Frequently asked questions

The short answers. If yours is not here, the longer explanations live in Help, and a real person reads the support inbox.

The basics

What exactly is what-to.watch?

A movie matchmaker. You tell it films you love, it learns your taste and recommends what to watch next, along with where each film is streaming in your country. It is not a streaming service. It works alongside the ones you already pay for.

Is it really free to try?

Yes. You get 10 searches a day with no account at all, and 50 free searches when you create one. No card required. Plus removes the limits for $4.99 a month.

What counts as a search?

Opening a film. Typing a title into the box is free — you can browse and search all you like. The count goes up when you open a film, because that is the point where we generate recommendations for it. "Load more" on a set of results counts as one too, on the free tier.

How is this different from the suggestions inside Netflix?

Netflix recommends whatever keeps you on Netflix. We only answer to your taste. Recommendations come from the films you love, skip and have already seen, and they cover movies across services, not one catalog.

Taste and recommendations

How does the AI learn my taste?

From what you do: favorite a film, skip it, or mark it as seen. Every reaction updates your taste profile, so the recommendations keep getting sharper the more you use it.

Why do I keep seeing films I have already watched?

You should not. Anything you have marked as watched or skipped is filtered out before recommendations reach you. If a film you have seen still shows up, it means we do not know you have seen it — mark it watched and it will not come back.

What is Movie DNA?

A written portrait of your taste, built from your favorites, ratings and watch history — the themes you gravitate to, the decades, the tones, and the things you reliably avoid. It is part of Plus, and it gets more accurate the more films you have reacted to.

Streaming availability

Which countries does the streaming info cover?

Availability is checked for your country automatically, using JustWatch data that covers most of the world. A few local providers are not tracked, and when we cannot verify where a film streams, we say so instead of guessing.

Why is a film marked with a question mark?

That means we are showing you availability borrowed from a neighbouring Nordic country because we have no data for yours. It is a decent guess, not a promise — the logo is dimmed and marked so you know to check before you commit to an evening.

The streaming information is wrong. Now what?

Tell us and we will look. Availability comes from JustWatch via TMDB and changes constantly, sometimes several times a week for the same film, so we are at the mercy of how fast that updates. Genuinely stale entries are worth reporting.

Can I tell it which services I actually pay for?

Yes, and you should — it is the single biggest improvement you can make to the results. Pick your services on your profile and matches you can actually watch tonight get surfaced first. If you use Plex, you can connect it and see what is already in your own library.

Plus and Movie Night

What is Movie Night?

A quick game for people who cannot agree. Pair your phones with a code, get dealt the same five films drawn from everyone’s tastes, and each of you secretly picks the two you want — plus one block for a dealbreaker, if you must. The most-wanted film wins, so it never ends in another argument. Two players is free with an account; Party Mode for a larger group is part of Plus.

What do I actually get with Plus?

Unlimited searches, Surprise Me wildcards, mood search — describing what you feel like in plain words rather than naming a film — your Movie DNA taste report, and Party Mode for a bigger group. Surprise Me is capped at 30 a day, which is the only limit that survives subscribing.

Can I cancel Plus anytime?

Yes. Cancel whenever you like and you simply drop back to the free tier. No questions, no retention maze.

What happens if my card fails?

Nothing dramatic and nothing immediate. You keep Plus while the payment is retried, so a card that expired at the wrong moment does not end your evening. If it never goes through, the account drops back to free — your favorites, ratings and history all stay exactly where they are.

Your account

Do I need a password?

No, and you cannot have one. Sign in with Apple, with Google, or with a link sent to your email. There is no password to forget, reuse, or have stolen from us.

Does my account work across devices?

Yes. Favorites, ratings, watch history and your subscription follow the account, not the device, so the web and the apps stay in step.

How do I delete my account?

From your profile page, or the Account tab in the iPhone app. It is immediate and it takes your data with it. Cancel any subscription first — deleting the account does not stop Apple billing you.

Still stuck?

Help walks through how the recommendations, streaming badges and Movie Night actually work. Support covers the things that go wrong and how to fix them. If neither does it, write to us — it is a small company, so you get an actual answer rather than a ticket number.