‘RuPaul’s Drag Race’ Season 17: How to Watch the Hit Show Online for Free

RuPaul’s Drag Race is back for another lap as season 17 of the hit show begins airing every Friday night at 8 p.m. ET/PT.

Fans can tune in as 14 new contestants compete for the title of “America’s Next Drag Superstar” and collect a $200,000 cash prize.

Apart from the fabulous queens, the new season features music challenges and guest judges like musicians Katy Perry, Doechii, Adam Lambert, Sam Smith and more.

RuPaul, Michelle Visage, Carson Kressley, Ts Madison and Ross Mathews returned as mainstay judges this season.

Read on for more details about the season and ways to watch and stream RuPaul’s Drag Race live for free.

How to Stream RuPaul’s Drag Race Season 17 Online

Start your engines! Season 17 of RuPaul’s Drag Race premiered on Jan. 3, 2025 and runs for 16 episodes.

If you’re a fan of the show and want to catch up on the new season, you can watch the latest episodes on MTV or MTV.com with a login from your cable or streaming provider. If you don’t have access to MTV through a cable, satellite or a streaming subscription, there are a few ways to stream RuPaul’s Drag Race without paying anything upfront.

For example, Philo offers a free trial and 70+ live TV channels that you can stream online, including a live feed of MTV. Use the free trial to livestream RuPaul’s Drag Race online for free. Continue on after your free trial is over with Philo plans starting at just $28/month.

Not interested in Philo? DirecTV Stream is a live television streaming service that also includes MTV as part of its offerings. Even better: you can test it out with a free trial offer here. Use it to livestream RuPaul’s Drag Race online for free.

Other ways to watch and stream Drag Race on MTV include Hulu + Live TV, Sling TV and Verizon Fios.

To access DirecTV, Paramount+ and other streaming platforms internationally, use ExpressVPN (Drag Race is also available on the WOW Presents site).

Want to catch up on last season of Drag Race? MTV often airs marathons on cable, but you can stream episodes from the current and previous seasons on-demand through your cable or streaming provider or on Paramount+ (for season 15).

Additionally, new episodes and older episodes of Drag Race are available for purchase on Prime Video, Vudu and iTunes.

How to Watch Previous Seasons of RuPaul’s Drag Race and RuPaul’s Drag Race All Stars

Older episodes of RuPaul’s Drag Race and Drag Race All Stars including season 15 extended episodes are available to stream on Paramount+.

Season 16 of RuPaul’s Drag Race secured the highest season premiere in six years among adults 18-49. Season 15 held the previous record for the show’s highest rated premiere in six years, Deadline reported at the time.

RuPaul’s Drag Race also celebrated a big night at 75th annual Emmy Awards. The show won for best reality competition program and RuPaul won an award for outstanding host of a reality competition for the eighth year in a row making him the most Emmy awarded reality host in history.

The show has won a total of 29 Emmys out of 63 nominations.