We bring you a collection of the 14 best websites to watch anime online, many featuring some of the best anime in history. All these alternatives offer perfectly legal content to watch wherever you want, some where you’ll find your favorite anime and others where you can discover new ones.
We’re going to try to create a varied list, with free alternatives and paid ones so you can choose the one that best fits your needs. But what they all have in common is that they offer their content completely legally. We’ve even included some foreign content where you’ll need a VPN to watch them. All in the name of variety.
And as we always say in Xataka Basics, these are our proposals but they may not be all of them. So if you think we’ve missed any important service, we invite you to let us know your recommendation in the comments section. This way, all readers can enjoy your recommendations from our xatakeros community.
Table of Contents
Crunchyroll
It’s possibly one of the most well-known anime streaming services with the highest quality and quantity of content. It has a free version with ads, limited content, and lower resolutions where you can already explore part of the content, and also other paid plans.
The bad news is that most of the content is paid, you have to subscribe just like you do with Netflix and similar platforms. But if you want to pay to watch anime, it’s possibly the best option, with mobile and TV apps in addition to a web client, episode releases almost simultaneously with Japan, and an extensive catalog of iconic series and lesser-known ones.
Link: Crunchyroll.com
Pluto TV
The free platform Pluto TV has a large amount of content of all kinds in streaming. Among them, it also has two varied anime channels, plus some specific channels for particular series like Detective Conan, Avatar, or Inazuma Eleven.
In favor of this platform is that it’s accessible to everyone in free mode with ads, and that it has applications for almost all systems. Against it is the fact that it has very, very little anime content, and if you’re looking for dedicated platforms, this one will probably fall short.
Link: Pluto.tv
Funimation
Funimation is another of the main services for consuming anime, and in countries like the United States, it’s an institution. You’ll be able to watch part of its content for free with ads, although if we want to see the entire catalog and the most recent episodes of our favorite anime, we’ll need to subscribe.
We’ve included this service because it’s very important and powerful, although it has bad news: It’s not officially available in Spain, and although it’s a completely legal service, you’ll need to use a VPN to access it and its catalog.
Link: Funimation.com
Retro Crush
It’s a free streaming platform that focuses on classic anime. This means you won’t find currently successful series, but you’ll see series from the past, like Lupin III, Kimba the White Lion, or Astroboy among many others.
You’ll be able to watch the content from their website or with multiple applications for mobile and TV systems. In addition to its free mode, it also has a paid one. The problem is that the website is American and the subscription is paid in dollars, plus their applications aren’t available in Spain and you may need a VPN to access.
Link: Retrocrush.tv
CONtv + Comics
This is a free service with ads in English, but which you can access from Spain. Its operation is classic, with part of its catalog available to watch for free and another paid part. They’re mainly movies, among which we find an anime section.
Here, you should keep in mind that there’s little content, and that the anime movies it has are mainly old ones. Additionally, it’s a website more focused on B-series cinema, with independent horror fantasy and some rather peculiar content. But it can be interesting if you want to watch some of its anime, like Street Fighter II, Ghost Messenger, or Samurai Troopers.
Link: Contv.com
Rakuten TV
Rakuten TV is a service with free content with ads, and that includes some anime. But there’s bad news. There are only two series to watch for free, and the rest are anime movies you can buy or rent. The rental price isn’t very expensive, you can watch movies like Dragon Ball Super: Broly or the 2017 Mazinger Z for just a couple of euros.
Link: Rakuten.tv
Hidive
We could call this service another Netflix of anime, a streaming service specialized in offering Japanese animation content. The bad news is that it’s a paid service, and despite being viewable from Spain, it doesn’t have content in Spanish, the page is in English, and the subscription is paid in dollars.
In this service, you can find many series and movies, all anime, being able to choose to watch them in original version subtitled in English or dubbed in English. In any case, it will always tell you what content is dubbed, although don’t expect to find them in Spanish.
Link: Hidive.com
Selecta Visión Simulcast
Selecta Visión is one of the companies in charge of putting great anime series on sale in Spain, although they’re always paid and in physical format. So why is it on this list? Well, because it has a peculiarity, and that’s that from time to time it uses its Simulcast function to broadcast anime online and completely free for anyone who’s paying attention.
Here, what you should know is that they don’t have any kind of catalog. Suddenly they announce a series, and put it on streaming broadcasting one episode each week. Only one series at a time, and which then probably ends up disappearing because they launch it in physical format.
Link: Simulcast.selecta-vision.com
Atresplayer
The streaming service created by the Atresmedia group has a large amount of content from the audiovisual company, including the Kidz channel section which includes some anime series in addition to other animation content. Atresplayer has apps on almost all platforms, which will make accessing the content much easier for you.
To watch this content you’ll need to register, although you’ll be able to watch almost everything with ads using the free account. Not all series are complete, but you can entertain yourself watching some modern titles like Pokémon, but especially classics like Heidi or Marco.
Link: Atresplayer.com
Tivify
Putting Tivify on this list is a bit like cheating, but it’s never too much to know. We could say that all the anime broadcast on DTT you can watch on Tivify, since it allows you to watch all DTT channels with a free account. It also has paid plans with more channels. None are specific to anime, but you can watch live broadcasts from any DTT channel.
Link: Tivify.es
Netflix
Netflix is one of the main streaming platforms, and one of the bets it’s making in terms of content is creating its own anime series. Therefore, on this platform you’ll find both some well-known anime series and movies as well as others of its own production.
Obviously, we’ve left Netflix for almost the end of the list because it’s a service without a free mode, so you’ll have to pay yes or yes in case you’re interested in accessing its catalog.
Link: Netflix.com
Prime Video
Amazon’s series and movie streaming service also has a rich anime catalog, and much of this anime is top-tier. The negative part is that it’s a paid service, although it’s linked to Amazon Prime and overall is quite an affordable price, and the positive part is that if you don’t have Prime it has a one-month trial period to watch your favorite anime or see if it convinces you to pay for the subscription.
Link: Primevideo.com
Jonuplay
Jonuplay is another streaming platform dedicated to anime. It’s not too big, doesn’t have a free mode and you have to pay yes or yes, but the subscription is just 4 euros per month or 40 per year, so maybe you’ll consider giving it a chance.
But it also has some advantages. You’ll be able to watch unreleased series at the same pace as in Japan in original version with subtitles, and it also has its own catalog of unreleased anime dubbed in Spanish. Additionally, you’ll find both modern content and some classics.
Link: Jonuplay.com
Tubi TV
Tubi TV is the largest free movie and series streaming platform in the United States, and among its content you can also find anime. The bad thing is that it hasn’t officially arrived in Spain, so if you want to enjoy its content you’ll have to use a VPN.
Link: Tubi.tv
Bonus: Anime-Planet
And to finish, a gift. If you’re a big anime fan but have trouble keeping track of everything you’ve watched, this is a website that will help you. With it, you can keep track of the anime you watch and the manga you read, having files to have all the information about each of them.
Therefore, you’ll be able to get information about each anime, and you’ll be able to rate them or leave reviews to remember which ones you liked most or what other people think about them. Additionally, the website will also offer you personalized recommendations based on the content you’ve watched and liked.
Link: Anime-planet.com