1 Limelight
Tracking, streaming availability and Top 10 charts in one app, with no ads even on free.
- Platforms
- iPhone, iPad and Mac
- Price
- Free, Limelight+ $2.99/mo or $24.99/yr
- Best for
- One app for tracking and availability
Limelight is the app behind this site, so weigh that accordingly. The pitch: most trackers make you choose between logging what you watch and finding out where to watch it. Limelight does both. Search any title, see which of your services streams it, and keep a Watchlist and Seen List you'll actually check before pressing play. The free tier covers all of that, plus custom lists, with zero ads. Limelight+ adds streaming Top 10 charts for 107 countries, multi-source ratings (Rotten Tomatoes, IMDB, Metacritic and TMDB side by side), and SceneSnap, which identifies a movie from a photo of any scene.
Where it wins
- Availability, tracking and charts in one place
- No ads in any tier, no data selling
- Top 10 charts in 107 countries, including local services
- Free tier is usable, not a demo
Where it loses
- Apple platforms only, no Android or web
- Tracks at title level, not episode by episode
- Top 10s and multi-source ratings need Limelight+
- No social network, by design
2 Letterboxd
The social network for film people. If your friends are anywhere, they're here.
- Platforms
- iOS, Android, web
- Price
- Free with ads, paid Pro and Patron tiers
- Best for
- Film reviews, lists and community
Letterboxd is a film community first, and the tracking follows from that. Reviews are funny, lists are an art form, and your year-end stats read like a personality test. If watching films is a social act for you, nothing else comes close. Its limits are equally clear: no TV shows at all, and it won't tell you where anything is streaming without a paid tier's service filters. There is a full Letterboxd and Limelight comparison if you're weighing the two.
Where it wins
- The best film community on the internet
- Lists, reviews and stats made with real craft
- Free tier covers core logging well
Where it loses
- Movies only, no TV tracking
- Ads on the free tier
- Streaming filters locked behind Pro
3 Trakt
The deepest tracker there is, and now priced like it knows it.
- Platforms
- iOS, Android, web
- Price
- Free (limited), VIP $60/yr
- Best for
- Power users with a Plex server
Trakt tracks everything to the episode, syncs with a huge range of third-party apps, and offers an open API that powers half the tracking tools you've heard of. If you run a Plex server and have opinions about metadata, Trakt is home. The catch is 2026 pricing: VIP renewals were unified at $60 a year, double what many long-time users paid, and the free tier's limits got tighter. Still the most capable tracker on this list, just no longer the casual default.
Where it wins
- Episode-level tracking done properly
- Open API and a large set of connected apps
- Automatic scrobbling through integrations
Where it loses
- $60/yr VIP after the price unification
- Free tier limits tightened
- Utilitarian feel, function over joy
4 Simkl
The best tracker you can get without paying, especially if you hate manual logging.
- Platforms
- iOS, Android, web
- Price
- Free, optional VIP
- Best for
- Automatic tracking without paying
Simkl's trick is automatic tracking. It scrobbles what you watch from Netflix, Plex, Kodi, VLC and more, so your history builds itself. It covers movies, TV and anime in one place, and the free tier is generous. The interface won't win design awards and the recommendations are thin, but as a set-and-forget system of record, particularly for former TV Time users who want episode tracking back without Trakt's price tag, it's the one to beat.
Where it wins
- Automatic scrobbling from real sources
- Movies, TV and anime at episode level
- Generous free tier, cheap VIP with a lifetime option
Where it loses
- Dated interface
- Weak discovery and recommendations
- Streaming availability is not its focus
5 Serializd
Letterboxd's spirit, applied to television, and completely free.
- Platforms
- iOS, Android, web
- Price
- Free
- Best for
- Writing and reading TV reviews
Serializd is what happens when TV people get tired of waiting for Letterboxd to add shows. Log seasons and episodes, write reviews with actual voice, build lists, follow people with taste. It's free, it's charming, and its community has real energy. TV only by design, so film people will need a second app, but as the social home for show-watchers after TV Time it has carved out something none of the big players offer.
Where it wins
- Best TV review community going
- Season and episode-level logging
- Completely free
Where it loses
- TV only, no movies
- Streaming availability and service filters need Pro
- Smaller community than Letterboxd's
6 Matinee
The polished newcomer betting on one feed for movies and TV together.
- Platforms
- iOS, Android
- Price
- Free
- Best for
- A modern feed for both movies and TV
Matinee arrived recently from app studio MWM and moves fast: movies and TV in a single tracking feed, AI-flavored search, and streaming availability across 30 or more platforms. It's free and it's slick. What it doesn't have yet is years in the oven, meaning the depth, the export maturity and the community that older apps earned. Worth trying if the established options feel stale, as long as you know it's the newest name here and studio-built apps live or die by the studio's attention span.
Where it wins
- Movies and TV in one clean feed
- Free, on both platforms
- Modern search and availability
Where it loses
- Young app, unproven staying power
- Community is early days
7 Moviebase
If you're on Android, this is probably your answer.
- Platforms
- Android
- Price
- Free with premium
- Best for
- Android-native tracking with Trakt sync
Limelight doesn't run on Android, so this is the pick for anyone who needs one. Moviebase combines TMDB and Trakt data into the most complete Android-native tracking experience: multiple watchlists, episode tracking, detailed statistics, and optional Trakt sync so your data lives somewhere portable. It's the Android tracker that feels built for Android rather than ported to it.
Where it wins
- Deepest Android-native tracker
- Trakt sync keeps your data portable
- Strong stats and episode tracking
Where it loses
- Android only
- Best features need premium
8 JustWatch
The availability search engine. Great at one job, indifferent to the rest.
- Platforms
- iOS, Android, web
- Price
- Free with ads
- Best for
- Looking up where a title streams
JustWatch answers "where can I stream this?" across hundreds of services in more than 100 countries, and answers it well. As a tracker it's an afterthought: the watchlist works, but there's no logging culture, no stats worth opening, and the experience is ad-supported throughout. Use it as the reference tool it is, or use an app that folds availability into real tracking. The two approaches are compared in Limelight vs JustWatch vs Letterboxd.
Where it wins
- Best-in-class availability coverage
- Works in more than 100 countries
- Free
Where it loses
- Ads throughout
- Tracking is shallow
- Built to route you to rentals
