Free streaming services have been in legal trouble because of copyright issues. The most famous example is Putlocker, which is so well-liked among the world’s internauts that it even triggered the need for alternative platforms.
So whenever Putlocker goes down temporarily, many worldwide users notice it. And once they know that Putlocker is offline, the next question in their minds is, where do we go now?
This article answers this question with dozens of Putlocker alternatives. So now, you can enjoy unlimited content when your favorite free movie streaming site is down.
Quick list of the top 5 Putlocker alternatives
This guide shares the complete list with details about every site that serves as a good Putlocker alternative. However, if you’re pressed for time and want to find a suitable option quickly, here are the top five alternatives to Putlocker to try right now.
- 123Movies: This site has a vast catalog, letting you find almost anything you want here.
- Tubi: It’s a website optimized for both desktop and mobile devices, with much content in high quality.
- Crackle: It’s a well-designed site with a wide selection of movies and TV series. You can choose to register here to get a few additional advantages.
- Fmovies: Find lots of international titles on this site, along with a vast catalog of close-captioned shows and movies.
- Peacock TV: It’s sleek, clean, amazingly well-designed, with an outstanding search function that makes navigation a pleasure.
What is Putlocker? How come its alternatives emerged?
While you might have heard of Putlocker, let’s quickly review it to understand why people keep looking for its alternatives.
Putlocker is a website that provides you with updated links to streaming video content, such as movies and TV shows.
While the site features rich content, it has landed into several controversies regarding copyright infringement, security, and other issues.
In 2016, the High Court of the UK forced it to shut down because of a legal process. Then, about one year later, the Australian Federal Court followed suit, blocking it and other controversial websites.
Nonetheless, these legal issues didn’t bring Putlocker down worldwide. Instead, the site soon resumed using different URLs to evade its foes. Yet, it experiences intermittent availability as it hides behind other domains to resist blocking.
Because of Putlocker’s success over the years and its off-and-on availability globally, many similar websites offer streamed entertainment of all types.
Even if your country/ISP doesn’t block Putlocker, and you can enjoy it without restrictions, things may change anytime.
So, if you can’t live without your web streams, videos, movies, and TV shows, it’s wise to have an ace under your sleeve and know a handful of Putlocker-like sites offering similar services.
Free streaming options and security: Recommended reading before you start watching anything
In these digital times, whenever you find a service charging no fee, you will eventually discover that the actual product in the system is you. The same is true of free VPNs, free proxy servers, and, no less, free streaming services.
Using a free movie streaming platform will always cost you something; most often, it will be your online privacy and security. It is not a bug in the system; instead, a feature that you overlooked right away.
Here’s the thing about many free sites of all types, not just video streaming ones: most of them are put together by teams of hackers. They created them to find users hungry for the latest movies so that they can practice their craft on them, stealing their money or their data.
Subsequently, almost every site on this list has security problems. Yes, they will give you the streams you want. However, you endanger your privacy when using them, which you must know beforehand to minimize the risks.
Getting your entertainment from the wrong site can have catastrophic consequences. No, we’re not paranoid. But, if you don’t know what you’re doing, you could point your browser toward the perfect security storm and pay the consequences.
But don’t worry too much. There are ways to keep yourself safe, even on free streaming websites, and it all starts with a good VPN.
A Virtual Private Network (VPN) is a service that will protect you online in two ways. Firstly, it will hide your IP address to conceal your whereabouts from everyone online. Secondly, it will encrypt all outgoing and incoming traffic so nobody can intercept it.
Likewise, the best VPN prevents other kinds of digital hazards, like malware, on your system.
But you have to choose the right VPN carefully. Unfortunately, some of the best VPNs in the business prioritize privacy, so high transfer speeds supporting a high-quality streaming video are not their thing.
However, some providers strive to find a balance and offer connections with speeds that allow you to stream videos comfortably while protecting your privacy. In our opinion, NordVPN is the best choice among those better-balanced services.
Privacy Savvy Score
NordVPN
All about the one of most-loved VPNs today in one place.
Current offer: 74% off on 2yr plan.
You have to pay a monthly fee to use a premium VPN. While there are many free VPNs, choosing them will run you into the same problem as free video content sites: they treat you like a “product” and pose security threats. In this case, using a free VPN to gain access to a free movie streaming site will double your security problems, and it will probably be for nothing because free VPNs rarely offer connections that can support a video stream.
So save yourself a world of trouble, and remember: you need a VPN to stay safe on free streaming sites, and it should never be free.
A word on sites’ availability and our selection criteria
What do the best websites hosting torrents (P2P), free movie and TV platforms, and free sports streaming sites have in common? They keep popping in and out of existence all the time. Even a well-established site such as Putlocker isn’t always there to serve its users (which is probably one of the reasons you’re reading this). That’s why we keep updating this article regularly to have working URLs.
The sites listed here are up and running as we write this, but we can’t guarantee their 100% availability all the time because even the teams that run those sites don’t plan on that. But as noted, we keep testing these regularly (almost daily), so you will likely find only working websites here almost always.
We evaluated the Putlocker alternative sites according to the following criteria:
- User interface
- Traffic in terms of monthly visitors
- How annoying are the ads (10 being the worst kind, one the least annoying)
- VPN friendliness
- Registration requirements
You will be the final judge, of course.
Best websites like Putlocker – Detailed list
We’ve used, tested, and evaluated tens of the world’s leading streaming sites to save you time. We’ve compared these platforms according to their safety, ease of use, speeds, content, and overall quality.
So, keep your popcorn warm and handy because below are the internet’s best 27 alternatives to Putlocker. Gear up to watch all your favorite series every weekend.
1. 123Movies
| Number of monthly visitors | VPN compatible | Ad annoyance |
| 224.3K | Yes | 6 |
123Movies needs no registration, and it’s considered one of the biggest link-referral sites on the net. It features movies, TV series, Asian dramas, and anime by the thousands.
You can search the content on this site according to the genre, country, release year, and type of content. Ads, of course, are ever-present on this free site. But the streams tend to be clean, without much buffering needed. You can also access this website through the alternative URLs 123-movies.com, 123movies-i.net, and www.123movie.date.
2. Tubi
| Number of monthly visitors | VPN compatible | Ad annoyance |
| 736K | Yes (but with split tunneling) | 4 |
Tubi has been around since 2014. It’s a popular streaming app that lets you watch free movies and TV shows. It’s become a name in the industry because of its extensive catalog. Specifically, the platform needs no registration, and it’s not very friendly toward VPNs – but VPN split tunneling will work.
Tubi TV is an American-based service limited to US users only due to licensing rights and geographical restrictions. Nonetheless, you can watch it outside the USA by using a VPN.
3. Crackle
| Number of monthly visitors | VPN compatible | Ad annoyance |
| 145K | Yes | 5 |
Crackle is an excellent alternative website for Putlocker because it’s acquired thousands of new titles for users to watch – and the count keeps growing. It has an app you can install as well. The platform serves thousands of monthly users who are annoyed by our ad annoying meter at a rate of five.
You don’t need registration to use this site, but every VPN won’t help you watch its content because it boasts an aggressive VPN-blocking system. Fortunately, quality providers like NordVPN or Surfshark will get you Crackle unblocked outside the US if you ever need to.
Besides, if you are a Couchtuner fan, you’d also be happy to know it’s one of the best Couchtuner alternatives.
4. FMovies
| Number of monthly visitors | VPN compatible | Ad annoyance |
| : 1.8 million | Yes | 7 |
Fmovies is among the top favorites for many users on the internet because the newest content becomes available here much faster than on most other sites. The catalog is categorized by genre, release date, country, and popularity.
You can even ask the site to look for a movie you want and make it available. In addition, it has many alternative URLs that will redirect you to the main site. Although it has a high ad annoyance index rate, it needs no registration and works well with VPNs. If you need more options, there also exist some good Fmovies site alternatives you can check.
5. PeacockTV
| Number of monthly visitors | VPN compatible | Ad annoyance |
| 587K | Yes | 3 |
PeacockTV is a new streaming platform. It’s different because it’s not something put together by a team of hackers or media specialists. Instead, it’s NBC’s free streaming platform, backed by corporate power.
It offers thousands of free titles, live channels, and much more. One would think that NBC‘s streaming platform wouldn’t have to deal with all the copyright legal issues that other top Putlocker alternatives have, and, thus, it should always be online, but don’t quote us on that.
PeacockTV already counts its subscribers in the millions, thanks to the quality of its free plan and vast catalog. It can be installed as an app on Android, iOS, Chromecast, Roku, Firestick, and other platforms. The ad annoyance is 3, which is low for this market but high for a corporate site and requires registration.
Like some other sites on the list, the site also entertains restricted geolocation, the US, to be specific. But unblocking Peacock TV is straightforward to accomplish with a top VPN.
6. SolarMovie
| Number of monthly visitors | VPN compatible | Ad annoyance |
| 489K | Yes | 6 |
SolarMovie has the best search function among the top Putlocker like sites in this list because of its accuracy. It also accepts requests for currently unavailable titles. The international section is pretty interesting as it includes lots of Asian content. It needs no registration and works well with VPNs. You can reach this site through www.solarmovie.one and www2.solarmovie.to as well. Also, you can try its alternatives if you want.
7. Vudu
| Number of monthly visitors | VPN compatible | Ad annoyance |
| 463K | No | 3 |
Vudu is a VOD (Video on Demand) streaming service that offers thousands of users movies and TV shows. The user interface and ease of navigation are outstanding. The site serves 450k visitors monthly, requiring you to sign up for a free account. It’s not VPN-friendly. But again, quality VPNs let you unblock Vudu quickly if you find the site blocked in your region.
8. MoviesJoy
| Number of monthly visitors | VPN compatible | Ad annoyance |
| 84K | Yes | 5 |
Website names rarely describe the site’s experience, but MoviesJoy does make it a delight for its viewers to enjoy top TV shows and blockbusters. HD is available, so the stream quality is very high.
The ads on the MoviesJoy site are minimal, and so is the corresponding frustration that goes with it. We give it a five for ad annoyance. It requires no registration and works well with VPNs.
9. IMDb TV (now Freevee)
| Number of monthly visitors | VPN compatible: | Ad annoyance |
| 67K | No | 5 |
IMDb TV, now Freevee, offers movies, TV shows, documentaries, and original IMDb shows. Amazon runs this site for the time being. It is an offshoot of IMDb, which came to life as a movie database fansite. Unfortunately, its viewership sits only at 60k people monthly, it has ads at five out of ten, needs an Amazon account, and needs a VPN to access FreeVee (FKA: IMDb TV) outside the US. Still, it is a worthy option, allowing people to enjoy their favorite content like Putlocker did.
10. Xumo
| Number of monthly visitors | VPN compatible | Ad annoyance |
| 188K | No | 4 |
Xumo offers thousands of VOD titles and hundreds of live channels to watch. The ad-supported nature of the site doesn’t preclude the possibility of streaming favorite movies and TV shows with a single click and having them played smoothly.
Unfortunately, it’s available to US audiences only. But all you’d need is a US IP address to unblock and stream Xumo anywhere.
11. GoMovies
| Number of monthly visitors | VPN compatible | Ad annoyance |
| 521K | Yes | 2 |
GoMovies features a minimalist design, so those who like to avoid complications will find themselves at home here. Minimalism extends to advertising, so it’s not an aesthetic thing; it improves your viewing experience, more so when you change from one movie to another. Its ad annoyance is an outstanding two. The platform serves almost half a million users monthly, needs no registration, and works perfectly with VPNs.
12. PopcornFlix
| Number of monthly visitors | VPN compatible | Ad annoyance |
| 268K | Yes | 4 |
Popcornflix is yet another site requiring no registration, filled with various movies that go from biographies to musicals. The categorization includes release year and genre, thus making it easy to find the movie you want. Unfortunately, while this is among the best Putlocker alternative sites where movies are concerned, it offers no TV content whatsoever. So, if you are a movie lover, you’ll need a different site.
13. AZMovies
| Number of monthly visitors | VPN compatible | Ad annoyance |
| 613K | Yes | 6 |
AZMovies is the go-to site for many movie lovers because it’s HD. Also, it includes many hits in the catalog. In addition, the portal features several mirror links for each title, thus helping greatly with content accessibility. So, if the link you clicked initially doesn’t work, you can try the next one and watch your favorite movies.
Another exciting feature of AZMovies is its catalog’s number of rare movies. This website will be your favorite if you like cult classics or fan favorites from the 70s, 80s, and 90s. With over half a million monthly viewers, the site needs no registration and works with VPNs.
14. FilmRise
| Number of monthly visitors | VPN compatible | Ad annoyance |
| 103K | Yes | 5 |
FilmRise includes more than 20k titles in TV shows and films for your viewing pleasure, and the list keeps growing. Categories on the site include Featured, Reality, Classic, New Releases, and Documentaries, among many others. Ad annoyance hits a five; the site has 97k monthly users, requires registration, and is VPN-friendly.
To watch FilmRise from anywhere, you’ll need a VPN if it’s geo-restricted in your country or you want access to the US library.
15. PrimeWire
| Number of monthly visitors | VPN compatible | Ad annoyance |
| 166K | Yes | 5 |
Primewire stands out among sites like Putlocker because of its vast catalog and careful selection of the genre it boasts, making it a potential favorite for entertainment enthusiasts. This site’s collection includes classification by IMDb ratings and the everyday items (release date, addition date, country, etc.).
Almost 163k users enjoy Primewire every month; the ad annoyance is five. It works well with a VPN and needs no registration. Luckily, some Primewire alternates also exist, so you have alternative entrances to the site via primewire.show, new-primewire.com, and primewire.li.
16. YouTube
| Number of monthly visitors | VPN compatible | Ad annoyance |
| 2 billion | Yes | 5 |
You didn’t expect to see YouTube on this list, did you? Well, the fact is, you can watch free movies on YouTube across a variety of genres and countries.
While YouTube surely needs no introduction, we’ll just remind you that it requires no registration (though you can get an account if you wish). Granted, ads on YouTube can be as bothersome as any other streaming platform, but there are various ways to get rid of them.
YouTube Premium is a paid subscription that does away with ads, among other perks, and if you don’t want to pay, plenty of online tutorials explain how to get rid of YouTube ads. Ad annoyance comes at 5; it serves over 2 billion users monthly (still low numbers for the world’s leading video platform), requires no registration, and works with VPNs.
17. Megashare
| Number of monthly visitors | VPN compatibe | Ad annoyance |
| 49K | Yes | VPN compatible |
Megashare is among the top alternatives to Putlocker website because of its vast library of TV series and movies, including many international films. The fans love this site. It updates its lists to HD as soon as they’re available. The Top Movies and Top TV Series sections will give you something to look at during the weekends. It serves 45k monthly users with a five score for ad annoyance. It needs no registration and supports VPNs.
Note:
The website is non-HTTPS. So we recommend you to have a good antivirus installed on your device alongside being connected to VPN when using this site. While we didn’t find the site to be having malware or any other virus during our tests, not having HTTPS deployed is enough for you to take the best precautions.
18. 5movies
| Number of monthly visitors | VPN compatible | Ad annoyance |
| 34K | Yes | 2 |
5movies resembles many other best Putlocker alternative sites on the surface. But its minimal ad policy, among the most frustrating issues for users, sets it apart from the rest. Here, you won’t get a pop-up every time you click. Hence, your viewing experience is more about the movie you want to see than closing unwanted windows.
Another cool feature is the accurate categorization of titles, so it’s easy and fast for you to find something you want. The ad annoyance is at 2; it serves 28k users monthly, is good with VPNs, and needs no account. The site also has an alternate URL at 5movies.run.
19. Yidio
| Number of monthly visitors | VPN compatible | Ad annoyance |
| 68K | No, but VPNs’ split tunneling feature will do the trick for you | 3 |
Among the Putlocker safe alternatives, Yidio is probably the unique one. This site sorts all the content you find in almost all the leading streaming platforms on the web into a single centralized list. It’s more of a search engine than a viewing platform, so it will help you find the site that hosts the movie or the TV show you want to see.
It serves 63k viewers per month, requires an account, and is not friendly with VPNs. However, quality providers such as NordVPN and ExpressVPN work with it without issues.
20. Afdah
| Number of monthly visitors | VPN compatible | Ad annoyance |
| 242K | Yes | 3 |
Afdah will not give you the usually categorized content you’re used to from other websites. Instead, you will get a set of top recommendations arranged as thumbnails. However, you can still search for favorite movies and TV shows in the site’s search bar.
Alternatively, browse the Most Viewed, Recent Movies, Years, or Genre sections.
Quality is also a pro in Afdah as every stream is at least 720p, and the platform updates them into full HD as soon as possible.
21. Vumoo
| Number of monthly visitors | VPN compatible | Ad annoyance |
| 546K | Yes | 4 |
Vumoo has a viewer-approved interface with a friendly website and fewer irritating pop-ups. That’s why it gets a four for ad annoyance. The website needs no registration and works well with VPNs. It also has alternate URLs, such as vumoo.cc and vumoo.space.
22. MovieWatcher
| Number of monthly visitors | VPN compatible | Ad annoyance |
| 12.4K | Yes | 6 |
MovieWatcher’s interface is so sleek and clean that it makes searching for content a pleasant experience. The Most Popular section will reveal the movies and TV shows that are all the rage. Ad annoyance is at six; it serves only 8.2k monthly users, requires no account, and is friendly with VPNs.
23. Movie4u
| Number of monthly visitors | VPN compatible | Ad annoyance |
| 9.7K | Yes | 5 |
Movie4u organizes its movie and TV titles neatly in excellent, clean thumbnails. The catalog goes as far back as the 70s. Surprisingly, only 7k monthly users have discovered this site yet. It gets a five for ad annoyance, needs no account, and is good with VPNs.
24. WatchTVSeries
| Number of monthly visitors | VPN compatible | Ad annoyance |
| 28K | Yes | 6 |
If you’re not fond of movies and prefer TV shows instead, WatchTVSeries is an ideal Putlocker alternative. You can search the series you want according to the TV network it aired and the newest or upcoming episodes. Ad annoyance is a six; it has 20k unique monthly visitors, requires no account whatsoever, and is friendly with VPNs.
25. Movies123
| Number of monthly visitors | VPN compatible | Ad annoyance |
| 164K | Yes | 2 |
Pop-ups exist on this website, but not as much as on similar sites. That is why it’s the go-to Putlocker alternative for many couch potatoes. The homepage offers HD-quality movies and provides more movie information than most other sites. Movies123 gets an outstanding two for ad annoyance. The website serves 153k users monthly, needs no registration, and works fine with VPNs.
26. PopcornTime
| Number of monthly visitors | VPN compatible | Ad annoyance |
| 238K | Yes | 7 |
PopcornTime looks a bit weird in this list because it has a credible reputation among users, thus competing with the likes of Netflix or Amazon Prime Video.
The site contains movies and TV shows, allowing you to download your favorite films to watch offline.
The user interface is somehow different from what you would be used to at Putlocker. But it’s still one of the best options for free viewing movies and TV shows online. However, if you want to enjoy the PopcornTime experience, you must first download its proprietary software.
It’s pretty simple to install on most devices. Once done, you can search for the movie you wanted in the first place and play it. Because this is a different streaming platform, our annoyance index and other considerations do not apply.
27. YesMovies
| Number of monthly visitors | VPN compatible | Ad annoyance |
| 238K | Yes | 7 |
YesMovies is also an excellent alternative to Putlocker website. It leads the pack because it’s usually the first portal to provide the latest hit films. The interface is clean, intuitive, and easy to use, and single clicks will get you a long way on this website. However, be ready to tackle lots of annoying adverts here.
The best VPNs to use along with sites like Putlocker
A good VPN service is your best friend to ensure that your entertainment choices do not endanger your privacy, anonymity, and safety.
Here are the best VPNs you should use to stay safe while using any previously listed 27 Putlocker-like websites.
1. NordVPN
The best VPN to enjoy unrestricted streaming. Its optimized servers, obfuscation feature, diversified locations, and tremendous device compatibility make NordVPN unblock Putlocker anywhere globally.
6,800+ servers in 113 locations
P2P sharing
AES-256-bit encryption
Allows up to 10 simultaneous devices
Automatic kill switch
DNS/IPv6 leak protection
24/7 live chat
30 days money-back guarantee
Pros
- Unblocks many streaming platforms
- Reliable security and privacy features
- Does not keep logs
Cons
- The desktop app is little complicated
NordVPN is a favorite among experts. It has one of the world’s largest server networks, offering top-notch privacy features and astonishing speeds. You can hardly choose a better VPN to use with your favorite alternative to Putlocker or any other purpose you could have in mind.
And it is not too expensive either. The provider also offers a risk-free 30-day money-back guarantee, allowing you to test the service accordingly.
2. Surfshark
It empowers streaming fanatics to enjoy unlimited streaming on any platform – thanks to its stable connections, huge choice of locations, Camouflage Mode, and NoBorders Mode to evade geoblocks.
3,200+ servers in 100 countries
AES 256-bit encryption
P2P servers
MultiHop mode
DNS leak protection
Automatic kill switch
Camouflage Mode
Allows unlimited simultaneous connections
30-day money-back guarantee
Pros
- Unblocks streaming sites with excellent speed
- 24/7 live chat
- Anonymous payment options
Cons
- Some servers are occasionally slow
Surfshark gives you every feature you could expect from the industry’s premium providers but for a much lower fee. Notably, all of that comes with a no-risk 30-day money-back guarantee.
The only drawback of Surfshark is that its transfer rates are not as high as those in NordVPN. But it is still good enough to enjoy stream surfing without any issues.
3. ExpressVPN
High speeds, stable connectivity, nearly a hundred server locations, stealth browsing, and a strict no-logging policy – in short, ExpressVPN has everything you want in a VPN to enjoy streaming with privacy.
3,000+ servers in 107 countries
AES 256-bit encryption
DNS/IPv6 leak protection
P2P optimized servers
Network Lock feature
TrustedServer technology
Allows up to 8 devices simultaneously
30-day money back guarantee
Pros
- Excellent speed with reliable connectivity
- No-logs policy
- 24/7 customer support
Cons
- Relatively expensive pricing plans
ExpressVPN is one of the fastest VPN networks to support HD video streams without any problems. The app is easy to use and is available on every major platform for all kinds of devices, desktop or mobile. In addition, the VPN’s network is extensive, so you will surely find plenty of servers near you.
Besides, it includes a 30-day money-back guarantee and excellent 24/7 customer support.
FAQs
It is difficult to deduce anything about the status of Putlocker yet. The original Putlocker.com is no longer hinting that the platform is dead. However, the frequency with which new replica sites keep appearing online indicates the resilience of the official team behind Putlocker to stay online. Still, none of these sites has been attributed as “official” by the Putlocker founders.
The onus of safety when using Putlocker comes down to the users. Generally, Putlocker is an utterly safe streaming platform. However, since no Putlocker site looks official, users must stay careful when streaming and downloading content on this platform.
The alternative websites are perfectly legal as long as all their content is public.
Nothing can happen to you if you watch movies or TV shows in the public domain. However, you may have to deal with legal issues if you watch copyrighted material. While it’s exceedingly unlikely that the powers focusing on you would start a legal process, the risk is there knowing that thousands of users enjoy the content just as you do. Therefore, we recommend sticking with public-domain content if you want to see it from free streaming websites.
The legality of a streaming site mainly depends on how you use it. For example, streaming copyrighted content is illegal in most countries. So, if you use any streaming site to access copyrighted media, you’ll be in trouble. Thankfully, most streaming sites listed above are safe and legal to use.
