The Best Anime Streaming Services of All

From the moment Astro Boy first aired on NBC in 1963, anime has been a part of American TV-watching habits, whether audiences knew they were watching anime, or thought it was just another cartoon. But we’re long past the times where anime shows were reedited and repackaged into entirely new shows like Robotech and Voltron. And, for the most part, we’ve moved beyond the dark days of groan-inducing censorship and mistranslations, even if the differences still persist.

These days, however, anime is so popular that it’s become a part of nearly every major streaming service’s offering. You can usually watch the latest episodes of your favorite show mere hours after their initial Japanese broadcast, whether at niche, dedicated streaming services or at the larger players acquiring major simulcast licenses and financing original productions. That being said, as streaming companies have come to understand the business opportunities that hoards of anime fans represent, corporate mergers have led to the end of streamers like VRV and Funimation. Despite closures like those, each platform usually has its own set of exclusive titles, meaning anime fans have more choices to make than ever before if they want to catch their favorite shows.

That’s where we come in. The list below breaks down the many streaming services offering anime shows and movies, and we’ve split it up between the many services specifically made for anime fans and the general streamers that feature large anime hubs and libraries. Here’s what each one has to offer.

Streaming options tailored for anime lovers

Crunchyroll

What Netflix is to streaming, Crunchyroll is to anime streaming. This is where you go if you want the single biggest library of titles, where you find both Jujutsu Kaisen and Solo Leveling streaming right next to Planetes, Ping Pong the Animation, and the original Dragon Ball. Every new season brings dozens of new and returning anime, most of them streaming exclusively on this platform, giving you more anime than you can possibly watch. This includes some of the best anime of 2024, like Yatagarasu: The Raven Does Not Choose Its Master, as well as every episode of One Piece and some of the most exciting series we’ve already seen in 2025.

Even if anime hits like Attack on Titan and Dan Da Dan can be found on other platforms, Crunchyroll’s biggest strength is its library of exclusives, one that also boasts original productions like Shenmue: The Animation.

Availability and support: Crunchyroll is available on consoles (including the Nintendo Switch, which doesn’t offer many streaming services), mobile devices, Apple TV, Chromecast, Roku, and Amazon Fire. The app is also available on Samsung, Philips, and LG Smart TVs as well as the Apple Vision Pro. Crunchyroll is also a rare streamer with subtitles and dubbing in multiple languages available worldwide (not just geo-locked to your location) including Spanish, German, Russian, and Arabic.

Cost: The service has an ad-supported free tier, but it is severely limited. If you want to watch the entire Crunchyroll catalogue, including new episodes, you need a premium subscription. The premium plans start at $8 a month and go up to $15 a month for multiple devices, offline viewing, and more.

HIDIVE

If you’re looking for somewhat more mature anime, HIDIVE is the service for you. Rather than prioritizing titles about high-schoolers with superpowers, this streamer prides itself in a more focused library that offers edgier shows like Dororo and the original When They Cry, or outright disturbing yet intriguing titles like Elfen Lied and Made in Abyss. It even has classic shows like earlier Lupin the Third and Princess Tutu.

And for those not looking forward to straight mature content, HIDIVE’s other specialization is its library of shojo anime that’s aimed at teenage girls. Even if shows like Dragon Ball are missing here, you will find K-On!, the great Oshi No Ko, and even Hideaki Anno’s first masterpiece, Gunbuster. In a way, HIDIVE is the Nintendo to Crunchyroll’s Xbox. The app is somewhat lackluster and offers no offline viewing, but many titles offer subtitles in multiple languages.

Availability and support: The app is available on mobile, Chromecast, Apple TV, Android TV, Roku, and Xbox One (sorry, PlayStation gamers).

Cost: The HIDIVE subscription is one of the cheaper ones at $6 a month or $60 a year.

RetroCrush

If you yearn for the good ol’ days, this is the anime streamer for you. RetroCrush focuses not on buzzy new titles, but rather the bloody, sexy, often subversive anime from the time the medium was an underground obsession for American fans. That means entries like Ninja Scroll and Great Teacher Onizuka, but also the notoriously unhinged English dub of Ghost Stories and Aim for the Ace!. It’s a great place to discover shows like Lady Oscar: The Rose of Versailles and the original Astro Boy — classics known for their influence on future generations.

What RetroCrush lacks in fancy aesthetics or wider platform support, it compensates for with a “randomize” button that replaces hours of deciding what to watch with just the click of a button — kind of like channel surfing, but for anime. Likewise, the service’s many themed collections offer the kind of curation bigger streamers don’t have.

Availability and support: RetroCrush is only available on mobile, web browser, Roku, and Amazon Fire TV.

Cost: The service is free, but if you want an ad-free experience or some of the most premium titles, a subscription is $5 a month or $50 a year.

The mainstream services great for watching anime

Netflix

Do you really need someone to pitch you on Netflix? Of course you don’t, but what may actually surprise you is that Netflix has a pretty great anime library that includes both modern classics like Hunter x Hunter and recent hits like Frieren: Beyond Journey’s End. Still, where Netflix shines the most is in its library of exclusives — both original productions and acquisitions.

Like Crunchyroll, Netflix has joined the seasonal simulcast game, becoming the only place you can stream new episodes of the masterpiece that is Orb: On the Movements of the Earth, as well as the Ranma 1/2 remake. Through the streamer’s partnership with NipponTV, this is also the one place to stream Naoki Urasawa’s phenomenal Monster. You can also stream the hugely influential Neon Genesis Evangelion exclusively on Netflix. Then you have the original productions. Since the debut of Devilman Crybaby, Netflix sort of revived the model of ‘80s “original video animation” (or “OVA”) which saw plenty of short auteur-driven anime not limited by budget, rating system or censorship. From the masterclass of storytelling that is Pluto, to the delightful Pokémon Concierge, Netflix constantly releases stunning new shows that push the medium forward while also producing some stunning collaborations with impressive studios like Scott Pilgrim Takes Off and Cyberpunk Edgerunners.

The biggest downside to Netflix’s model used to be the so-called “Netflix jail,” where new episodes of a show would take months to be released outside of Japan, but that thankfully seems to be a thing of the past. Nowadays, we get shows like Delicious in Dungeon not only getting new episodes out the same day as Japan, but even same-day dubs alongside the subbed version. Netflix seems to be Crunchyroll’s biggest competitor, and has now become a must-have streaming service for anime fans — alongside everyone else.

Availability and support: Netflix is widely supported and works on most devices.

Cost: Netflix’s price starts at $8 per month for the ad-supported plan, with the 4K plan setting you back $25 per month.

Hulu

Hulu is a great option for those who are either new to the medium or don’t want to commit to a dedicated streaming service just for anime. The streamer has a good collection of popular modern shows like Blue Lock, Attack on Titan, My Hero Academia, and Dragon Ball Daima but also older titles like Inuyasha and the original Ranma 1/2. It boasts an impressive collection of anime essentials, with a taste of every genre and era of the medium.

Hulu now has exclusive titles too, joining the anime streaming wars with shows like Undead Unluck, the hilarious Power Rangers parody Go! Go! Loser Ranger!, and the Bleach revival Thousand-Year Blood War. The big problem with Hulu is that the service often suffers from subtitling issues as well as big delays like Netflix used to. Internationally, all Hulu anime are available on Disney+.

Availability and support: Hulu works on most devices (including the Nintendo Switch), but it only offers English subtitles.

Cost: A Hulu subscription starts at $10 a month (or $100 for a year) for the ad-supported plan, or $19 /month with no ads.

Max

Sadly, following Sony’s acquisition of Crunchyroll, Max has all but removed its anime library. What is still there, however, is not to be ignored easily. There’s the fact that Max has the exclusive streaming rights to the Studio Ghibli collection, which is worth the subscription price alone. Additionally, Max has exclusive titles in the form of Adult Swim anime productions like “what if John Wick was an anime ninja?” Ninja Kamui, as well as the upcoming Lazarus by Cowboy Bebop creator Shinichiro Watanabe.

Availability and support: Max only offers subtitles in English, but it is available on all major devices.

Cost: The ad-supported plan is $10 a month or $100 for a year, while the ad-free plan starts at $17 a month or $170 a year.

Amazon Prime Video

Prime Video is a bit of a dark horse in the anime-streaming race as it doesn’t offer nearly as many titles as other services, but there are still some great shows to discover, from Banana Fish to Dororo. The real draw of this service, however, is the fact that Prime Video has the exclusive streaming rights to the Rebuild of Evangelion movies, and Hideaki Anno’s latest masterpiece Evangelion 3.0+1.0: Thrice Upon a Time.

Availability and support: Amazon Prime Video is available on most major devices, but its language support can vary by title.

Cost: Prime Video will set you back $9 a month, while Amazon Prime costs $139 a year and includes plenty of other perks alongside your Prime Video membership.

Tubi

A service that is completely free yet has a great selection of old and new anime, Tubi should not be overlooked when it comes to anime streaming. This ad-supported service includes classic movies like Akira, Paprika, and the fantastic anthology Memories (featuring shorts from the directors of Akira, Wolf’s Rain, and Perfect Blue). When it comes to TV shows, Tubi offers a variety of titles from Cardcaptor Sakura and Ouran High School Host Club to Yu-Gi-Oh! and Digimon Tri. As a rare exclusive, you can watch the 2022 movie Blue Thermal here. Even if Tubi may not necessarily make for the best single source of anime, it is both a great introduction to the medium and a free additional service to have in your anime journey.

Availability and support: Tubi works on most devices, despite its less-refined interface compared to most paid streaming apps. One aspect where it stands out from other services, even anime-centric ones is that it has a Spanish dub for several of their shows, including Knights of the Zodiac (a show that is infinitely superior in Spanish over English).

Cost: Nada, zip, zero, zilch.

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