XUMO vs. Crackle: Which is right for you?

With the rising competition among streaming providers, most services focus on enhancing their content lineup and user experience to stand out from the competition. And although some of them also try to offer the most competitive pricing, you hardly find any service that’s completely free. Platforms like Crackle and XUMO capitalize on this by offering free access to their video streaming service.

These two services provide a decent selection of movies and TV shows that you can access without paying any fee. So if you want to cut down on your entertainment expenses, consider signing up for at least one of these services. 

But you might still want to find out which one’s a better fit for you. Here’s our detailed analysis of Crackle vs. XUMO to help you make that choice.

Plans and pricing for XUMO vs. Crackle


XUMOCrackle
Monthly priceFreeFree
Number of channels/titles190+ channels700+ titles
Original contentNoYes
Offline downloadsNoNo

Comparing the XUMO vs Crackle experience

User experience

Being free services, Crackle and XUMO don’t offer a lot of bells and whistles when it comes to user experience.

With that said, XUMO has a straightforward interface that’s easy to navigate and relatively similar across all devices. Users can switch between On Now programming and on-demand channels from the bottom of the screen. The on-demand section displays channels based on genre, which you can browse by swiping left to right.

Of course, you should expect to get some ads on a free streaming service like XUMO, but the ad viewing experience isn’t as bad as you might expect. The ads on XUMO work a bit like YouTube ads in that you get a countdown timer letting you know how long the commercial will play. You also have the option to skip ads after a few seconds.

Compared to XUMO, the user experience on Crackle needs some work, but it’s not completely terrible either. Users have the option to sort content by genre or in alphabetical order, but the biggest problem is that there aren’t any additional filters to help narrow your search. This makes it difficult to find content unless you already know the title.

Like on XUMO, you get a few ad interruptions while streaming videos on Crackle. — but not as many as you’d see on traditional television. Crackle’s user interface is similar across most devices — with a few minor differences here and there.

Device compatibility

Both services are available on several devices, allowing you to stream from just about anywhere.

Besides streaming from your laptop or desktop with the latest web browser, you can also get the XUMO or XUMO-powered apps for free on:

  • Amazon Fire devices
  • Android mobile devices
  • Android TV
  • Flex
  • Hisense
  • iOS devices
  • LG devices
  • Magnavox
  • Panasonic
  • Philips
  • Roku
  • Samsung
  • Sanyo
  • Sony
  • VIZIO
  • Xfinity x1 devices

You can stream videos on Crackle using the following devices:

  • Amazon Fire TV and Fire TV Stick
  • Android phone and tablet versions 5.1 and up
  • Android TV
  • Apple TV
  • Apple iPad, iPhone and iPod touch with iOS 9.0 and above
  • Chromecast
  • Laptop or desktop using the latest web browser
  • LG TV
  • PlayStation 4
  • Roku devices
  • Samsung TV
  • VIZIO TV
  • Xbox One

Personalization

As you’d expect from a free service, XUMO doesn’t offer a lot of ways to personalize your streaming experience. This means you can’t create playlists, mark your favorite channels, save videos to watch later, or watch content offline. Plus, you won’t get parental controls to restrict offensive content for younger viewers. 

With Crackle, the option to personalize your streaming experience is also quite limited. You can’t create playlists or save videos for offline viewing. The only difference is that you have the option to save titles to your Watch Later list. Plus, it comes with Parental Controls, which you can enable using a PIN. 

Features

You don’t get a lot of additional features with Crackle or XUMO. And although XUMO offers live TV streaming, it doesn’t come with DVR controls like pause and rewind. The upside is it lets you stream from multiple devices at the same time, though it doesn’t specify a viewing limit. Crackle does not provide information about simultaneous streaming. 

XUMO content vs. Crackle content

XUMO has a wide selection of channel categories and its content is constantly updated. The service refreshes some of its channels multiple times a day so you can always get fresh content, especially for news channels like ABC News Live, Bloomberg TV, CBSN, Cheddar, and NBC News.

Avid sports fans can tune into channels like ACC Digital Network, Fox Sports, Sports Illustrated, and USA Today Sportswire. For entertainment lovers, XUMO offers channels like America’s Funniest Home Videos, CNet, Funny or Die, History Channel, and TMZ. You also get a handful of movies such as Kingpin, Sherlock Holmes, and Universal Soldier.

One area where XUMO falls short is original content. Although it comes with exclusively-curated programming, XUMO doesn’t produce any original shows or movies. The service does feature videos from independent content producers. 

Crackle mainly focuses on on-demand videos. This includes popular movies like 28 Days, A Few Good Men, Friday the 13th, The Longest Yard, The Other Guys, and Zero Dark Thirty. Its TV show collection includes popular titles like All in the Family, Bewitched, Charlie’s Angels, Iron Man, The Ellen Show, Spiderman, Who’s the Boss?, and X-Men.

The service also offers a handful of kid-friendly content like Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs, Jack and the Beanstalk, Muppets in Space, and Stuart Little. But the selection is a bit barebones if you’re subscribing solely to entertain the kids.

On the other hand, Crackle has a decent selection of original content for those who enjoy venturing beyond popular selections. The biggest highlights include Super Mansion, an animated series featuring Bryan Cranston and The Art of More, starring Dennis Quaid and Kate Bosworth.

The final cut

Although Crackle and XUMO both offer free video streaming, they have contrasting content lineups. While XUMO gives you access to a wide variety of TV channels, Crackle focuses on on-demand movies and TV shows. We recommend trying both services to see which one aligns best with your streaming habits and content preferences.

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