JustWatch is a search engine for streaming availability: type in a movie or TV show and it tells you which platforms carry it legally in your country — whether it's included with a subscription, free (with ads), or only available to rent or buy, along with prices and video quality for each option. It generally doesn't host playback itself; instead it links out to services like Netflix, Prime Video, and Apple TV. Its verifiable edge over similar tools is breadth: as of 2026-09-02, the company's latest quarterly report describes 60+ million monthly users across 140 countries, and its streaming charts page states that data is refreshed daily for 4,500 streaming services.

The JustWatch US homepage: a row of provider icons, filters, and a catalog sorted by popularity

The screenshot above shows the JustWatch US homepage. The row of provider icons at the top lets you select the services you already have; below it, filters narrow the catalog by release year, genre, price, rating, production country, runtime, and age rating. The US popular catalog lists more than 200,000 titles, sorted by popularity by default. Once your services are selected, the grid only shows titles available on them.

At a glance

  • URL: https://www.justwatch.com/ (per-market paths such as /us, /uk, /hk)
  • Type: streaming availability aggregator (not a streaming service itself)
  • Cost: free with ads; an optional JustWatch Pro monthly subscription removes ads and unlocks extra features
  • Account: not required for search; a free account syncs your watchlist and enables tracking notifications
  • Platforms: web, iOS, Android, plus TV apps for Apple TV, Android TV, and Fire TV
  • Operator: JustWatch GmbH, headquartered in Berlin, Germany

Background

JustWatch was co-founded in Berlin by David Croyé and five others, with development starting in 2014; the service launched in the US and Germany on February 5, 2015. In December 2019 it acquired GoWatchIt, a New York-based rival, gaining its first New York office in the process.

In its July 2026 quarterly report, the company calls itself "the world's largest streaming guide," with more than 60 million monthly users in 140 countries and over 200 employees across offices in Berlin, New York, Los Angeles, Paris, Munich, and London. Beyond the free consumer service, JustWatch runs two B2B lines: JustWatch Media, which uses viewing-interest data to run targeted marketing for entertainment brands — clients have included Universal, Paramount, and Sony (source: Wikipedia) — and data partnerships for content owners and publishers (see below).

Finding where to watch

On a title's detail page, JustWatch lists every legal way to watch it in your market: subscription (including add-on channels within platforms), free, ad-supported, rental, and purchase, each labeled with price, quality (SD/HD/4K), and audio/subtitle information. A "Leaving Soon" view highlights titles about to exit a service. Pages note when the data was last verified — US title pages observed in August 2026 reported having checked "360+ streaming services" — and a feedback link lets users report inaccuracies.

The Inception detail page: subscription, rental, and purchase options with prices

The screenshot above shows the US detail page for Inception. The header notes it is "currently on 8 streaming services & also available on disc." The offer list shows rentals on Prime Video and Apple TV ($4.99 each) and subscription entries via Philo and MGM+ with free-trial terms and monthly prices. Tabs switch between All, Subscription, Free, Rent, Buy, and Disc. The sidebar shows JustWatch user ratings, the IMDb score, and how long the title has spent in the charts; signed-in users can add it to a watchlist or mark it as seen.

Charts, tracking, and sports

Beyond search, JustWatch runs several companion tools:

  • Streaming Charts (justwatch.com/us/streaming-charts): daily, weekly, and monthly popularity rankings per country, computed from user behavior — clicking out to a service, adding to a watchlist, and marking titles as seen — with a stated sample of 60+ million users per month, updated daily for 140 countries.
  • TV show tracking and notifications: bookmark a show to get notified when new episodes or seasons arrive (source: official help); movies support "notify me when available" alerts.
  • Price Drops: a daily roundup of rental and purchase discounts across stores.
  • Sports guide (sports.justwatch.com): launched in September 2022, it shows which platform is streaming soccer, NFL, tennis, Formula 1, and other live events.
  • JustWatch TV (beta): the company's own free, ad-supported streaming and rental player, available on web, mobile, and TV apps for a small catalog — a first step from guiding to hosting playback (source: JustWatch TV page).

JustWatch Streaming Charts: the weekly movie ranking computed from user activity

The screenshot above shows the US weekly movie chart: the #1 title is highlighted with its rank change, and the table lists current rank, all-time highest rank, and the services carrying each title. The page states the charts are computed from the activity of more than 60 million monthly users, covering 140 countries and 4,500 streaming services.

Accounts and developer access

Core search works without registration. A free account syncs your watchlist across devices, tracks shows, and delivers availability notifications; TV apps pair with your account via a 4-digit code (source: official instructions).

The free tier includes ads. JustWatch Pro, a monthly subscription, removes ads across the site and apps (including ad breaks on JustWatch TV) and unlocks power-user features: advanced filters (production country, IMDb vote count, runtime), hiding seen or disliked titles, and more custom lists (2 free, 98 additional with Pro). The price is shown in the app or on the website, and Pro subscriptions are not available in every country.

For developers, JustWatch does not offer a free public API. Commercial access for content partners and publishers is provided through a Partner API, data dumps, and an embeddable widget, covering roughly 250,000 movies and 60,000 TV shows across 500+ providers in 100+ countries with daily updates, subject to branded link-back requirements. Unofficial community-built API wrappers exist but are unsupported.

Content and data policy

JustWatch states that it lists only 100% legal viewing options (official FAQ). It does not host the content itself — except for the small JustWatch TV (beta) catalog — and clicking an offer takes you to the provider to watch or complete a transaction. Title metadata, artwork, and availability data come from platforms and partners, and commercial redistribution of that data is licensed through the paid partnership channels above. On privacy, JustWatch GmbH's privacy policy states GDPR compliance and includes dedicated sections for California and other US state privacy rights.

Good use cases

  • Finding out where a specific movie or show is streaming right now, and whether it's included in a subscription or costs extra
  • Browsing only the catalogs of the services you already pay for, filtered by genre, year, rating, and more
  • Tracking ongoing shows and getting notified when new episodes land
  • Comparing rental and purchase prices across stores, or finding free (ad-supported) options
  • Checking which platform carries a live sports event
  • Citing its quarterly streaming market-share reports and popularity charts in media or industry analysis

Limitations

  • A guide, not a player: outside the small JustWatch TV (beta) catalog, you ultimately watch elsewhere; rentals and purchases are completed on the provider's side.
  • Daily refresh can lag reality: catalogs change faster than the data sometimes; title pages note when offers were last checked, and corrections rely on user reports.
  • Coverage depth varies by market: the US site monitors 360+ services, while smaller markets track far fewer, and availability in one country says nothing about another.
  • No mainland China edition: there is no Chinese mainland market directory (/cn returns 404); Hong Kong and Taiwan editions with Traditional Chinese interfaces exist (verified 2026-09-02), but their catalogs reflect local platforms and are of limited use to readers elsewhere.
  • Ads in the free tier, best features behind Pro: advanced filters, hiding seen titles, extra lists, and Leaving Soon alerts require a Pro subscription, which itself isn't sold in every country.
  • No free public API: individual developers have no sanctioned way to query the data directly, and unofficial wrappers risk breakage and terms-of-service issues.

Alternatives

  • Reelgood: a comparable availability aggregator focused mainly on the US market, with fewer countries covered.
  • Plex: best known as a media server, its Discover feature also offers cross-platform availability search integrated with personal libraries.

Sources