Affiliate links on Android Authority may earn us a commission. Learn more.
What is Xumo? Everything you need to know about the free streaming service
Published onApril 19, 2025
Premium streaming services like Netflix, Hulu, and Disney Plus continue to gain subscribers. However, free, ad-supported streaming video services like this one are taking off in popularity as well. One of the oldest of these kinds of services is Xumo. So, what is Xumo? Here’s everything you need to know!
If you just want to jump in and check out the service (remember, it’s free), you can watch Xumo right now on its website at the link below.
What is Xumo?
Founded in 2011, Xumo is a streaming service that offers thousands of movies and TV shows for free on various devices and platforms. It’s entirely free of charge and earns money by inserting video advertisements in the same ad slots as broadcast television.
It’s currently available in the United States, Canada, and the UK. In early 2020, Xumo was acquired by Comcast. Today, Xumo has 40 million monthly active users.
How does it work?
Like most streaming services, all you need to do is access the service from a computer, phone, or any other supported device, select the movie or TV show you want to watch, and start streaming. It also supports live TV, if you’re into that.
With Xumo, you can browse through over 300 channels of streaming content and 15,000 free on-demand shows and movies to find what you want to watch. You can filter the channel lineup so you can watch content in different categories. You can also adjust the lineup so it shows channels in alphabetical order, or in terms of their popularity. You can also go to the Discover section and browse through many different content categories.
Does the service run commercials?
Yes. In order to support itself, TV shows and movies on Xumo do run ads before and during their content. However, on average, the number of commercials is less than that of broadcast and basic cable TV shows.
Is Xumo worth it?
Since the service is free to access, there’s no harm in just trying out Xumo to see if it’s worth checking out as a Netflix alternative. While you will have to deal with commercials while watching movies and TV shows, you don’t have to pay a dime.
That said, you should keep in mind that most of Xumo’s content consists of older shows and movies. If you want the latest streaming content, you will still have to check out paid services like Netflix, Disney Plus, and others.
What platforms does Xumo support?
Xuma runs optimally on platforms built for it, like Xumo TV or the Xumo Stream Box. You can find them on Spectrum, or buy one directly from the website. You can stream shows and movies on a variety of platforms. You can also download Xumo Play for iOS and Android to watch its content on mobile devices. It’s available on Roku streaming sticks, set-top boxes, and TVs that have the Roku OS installed. The same goes for Amazon Fire TV-based sticks, set-top boxes, and TVs. The service is also available on Android TV-based devices such as the NVIDIA Shield set-top box.
Xumo supports casting to TVs via Google Chromecast and devices that have Chromecast built-in. It’s available for the Apple TV set-top boxes. You can stream the service on Samsung, Sony, and Vizio smart TVs. LG Smart TV users can download either the Channel Plus or LG Channels app (depending on your location), which are powered by Xumo.
PC owners can use their web browser to surf over to the Xumo site to sign up and watch content. Finally, Xumo is preloaded on the Comcast Xfinity and Flex cable TV boxes. The list continues to grow, but all the main platforms are covered; the new ones are much less popular.
Xumo movie lineup
The selection of movies on Xumo changes quite a bit. As a result, the movie lineup, both on its streaming channels and its on-demand library, will be different every month. You can watch everything from dramas to comedies to sci-fi films and independent movies on the service. While most of Xumo’s movies are older films, the service has been dipping its toes into offering exclusive original movies.
The 24/7 streaming channels also have dedicated channels for different movie genres. Recently, the channel lineup included Hallmark Movies and More, with a selection of films from the family-friendly Hallmark Channel. Recently, it added movies from indie film studio Magnolia Pictures, making this the first time the studio has offered movies to a free streaming service.
Xumo TV show lineup
The selection of TV shows on Xumo is a bit more stable. The service offers many older TV dramas and series, plus a few more recent shows. It includes classic shows like Family Affair and even The Joy of Painting with Bob Ross.
More and more channels are being added to Xumo. If you go into the Networks category you’ll find channels from a plethora of categories, including Action & Drama, News, Movies, Comedy, Sports, Combat Sports, and much more.
You can get content from various networks, including Crunchyroll, Universal, Court TV, britbox, ABC, NBC, UFC, and much more.
Xumo Radio
In March 2022, Xumo announced a partnership with iHeartRadio. This allows Xumo users to access several live radio stations from the iHeartRadio network. The available channels offer 90s music to listen to, along with hip-hop, country, alternative, Latin stations, and more.
Xumo streaming platform and Xumo Play
In November 2022, Comcast and the nation’s second-biggest cable TV provider, Charter, announced the next evolution of the Xumo brand. The joint venture of the two cable TV companies morphed Xumo from a free streaming service to an all-new streaming platform, similar to Roku, Google TV, and Amazon Fire TV. That means that Xumo has its own streaming TV OS, with its own branded devices and smart TVs.
So what about the Xumo free streaming service? It got rebranded as Xumo Play.
Best alternatives
Xumo is certainly not alone when it comes to free streaming services. Here’s a look at just a few of its rivals.
Crackle
One of the oldest of the free streaming services, Crackle not only has a solid amount of movies and TV shows to watch for free, but it also has a number of exclusive original films and series to stream. It also offers some extra features if you sign up for a free account, including parental controls.
Pluto TV
Like Xumo, Pluto TV also offers on-demand access to thousands of TV shows and movies and hundreds of “channels” that stream content 24/7. You can watch live news, movies in several different categories, TV shows like Star Trek, Three’s Company, and more, including kids and Spanish language channels.
Tubi TV
Fox-owned Tubi TV offers many new and classic shows and movies to stream on demand. The service is also ramping up its original content. Tubi TV also offers live local news from over 200 Fox TV affiliates across the United States.
Amazon Freevee
Amazon’s free content streaming service, previously known as IMDb TV, gained considerable popularity in the past few years. However, the service has now shut down. At least such is the case for the standalone service. All content has been migrated to Amazon Prime Video, under the content that is free with ads.
FAQs
Yes, the service offers 4K streaming.
Yes, you can share your account with others. That said, there is really no point in doing so, because the content is entirely free.
Yes, Xumo Play offers parental controls to restrict content and purchases.
Yes, there are ads while streaming shows and movies on Xumo Play. They usually last about the same as a standard broadcast TV commercial break, if not shorter. These ads are important to keep the service running, as content is free to the user.
Unfortunately, the service’s mobile apps do not currently support downloads of its shows. This is because the content is free and the service needs data to run advertising.
Xumo recommends download speeds of at least 10Mbps for the best experience.