this post was submitted on 28 Mar 2026
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Frugal

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Streaming prices are out of hand. What are cheaper alternatives?

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[–] TheAlbatross@lemmy.blahaj.zone 111 points 1 week ago (2 children)

Just steal everything. The powers that be rob you blind every day in a death by a thousand cuts kinda way.

They don't give a fuck about you, don't pay them any courtesies in return.

[–] i078@europe.pub 26 points 1 week ago (1 children)
[–] SendMePhotos@lemmy.world 14 points 1 week ago (3 children)
[–] LadyMeow@lemmy.blahaj.zone 12 points 1 week ago

🏴‍☠️

[–] Glytch@lemmy.world 7 points 1 week ago (1 children)
[–] Darkassassin07@lemmy.ca 8 points 1 week ago

Do what you want, 'cause a Pirate is Free!

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[–] Paranoidfactoid@lemmy.world 66 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago) (2 children)

👉 Your local public library. You can borrow movies and books. Return them so someone else can use them too. Not run afoul of the law. Libraries are great!

[–] Catoblepas@piefed.blahaj.zone 11 points 1 week ago (3 children)

Your library probably even has digital access to thousands of movies, books, and songs, so you don’t even have to leave the house!

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[–] Acid_Burn@lemmy.dbzer0.com 36 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago) (1 children)

fmhy.net is a constantly updated directory of streaming piracy sites. Make sure you have an ad blocker and enjoy any show from any service instantly with no sign up.

[–] SilverFlame@lemmy.world 8 points 1 week ago

Beat me to it, love fmhy

[–] jtrek@startrek.website 28 points 1 week ago

Piracy.

Your public library.

Consume less media in general.

Buy stuff once (eg: DVDs, drm free music)

[–] Kolanaki@pawb.social 23 points 1 week ago (2 children)
[–] Olhonestjim@lemmy.world 6 points 1 week ago (1 children)

Take what you can. Give nothing back!

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[–] citizensongbird@lemmy.world 21 points 1 week ago (4 children)

How is this a surprise to anyone? They came to replace cable.

No, you still don't get it.

THEY CAME TO REPLACE CABLE.

[–] Darkassassin07@lemmy.ca 7 points 1 week ago

At this point I'd think a good number of folks either don't remember or simply never experienced cable/satellite TV.

Hard to compare against something you've never experienced.

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[–] Coskii@lemmy.blahaj.zone 20 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago) (2 children)

Spotify specific:

Use the free service to listen to new stuff in order to find groups you like. For the sub cost you can buy an album per month and have it forever. I work in areas that don't have great data connections, so having a local copy keeps the jams going without interruption or ads.

[–] bizarroland@lemmy.world 25 points 1 week ago (2 children)

Soma.fm and radio.garden are two streaming music service replacers. I have not used Soma, but Radio Garden is interesting because it gives you a map of every single participating radio station on the planet and lets you just scroll around the entire globe and pick a radio station.

[–] Zephorah@discuss.online 6 points 1 week ago

You deserve all the upvotes today, but I can only give you one.

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[–] one_old_coder@piefed.social 16 points 1 week ago (2 children)

Streaming is not frugal by definition since you don't own anything.

  1. Buy from Bandcamp, own and stream forever for a cheap price
  2. Torrent movies
  3. Torrent or Soulseek music
  4. Listen to podcasts, there are billions of those, it will last forever
  5. Free music on SomaFM, ByteFM, Radio Paradise, Shoutcast, etc.
  6. YouTube client like NewPipe if you have Android to listen to music
[–] eezeebee@lemmy.ca 16 points 1 week ago (4 children)

Buy from Bandcamp, own and stream forever for a cheap price

It's also important to emphasize that artists make more from a Bandcamp purchase than if you had just streamed a few times on Shitify.

You would need to listen to a song 400+ times on Spotify to earn the artist $1. Or you could throw them a buck on Bandcamp Friday and get to download it forever. Plus the artist gets paid immediately from the Bandcamp purchase instead of quarterly streaming royalties.

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[–] rangber@lemmy.zip 16 points 1 week ago

The sea awaits you.

[–] PP_BOY_@lemmy.world 15 points 1 week ago (1 children)

Self-hosting and/or use Kanopy if your local library offers it

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[–] shweddy@lemmy.world 13 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago)

Fmhy net

If buying isn't owning piracy isn't stealing

[–] apftwb@lemmy.world 13 points 1 week ago (1 children)
[–] Jackhammer_Joe@lemmy.world 8 points 1 week ago

This. This has always been the better alternative and this always will be the better alternative!

[–] BurgerBaron@piefed.social 12 points 1 week ago (5 children)

For streaming, Debrid and Stremio!

Your local public library!

Buying physical media.

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[–] The_Almighty_Walrus@lemmy.world 10 points 1 week ago (1 children)
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[–] glitchdx@lemmy.world 9 points 1 week ago

yo ho, all hands, hoist the colors high

heave ho, thieves and beggars, never shall we die

[–] remon@ani.social 8 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago) (1 children)

I'd say piracy ... but it's definitely not cheaper the way I do it (at least not short term).

But if you have some spare storage and don't need a huge amount of content, that's a good option.

[–] bunkyprewster@startrek.website 5 points 1 week ago (17 children)

What are you spending the money on? Physical sever devices? Electricity?

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[–] GreenBeanMachine@lemmy.world 8 points 1 week ago

And piracy is still free, just as it has been my whole life.

[–] eli@lemmy.world 7 points 1 week ago (1 children)

Qbittorrent and a VPN, I've been using Proton VPN and it's been good.

Save up for a 2 bay NAS and a couple hard drives once you cancel your subs, if you want to keep any content that is.

Plex is still a solid choice, but there's probably other self host media options now.

[–] AndyMFK@lemmy.dbzer0.com 8 points 1 week ago (3 children)

Jellyfin is generally what people are using now instead of Plex, including myself.

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[–] reddit_sux@lemmy.world 7 points 1 week ago (1 children)

Download it. If caught just say you are training AGI (Actual Genuine Intelligence) of your own.

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[–] Darkassassin07@lemmy.ca 6 points 1 week ago
[–] bizarroland@lemmy.world 6 points 1 week ago

Jellyfin on an old computer that you happen to have lying around is free.

You can get videos to watch by going to your library and checking them out and using MakeMKV to rip them to digital format and saving them to the Jellyfin server.

Alternatively, many thrift stores and pawn shops sell DVDs usually for a buck or two.

[–] alexquiniou@lemmy.zip 6 points 1 week ago

Cancel and setup a nas.

Truenas, openmediavault, unraid, yunohost. There are many option out there.

Many would gladly help you if needed. :)

I know this isn't the point, but has Spotify ever been good, as in a well designed UI? I feel like every time I've used it, there's been some bizarre design choice.

[–] LordCrom@lemmy.world 5 points 1 week ago (4 children)

Theoretically speaking...if someone wanted to search for torrents, where would one visit? Afaik, piratebay is long gone.

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🏴‍☠️ good ol' piracy will never let you down. 🏴‍☠️

[–] lightnsfw@reddthat.com 5 points 1 week ago

My VPN is as cheap as ever.

[–] RisingSwell@lemmy.dbzer0.com 5 points 1 week ago

Before I streamed music I'd just download it from YouTube at the low cost of free.

[–] neomachino@lemmy.dbzer0.com 5 points 1 week ago

I see a ton of people talking about setting up a nas and running Plex or Jellyfin, and i do prefer to store my own media but I've gotten so many more people to switch over since suggesting stremio.

People can take their current firestick or android tv, delete Netflix and Hulu and get stremio set up in 10 minutes. Pay $3/m for torbox and you get a pretty seamless streaming service.

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