Media & Entertainment · alternatives
Alternatives to Showtime
20 media & entertainment tools sit alongside Showtime in this directory. Below is what separates each from Showtime on the figures we hold, price, model, tier count and rating, and a direct comparison for every one.
- Alternatives listed
- 20
- With a free tier
- 9
- Cheaper to start
- 16
- Showtime starts at
- $10.99/month
Why people look past Showtime
Only what the record supports. Each point below is a figure on the Showtime entry measured against the tools listed beside it.
It costs more than the category median
Showtime starts at $10.99/month. Across the 15 media & entertainment tools listed beside it that publish a price, the median entry point is $7.99/month.
There is no free tier
The record for Showtime carries no free tier, so evaluating it means paying first. 9 of the 20 alternatives below can be used without paying.
There is only one tier
Showtime publishes a single plan, Showtime Standalone at $10.99/month. There is no smaller tier to drop to if the fit is wrong or the budget moves.
What each alternative does differently
Ordered by the aggregated rating on each catalogue entry. Differences are drawn from price, pricing model, tier count and rating, the fields the category listing carries. For a feature-level difference, follow the head-to-head link on each card: those pages read both full records.
The best podcast app for iPhone
- Can be used without paying; Showtime cannot.
- Starts $1.040000000000001 a year cheaper, at $9.95/year.
- 2 tiers to Showtime's 1.
Podcast & radio app for everyone
- Can be used without paying; Showtime cannot.
- 2 tiers to Showtime's 1.
Original stories from the most creative minds
- Starts $1 a month cheaper, at $9.99/month.
Podcast app with episode inbox
- Can be used without paying; Showtime cannot.
- Starts $13.999999999999998 a year dearer, at $24.99/year.
- 2 tiers to Showtime's 1.
Your personal entertainment server
- Can be used without paying; Showtime cannot.
- Starts $6 a month cheaper, at $4.99/month.
- Sold on a freemium model rather than subscription.
- 2 tiers to Showtime's 1.
The ultimate entertainment center
- Can be used without paying; Showtime cannot.
- Starts $10.99 a month cheaper, at Free.
- Sold on a free model rather than subscription.
Every Showtime alternative at a glance
A dash means the catalogue entry carries no figure, not that the answer is nothing.
| Tool | Entry price | Model | Tiers | Head to head |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Showtime (this page) | $10.99/month | Subscription | 1 | |
| OvercastThe best podcast app for iPhone | Free, then $9.95/year | - | 2 | vs Showtime |
| CastboxPodcast & radio app for everyone | Free | - | 2 | vs Showtime |
| Apple TV+Original stories from the most creative minds | $9.99/month | Subscription | 1 | vs Showtime |
| CastroPodcast app with episode inbox | Free, then $24.99/year | - | 2 | vs Showtime |
| Emby | Free, then $4.99/month | Freemium | 2 | vs Showtime |
| Kodi | Free | Free | 1 | vs Showtime |
| Jellyfin | Free | Free | 1 | vs Showtime |
| Dailymotion | Free | Free | 1 | vs Showtime |
| Crunchyroll | Free, then $7.99/month | Freemium | 3 | vs Showtime |
| IMDb TV (Freevee) | Free | Free | 1 | vs Showtime |
| HBO Max | $9.99/month | Subscription | 3 | vs Showtime |
| Discovery+ | $4.99/month | Subscription | 2 | vs Showtime |
| Paramount+ | $5.99/month | Subscription | 2 | vs Showtime |
| Audible | $7.95/month | Subscription | 2 | vs Showtime |
| ESPN+ | $10.99/month | Subscription | 2 | vs Showtime |
| Criterion Channel | $10.99/month | - | 2 | vs Showtime |
| Hulu | $7.99/month | Subscription | 3 | vs Showtime |
| MUBI | $7.99/month | - | - | vs Showtime |
| Disney+ | $7.99/month | Subscription | 2 | vs Showtime |
| BritBox | $6.99/month | Subscription | 2 | vs Showtime |
Ratings are aggregated from third-party sources and imported with each catalogue entry; Softwr hosts no reviews of these products. How each figure is used is set out on the Showtime badges page.
Cheaper ways to solve the same problem
Free to start (9)
These publish a tier that costs nothing, so they can be evaluated before any money changes hands.
- Overcast , Free, then $9.95/year
- Castbox , Free
- Castro , Free, then $24.99/year
- Emby , Free, then $4.99/month
- Kodi , Free
- Jellyfin , Free
- Dailymotion , Free
- Crunchyroll , Free, then $7.99/month
Cheaper than Showtime (16)
Entry price under Showtime's $10.99/month. The record does not say what unit that price is charged in, so confirm per-seat versus flat rate before comparing budgets.
- Overcast , Free, then $9.95/year
- Apple TV+ , $9.99/month
- Emby , Free, then $4.99/month
- Kodi , Free
- Jellyfin , Free
- Dailymotion , Free
- Crunchyroll , Free, then $7.99/month
- IMDb TV (Freevee) , Free
What you would be giving up
Showtime is most often brought in for premium streaming, sports watching. Anything replacing it has to cover the ones you actually depend on, and a cheaper tool that misses one of them is not cheaper.
Two things this page cannot settle. It compares on price, model, tier count and rating, because those are the fields the category listing carries, feature-level differences need both full records, which is what the head-to-head pages load. And the ratings are third-party aggregates imported with each entry rather than reviews written here, so a 0.2 difference between two tools is noise rather than a finding.
If Showtime is broadly right and the question is cost, the Showtime pricing breakdown covers every tier and what each one adds. If you want the whole field rather than a shortlist, the Media & Entertainment category lists everything the directory holds, and best media & entertainment tools ranks them.
Showtime runs on web, ios, android, smart-tv. Platform coverage is not carried on the category listing for the alternatives, so it is one more thing to check on each head-to-head page rather than here.
Questions about Showtime alternatives
- What are the main alternatives to Showtime?
- 20 other media & entertainment tools are listed in this directory, led by Overcast, Castbox, Apple TV+, Castro. They are ordered by the aggregated rating on each catalogue entry, not by any Softwr ranking.
- What is the best free alternative to Showtime?
- 9 of the alternatives listed here can be used without paying: Overcast, Castbox, Castro, Emby, Kodi.
- Is there a cheaper alternative to Showtime?
- Yes. 16 of the alternatives below start under Showtime's $10.99/month: Overcast at Free, then $9.95/year, Apple TV+ at $9.99/month, Emby at Free, then $4.99/month, Kodi at Free.
- Why do people look for an alternative to Showtime?
- On the figures on record, 3 things stand out: it costs more than the category median; there is no free tier; there is only one tier. Each is set out with the numbers behind it above.
- What would I give up by switching from Showtime?
- Showtime is most often brought in for premium streaming, sports watching. Anything you replace it with has to cover the ones you actually rely on, the side-by-side comparisons linked from each alternative below put the two feature records against each other.
- Is there an open-source alternative to Showtime?
- None of the media & entertainment tools listed here are recorded as open source. That is what the licence field on each entry says, and the field is not always filled in, so it is worth checking directly for any tool you are serious about.
- How were these Showtime alternatives chosen?
- They are the tools filed in the same category, Media & Entertainment, ordered by the aggregated rating on each entry. There is no editorial shortlist, and nothing on this page is paid: no sponsored slot runs on alternatives pages and the order cannot be bought. Softwr has not used these products.
- Where can I compare Showtime against one of these directly?
- Every alternative below has a side-by-side page against Showtime covering price, platforms, features and what each one is used for. Those pages read the full record for both products rather than the summary shown here.
- Does this list cover every media & entertainment tool?
- No. It covers what this directory holds in the Media & Entertainment category, 20 tools beside Showtime. The category page lists the rest of the catalogue as it grows.