How to watch ‘A Charlie Brown Christmas’ for free [Too late!]

The Christmas season is in full swing and there’s good news for fans of the Peanuts holiday specials. Apple made the holiday classic A Charlie Brown Christmas available for everyone to stream for free this weekend, whether they’re an Apple TV+ subscriber or not.

That gives everyone the opportunity to watch Linus teach his friends what Christmas is all about, whether they own an Apple device or not.

A streaming exclusive… but free to watch

The special finds Charlie Brown feeling down about the commercialism of Christmas, and becoming the director of the gang’s holiday play is surely the way to get into the holiday spirit. Can he overcome his friends’ preference for dancing over acting, find the “perfect” tree, and discover the true meaning of Christmas?

Apple TV+ owns the rights to all Peanuts holiday specials, and A Charlie Brown Christmas is open to all via the Apple TV app on Saturday, December 14 and Saturday, December 15. There’s no paywall on those dates, including for users of Roku, Google TV, Android, and more.

Of course, the Christmas special is available to Apple TV+ subscribers at any time in December, or the entire year.

How to watch A Charlie Brown Christmas for free

Apple users play the holiday classic through the Apple TV application, which is available in the App Store for iPhone and iPad. There’s also a Mac version in that app store. Install any or all of these as you would any software.

Once you have the application installed and running, look around for A Charlie Brown Christmas (direct link).

But enjoying the classic holiday special doesn’t require an Apple TV, Mac or other Apple device. The service is watchable on a wide variety of devices, including Windows, Roku, Amazon Fire TV and Google TV.

For anyone with a computer running Windows, Android or Chrome OS, watching Apple’s video content is as easy as visiting its website. The same goes for Android phones and tablets. You’ll access the Peanuts special in a browser. You can jump straight to the A Charlie Brown Christmas page.

But Apple made sure there’s a version of the Apple TV application for a wide range of streaming devices. That includes smart TVs too.

On a Roku, go to the Channel Store and download the Apple software. On an Amazon Fire TV, installation can start with saying, “Alexa, find the Apple TV app.” On the Android TV home screen, select Search, then search for “Apple TV.” You might need to create a free account, also called an Apple ID, if you don’t have one already.

Buy A Charlie Brown Christmas on DVD

Those who want anytime access to the Peanuts Christmas special and don’t want to subscribe to Apple TV+ can buy the DVD. It’s available for under $10.

And get ready for New Year’s Eve with the Peanuts gang

While the holiday classic is free to watch later this month, Peanuts fans might want a subscription to Apple TV+. The service also offers It’s Christmastime Again, Charlie Brown and Charlie Brown’s Christmas Tales, two collections of holiday-themed vignettes. Plus there’s I Want a Dog for Christmas, Charlie Brown.

Looking ahead, get ready to enjoy Snoopy Presents: For Auld Lang Syne, a fresh New Year’s eve special created by Apple.

Beyond holiday specials, Apple TV+ offers The Snoopy Show starring the irrepressible beagle — a series that has a 100% critics approval score on Rotten Tomatoes. And don’t miss the delightful Camp Snoopy, too.

Apple TV+ is $9.99 a month, and includes a wide variety of other children’s’ programs, too.

This guide to watching A Charlie Brown Christmas for free was first published in December 2022. It’s been updated with the latest information.