Free films with a library card: Kanopy and Hoopla limits at three big-city public libraries

Public libraries in several big U.S. cities let cardholders stream films at no charge through services such as Kanopy and Hoopla. The catch is a monthly allowance, which each library sets and which differs from city to city. We looked at what three big West Coast city libraries, in San Francisco, Seattle and Los Angeles, say on their own pages about who can get a card, which services they offer and how much viewing a card allows.

The three libraries side by side

How Kanopy tickets work

Kanopy uses tickets rather than a count of films. San Francisco’s help page says most titles need at least two tickets, so its 30 tickets go further on some titles than others, and Seattle says each title shows how many tickets it costs before you play it. Both libraries reset the allowance on the first of the month, and unused tickets do not carry over. San Francisco adds that a cardholder who runs out cannot play more Kanopy videos until the reset, that extra tickets cannot be bought, and that the 30-ticket budget is what lets it offer the service to all its users. Once tickets are spent on a title, the San Francisco page says, it can be watched as often as you like during the loan. It also notes that someone who belongs to more than one library subscribing to Kanopy can use the other library’s tickets through that membership.

On what is in the catalog, the libraries quote different sizes. Seattle and San Francisco both say more than 30,000 titles. Los Angeles says more than 26,000 documentaries and feature films from over 1,000 producers, naming the Criterion Collection, Kino Lorber and the BBC, and San Francisco also names the Criterion Collection. Seattle and San Francisco both say videos in Kanopy Kids, the children’s section, use no tickets, and that Kanopy’s films come with captions and transcripts that are ADA compliant and work with screen readers such as JAWS.

How Hoopla borrowing works

Hoopla counts borrows. Seattle lets cardholders stream up to 15 titles a month from a film and TV collection it puts at more than 6,000 titles, with no waiting. San Francisco runs two kinds of borrow, Instant and Flex: its help page says most titles are available instantly, while some Flex titles have a waitlist and need a hold, and it dates the two-tier system to December 15, 2025. In both cities, a borrowed film or TV episode plays for 72 hours. San Francisco notes that there are no late fees: the loan simply expires.

Who can get a card

In San Francisco, California residents can have a free card, but the library does not issue cards online: its help page says to apply online and then show a valid photo ID at any branch. People without California ID can get other card types, and a Visitor card costs $10 for three months. Los Angeles also gives free cards to California residents who show photo ID with their current address. It says its licensing agreements with digital content vendors limit its instant online e-card to residents of the City of Los Angeles. Seattle takes applications online and says most people who live, work or go to school in the city qualify for a free card, with address checks usually done instantly. It adds that a physical card is not needed to use its resources, and that one can be collected at any open branch with valid ID.

What this means for film fans

By our count from the table, a San Francisco cardholder who uses both services in full has the largest published allowance of the three: 30 Kanopy tickets plus 40 Hoopla borrows a month, against 15 tickets and 15 borrows in Seattle. San Francisco’s Hoopla page gives its monthly borrows as one limit next to loan periods for every format, from e-books to music, while Seattle’s 15 is the figure it gives for films and TV shows. Because many Kanopy titles cost more than one ticket, the number of films that buys is lower than the ticket count. Los Angeles does not publish limits on its own service pages. Its list adds Digitalia Film Library, which it describes as mostly foreign-language films with some classic American cinema. Each library’s help desk answers questions about its own card: Seattle lists 206-386-4636, and San Francisco’s Kanopy page gives 415-557-4400 for renewing an expired card.