 4 Extras Deal bundle carries the Lifestyle, AMC+, Comedy and News Extra add-ons for $13 a month.

You can also opt for the Total TV Deal, which bundles all the extras (minus AMC+) and adds in Cloud DVR Plus. This costs $21 a month and saves you $26 if you buy all seven add-ons separately.

One downside of Sling Orange is the number of streams you get. You can only stream on one device at a time with no way of upgrading it. This is a big disadvantage for larger households.

Thankfully, you can try the service out for three days before fully committing. Additionally, you get a significant discount in your first month—from $35 to only $10.

Check out Sling TV for yourself by clicking here.

Freeform on Vidgo

$55 per month ($10 for your first month)
95+ Channels
No Free Trials

Vidgo’s regular price can be a bit hard to swallow. For $55 a month, cord-cutters on a budget might see themselves cutting a deep hole in their pockets. The service does not even have a free trial for consumers to test the waters first. What it has instead is a $45 discount for your first month.

Moreover, Vidgo’s lack of DVR and offline-viewing feature might turn off some potential customers. It only has a 24-hour playback feature, which is understandably not enough for many cord-cutters.

However, if you manage to look past most of its downsides, you will find hundreds of hours of content within Vidgo.

With Sling TV, you will find yourself building and improving its channel lineup with its numerous extras. But with Vidgo, you will get more channels at no extra cost.

95+ channels await you in Vidgo’s basic lineup. This consists of big-name entertainment channels, like Freeform, Hallmark, A&E and Disney. Additionally, the service also offers numerous news and sports channels, such as ESPN, NFL Network, NFL Redzone, Fox Sports, Newsmax TV and many more.

In terms of local programming, the service offers regional broadcasts from ABC and Fox-affiliated networks.

Suffice it to say, Vidgo gives you more than what you ask for.

If you want to watch Freeform content with loved ones or like-minded fans, you can do so with Social TV.

Social TV is Vidgo’s way of combatting one of the problems people are facing in this pandemic. It bridges loved ones from one another and helps viewers socialize with other viewers.

Unfortunately, the feature is only available on mobile devices. This is a shame since Vidgo is compatible with Roku, Apple TV, Amazon Fire TV and more.

You can watch on up to three screens simultaneously with Vidgo.

Watch Freeform on Vidgo by clicking here.

Freeform on Hulu + Live TV

$64.99 per month ($70.99 for Hulu no Ads + Live TV)
65+ Channels
7-Day Free Trial

Hulu is known for its impressive on-demand library. Not only does the service offer third-party shows and movies, but it also has award-winning Hulu Originals like Castle Rock, Little Fires Everywhere and Good Girl that fans of Freeform shows might be interested in.

But Hulu has more to offer than this. With Hulu + Live TV, you gain access to Hulu’s expansive on-demand library and 65+ live TV channels.

The service costs even more than Vidgo at $64.99 a month, and it is not safe from frequent ad breaks. If you want to watch on-demand shows ad-free, you have to subscribe for the $70.99 no-ads option.

With ads or not, the service is still jam-packed with content and features you can upgrade and enhance, similar to Sling TV.

The service’s basic lineup gives you numerous channels—ranging from Freeform and Bravo to ABC and CBS.

Hulu + Live TV shares many similarities to Sling TV. For instance, the service initially offers 50 hours of DVR storage. Like Sling TV, you can upgrade this to 200 hours for $9.99 a month.

DVR is not the only thing you can upgrade, though. Its two simultaneous streams can also be enhanced with the Unlimited Screens add-ons for the same price.

If you plan on getting both upgrades, you can reduce your costs by purchasing the Enhanced Cloud DVR + Unlimited Screens bundle for an additional $14.99 a month.

Another similarity Hulu + Live TV has with Sling TV is its numerous purchasable channels:

Español Add-on – $4.99/mo (CNN en Español, Discovery en Español, NBC Universo, etc.)
Entertainment Add-on – $7.99/mo (CNBC World, Cooking Channel, Discovery Life, etc.)
STARZ – $8.99/mo
Cinemax – $9.99/mo
SHOWTIME – $10.99/mo
HBO Max – $14.99/mo

Hulu + Live TV is available on Amazon Fire TV, Apple TV, Google Chromecast, Roku, gaming consoles, mobile devices, web browsers and more.

Consider subscribing to Hulu + Live TV by clicking here.

How do I get Freeform for free?

Freeform’s channel-dedicated app for mobile devices, Apple TV, Android TV, Samsung Smart TV, Amazon Fire TV and Roku is free. You can download it from your devices’ respective app stores or the Freeform website.

The best thing about this app is that you can watch some Freeform shows without paying a single cent. For example, seasons one to three of Shadowhunters: The Mortal Instruments are readily available for viewing.

But to unlock live TV viewing and other content, you need to subscribe to a TV service provider.

Nevertheless, there are plenty of free full episodes and clips for you to devour on the app. But if you want to make the most out of the app, you need to log in with your TV provider credentials.

Is Freeform on Roku?

As mentioned, the Freeform app is available on Roku. Follow these steps to install it on your device:

Navigate to the search bar and enter “Freeform”
Select the Freeform app from the suggestions list
Press “Add Channel”

Once installed, follow this instruction to activate the app:

Visit the link provided in the activation instructions
Enter the code on your device’s screen
Select and login with your TV provider

Is Freeform on Amazon?

You can watch some of Freeform series on Amazon Prime. Notable shows include Motherland: Fort Salem, The Fosters, Siren, Switched at Birth and Good Trouble.

Sadly, not all of them are served on a silver platter. For instance, Motherland: For Salem costs $1.99 per episode or $16.99 per season. The same can be said for The Fosters. This is not even the high-definition quality version of the shows; those cost more.

Luckily, there are still some shows like Switched at Birth and Grown-ish that come included with the initial subscription.
With Amazon Prime Video, you get three simultaneous streams and offline viewing for mobile devices.

The service costs $12.99 a month or $119 a year. But this option comes with Prime benefits. If you only want the on-demand library of Amazon Video, you can opt for the $8.99-a-month option instead.


30+ Channels (Orange)	95+ Channels	65+ Channels
On-Demand	On-Demand	On-Demand
1 Stream (Orange)	3 Concurrent Streams	2 Concurrent Streams Unlimited ($9.99/mo)
50-Hours DVR 200 Hours ($5/mo)	No DVR	50-Hours DVR 200 Hours ($9.99/mo)
$35/mo	$55/mo $10 (first month only)	$64.99/mo $70.99/mo (no ads)
3-Day Free Trial	No Free Trial	7-Day Free Trial

Freeform Service Comparison Table

Conclusion

Your enjoyment of Freeform’s teen-oriented programs does not have to stop with cutting the cord. Streaming services offer as much enjoyment as cable TV.

Sling TV and Hulu + Live TV are similar to a degree. They are both customizable alternatives to traditional cable. However, always keep in mind that the price increases the more add-ons you purchase.

Vidgo is the opposite of the two. It has little to no customization options, but that is because all the channels you want are readily available in its basic lineup.

You can also opt for on-demand options like the Freeform App and Amazon Prime Video. The former has full episodes and clips available for free, and the latter is cheaper than most live TV streaming services and cable. However, they still have their respective limitations to take note of.

There is absolutely more than one way to stream your favorite Freeform shows, and they do not require you to settle with traditional TV’s high monthly cable bills.

Leon Thomas

How do you stream Freeform? Have you tried the streaming services we mentioned above? How is your experience? Let us know in the comments below.

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