Quite a few websites collect the best documentaries available for streaming online. But that doesn’t mean they list every single one. As the sites in this list prove, you can still find more (and perhaps better) documentaries through random Redditors and by finding YouTube videos that wouldn’t be called “documentaries” by conventional standards.
1. Documentary Tube (Web): Huge Collection of Free Documentaries to Stream
As mentioned above, there are a lot of sites that aggregate documentaries from different places. However, several of them have become inactive or irregularly update their collections now. Documentary Tube is among the few still active and adds new videos worth watching every day.
Largely, the collection comes from YouTube, Vimeo, and self-hosted videos on Documentary Tube. You’ll know which of the three it is by the thumbnail showing a little icon for one of these. Each documentary has a short description, a thumbnail, the category it belongs to, how many people have viewed it, and a rating by the audience.
In the right sidebar, you can browse through categories like crime, conspiracy, history, music, war, nature, sports, technology, and lots more. Documentary Tube also has a list of the top 100 most-watched documentaries on its website, so you can quickly find quality content.
2. Veely (Web, Android, iOS): Live Streaming Documentaries on Online Channels
If you enjoyed flipping through channels like NatGeo and Discovery on TV, Veely is the next best thing you’ll get on the internet. It’s a collection of 7-10 different channels that stream documentaries live on the internet, which you can watch in a browser or the mobile app.
Currently, the channels streaming on Veely are Don’t Tell the Bride, Real Crime, Real Drama, Real Life, Real Royalty, Real Stories, Real Wild, Spark, Timeline, and Wonder. Between all these channels, Veely covers all the popular types of documentary genres such as nature, crime, reality series, history, science and technology, and human interest. Most of these come from the Little Dot Studios network, one of the best educational alternatives to Netflix.
You don’t need to sign up to Veely to start streaming any documentary channels. But if you want to watch on-demand shows from the catalog of already-aired episodes, you’ll need to sign up for that. Veely also provides a handy TV guide for its streaming schedule.
3. Indocus (Web): Curated Best Indie Documentaries on YouTube
Indocus exclusively lists indie documentaries that you can stream for free on YouTube. These range from award-winning titles made on shoe-string budgets to some longer videos from popular YouTube creators that could ostensibly be called documentaries.
The main page lists the top-rated documentaries currently on the website and the latest to be added to the directory. The Discover section is a better way to explore the directory. You can filter by categories like money, self-help, psychology, crime, math and science, design and art, creating, personal stories and vlogs, and history. You can also sort by short, medium, or long video length. All entries are listed by their upvote rank.
We’re thrilled that Indocus chooses to broaden the definition of “documentary” and includes educational and binge-worthy YouTube creators like CGP Grey and Kurzgesagt. After all, several YouTube creators are making the kind of videos that amateur documentary filmmakers make but releasing them on a free streaming platform. As long as you are getting good, non-fiction content that expands your mind about reality, consumers shouldn’t be bothered about whether these can be technically called documentaries.
4. Free Documentary & Others (YouTube): YouTube’s Biggest Documentary Channel Series
Since 2013, Free Documentary has been adding some of the best full-length documentaries to YouTube for anyone to watch for free. The channel is created by Germany-based Quintus Studios, which regularly makes new deals to acquire non-fiction video content from leading independent producers and distributors worldwide.
It has become so big and popular that Free Documentary now has several off-shoot channels on YouTube. The list includes:
FD Real for true stories from everyday people FD History for historical human documentaries FD Survive for how to survive in the wild FD Nature for documentaries on wildlife and trees FD Paranormal for videos on ghosts, UFOs, and other unexplained phenomena Pet Docs for our furry, feathered, or reptile friends ENDEVR for explainers on all types of subjects
Of course, the main Free Documentary channel remains the franchise’s flagship. It covers various genres, including those already covered by the other channels. You’ll find a new documentary video on this channel every two days, and during the alternate day, one of the other channels is updated.
5. r/Documentaries (Web): Discover Documentaries Submitted by Redditors
Reddit’s r/documentaries is a thriving community that actively shares links to documentaries you can stream online. The rules clearly state that these must all be streamable videos and no FileLocker or torrent links. Most documentaries come from YouTube or Vimeo, so you’re ready to start streaming with a click.
Each post has a clear format that makes it easy to browse. The post title has the documentary’s name, the year it was released, a one-line description by the submitter, and the total run-time of the documentary. Finally, most posts are tagged with a flair that defines genres like crime, society, history, film/tv, science, nature/animals, tech/internet, war, music, and trailers. You can always filter the subreddit by these genres to quickly find something to watch.
Among all the places to find free documentaries to stream online, r/Documentaries is unique because of the power of the community. With almost 20 million members, people have diverse resources to find new videos to watch. For example, one user dug out a new documentary by FIFA, streaming on their official website. It’s a perfect example of how you are likely to find rare documentaries on this subreddit that you won’t encounter on other popular documentary aggregator websites.
