WatchSoMuch

Introduction

With the sheer volume of torrent sites that are on the web nowadays, finding the right one can be a daunting, stressful, and time-consuming process. Not only are there hundreds of generalized torrent sites out there from which to choose, there are also plenty of sites that specialize in one file type. There are torrent sites that are private and require an invitation to join. And then there are torrent sites that go out of their way to provide a unique experience.

These new-age torrent sites are often hybrid sites on which torrenting may not always be the central concern. There are some, for example, that have gone the route of becoming half torrent focused and half social networking based. These sites are great for anyone who values, above all else, a solid sense of community on their torrent trackers. If you are the kind of person who relies heavily on the comments sections of torrent sites or loves to see a forum on a torrent tracker, these sites are likely going to be perfect for you – some even allow you to DM fellow users, bolstering the sense of community quite a bit.

Why are torrenting and free streaming sites always so segregated? – Then there are sites like Watch So Much, that have decided to merge two worlds of the internet that both have avid cult followings: free indie movie and TV streaming and torrenting. Sites like Watch So Much always make me ask, why should these two worlds be as separate as they often are? Wouldn’t it make so much sense for torrent sites to also offer streaming content? Why not?

That being said, there are not many torrent trackers out there that have managed to successfully pull off a torrent, streaming hybrid site. For whatever reason, this does appear harder to accomplish than it may initially seem. I mean, if it weren’t, every torrent site would offer streaming capabilities as well, right? Well, let’s unpack some of the complications behind doing something like this before we evaluate how Watch So Much functions in its own right.

Lower seeder counts? – The first reason that a torrent site might want to stay away from streaming is because, well, it stands to reason that if a person can simply stream a movie or TV show, they will be less incentivized to download it. This is an important factor because a torrent tracker is only effective if it has a fervent userbase. In other words, Peer 2 Peer file sharing, unsurprisingly, requires peers who are sharing files to one another. Therefore, at least in theory, it might not behoove a torrent site to provide full free indie movie and TV series streaming because it could negatively affect the numbers of peers who are seeding files, making it much more difficult (and in extreme cases, impossible) for people who do want to download a given file to be able to do so.

Twice the work? – Lastly, offering two somewhat divergent services (no matter how similar they may seem to be from the outside) amounts to a lot more work. And both torrent and streaming sites, in the very nature of the fact that they are free, are not very lucrative. In fact, both of these sorts of sites are often made possible by squads of dedicated volunteers. Torrenting and streaming depend on two entirely different kinds of coding and upkeep protocols. Unless you have a staff of people who know the ins and outs of both, it can mean twice the people working on the site, or else twice the work for a small staff of volunteers.

Watch So Much offers an ingenious solution – I’m not sure entirely how Watch So Much has managed to pull it off exactly, but I am thrilled to finally find a site that has. And it appears as if this site has found a much more intuitive way to stream video that actually utilizes the torrenting protocol entirely – all the more clever of them – translating P2P file sharing into a moment by moment stream of a video. It’s something like live torrenting a movie stream with no downloads required, which is not at all how most other free streaming sites go about providing content.

That being said, as I dive into Watch So Much, I will be evaluating it on the terms of what it purports to be: a torrenting site that allows its peers to stream media. Therefore, we will look at how it functions both as a torrenting site (primarily), and as a streaming site as well.

Design

I quite like the way that Watch So Much has been designed. It is both practical and easy to navigate, as well as aesthetically pleasing and a bit more experiential than many other torrent trackers out there.

Home page – You’ll find a collapsible site navigation menu that doubles as an effective way to browse all of the content that this site has to offer. Easily and quickly filter free indie content by tag, video resolution, year, language, genre, rating, and more. This is one of the most comprehensive site navigation menus that I have seen in quite some time. The middle matter of the home page, however, allows for easy Netflix-like browsing of featured content.

Inner pages – When you click on a title, you will be brought to another convenient page that includes every way of accessing the title, as well as all of the info and accompanying media that you could hope for. These pages are going to offer an embedded stream option, a download button (if you wish to torrent the file), credit info, award history, trailers, and screenshots. You’ll also find a comments section at the bottom and a few suggested titles to check out.

The only thing that is notably missing here is the valuable torrent information. In other words, I cannot seem to find out how many seeders vs. leechers a certain file has, meaning that I have no indication of the files health (for streaming or downloading). The layout itself, however, of these pages is intuitive and easy to navigate.

Content and Features

As I mentioned already, Watch So Much allows you to browse, stream, and download tons of free indie movies and TV series. The site offers a very versatile selection of obscure free indie films. No matter what you are looking for, there is a good chance that you will be able to download or stream it on Watch So Much.

The site is also very responsive, offering numerous ways to get in touch with them, as well as a frequently checked (and utilized) “request a movie” feature. What the site lacks in community features, it makes up for in responsive and fast-acting customer service.

Mobile and Desktop Experience

Fans of torrenting and streaming on the go should be delighted to learn that the site is fully optimized for mobile devices. Whether on a smartphone or tablet, you will be able to enjoy everything that Watch So Much has to offer in a streamlined and mobile-friendly fashion.

However, where the site falters in terms of experience comes in the form of its slow buffering. This is likely due to the fact that their streams are dependent on the community activity, and since I cannot see how many people are seeding a given torrent vs streaming or downloading it, it is hard to say with certainty … but if your main objective is to stream free indie movies and TV shows, there are plenty of far more effective sites that enable you to do just that for free.

Pricing and Plans

Watch So Much is free to use, but it does offer a few premium subscriptions. All plans come with basic VIP capabilities, which include removal of ads, faster torrent and streaming speeds, and unlimited downloading and streaming. Buy just VIP for $4.58/month, or pair it with your VPN of choice for anywhere between $1.99 and $6.99 a month (SurfShark, Nord, or Express VPN available).