Kanopy
Hacker ApprovedRanked 9 of 20 streaming services by recommenders
Free with a library card, with a large ad-free catalog of films and documentaries. Most common caveat: selection is smaller than major streaming services.
Free with a library card, with a large ad-free catalog of films and documentaries. Most common caveat: selection is smaller than major streaming services.
14 people gave an opinion
- recommend it
- 13
- criticize it
- 1
- approval share
- 93%
Recommended in 5 of 13 months
- November 2025: not recommended
- December 2025: recommended
- January 2026: not recommended
- February 2026: not recommended
- March 2026: not recommended
- April 2026: recommended
- May 2026: not recommended
- June 2026: not recommended
- July 2026: recommended
- August 2026: not recommended
- September 2026: recommended
- October 2026: recommended
- November 2026: not recommended (month in progress)
Why it carries the badge
- 13 people recommend itNeeds 10 or more, met.
- 13 recommenders for every criticNeeds 2 to 1 or better, met.
- Recommended in 5 of 13 monthsNeeds 4 or more, met.
The same three rules apply to every product, and the badge can’t be bought. How the badge works
What people say about it
The reasons people give, with the number of comments that give each one. Open a reason to read what they said.
Why people recommend it
Each mark is one comment
Free with a library membership
“was surprised by the amount of A-tier movies you can stream there for free with a library membership”
Comment from 9 Apr 2026 in “Netflix Prices Went Up Again – I Bought a DVD Player Instead” “It's also worth looking into if your local library offers Kanopy services.”
Comment from 9 Apr 2026 in “Netflix Prices Went Up Again – I Bought a DVD Player Instead” “thanks to kanopy, another public-library resource paid for by tax money”
Comment from 7 Jul 2026 in “Learning another language appears to slow brain ageing by up to 13 years” Large selection of films and documentaries
“The available library of films, documentaries, books, and so forth is enormous. All bereft of ads, and mostly bereft of slop.”
Comment from 21 Sep 2026 in “Disney+: New user agreement allows ads before movies in all subscriptions” “was surprised by the amount of A-tier movies you can stream there for free with a library membership”
Comment from 9 Apr 2026 in “Netflix Prices Went Up Again – I Bought a DVD Player Instead” “Kanopy has a wonderful selection, and ironically its website UI is better than Netflix et al.”
Comment from 10 Apr 2026 in “Netflix Prices Went Up Again – I Bought a DVD Player Instead” - Comment from 22 Jul 2026 in “Which streaming service was that on again”
No ads
“The available library of films, documentaries, books, and so forth is enormous. All bereft of ads, and mostly bereft of slop.”
Comment from 21 Sep 2026 in “Disney+: New user agreement allows ads before movies in all subscriptions” “a good streaming service with no ads”
Comment from 24 Sep 2026 in “Disney+ and Hulu raise prices by up to 13 percent after doubling profits”
What people warn about
Each mark is one comment
Selection not as complete as major services
“The selection is NO WHERE NEAR as complete as major streaming services”
Comment from 29 Sep 2026 in “Pirating the Pirates”
Other streaming services people recommend
The four most recommended other streaming services, with the same counts for each, so you can compare like for like. The tick on each bar marks the 2 to 1 line the badge needs.
| Product | Recommend | Criticize | Approval | Months | Owned | Badge |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| YouTube Premium | 197 | 195 | 50% | 13 | 10 yrs10 owners | — |
| Netflix | 181 | 538 | 25% | 12 | 15 yrs10 owners | — |
| Nebula | 58 | 17 | 77% | 12 | 2 yrs5 owners | Approved |
| HBO | 32 | 32 | 50% | 7 | — | — |
| KanopyThis page | 13 | 1 | 93% | 5 | — | Approved |
What people said
14 of the 15 comments that mention it, newest first. Each links to the original comment.
“Kanopy and Hoopla are awesome and something everyone who complains here about paid streaming options should be using”
“The selection is NO WHERE NEAR as complete as major streaming services”
“a good streaming service with no ads”
“The available library of films, documentaries, books, and so forth is enormous. All bereft of ads, and mostly bereft of slop.”
“it really does have a wider range of stuff to watch”
“thanks to kanopy, another public-library resource paid for by tax money”
“the fact a movie is only two hours, gives us a lot of value”
“Kanopy has a wonderful selection, and ironically its website UI is better than Netflix et al.”
“Kanopy does not sell your information.”
“Kanopy actually has a very nice way of failing over to other cards as your quota is used up.”
“It's also worth looking into if your local library offers Kanopy services.”
“was surprised by the amount of A-tier movies you can stream there for free with a library membership”
“even they are reducing tickets”
“Criterion and Kanopy are working great for me as is.”
Counts come from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026. How we count. Report a mistake.