Amazon Freevee

Overview

Amazon Freevee was a free ad-supported streaming service operated by Amazon, launched in January 2019. The service is being phased out and consolidated into Prime Video. Amazon confirmed the shutdown in November 2024, and the standalone Freevee app will close in August 2025. Freevee content, including originals and licensed films and series, has already migrated to Prime Video, where it remains available for free (with ads) to both Prime subscribers and non-subscribers under the "Watch for Free" label.

For filmmakers, Freevee as a distinct platform no longer exists. Content that was on Freevee is now part of Prime Video's ad-supported tier. Amazon introduced ads on Prime Video by default on January 29, 2024, which largely eliminated the distinction between Prime Video (SVOD) and Freevee (AVOD). Prime Video is included in a $15-per-month Prime membership or as a standalone service for $9 per month; users can pay an additional $2 per month to remove ads.

History and Branding Changes

Freevee went through multiple name changes during its six-year run:

• January 2019: Launched as IMDb Freedive, under Amazon's subsidiary IMDb (acquired in 1998)
• June 2019: Rebranded as IMDb TV
• April 2022: Rebranded as Freevee, with Amazon reporting a monthly active user base of 65 million (tripled from 2020 to 2022)
• November 2024: Amazon confirmed the service would be phased out
• August 2025: Standalone Freevee app shuts down

The service was available in the US, UK, Germany, and Austria. Freevee's content team had already been integrated into Amazon MGM Studios as part of previous restructurings, and its business team was part of Prime Video. No layoffs were expected from the shutdown.

Original Content and Notable Titles

Freevee produced original series that have now migrated to Prime Video. Notable originals include:

• Jury Duty: Mockumentary comedy series that became a viral hit in 2023
• Bosch: Legacy: Crime drama, a spinoff of the Prime Video series Bosch, with its third and final season shared across both Freevee and Prime Video
• Judy Justice: Court show continuation of Judge Judy
• Tribunal Justice: Legal reality series
• Neighbours: Australian soap opera revived on Freevee
• American Rust: Broken Justice: Crime drama
• High School: Coming-of-age series based on Tegan and Sara's memoir
• Hollywood Houselift with Jeff Lewis: Home renovation reality show
• The Pradeeps of Pittsburgh: Comedy series that debuted on both platforms

These titles remain available on Prime Video under the "Watch for Free" label, accessible to non-Prime customers. Some shows have contractual requirements to remain in a free ad-supported format, and Amazon has stated it is working to maintain those obligations within Prime Video.

Distribution Model (Historical and Transition)

Freevee licensed content from studios, distributors, and independent rights holders under revenue-sharing arrangements based on advertising revenue generated from viewership. The platform typically took a non-exclusive license, allowing films to remain on other platforms simultaneously.

Independent filmmakers could reach Freevee through aggregators including Filmhub and Quiver Digital, which had licensing relationships with Amazon's AVOD programming. Films delivered to Amazon through standard aggregator channels could appear on either Prime Video (subscription) or Freevee (ad-supported) depending on Amazon's content programming decisions.

Going forward, the content previously labeled as Freevee is now designated for non-Prime customers as "Watch for Free" on Prime Video detail pages. Amazon has stated that "a vast offering of free streaming content will still be accessible for non-Prime members, including select Originals from Amazon MGM Studios, a variety of licensed movies and series, and a broad library of FAST Channels, all available on Prime Video."

What Filmmakers Should Know

Filmmakers should understand that Freevee as a separate platform is no longer operational. The practical implications are:

1. Content delivery remains the same: Filmmakers still deliver through aggregators (Filmhub, Quiver Digital, and others) with Amazon distribution relationships. Amazon's content programming team decides whether delivered content appears on Prime Video (subscription tier) or in the free ad-supported tier.

1. Revenue model unchanged: The ad-supported revenue-sharing model continues within Prime Video. Films placed in the free tier generate advertising revenue based on viewership, same as they did on Freevee.

1. No direct control over tier placement: Amazon determines whether a film sits behind the subscription paywall or in the free ad-supported section. Filmmakers cannot directly control which tier their film appears in through the standard delivery process.

1. Content may move between tiers: For films already on Prime Video through a distribution deal, Amazon may move content between tiers (subscription to ad-supported) over time as part of its content management decisions, which can affect per-view revenue calculations.

1. Audience reach is larger, not smaller: Consolidation into Prime Video actually increases potential audience reach. Freevee's 65 million monthly active users (as of 2022) are now part of Prime Video's much larger user base. Films in the free tier appear in Amazon search results alongside Prime Video subscription content, benefiting from Amazon's recommendation algorithms.

FAST Channels and the Broader Amazon Ecosystem

Freevee's live FAST (Free Ad-Supported Streaming TV) channels have been rebranded as Amazon Prime Video Channels on Fire TV. These channels provide linear-style programming within the Prime Video ecosystem. Amazon's broader streaming infrastructure now includes:

• Prime Video (SVOD with ads): Subscription streaming with default ad-supported tier
• Prime Video free tier: Ad-supported content available to non-Prime members (formerly Freevee content)
• MGM+: Subscription streaming service acquired through the MGM deal
• FAST Channels: Linear-style free ad-supported channels
• Amazon Prime Video Channels on Fire TV: Live TV channels

For independent filmmakers, placement within Amazon's delivery ecosystem remains one of the higher-value AVOD placements available, given the audience scale and discovery infrastructure. The consolidation simplifies the landscape: instead of two separate platforms, there is now one unified Prime Video with multiple tiers.

See Also

For how AVOD and subscription streaming tiers work alongside each other in Amazon's ecosystem, see Streaming vs Theatrical Revenue. For aggregators that deliver to Amazon's platform, see Filmhub and Quiver Digital in this directory. For Amazon's production and distribution arm, see Amazon MGM Studios in this directory.