Amazon Pulling the Plug on Beloved Free Streaming App in August

Amazon is officially shutting down Freevee, its free, ad-supported streaming service, in August. The company plans to shift its focus to consolidating content under its flagship platform, Prime Video.

Freevee originally launched in 2019 under the IMDb TV name, offering free streaming access to movies, TV shows, and even original series, no subscription required. It became a go-to for budget-conscious streamers looking to avoid monthly fees while still catching titles like Bosch: Legacy, Judy Justice, and Sprung.

Now, Amazon is retiring the standalone Freevee app but not its content. Users will still be able to watch the same shows and movies for free, with ads, via the Prime Video platform, even without a paid Prime membership.

“Prime Video is the new exclusive home for Freevee TV shows, movies and Live TV,” Amazon said in a notice sent to users. The transition is expected to be complete by the end of August.

The decision comes months after Amazon introduced advertisements across all Prime Video programming in January 2024, giving users the option to pay an extra $2 per month to watch ad-free. A standard Prime membership costs $15 a month, or users can opt for a standalone Prime Video subscription for $9.

Amazon had hinted at this move last fall, signaling a desire to “deliver a simpler viewing experience” by streamlining its services, CNBC reported. 

With the media landscape increasingly crowded, and subscription fatigue on the rise, Amazon appears to be following the trend of platform consolidation, cutting down on fragmentation and nudging more users toward its core video service.

For Freevee fans, the main change will be fewer apps and a new interface, not a loss of access. If you’ve been streaming for free, you still can, but starting next month, you’ll need to head over to the Prime Video app instead.

The end of Freevee might feel like the end of an era, but it’s really just a reshuffle. And in an age where services seem to disappear without warning, keeping the content alive, even under a new name, is a rare win.