CleanCut vs ClearPlay
ClearPlay filters in a Chrome tab on a computer; CleanCut filters inside the streaming apps already on your Apple TV. ClearPlay covers violence and nudity as well as language; CleanCut covers language only. Which one fits depends on which of those two sentences matters more to your household.*
Side by side
| CleanCut | ClearPlay | |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free on YouTube and Plex; Plus $2.99/month; Pro $5.99/month | $7.99/month or $79.99/year. 30-day free trial, then a subscription; no free tier. |
| Where you watch | In the streaming app on your Apple TV, with your own subscription and remote. An iPhone or iPad app pairs with the box over Wi-Fi, reads what the TV reports as playing, matches subtitles to it, and mutes the TV at each flagged line. | A Google Chrome extension for Mac and Windows computers. You sign in to a supported streaming service in Chrome and ClearPlay applies its editor-made filter file over that service's own web player. There are no phone, smart-TV, or streaming-box apps at all; ClearPlay's own guidance for watching on a television is an HDMI cable from the computer. |
| What it filters | Language, from subtitles, with an editable word list; sponsor segments on YouTube. Not violence or nudity. | Four categories — language, violence, sex and nudity, and substance abuse — from human-edited filter files per title, all on by default. |
| Services | Prime Video, Hulu, Peacock, Paramount+, Apple TV+, Crunchyroll, Tubi, AMC+, Disney+, YouTube, Plex. Any app that uses the Apple TV's built-in player. Not Netflix or Max, which use their own. | Netflix, Prime Video, Disney+, Max, Apple TV+, Paramount+. No Hulu, Peacock, YouTube, or Plex. Paramount+ is filtered as an Amazon Prime Video channel on the Premium tier, not in the standalone Paramount+ app. |
| Devices | Apple TV, driven from an iPhone or iPad on the same Wi-Fi. | Google Chrome on Mac and Windows computers only. No iOS, Android, smart-TV, Roku, or Apple TV apps; ClearPlay recommends an HDMI cable to the television and advises against casting or AirPlay. |
| Coverage model | Any title with a subtitle file, matched automatically | Titles its editors have filed or tagged |
| Account | None; subscribe through the App Store | ClearPlay account |
Which streaming services
| Service | CleanCut | ClearPlay |
|---|---|---|
| Netflix | No | Yes |
| Prime Video | Yes | Yes |
| Disney+ | Yes | Yes |
| Hulu | Yes | No |
| Max | No | Yes |
| Apple TV+ | Yes | Yes |
| Paramount+ | Yes | Yes |
| Peacock | Yes | No |
| YouTube | Yes | No |
| Plex | Yes | No |
Ad-free plans only. ClearPlay's supported-subscriptions page is headed “Ad-free Supported Streaming Subscriptions”: Netflix, Disney+, and Max are filtered on their no-ads tiers and not on their with-ads tiers, and Prime Video needs Amazon's $4.99/month ad-free add-on. CleanCut has no such requirement — it works the same on an ad-supported plan.
Why people look for a ClearPlay alternative
ClearPlay does not run on a television. It is a Chrome extension for Mac and Windows, and ClearPlay's own help centre explains why there are no apps: app environments don't give an extension the overlay access the filter needs. Its advice for getting the picture to the living room is an HDMI cable from the computer, and it advises against AirPlay and casting because of the delay. That is the complaint behind most of these searches — the filter works, but the couch is in the wrong room.
The other complaint is coverage. No Hulu, Peacock, YouTube, or Plex. Paramount+ is filtered as an Amazon Prime Video channel on the Premium tier, not in the standalone Paramount+ app. And a title is only filtered once ClearPlay’s editors have done it, so a new release can wait.
What ClearPlay does well
- Filters more than language: violence, sex and nudity, and substance abuse, from human-edited files.
- Twenty-plus years in the category and a well-known name.
- Covers Netflix and Max, which CleanCut cannot.
- A 30-day free trial before the subscription starts.
Where it falls short
- Chrome on a Mac or PC only. No apps for phones, smart TVs, or streaming boxes, and none for Apple TV; watching on a television means an HDMI cable.
- Ad-free plans only. On an ad-supported Netflix, Disney+, Max, or Prime Video plan, nothing is filtered.
- Only titles ClearPlay's editors have filed are covered; a new release waits for an edit.
- No Hulu, Peacock, YouTube, or Plex.
- Subscription with no free tier once the trial ends.
What CleanCut does instead
You stay in your own app
Press play in Prime Video, Hulu, or Peacock on the Apple TV, with the remote. CleanCut mutes the TV from your phone. Nothing is cast, re-encoded, or signed into a second player.
Every title with subtitles, not a curated list
CleanCut works from the subtitle file for what's playing, so a new release is covered the day subtitles exist for it, not when an editor gets to it.
Free on YouTube and Plex
Both are filtered in full at no charge, including SponsorBlock segment skipping on YouTube. The subscription apps need Plus, from $2.99 a month.
Language only
It reads dialogue, so it filters what's said. It does not detect violence or nudity. If that's what you need filtered, this is the honest place to say CleanCut isn't it.
Who should stay with ClearPlay
Households that mostly watch Netflix or Max on ad-free plans, want violence and nudity filtered as well as language, and are happy to watch from a computer wired to the television.
Who should switch to CleanCut
Households whose problem is the language, who watch on an Apple TV, and who want to keep the apps and subscriptions they already have. Especially anyone whose watching is Hulu, Peacock, Prime Video, or Paramount+, or who has a Plex library, and anyone who would rather try it free on YouTube or Plex than start a subscription blind.
Switching
There is nothing to migrate. Install CleanCut on an iPhone or iPad, pair it with the Apple TV using the code on screen, set the word list, and press play in the streaming app. Your ClearPlay subscription and your streaming subscriptions are untouched; if you keep ClearPlay for visual filtering on some services, the two never interfere.
Common questions
Is CleanCut a good ClearPlay alternative?
Both filter language; the difference is where. CleanCut mutes it inside the streaming apps already on your Apple TV — you press play in Prime Video or Hulu and watch there, with your own subscription and remote. ClearPlay filters in a Chrome tab on a computer, so the film plays there instead of in the app on the box. For violence or nudity it is the other way round: ClearPlay filters those and CleanCut does not. ClearPlay covers Netflix, Prime Video, Disney+, Max, Apple TV+, Paramount+; CleanCut covers any app that uses the Apple TV's built-in player, which excludes Netflix and Max.
How much does CleanCut cost compared with ClearPlay?
ClearPlay is $7.99/month or $79.99/year. 30-day free trial, then a subscription; no free tier. CleanCut is free on YouTube and Plex, $2.99 a month or $29.99 a year for Plus, and $5.99 a month or $59.99 a year for Pro, through the App Store.
Can I use CleanCut and ClearPlay together?
Yes. They don't interact. ClearPlay plays content through its own player or a browser; CleanCut only acts on what the Apple TV reports from its built-in player. Households that want visual filtering on some services and language filtering inside their Apple TV apps can run both.
The full comparison covers every option side by side, including the free browser extensions.
* ClearPlay price and coverage as of September 18, 2026.