Technologies

Crunchyroll Kills Free Plan: What Anime Fans Should Know About the Switch

The ad-supported option disappears Dec. 31, meaning you’ll need a paid plan to keep watching.

Anime streaming service Crunchyroll, which offers shows such as My Hero Academia and One Piece, announced on Tuesday that it will shut down its ad-supported tier on Dec. 31. Viewers will now have to pay for a subscription if they want to keep streaming shows.

For years, Crunchyroll offered a rotating catalog of episodes, mostly older seasons and select shows, available for free with ads. But recent in-service messages alerted viewers that «Ad-supported streaming ends December 31, 2025.» After that date, anyone wishing to access the service will need a paid plan.

Don’t miss any of our unbiased tech content and lab-based reviews. Add CNET as a preferred Google source.

The existing subscription tiers remain unchanged. The entry-level Fan plan starts at $8 per month, while the Mega Fan ($12) and Ultimate Fan ($16) options add perks such as HD streaming, offline downloads and multi-device support.

The Crunchyroll free option had already been shrinking. Simulcasts and new episodes were removed from the free library as early as 2022, leaving only a minimal selection of titles, which has made some viewers unhappy. For many casual viewers or newcomers, the loss of the free viewing tier removes a low-barrier entry point that helped introduce them to anime.

If you still want to watch anime without paying, several other services continue to offer free, ad-supported streaming:

Tubi: A large selection of classic and older anime series and movies, all free with ads.
Pluto TV: Multiple 24/7 anime channels plus some on-demand titles.
RetroCrush: Specializes in classic and vintage anime; free with ads.
YouTube: Some studios (like Toei Animation and Gundam’s official channel) release episodes and whole series legally.

Selection varies, and none offer the same breadth of simulcasts and new releases that Crunchyroll provides, but for viewers who aren’t ready to subscribe, these platforms still offer ways to watch anime for free.

Technologies

Getting Older Messed With My Gaming. So I Changed How I Play

Technologies

Gamers Don’t Do Spring Cleaning, We Do Spring Upgrades With These Early Amazon Deals

Technologies

Today’s NYT Connections Hints, Answers and Help for March 18, #1011

Here are some hints and the answers for the NYT Connections puzzle for March 18 #1011.

Looking for the most recent Connections answers? Click here for today’s Connections hints, as well as our daily answers and hints for The New York Times Mini Crossword, Wordle, Connections: Sports Edition and Strands puzzles.

Today’s NYT Connections puzzle is pretty tricky, but musicians might find the blue group easy. Read on for clues and today’s Connections answers.

The Times has a Connections Bot, like the one for Wordle. Go there after you play to receive a numeric score and to have the program analyze your answers. Players who are registered with the Times Games section can now nerd out by following their progress, including the number of puzzles completed, win rate, number of times they nabbed a perfect score and their win streak.

Read more: Hints, Tips and Strategies to Help You Win at NYT Connections Every Time

Hints for today’s Connections groups

Here are four hints for the groupings in today’s Connections puzzle, ranked from the easiest yellow group to the tough (and sometimes bizarre) purple group.

Yellow group hint: Time between two things, maybe.

Green group hint: That smarts!

Blue group hint: Rockers know these well.

Purple group hint: You might write one out to pay a bill.