The One With the Free Streaming: Here’s How to Watch ‘Friends’ Online
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Could there be better news for Friends fans?
This week, members of the Friends cast, including Jennifer Aniston, Courteney Cox, Lisa Kudrow, Matt LeBlanc, David Schwimmer and Matthew Perry all shared the teaser for the much-anticipated Friends: The Reunion special, which is finally happening on May 27th on HBO Max.
The special arrives almost 17 years since the finale of Friends aired in 2004. The show, which premiered in 1994, ran for 10 full seasons on NBC, and it recently made our list of the 100 Best TV Sitcoms of All Time. “The idea of friends being the family you choose had its power, but mainly because they were these Friends, played by these people,” wrote Rolling Stone‘s Chief TV Critic Alan Sepinwall.
Ahead of Friends: The Reunion later this month, here’s how to watch all the past episodes of Friends online with Monica, Ross, Rachel, Phoebe, Chandler and Joey from your own couch.
How to Watch Friends Online on HBO Max
You can stream every episode of Friends with an HBO Max subscription. The streaming service costs $14.99 a month, and you can binge all 10 seasons of the show with unlimited streaming, along with other acclaimed series like Insecure, The Sopranos and Curb Your Enthusiasm.
How to Watch Friends Free Online
Similar to Disney+, HBO Max doesn’t currently offer a free trial, but there’s still a way for you to stream all of the streaming service’s content for free without paying the standard $14.99 monthly subscription.
When you sign up for one of AT&T’s wireless phone, WiFi or TV plans, you’ll also get HBO Max included for free, which will let you watch Friends online free. You’ll want to sign up for AT&T’s Unlimited Elite phone, AT&T’s Internet 1000 WiFi and AT&T’s TV Choice plans, which all offer a free subscription to HBO Max. See the full list of plans here.
How to Watch Friends Without an HBO Max Subscription
Amazon
Aside from HBO Max, your best bet for watching the entire iconic series is by purchasing it on DVD with this 25th anniversary collection. When you buy it, you’ll always have access to the hit show at any time, even if you don’t have WiFi or don’t want to pay to subscribe monthly to HBO Max.
This box set gets you all all 10 season of Friends on Blu-ray or DVD, plus bonus behind-the scenes content, interviews and featurettes.
If your DVD-playing days are well behind you, you can still stream all the classic Friends episodes if you have an Amazon Prime account with Prime Video. You can buy each season of Friends on Prime for $19.99 each, or you can purchase specific episodes for $2.99 a piece, from memorable ones like when Phoebe performs “Smelly Cat” for the first time, to the one where Ross’ sandwich gets stolen or the one where a turkey gets stuck on Joey’s head.
Watching Friends on Prime is also a good option if you’ve never seen the show before and want to see what it’s all about. Once you download the episodes, they are yours to keep, so you can watch Friends online, on your TV or computer anytime you want.
Is Friends Still on Regular Cable?
There’s still a way for you to watch Friends and feel like you’re at Central Perk with the cast even if you don’t have an HBO Max or a Prime account.
TBS is airing a Friends marathon through June, playing every single episode in order, just like you would’ve watched them when they aired on TV (though this time, you don’t have to wait a week to watch the next episode).
You can sign up for a 7-day free trial for Hulu + Live TV, which lets you watch a ton of live TV, including access to channels like TBS, Bravo, CBS and ABC (though check ahead of time to see which ones are offered near you).
Another option: Sling TV is an easy way to watch channels like TBS if you’re not paying for a standard cable package at the moment, and you can sign up for a plan for just $10 for your first month of streaming.
