A copycat for Google ChromeCast has been released as a free Android app - meet CheapCast.

If you choose not to shell out cash for Google ChromeCast, then, within the extremely long list of free Android apps is CheapCast. It is a zero-dollar worth program for Android users that lets you experience the services offered by Google ChromeCast.

Generally, Chromecast device "can connect your living room by streaming content from your computer," allowing users to watch videos from mobile on their television.

With the free Android app, Cheapcast, it will emulate what the $35 Google dongle can do, without any payment required. As Mashable explained it, by using Cheapcast, "Your Android device, with the installed app, brings up Chromecast-compatible apps (think YouTube, Google Music, Netflix) and streams that content to another device."

CheapCast is currently in its early beta version and offers limited services. The overall rating of this free Android app is 4.4 out of 5 stars in the rating system of Google Play Store, acquiring 711 fairly positive reviews. For instance, as cited in the Mashable post, Neil Stirton shared, "Play Music works great, haven't got YouTube to work yet.

Nishan Goswami said, "Excellent App! Only Google play music worked , but its still really impressive for an free beta . Thank you dev for bringing pseudo cast support to regions that don't have the chromecast!"

 Nathan Kemp, giving 3 stars for this free Android app, said, "Good idea but doesn't work Each device recognizes the other but nothing will playback. Hopefully this gets fixed in the future?"

If you want to experience the full functionality that ChromeCast offers, you can opt to purchase the device for only $35. Besides, considering other devices from rival company, it is still way cheaper than the $50 Roku LT or the $99 Apple TV.

But if the budget does not suit these kinds of dongle, beta version of the free Android app Cheapcast is always available to download on Google Play.