Those who have ever used JustWatch to find out if a movie was on Netflix, Prime Video, Movistar Plus+ or Filmin will find an important difference from now on: some titles can now be played directly without leaving JustWatch. The company has launched JustWatch TV, its first streaming service, with Spain among the initial markets alongside the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, Ireland, Germany, Austria, Switzerland, France, Italy, Australia, and New Zealand. The Spanish version is currently in beta phase and JustWatch maintains that its full launch will take place during this month of October.
The main novelty is that it will not operate exclusively through a new monthly fee. JustWatch TV combines three different forms of access: free content funded by advertising, movies and series that can be rented individually, and an ad-free subscription mode. Everything will be integrated into the website and in the current JustWatch apps for mobile devices and televisions, so the company does not present the service as a separate platform that needs to be downloaded separately.
What can be watched for free on JustWatch TV
The free catalog is the main entry point. JustWatch explains that it offers full movies and series without the need to pay for each title, in exchange for including ads during playback. As of this October 3rd, the Spanish page of JustWatch TV features around 1,100 titles, although the catalog is still growing and may change as the launch progresses.
Among the movies that are available for free on the service are titles from very different eras and genres. It is possible to find classics like "To Kill a Mockingbird," "Charade," "Night of the Living Dead," or "Perversity", alongside more recent productions like "Carmen and Lola" or "The Law of Tehran". The platform also includes documentaries, independent films, and works that have gone through festivals, although for now the weight of the catalog clearly falls on the movies.
Specifically, the Spanish version currently counts more than a thousand movies and a few dozen series, so one should not expect a catalog equivalent to that of Netflix, Prime Video, or Disney+. JustWatch itself also warns that its service does not currently have major recent releases within the free selection.
Free does not mean that everything on JustWatch is
This is probably the point that can generate the most confusion. The more than 74,000 titles that appear in the Spanish JustWatch search engine do not automatically form part of JustWatch TV. The original function of the platform continues to operate: when someone searches for a movie, the page still indicates whether it is available on Netflix, HBO Max, Prime Video, Filmin, Movistar Plus+ or any other service.
Only when the title appears available on JustWatch TV can it be played directly within the new service. If it is listed with the indication "Free," it can be watched without payment although with advertising; if it appears as a rental, it will be necessary to pay the indicated amount; and if it is only available on an external platform, the user will continue to be sent to that provider as before.
JustWatch aims to precisely take advantage of that combination. Instead of replacing its search engine with a new platform, it wants the user to search for a movie, discover where it is available and, when JustWatch has the rights, start watching it immediately in the same place.
Paid content: rental per movie
The second modality is demand rental, known in the industry as TVOD. In these cases, it is not necessary to subscribe to a monthly plan: the user pays only for the movie they want to watch and has it for the period established in each rental.
This option is designed especially to expand the catalog with movies that are not part of the free offer and to incorporate more recent titles as they become available for digital rental. It is a model similar to that used by Apple TV, Prime Video or Rakuten TV when they allow renting a movie independently of their respective subscriptions.
Therefore, that JustWatch TV can be used for free does not mean that all its future catalog will be free. The company intends to simultaneously maintain movies financed through advertising and others that require an individual payment.
There will also be a subscription to remove ads
The third option will be a subscription without ads. Those who do not want interruptions will be able to pay a fee to access the corresponding catalog without ads, as the company itself has explained. However, JustWatch has not yet published the final price of this modality for the full launch on its Spanish page.
This means that the model resembles more a combination of several platforms than a traditional Netflix: you can enter for free, you can pay for certain titles, and you can hire a premium mode to remove advertising. The proportion of content included in each option may change as JustWatch signs new agreements.
Paramount and New Regency, among its first partners
To build the catalog, JustWatch has closed agreements with companies such as Paramount, New Regency, Fremantle, Bleecker Street, and Vortex Media, which the company plans to add new studios and distributors. The announcement of the service was made coinciding with TIFF: The Market, the professional market of the Toronto International Film Festival.
The company also starts with an advantage that many new platforms do not have: it already has a huge amount of information about what viewers are looking for. JustWatch claims that its guide receives more than 50 million monthly users and tracks more than half a million movies and shows available on more than 1,500 streaming services from different countries. The intention is to use that aggregated data on searches and popularity to decide which content to incorporate into JustWatch TV.
No need for another application
Another difference compared to the usual platform launches is that it will not be necessary to install a specific application called JustWatch TV. The player is integrated within the JustWatch applications and website, including compatible television devices. The Spanish page also allows linking the television application via a four-digit code associated with the user's account.
In this way, the transition between searching and playing is reduced to a few steps. If the content belongs to the free catalog, it is enough to select JustWatch TV as the provider and start playback; if it requires rental, the corresponding price will appear; and if it is on another platform, JustWatch will continue to show where it can be viewed.
Is JustWatch TV really free?
Yes, but only a part of its offer. The catalog financed with ads can be viewed without paying a subscription, while certain movies may require a rental and there will also be a payment option for those who want to consume the content without ads. The company is still expanding the Spanish library and has not communicated a definitive official price for that subscription.
The beta version already allows one to get an idea of the model: classics, independent cinema, documentaries, and catalog productions predominate over major releases. "To Kill a Mockingbird," "Carmen and Lola," "Charade," "Night of the Living Dead," or "The Law of Tehran" are some of the titles that can be found at no cost, while the rental offer seeks to cover movies that are outside of that free library.
JustWatch thus enters a different territory than it occupied until now. The website that for years served to know where to watch a movie wants to also become the place to watch it, but without abandoning its search engine. In Spain, the result will be a hybrid platform: a free part with ads, another for rental, and a third for subscription, all within the same service.