Channel 5
Watch | Stream
How much does Channel 5 cost?
Prices are current as of 9 Oct 2026.
Channel 5 has no in-app products on record in the United Kingdom.
10+ alternatives to Channel 5
| Channel 5 |   Sky Go (Q / +) |   Vue |   NOW: TV, Movies, Live Sport |   U: TV Player Stream on Demand |   STV Player |   Sky Store Player: Movies & TV |   Twickets |   I'm A Celebrity... |   WATCH FREE UK |   EE TV | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rating / 5 | 4.6 | 4.7 | 4.7 | 4.5 | 4.7 | 4.7 | 4.4 | 4.7 | 4.0 | 2.9 | 2.1 |
| Reviews | 36K | 509K | 199K | 127K | 112K | 46K | 24K | 6.9K | 6.7K | 94 | 60 |
| Released | 2011 | 2011 | 2010 | 2012 | 2013 | 2012 | 2015 | 2013 | 2015 | 2022 | 2014 |
| Monthly price | — | — | — | £9.00 | — | £3.99 | — | — | — | — | — |
| Annual price | — | — | — | — | — | £39.99 | — | — | — | — | — |
| One-time price | — | — | — | £14.99 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
The going rate for each plan in United Kingdom, in its own currency, shaded from the cheapest price on the row to the dearest.
Channel 5 reviews
4.6 out of 5, based on 36,032 reviews.
What people like
- It is completely free to use
- Good selection of TV shows available
- Some episodes play next automatically
What they complain about
- Ads interrupt you constantly
- Chromecast casting option is missing
- App crashes or freezes often
It’s a free app why are people complaining
Personally I feel it is very good and not sure why people are complaining so much about something which is literally free
Dire
Most watched programme for me is ‘sorry, something has gone wrong. Please try again later. Visit help.Channel5.com. Having repeatedly tried and failed to watch streaming on this platform it’s just unreliable. It’s almost as if they don’t want you to watch their programmes.
Buggy
Pretty rubbish, a ridiculous amount of repetitive ads and adverts buffer and stick and when show restarts you have to come out of the App and reload. A common problem with users that has been happening for a long time
So many adverts it’s unwatchable
I have had to endure eighteen adverts to be able to watch thirty minutes of one episode of a series, you lost me due to boredom and I’ve tried repeatedly to come in and watch some of your really good shows but your need to make money over customer satisfaction is unprecedented. I even looked to see if I could pay to go advert free, not an option and you cannot reduce the app and keep watching while you use other apps on an iPad and I find this limited with an ever negatively impacted viewing experience due to advert after advert after advert after advert, oh lord it is unwatchable so I’m now going to switch over to watch an app I pay for. Such a shame greed seems to dominate your strategy and I’d have paid to go advert free so you lost a customer who was willing to pay in preference of your marketing strategy to advertisers, best tell them when you sell advertising space that people are not watching the app as they should because there are so many adverts. BYE
Won’t open
New version doesn’t open. Worked first time after new install but next time won’t open. Just sits with swirling icon.
Not working on Fire TV
Happily watched Walker 5 seasons with occasional stuttering. Now trying to watch old favourite Gilmore Girls but Season 2 episode 7 suddenly froze midway never to start again. Nothing wrong with Fire TV, very fast Broadband connection. App doesn’t need updating. Guess I’ll have to dig out my DVDs to continue watching. Funnily enough my ancient DVD player still works fine.
Home and Away
Subtitles not in sync a lot of the time
I am over 18 years old
Constantly asking me to confirm, I am over 18 years old!!! You have my date of birth on the app why does it keep asking me to confirm my age? Get it sorted, please And while we’re at it why is the volume on the advert so bloody loud?
Chromecast Please
Why no Chromecast? Seriously limits using the app for catch up viewing.
Struggle to watch following episodes!
Over last 4 weeks when I’ve watched an episode of a programme and waiting for the next one to start and it doesn’t then I get there’s been an error, this has happened over various different programmes, which I watched on my iPad!
Awful
No Picture in Picture, so can’t answer a text while still playing video. When watching live, unable to minimise screen to go back to the list and have to close the app.
Hopeless
Awful app with far too many ads. It stop/starts and buffers with a less than super quick signal. Unwatchable.
Frustrating!
Where has the cast option gone? I watch tv via chromecast and still can on other apps… but not on here anymore!
No Live TV on Panasonic TV
Just shuts down on every live 5 channel with error FVP-VJS-2008
Buggy. Bugs lead to more ads.
Such an amateurish feeling app. When playing the content it’s okay, but then it transitions to ads (yeah okay don’t like ads, but necessary evil for free content)…but then it fails when switching back to content meaning you have to close the app and restart, which means….more ads. Subtitles don’t work? Closing the app fixes, but guess what? More ads. Content freezes? Closing the app fixes, but guess what? More ads. If I was cynical I’d say the app is deliberately flaky because the fix is always a restart, which always spans….more ads. Did I mention that whatever you do to fix issues, there are ads?
Simply Won't Open/Run on iPad
As above ... whereas EVERY other audio or visual streaming app does. Cannot even get past the rotating 'egg timer' icon, despite turning off ALL security, all VPN's, and allowing tracking. Deleted and reinstalled several times, no joy. Runs on my iPhone (behind a VPN and with all privacy/security settings as I require them) and the 5 channel website streams on this iPad within a browser (Chrome, Edge, DuckDuckGo, Firefox or Safari). Awful app - it simply doesn't function on an iPad.
Play next episode keeps failing
Play next episode is fine for a few episodes then the next one just plays the ads and fails to play the next one. Have to keep reinstalling the app
Useless
I don’t know why but C5 has gone down the pan. Some program series on stream don’t update by the correct episode on the tv yet they are playable via the streaming app. All well and good except you can’t cast the program from the app onto the tv, the only app I’ve come across that won’t do that. Makes the app useless as I don’t want to watch tv on a tiny device screen. Very poor indeed.
Glitches
This app is routinely problematic. It loads very slowly and mid program will have problems with loading content. It makes for a very poor viewing experience overall
Buggy, broken & bothersome
Don’t even bother with this app. It used to kind of work a long time ago for me, but now when I try opening it it just sits on the logo screen with a spinning circle and doesn’t even load the menu. If I delete the app and reinstall it, I might get to navigate the menu a little bit, but in order to view programmes you have to sign in. Which is when it breaks again and won’t let me sign in. Restarting the app then just leads to the spinning circle and forcing me to have to delete the app and start over again. I’ve now permanently given up with it.
Good…when it works!
It’s a terrible app for watching live tv on a smart tv. The wheel of doom appears every time! Don’t have any such issues with any of the other apps, although all of the apps seem to have lots of adverts. If ariels are going to be phased out by 2030’s this app has to buck up its ideas Having read the reviews, it doesn’t appear anyone is taking notice
Always crashes after 8 ads!
Constantly crashes after making you watch 8 ads so then you have to go back and press play and watch 8 ads and crashes again and again until you’ve watched like 10 mins of ads before you can watch your programme! Ridiculous!!
Missing cast button
The option to cast to chromecast is missing.
Useless
I can’t get this to work on either of my iPads running IOS 26. It says it’s compatible on the App Store however streaming circle goes round and round with resolution.
Channel 5 FAQ
- Is Channel 5 free?
- Yes. The app is free, in all 1 country it sells in, and it sells nothing inside it.
- Does Channel 5 have a free trial?
- No. None of its offers (GB) come with a free trial.
- What are the best alternatives to Channel 5?
- Sky Go (Q / +) (4.7 from 508,687 reviews), Vue (4.7 from 198,910 reviews) and NOW: TV, Movies, Live Sport (4.5 from 126,790 reviews, premium from $7.94).
Channel 5 download
Last updated 12 days ago.
Channel 5 sells in 1 country. It was released 15 years and 1 month ago, on 19 Aug 2011. It holds a 4.6 rating from 36,032 reviews.
Supports 1 language: English.
How much does Channel 5 make?
Third-party estimates for the last 30 days, worldwide — not the store's own figures, which Apple publishes for nobody.