Still, students looking to stretch their entertainment dollars do have a few options. Netflix no longer offers a free trial period but there are several fantastic alternatives that have student discounts, and some free TV and movie streaming sites that can save you even more money.
Get Friends or Family to Loan You Their Profile or Split Costs
Since Netflix stopped offering free trials, the best way to access Netflix on the cheap is to ask a parent or friend for a profile on their account. You might even consider offering to pay the difference to upgrade to a plan that would let you stream without interrupting their viewing. Also consider teaming up with fellow students who want to share a new account so you can split the cost together.
Netflix Alternatives With Student Discounts
Netflix creates a lot of original content, so there is no direct replacement for the service. You won’t find Netflix originals anywhere else. Netflix also has buys the rights to stream a lot of uber-popular television shows and movies they didn’t make themselves, but that’s always changing.
If you don’t have your heart set on a specific Netflix exclusive, some other streaming services offer student discounts.
These services have exclusive shows and movies, just like Netflix, and they all compete to offer the best selection possible. Here are the best alternatives to Netflix that offer student discounts:
What is the Hulu Student Discount?
Hulu is a streaming service that provides access to a lot of TV shows on the same day, or within the same week, that they first air. It also has original TV shows that you can’t get anywhere else. It doesn’t have a student discount, but it is available in a student bundle with Spotify and Showtime.
When you sign up for the Spotify student discount, you also get free access to Hulu and Showtime. The Hulu subscription is the ad-supported plan, and there is no option to pay extra to upgrade. The overall cost for all three services is about half of what you would pay for Hulu alone.
Spotify uses SheerID to verify student enrollment, so if you’ve already verified through SheerID for any other discount, you won’t have to do so again.
What is the YouTube Premium Student Discount?
YouTube Premium is a service that removes advertisements from regular YouTube videos, gives you access to original shows and movies, and includes the YouTube Music service. When you sign up, you can choose between a family plan discount and a student discount.
The YouTube Premium student discount saves you about 60 percent off the regular price, and it includes everything that you get with a standard subscription. It requires annual verification, so if you graduate or leave school, you’ll have to cancel or switch to a regular subscription.
YouTube uses SheerID to verify enrollment, so signing up is easy if you’ve ever verified through SheerID before.
What is the Paramount+ Student Discount?
Paramount+ gives you access to a live stream of your local CBS affiliate and on-demand access to a vast catalog of TV shows. It’s more limited than streaming services like Netflix or Hulu, but it’s also less expensive. Plus you can take advantage of the Paramount+ student discount to save even more.
The Paramount+ student discount saves you 25 percent off the regular price of a subscription plan. It’s only available with the limited commercials plan, so you can’t use it with the more expensive plan that gets rid of commercials altogether. Aside from that, it’s the same as a full-priced subscription.
CBS uses the SheerID service to verify enrollment and provide you with a student discount. If you’ve ever verified through SheerID before, you’ll be able to sign up for this service with your existing credentials.
Free Alternatives to Netflix
If you want to save even more money, there are several free streaming service alternatives to Netflix that allow you to stream TV shows and movies without paying anything at all. Some of these sites even let you watch without creating an account, let alone paying a monthly fee.
Sites like Tubi, Crackle, and Vudu all provide viable alternatives to Netflix without charging a subscription. These services are typically supported by ads, just like broadcast television.
