How to Rent Movies on Amazon

This article explains how to find and rent a streaming movie, how to download a purchased video, and how to watch free movies on Amazon from all your devices.

How Amazon Rentals Work

Renting a movie on Amazon lets you watch the film as many times as you want for a limited number of days, usually two or seven, depending on the film. This service is part of Prime Video, but you don't need to be an Amazon Prime member to take advantage of it.

Any Amazon user can browse Prime Video for movie rentals. Movies have a full description, trailer, list of stars from the film, and user reviews. Renting takes just a click or two.

You can watch rented movies from your computer or any other device that supports Prime Video, including phones, tablets, and TVs.

The way it works is very similar to other streaming services like YouTube and Netflix. After browsing for something to rent and then paying for it, all the watching happens either in your browser or through an app.

How to Rent Movies on Amazon

You can rent movies from Prime Video on your computer or through the Prime Video app. These screenshots are for the desktop version, but all the menu buttons are the same in the app.

1. Open the app or visit Prime Video from a computer.

2. Locate the movie you want to rent.

   The Channels menu is handy if you want to browse featured and popular movies. All the newest films available for rent are found in the New Releases category.

3. Pick the pricing option that matches the quality you want to rent. You may need to choose More purchase options to see all the rental options.

   If you've set up a Prime Video PIN, you'll need to enter it to complete the purchase.

4. Confirm by selecting Continue.
   

   You'll be charged immediately afterward; there won't be another screen where you review the purchase before finalizing it. If you rent a movie by accident, you can always undo the purchase if you act quickly enough—choose Cancel your order right there on that same page.

5. That's it! You can start the movie immediately by selecting Watch now or by opening it later from the My Stuff menu on the website or the menu > Purchases area in the app.

How to Download Amazon Rentals and Purchases

Only select titles are available for download, and only on compatible devices. Here's how to download the newly rented movie from the Android app:

1. Select the menu button at the top-right of the screen.

2. Select the Purchases tab.

3. Choose the movie you want to save, or tap the menu next to it, and then select Download.

   For TV shows with multiple episodes, you can download the entire season by selecting Download Season, or you can download specific episodes by tapping the episode and then the down arrow icon.

Are There Free Movies on Amazon?

Amazon Prime subscribers have access to a selection of free titles as part of their subscription. Whether you're a Prime member or not, you can see which movies are available as part of the subscription by checking for the prime label on title covers, or by browsing all the videos included with Prime.

Another way to get free movies from Amazon is through Freevee, which is a free, ad-supported movie streaming service owned by Amazon and also hosted on Amazon Prime (look for the ads label).

Amazon Movie Rental Limitations

There are two important restrictions to note about renting from Prime Video: you have 30 days to start watching the movie and then a limited number of hours or days from then before it expires. Some movies give you seven days, but others place a 48-hour limit; you'll see this before and after you make the purchase.

This means you can rent a movie today and wait a few weeks to start watching it, but the moment you press play is when the expiration timer starts.

You can rent a movie more than once if it expires and you want to watch it again, but there's also an option to buy movies on Prime Video so they're yours to watch for as long as you like.