YouTube Takes on iTunes Store With Streaming Movie Rentals

113605 youtube movie rentals

YouTube yesterday announced the launch of streaming movie rentals, taking on Apple's iTunes Store offerings that have grown to include a variety of streaming and downloadable rental options as well as digital purchases. YouTube's new rental service, which comes at "industry standard pricing" typically in the range of $2.99-$3.99, builds upon free movie offerings the site has offered for several years.

Today, we're announcing another step in our goal to bring more of the video you love to YouTube: the addition of thousands of full-length feature films from major Hollywood studios available to rent in the US at youtube.com/movies. In addition to the hundreds of free movies available on the site since 2009, you will be able to find and rent some of your favorite films. From memorable hits and cult classics like Caddyshack, Goodfellas, Scarface, and Taxi Driver to blockbuster new releases like Inception, The King's Speech, Little Fockers, The Green Hornet and Despicable Me. Movies are available to rent at industry standard pricing, and can be watched with your YouTube account on any computer. The new titles will begin appearing later today and over the coming weeks to www.youtube.com/movies, so keep checking back.

YouTube is also offering "Movie Extras" for a number of its films, including free behind-the-scenes clips, interviews and other content, as well as integrated movie ratings and reviews from Rotten Tomatoes. Similar to Apple's policies for iTunes movie rentals, YouTube rentals give users up to 30 days to view a rented film after initiating access and 24 hours to complete watching the film once viewing is started.

YouTube began discussions with major movie studios about movie rentals over a year and a half ago, rolling out a trial of the service to thousands of Google employees, but it has apparently taken until now to work through any licensing and technical issues to go live in a market that Apple has dominated.

Related Forum: Mac Apps

Popular Stories

iOS 26

iOS 26.1 Coming Soon: New Features for Your iPhone and Release Date

Monday October 27, 2025 7:55 am PDT by
The upcoming iOS 26.1 update includes a handful of new features and changes for iPhones, including a toggle for changing the appearance of the Liquid Glass design, "slide to stop" for alarms in the Clock app, and more. Below, we outline key details about iOS 26.1. Release Date Given that Apple has yet to seed an iOS 26.1 Release Candidate, which is typically the final beta version, the...
iOS 26

6 New Things Your iPhone Can Do in iOS 26.1

Wednesday October 29, 2025 4:22 am PDT by
Apple is about to drop iOS 26.1, the first major point release since iOS 26 was rolled out in September, and there are at least six notable changes and improvements to look forward to. We've rounded them up below. Apple has already provided developers and public beta testers with the release candidate version of iOS 26.1, which means Apple will likely roll out the update to all compatible...
maxresdefault

Apple TV 4K Could Still Launch Before 2025 Ends: All the Rumored Features

Monday October 27, 2025 4:51 pm PDT by
Apple is designing an updated version of the Apple TV 4K, and rumors suggest that it could come out sometime in the next couple of months. We're not expecting a major overhaul with design changes, but even a simple chip upgrade will bring major improvements to Apple's set-top box. Subscribe to the MacRumors YouTube channel for more videos. We've rounded up all the latest Apple TV rumors. ...
iOS 26

Apple Seeds iOS 26.1, iPadOS 26.1, and macOS Tahoe 26.1 Release Candidates

Tuesday October 28, 2025 1:07 pm PDT by
Apple today provided developers and public beta testers with the release candidate versions of upcoming iOS 26.1, iPadOS 26.1, macOS Tahoe 26.1, tvOS 26.1, watchOS 26.1, and visionOS 26.1 updates for testing purposes. The RCs betas come a week after Apple released the fourth betas. The new betas can be downloaded from the Settings app on a compatible device by going to General > Software...
M6 MacBook Pro Feature 1

M6 MacBook Pro: Release Date, Pricing, and What to Expect

Monday October 27, 2025 9:15 am PDT by
Apple this month refreshed the 14-inch MacBook Pro base model with its new M5 chip, and higher-end 14-inch and 16-inch MacBook Pro models with M5 Pro and M5 Max chips are expected to follow in early 2026. However, these machines will represent the final update to the current design, with Apple reportedly developing a completely new version of the MacBook Pro packed with next-generation hardware...
iPhone 17 Pro Cosmic Orange

8 Reasons to Wait for Next Year's iPhone 18 Pro

Thursday October 30, 2025 4:42 am PDT by
Apple's iPhone development roadmap runs several years into the future and the company is continually working with suppliers on several successive iPhone models at the same time, which is why we often get rumored features months ahead of launch. The iPhone 18 series is no different, and we already have a good idea of what to expect for the iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone 18 Pro Max. One thing worth...
macos tahoe

Here Are Apple's Release Notes for macOS Tahoe 26.1

Tuesday October 28, 2025 1:21 pm PDT by
Apple today provided developers and public beta testers with the release candidate version of macOS Tahoe 26.1, which means the update will likely see a public launch next week. The release candidate includes notes on what's in the update, so we have a full picture of the new features that Apple has included. macOS Tahoe 26.1 adds AutoMix support over AirPlay, improved FaceTime audio...
ipad mini 7 feature blue

OLED iPad Mini: Release Date, Pricing, and What to Expect

Wednesday October 29, 2025 7:13 am PDT by
Rumors are stoking excitement for the next-generation iPad mini that Apple is reportedly close to launching. So what should we expect from the successor to the iPad mini 7 that Apple released over a year ago? Read on to find out. Processor and Performance Apple is working on a next-generation version of the iPad mini (codename J510/J511) that features the A19 Pro chip, according to...
iPhone Car Key Kia

Another Vehicle Brand Gaining iPhone Car Keys Support

Tuesday October 28, 2025 5:27 am PDT by
Apple is preparing to bring support for its digital car key feature to Jetour vehicles, according to evidence uncovered on Apple's backend by MacRumors contributor Aaron Perris. Introduced in 2022, Car Keys allows an iPhone or Apple Watch to unlock a vehicle through the Wallet app. A digital version of a car key is stored in Wallet, and unlocking can be done by holding an Apple Watch or...

Top Rated Comments

OllyW Avatar
189 months ago
And is this available to those of us outside the US?

What do you mean, outside the US? ;)

Score: 9 Votes (Like | Disagree)
AppleScruff1 Avatar
189 months ago
Good news. More competition, more choices.
Score: 8 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Small White Car Avatar
189 months ago
For an hour and a half movie, I can expect it to take at least two hours including buffering.

Sorry, Google, but I'm not interested in paying for a terrible experience.

So Apple's and Netflix's rentals all work fine but Google's too dumb to figure it out?

What makes you think that?
Score: 7 Votes (Like | Disagree)
slu Avatar
189 months ago
For an hour and a half movie, I can expect it to take at least two hours including buffering.

Sorry, Google, but I'm not interested in paying for a terrible experience.

So Apple's and Netflix's rentals all work fine but Google's too dumb to figure it out?

What makes you think that?
Have you ever used YouTube? The amount of buffering that goes on for even the shortest of videos is crazy
Score: 5 Votes (Like | Disagree)
nwcs Avatar
189 months ago
I would rather watch on my TV and right now that would mean via Apple TV. Not everyone wants to spend hours behind a computer screen for leisure.
Score: 5 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Hastings101 Avatar
189 months ago
Youtube is even more awesome now, yay.

Also, the Green Hornet sucked.
Score: 5 Votes (Like | Disagree)