How to Watch Lifetime For Free to Enjoy All of Your Holiday Favorites
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Lifetime can do it all. The female-focused channel has mastered telling true stories for decades (just take its “Ripped from the Headlines” series, which recounts the most chilling and gut-wrenching situations that have actually unfolded in real life). Lifetime then takes a hiatus from the doom and gloom to bring viewers a cheery Christmas lineup with romance flicks and feel-good stories for the holidays. If you want to learn how to watch Lifetime movies for free for your next movie night, we’ve got you covered.
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Lifetime is an American basic cable channel launched in February 1984 under Lifetime Entertainment Services, a division of A&E Networks. The channel’s content is tailored for women and frequently stars them in lead roles across its original movies, scripted TV series, and non-fiction shows. The channel is also known for its robust Christmas programming, starting mid-November until late December.
Watch Lifetime Movies
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You don’t need cable to enjoy Lifetime, as several streaming services offer access to the channel’s classic films, binge-worthy mysteries, and festive holiday movies. Here are some budget-friendly ways to tune in.
How to watch Lifetime movies for free
Lifetime is available to stream live on services like DirecTV Stream, Philo, and Sling TV. DirecTV Stream offers a five-day free trial and starts at $74.99 per month after the trial ends. Philo offers a seven-day free trial and costs $25 per month after the free trial ends. Sling TV starts at $20 for your first month.
Best Overall Pick to Watch Lifetime Movies: DirecTV Stream
Watch Lifetime Movies With DirecTV Stream
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Direct TV is our best overall pick to watch Lifetime movies for free for its free trial, price, and channel selection. DirecTV Stream offers a five-day free trial. DirecTV Stream offers a five-day free trial. DirecTV offers four plans: Entertainment, which costs $74.99 per month with the first three months at $64.99 per month; Choice, which costs $99.99 per month with the first three months at $89.99 per month; Ultimate, which costs $109.99 per month with the first three months at $99.99 per month; and Premiere, which costs $154.99 per month with the first three months at $144.99 per month.
Direct TV Stream is also offering a current deal where users can add the service’s Sports Pack to Entertainment, Choice or Ultimate plans for $25 off the total package.
As for other differences between the plans, Entertainment includes more than 75 channels, the ability to stream on unlimited devices in your home, unlimited cloud DVR storage, and a special offer on premium channels. Choice, which is the most popular plan, includes more than 105 channels, regional sports networks, and everything included in Entertainment. Ultimate includes more than 140 channels and everything included in Entertainment and Choice. Premiere includes more than 150 channels including premium channels like HBO and Starz and everything included in Entertainment, Choice, and Premiere. Read on for step-by-step instructions on how to watch Lifetime movies with DirecTV Stream’s free trial.
Visit streamtv.directv.com‘s packages page
Click “Try It Free” for the plan of your choice
Enter your information and payment method
Search for Lifetime and start watching
Best Budget Pick to Watch Lifetime Movies: Philo
Watch Lifetime Movies With Philo
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Philo is our best free trial pick to watch Lifeime movies for its price and free trial length. Philo offers a seven-day free trial and costs $25 per month after the trial ends. Along with Lifetime, Philo also offers similar channels like Hallmark Channel, Hallmark Drama, Hallmark Movies & Mysteries, Great American Faith & Living, and Great American Family. As for what else it includes, Philo offers more than 70 channels, as well as an unlimited DVR service. Read on for step-by-step instructions on how to watch Lifetime movies with Philo’s free trial.
Visit Philo.com
Click “Start Free Trial”
Enter your information and payment method
Search for Lifetime and start watching
Best Upgrade Pick to Watch Lifetime Movies: Sling TV
Watch Lifetime Movies With Sling TV
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Sling TV is our best budget pick to watch Lifetime movies for its channel selection. Sling TV offers three plans: Sling Orange for $40 per month; Sling Blue for $45 per month; and Sling Orange + Blue for $60 per month. Sling also has a current deal where subscribers can sign up for 50 percent off their first month, bringing Sling Orange’s price down to $20 for your first month; Sling Blue’s to $22.50 for your first month; and Sling Orange + Blue’s to $30 for your first month. All three plans include Lifetime.
As for the differences between the plans, Sling Orange, which is most suited toward sports and family channels, includes 32 channels and the ability to stream on one device at a time. Sling Orange, which is most suited toward news and entertainment channels, includes 42 channels and the ability to stream on three devices at a time. Sling Orange + Blue includes all the channels offered on both Sling Orange and Sling Blue, as well as the ability to stream on three devices at a time. Read on for step-by-step instructions on how to watch Lifetime movies with Sling TV.
Visit Sling.com
Click “Try Us Today”
Create an account
Select your plan
Enter your payment information and check out
Search for Lifetime and start watching
What are Lifetime’s 2023 Christmas movies?
What are Lifetime’s 2023 Christmas movies? Check out the list of Lifetime’s 2023 Christmas movies, including Lifetime’s description for each holiday flick, from Tia Mowry’s Yes, Chef! Christmas to Teri Hatcher’s Christmas at the Chalet.
Christmas Plus One
Cast: Emily Alatalo, Vanessa Smythe, Andrew Bushell, Corey Sevier
Description: When sisters Cara and Amy make a pact to find their soulmates by next Christmas, they’re not expecting anything to come from it. However, one year later, Amy’s winter wedding is approaching, and Cara finally finds her own perfect man, Chase, who agrees to attend as her plus one. But after immediately losing his number, all hope is lost. Will she find him in time to make her Christmas wish come true? Or does love have other plans for Cara when magazine writer Michael signs on to help her in her quest?
Planes, Trains and Christmas Trees
Cast: Kathryn Davis, Olivier Renaud
Description: During a business trip to Indiana, event planner Kayley and sports agent Brett find themselves unable to fly home for Christmas due to a terrible snowstorm. Determined to get back to New York by Christmas Eve, the two team up and try to make their own way home, but when the storm hits, they’re forced to seek refuge in the sleepy town of Redwood, Ohio; a place that ignites some much-needed Christmas magic in their hearts.
Christmas at the Chalet
Cast: Teri Hatcher, William DeVry
Description: When ex TV host and socialite Lex finds herself faced with the possibility of spending Christmas sharing a luxury chalet with her son, ex-husband, and his new girlfriend, she volunteers to work in the chalet to avoid things getting too close to home, while documenting her every move for a new wave of followers who are loving this new chapter of her life.
Laughing All the Way
Cast: Paniz Zade, Jake Epstein, Mary Walsh, Ish Morris, Paul Constable, Candice Lidstone
Description: When ghostwriter and aspiring comedian Aubri Wilson is placed in charge of the Christmas variety show, she worries she might not have what it takes to pull off this make-or-break moment in her career. With Christmas just weeks away, Aubri is in pursuit of the perfect headliner for the event. That is, until famous Hollywood comedian Mike Baxter returns to the comedy club that launched his career. There, Mike rediscovers his stand-up roots, and Aubri shows the world her inner funny girl, and as their journeys collide, they fall hopelessly and hilariously in love, laughing all the way.
Ladies of the ‘80s: A Divas Christmas
Cast: Travis Burns, Taylor Ann Thompson
Description: Five glamorous ‘80s soap opera stars reunite to share the spotlight to shoot the final Christmas episode of their long-running soap opera. The producer, Alex, and director Nell, old college friends, do their best to keep things on the rails but as the ladies come together, old rivalries resurface that threaten to tear the whole production apart. With the show nearly canceled before it even begins due to the ladies’ famous diva behavior, they reluctantly agree to set aside their differences and past secrets to “act” as if they all still love each other. When old sparks reignite between Alex and Nell, the ladies become eager to play cupid and conspire to bring the couple together. Along the way, the divas also discover that the love between them all is still very strong too.
Mistletoe Match
Cast: Elena Juatco, Ryan Bruce
Description: With the holiday season in full swing, Olivia Hayes goes undercover to provide her readers with an in-depth and cynical look at the hugely successful annual Secret Santa for Singles event. There, she meets single dad and handsome widower Thomas who is just as skeptical about the program as she is. Sparks soon fly, but with a once in a lifetime promotion on the line, will she risk losing it all for the romance she never saw coming?
A Cowboy Christmas Romance
Cast: Jana Kramer, Adam Senn, Bruce Thomas
Description: One week before Christmas, a huge business deal sends real estate “closer” Lexie Crenshaw back to a place she swore she’d never return to: her hometown of Tubac, Arizona. Back on the range, Lexie must convince Coby Mason, a horse-whispering rancher, to part ways with his family’s land, while navigating her relationship with her father and brothers she left behind, leading her to reconsider the life she gave up 10 years ago.
Yes, Chef! Christmas
Cast: Tia Mowry, Buddy Valastro, Luke Humphrey
Description: Alicia Gellar is a culinary school instructor who has put both her true career aspirations and personal life on the back burner. But this holiday season, fate is on her side. She is invited to compete in the city’s annual Kringle Cook Off and learns a family secret that could change everything and be the big break she needs to become a respected chef like her former boss Bobby. There to mentor her through the competition is the fiery chef and Kringle protégé, Logan, who Alicia builds a real connection with, despite their rocky start. But can Alicia win the cook-off and prove to herself that she is the capable head chef that Logan believes her to be? And will she be accepted by the Kringles if she shares the truth with them? She will have to put it all on the line to find out.
The Holiday Proposal Plan
Cast: Tatyana Ali, Jesse Kove, Whitney Able, Geovanni Gopradi
Description: Travel columnist Sonny Kravitz and her ex-boyfriend Kip are forced to team up to help their best friends Bree and Jarod get engaged. To set the backdrop, the four return to Sonny’s parents’ snowy chalet and set up twelve holiday traditions that are celebrated around the world to nudge Jarod to ask Bree to be his wife. But it seems that the proposal plan doesn’t just reignite the love between the engaged couple. Will Sonny and Kip rekindle what they once had?
A Christmas Intern
Cast: Jackée Harry, Ciarra Carter
Description: With the Holidays approaching, Cecilia discovers that retirement isn’t all it’s cracked up to be, so she decides to make a surprise visit to her daughter Alexis, who created and runs “Cyber Santa,” an online gift giving business. Seizing an opportunity to spend Christmas with her daughter and get back into the game, Cecilia becomes an intern at the start-up company and the two learn the importance of family during the most wonderful time of year, while also finding love.
Merry Magic Christmas
Cast: Patricia Isaac, Andrew Dunbar
Description: As Christmas nears, financial advisor Beth finds that her fortune is hinting all around her. She starts seeing a recurring number: 624, an angel number that will help make her heart’s secret wish come true. It mysteriously becomes the time she wakes up, how far she bikes and the countdowns she sets. Taking on a pro-bono financial case for the local children’s theatre, Beth meets Nate whose financial inexperience may cause the theatre to shut down. The two must work together to raise money for the theatre and possibly find love along the way.
Mom’s Christmas Boyfriend
Cast: Ai Barrett, Jeananne Goossen
Description: Precocious 10-year-old Lily Morgan enters a writing contest about her Christmas wish. She wishes that her single mother, Emma, finds love and a father for Lily whom Emma adopted as an infant in China. After winning the contest, will Lily’s wish come true?
More 2023 Lifetime Movies to Watch
While we love a good Holiday movie, but that’s not only what Lifetime is known for. The channel also houses chilling suspense films, murder mysteries, and true crime biopics. Here are some of the best Lifetime movies of 2023.
Reba McEntire’s The Hammer
Cast: Reba McEntire, Melissa Peterman
Description: Kim Wheeler is an outspoken, firecracker lawyer who is appointed Judge of the 5th District of Nevada and is one of the few traveling judges left in America. After the reigning judge passes away under suspicious circumstances, Kim finds herself covering a circuit that stretches between Las Vegas and Reno — a rugged, often desolate area where anything and everything can happen. With gavel in hand, she lays down the law with a no-nonsense brand of justice, that quickly earns her the nickname “The Hammer.” As the investigation of the former judge’s death heats up, Kim’s sister Kris, who runs the local brothel, suddenly becomes the prime suspect, and Kim must work even harder to make certain the appropriate justice is served.
How to Murder Your Husband
Cast: Cybill Shepherd
Description: Based on a true story, Nancy Crampton-Brophy, seemed to have a knack for writing about murder. The Portland-based romance-thriller novelist authored books about relationships that were tumultuous, while using seductive men on the covers to lure in her readers. Often, her books featured women protagonists who fantasized about killing their own husbands or fleeing their husbands and faking their own deaths. And then, in 2022 in a shocking turn of events, Brophy was convicted of killing her own husband.
Bad Behind Bars: Jodi Arias
Cast: Celina Sinden, Tricia Black, Lynn Rafferty, Karl Campbell, Adesola Adesina, Michelle Haffey, Christine Noble, Maggie Cassella
Description: In this follow-up to one of Lifetime’s most successful true crime movies, Jodi Arias: Dirty Little Secret, we will see a whole new side of the infamous murderess and the story that has captivated the world for nearly a decade. Jodi has just been arrested and sent to prison while she awaits trial for murdering her boyfriend, Travis Alexander. When she arrives in jail, Jodi charms her way through prison and befriends a couple, Donavan Bering and Tracy Brown. The three inmates became inseparable, Donovan and Tracy doing anything and everything Jodi asked — even letting the murderess tattoo her name on one of them. Donovan was released from prison as Jodi’s trial drew near and agreed to be Jodi’s mouthpiece, posting on her social pages and defending her friend to the world. But when the details of the case and Jodi’s story were no longer adding up and Donovan refused to continue to do her former friend’s bidding, Jodi’s vengeful side emerged.
She Inherited Danger
Cast: Sarah Fisher, Conner Floyd.
Description: A young woman inherits her grandfather’s theater and plans to sell it, but things get dangerous when she changes her mind and decides to re-open the beautiful landmark property herself.
The Girl Who Escaped: The Kara Robinson Story
Cast: Katie Douglas, Cara Buono, Kristian Bruun, Robert Nahum, Brandon Carl McEwan, John B. Lowe, Gwendolyn Collins, Emily Meadows, Adriana O’Neil, Lisa Marie DiGiacinto
Description: While in her best friend’s front yard, 15-year-old Kara Robinson was approached by a man who put a gun to her neck and forced her into his car. He would go on to take Kara to his apartment where he held her captive and sexually assaulted her for 18 hours. While he was asleep, Kara escaped the restraints and his apartment. Even though it was the middle of the night, Kara was able to lead the police back to the apartment’s exact location and identify her captor, a serial killer who was also responsible for at least three other unsolved homicides.
The Surrogate Scandal
Cast: Catherine Dyer, Luisa d’Oliveira, Matthew Dowden, Christine Milo, Veronica Long
Description: Amelia is devastated to learn her estranged daughter, Beth, died during childbirth. Beth was a secret surrogate for celebrity couple Grace and Alex Hardy. Amelia believes Beth died under suspicious circumstances and poses as a nanny in order to infiltrate the Hardy household and learn the truth about her daughter’s tragic death.
Spinning Out of Control
Cast: Ria Ridley, Kelcie Stranahan
Description: After winning a contest, Natalie Clark rides her free stationary bike daily, guided by her stunning and inspiring virtual instructor Lia Sterling. Natalie becomes infatuated with Lia and attempts to befriend the fitness mogul in real life. When Lia steps away from virtual training to focus on her personal life, Natalie initiates a sinister plan to eliminate everyone in Lia’s life, so Natalie can have her as her own permanent trainer and best friend.
My Daughter’s Deathly Roommates
Cast: Nicole Marie Johnson, Major Dodge, Ella Morrow, Lily Brody, Carey Wells
Description: New beginnings have disastrous consequences as a young woman starts college and quickly finds herself trapped inside a secret society that has sinister motives. As the society isolates her from her family with increasing intensity, she must decide whether to resign herself to their deadly manipulation, or if she will fight back to stop them once and for all.
Gwen Shamblin: Starving for Salvation
Cast: Jennifer Grey
Description: Jennifer Grey stars as the controversial religious leader and Christian diet guru who positioned herself as God’s prophet and preached the virtues of being thin. As the founder of the Tennessee-based Remnant Fellowship Church and the Weigh Down Workshop – a massively successful Christian-based diet program that preached the virtue of a slim waist and the power of prayer for weight loss – Gwen Shamblin Lara was a rare woman to lead a Southern megachurch. As her church grew across the nation, so did her iron-fisted grip as its leader—accumulating power and money, while creating a larger-than-life public persona with dramatically teased and towering hair. At the peak of her power and influence, Gwen demanded that church members alienate themselves from anyone who was not a member, banished those that became overweight, threatened legal action against dissenters, and advocated for strict punishment of those who failed to follow church tenets. But Gwen’s reign suddenly came to a tragic end in May 2021, when the plane that her husband Joe was flying crashed shortly after takeoff, killing Gwen, Joe, their son-in-law, and four other Church leaders.
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