Entertainment · alternatives
Alternatives to Showtime
21 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
- 21
- With a free tier
- 12
- Cheaper to start
- 7
- 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.
There is no free tier
The record for Showtime carries no free tier, so evaluating it means paying first. 12 of the 21 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
- Can be used without paying; Showtime cannot.
- Starts $2 a month dearer, at $12.99/month.
- 2 tiers to Showtime's 1.
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.
Ticket resale marketplace charging both buyers and sellers, with combined fees often a large share of face value
- Can be used without paying; Showtime cannot.
- Sold on a Free to browse, two sided transaction fees on buyers and sellers model rather than subscription.
- 2 tiers to Showtime's 1.
Free ad-supported streaming from Roku, with an optional paid live TV add-on layer
- Can be used without paying; Showtime cannot.
- Sold on a Free, ad-supported; individual paid channel add-ons model rather than subscription.
- 2 tiers to Showtime's 1.
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 | Free, then $12.99/month | Subscription | 2 | vs Showtime |
| CastroPodcast app with episode inbox | Free, then $24.99/year | - | 2 | vs Showtime |
| StubHub | Free | Free to browse, two sided transaction fees on buyers and sellers | 2 | vs Showtime |
| The Roku Channel | Free | Free, ad-supported; individual paid channel add-ons | 2 | vs Showtime |
| mpv | Free | Open source, no licence fee | 1 | vs Showtime |
| Infuse | Free, then $1.99/month | Per user per month | 3 | vs Showtime |
| IINA | Free | Open source, no licence fee | 1 | vs Showtime |
| Emby | Free, then $4.99/month | Freemium | 2 | vs Showtime |
| Crunchyroll | Free, then $7.99/month | Freemium | 3 | vs Showtime |
| Dailymotion | Free | Free | 1 | vs Showtime |
| Philo | $33/month | Per household per month, single plan | 1 | vs Showtime |
| fuboTV | $73.99/month | Per household per month, tiered plans | 3 | vs Showtime |
| DirecTV Stream | $89.99/month | Per household per month, tiered plans | 3 | vs Showtime |
| Disney+ | $7.99/month | Subscription | 2 | vs Showtime |
| ESPN+ | $10.99/month | Subscription | 2 | vs Showtime |
| Discovery+ | $4.99/month | Subscription | 2 | vs Showtime |
| Final Cut Pro | $12.99/month | - | 3 | vs Showtime |
| Adobe Premiere Pro | $22.99/month | - | 4 | vs Showtime |
| Apple Music | $10.99/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 (12)
These publish a tier that costs nothing, so they can be evaluated before any money changes hands.
Cheaper than Showtime (7)
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
- Infuse , Free, then $1.99/month
- Emby , Free, then $4.99/month
- Crunchyroll , Free, then $7.99/month
- Dailymotion , Free
- Disney+ , $7.99/month
- Discovery+ , $4.99/month
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 Entertainment category lists everything the directory holds, and best 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?
- 21 other 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?
- 12 of the alternatives listed here can be used without paying: Overcast, Castbox, Apple TV+, Castro, StubHub.
- Is there a cheaper alternative to Showtime?
- Yes. 7 of the alternatives below start under Showtime's $10.99/month: Overcast at Free, then $9.95/year, Infuse at Free, then $1.99/month, Emby at Free, then $4.99/month, Crunchyroll at Free, then $7.99/month.
- Why do people look for an alternative to Showtime?
- On the figures on record, 2 things stand out: 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 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, Entertainment, ordered by the aggregated rating on each entry. There is no editorial shortlist, and nothing on this page is paid: no sponsored placement 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 entertainment tool?
- No. It covers what this directory holds in the Entertainment category, 21 tools beside Showtime. The category page lists the rest of the catalogue as it grows.