Entertainment · alternatives
Alternatives to The Roku Channel
20 entertainment tools sit alongside The Roku Channel in this directory. Below is what separates each from The Roku Channel on the figures we hold, price, model, tier count and rating, and a direct comparison for every one.
- Alternatives listed
- 20
- With a free tier
- 11
- Cheaper to start
- -
- The Roku Channel starts at
- Free
Why people look past The Roku Channel
Nothing on the record flags a reason to move. The Roku Channel has a free tier. People still switch over fit and workflow, and those are not things a catalogue entry can measure, which is what the comparisons below are for.
What each alternative does differently
Ordered by the aggregated rating on each catalogue entry. Differences are drawn from price, pricing model, tier count and rating, the fields the category listing carries. For a feature-level difference, follow the head-to-head link on each card: those pages read both full records.
Cheap entertainment-only live TV streaming with no sports and no local broadcast channels
- No free tier, where The Roku Channel has one.
- Publishes an entry price of $33/month, where The Roku Channel does not.
- Sold on a Per household per month, single plan model rather than Free, ad-supported; individual paid channel add-ons.
- 1 tier to The Roku Channel's 2.
Sports-first live TV streaming bundle with regional sports networks and a cloud DVR
- No free tier, where The Roku Channel has one.
- Publishes an entry price of $73.99/month, where The Roku Channel does not.
- Sold on a Per household per month, tiered plans model rather than Free, ad-supported; individual paid channel add-ons.
- 3 tiers to The Roku Channel's 2.
Streaming made simple
- Publishes an entry price of Free, where The Roku Channel does not.
- Sold on a freemium model rather than Free, ad-supported; individual paid channel add-ons.
- 1 tier to The Roku Channel's 2.
Ticket resale marketplace charging both buyers and sellers, with combined fees often a large share of face value
- Sold on a Free to browse, two sided transaction fees on buyers and sellers model rather than Free, ad-supported; individual paid channel add-ons.
Free open source command line video player with no graphical interface, built for scripting and precision
- Sold on a Open source, no licence fee model rather than Free, ad-supported; individual paid channel add-ons.
- 1 tier to The Roku Channel's 2.
Paid media player for Apple TV, iPhone, iPad and Mac with strong network share and cloud library streaming
- Publishes an entry price of $1.99/month, where The Roku Channel does not.
- Sold on a Per user per month model rather than Free, ad-supported; individual paid channel add-ons.
- 3 tiers to The Roku Channel's 2.
Every The Roku Channel alternative at a glance
A dash means the catalogue entry carries no figure, not that the answer is nothing.
| Tool | Entry price | Model | Tiers | Head to head |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| The Roku Channel (this page) | Free | Free, ad-supported; individual paid channel add-ons | 2 | |
| PhiloIf you want a full bundle of entertainment channels for one flat monthly fee instead of assembling individual add-ons | $33/month | Per household per month, single plan | 1 | vs The Roku Channel |
| fuboTVIf sports coverage is the priority and you want it bundled into one subscription | $73.99/month | Per household per month, tiered plans | 3 | vs The Roku Channel |
| RokuIf you are looking for the Roku device and platform itself rather than its free content service | Free | Freemium | 1 | vs The Roku Channel |
| StubHub | Free | Free to browse, two sided transaction fees on buyers and sellers | 2 | vs The Roku Channel |
| mpv | Free | Open source, no licence fee | 1 | vs The Roku Channel |
| Infuse | Free, then $1.99/month | Per user per month | 3 | vs The Roku Channel |
| IINA | Free | Open source, no licence fee | 1 | vs The Roku Channel |
| Castro | Free, then $24.99/year | - | 2 | vs The Roku Channel |
| Castbox | Free | - | 2 | vs The Roku Channel |
| Emby | Free, then $4.99/month | Freemium | 2 | vs The Roku Channel |
| Apple TV+ | Free, then $12.99/month | Subscription | 2 | vs The Roku Channel |
| Crunchyroll | Free, then $7.99/month | Freemium | 3 | vs The Roku Channel |
| Dailymotion | Free | Free | 1 | vs The Roku Channel |
| DirecTV Stream | $89.99/month | Per household per month, tiered plans | 3 | vs The Roku Channel |
| Disney+ | $7.99/month | Subscription | 2 | vs The Roku Channel |
| ESPN+ | $10.99/month | Subscription | 2 | vs The Roku Channel |
| Discovery+ | $4.99/month | Subscription | 2 | vs The Roku Channel |
| Final Cut Pro | $12.99/month | - | 3 | vs The Roku Channel |
| Adobe Premiere Pro | $22.99/month | - | 4 | vs The Roku Channel |
| Apple Music | $10.99/month | Subscription | 2 | vs The Roku Channel |
Ratings are aggregated from third-party sources and imported with each catalogue entry; Softwr hosts no reviews of these products. How each figure is used is set out on the The Roku Channel badges page.
Cheaper ways to solve the same problem
What you would be giving up
The Roku Channel is most often brought in for a cord-cutter who wants free ad-supported background tv without any subscription commitment, someone who wants one or two specific premium channels like starz without a full live tv bundle, a household that already has netflix and hulu and wants free supplementary live channels at no extra cost, someone testing whether they need a full live tv bundle before committing to fubotv or directv stream. Anything replacing it has to cover the ones you actually depend on, and a cheaper tool that misses one of them is not cheaper.
Two things this page cannot settle. It compares on price, model, tier count and rating, because those are the fields the category listing carries, feature-level differences need both full records, which is what the head-to-head pages load. And the ratings are third-party aggregates imported with each entry rather than reviews written here, so a 0.2 difference between two tools is noise rather than a finding.
If The Roku Channel is broadly right and the question is cost, the The Roku Channel pricing breakdown covers every tier and what each one adds. If you want the whole field rather than a shortlist, the Entertainment category lists everything the directory holds, and best entertainment tools ranks them.
The Roku Channel runs on roku, ios, android, web, fire tv, apple tv. Platform coverage is not carried on the category listing for the alternatives, so it is one more thing to check on each head-to-head page rather than here.
Questions about The Roku Channel alternatives
- What are the main alternatives to The Roku Channel?
- 20 other entertainment tools are listed in this directory, led by Philo, fuboTV, Roku, StubHub. They are ordered by the aggregated rating on each catalogue entry, not by any Softwr ranking.
- What is the best free alternative to The Roku Channel?
- 11 of the alternatives listed here can be used without paying: Roku, StubHub, mpv, Infuse, IINA.
- Is there a reason to switch away from The Roku Channel?
- Nothing in the data flags one. The Roku Channel has a free tier. Fit and workflow are the usual reasons to move, and those are not things this record can measure.
- What would I give up by switching from The Roku Channel?
- The Roku Channel is most often brought in for a cord-cutter who wants free ad-supported background tv without any subscription commitment, someone who wants one or two specific premium channels like starz without a full live tv bundle, a household that already has netflix and hulu and wants free supplementary live channels at no extra cost, someone testing whether they need a full live tv bundle before committing to fubotv or directv stream. Anything you replace it with has to cover the ones you actually rely on, the side-by-side comparisons linked from each alternative below put the two feature records against each other.
- Is there an open-source alternative to The Roku Channel?
- None of the entertainment tools listed here are recorded as open source. That is what the licence field on each entry says, and the field is not always filled in, so it is worth checking directly for any tool you are serious about.
- How were these The Roku Channel alternatives chosen?
- They are the tools filed in the same category, Entertainment, ordered by the aggregated rating on each entry. There is no editorial shortlist, and nothing on this page is paid: no sponsored placement runs on alternatives pages and the order cannot be bought. Softwr has not used these products.
- Where can I compare The Roku Channel against one of these directly?
- Every alternative below has a side-by-side page against The Roku Channel covering price, platforms, features and what each one is used for. Those pages read the full record for both products rather than the summary shown here.
- Does this list cover every entertainment tool?
- No. It covers what this directory holds in the Entertainment category, 20 tools beside The Roku Channel. The category page lists the rest of the catalogue as it grows.