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ZDNET’s key takeaways
- Kanopy is a free streaming service with thousands of titles.
- All you need to sign up is a participating library card.
- You’re limited to 10 titles per month.
If you’re tired of ever-increasing streaming prices, there’s a good chance you have access to a free streaming service with a fairly impressive catalog of titles — all thanks to your local library.
Kanopy is a streaming app that’s available for iOS, Android, Apple TV, Chromecast, and Roku devices.
Also: The 7 best free video streaming services: Watch TV and movies for free
No charge, on-demand titles include popular movies like “The Wolf of Wall Street,” “The Truman Show,” and “Into the Wild,” classic films, PBS content, the Criterion Collection, the Great Courses, (which lets you stream over 18,000 lectures in history, science, philosophy, religion, literature, health, travel, and more) documentaries, world cinema, and more. There’s even a Kanopy Kids section and seasonal Halloween and Christmas selections that rotate out. The service adds new titles often.
How to stream Kanopy for free with your library card
Head to kanopy.com and click “Get Started” (you can also download the Android or iOS app). Choose “Find Your Library” and enter your ZIP code, or choose “Find Your University” if you’re a student or college professor. Not every library system is on the list, but Kanopy says more than 4,000 libraries around the world have access to its free streaming content.
If your local library isn’t listed, a large system near you probably offers a non-resident card. My county’s system wasn’t available, but I can get a card from the next county over for $40. That obviously takes away from the free aspect of the service, but it’s more than worth it for everything else included.
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Once you log in with your library card number, click “Continue” and finish creating your Kanopy account. Click “Sign Up,” and you’re ready to start streaming.
Kanopy notes that local libraries do have to pay a small fee each time you watch a title, so some counties do have a limit (most I’ve seen are around 10-12). Still, it’s an excellent value that lets you watch a few movies a week. When your time with each title is up, it disappears from your library. There’s nothing you need to do, and there are no late fees.
It seems like another service gets a price increase every month, so if you’ve been looking for a chance to save a little money streaming, this may be an opportunity.
