Entertainment · pricing
The Roku Channel pricing
The Roku Channel publishes 2 tiers. Below is each one, what it adds over the tier beneath it, and where the ladder stops being worth climbing for most people.
As of 1 September 2026, The Roku Channel pricing is free across 2 published tiers. Figures are the vendor's list prices as recorded on this page's last check; the vendor's site is the final word.
- Entry price
- Free
- Model
- Free, ad-supported; individual paid channel add-ons
- Tiers
- 2
- Free tier
- Yes
The Roku Channel plans, side by side
Every published tier in ascending order of price, with the number of features each one lists. An absence here means the record does not itemise it, not that the tier lacks it.
| Plan | Price | Features listed | Step up from the tier below |
|---|---|---|---|
| The Roku Channel | Free | 3 | Entry tier |
| Premium add-ons | On request | 3 | Priced on request |
What each tier adds
The set difference between each tier's feature list and the one beneath it. Where a tier lists nothing new, the vendor has either stopped repeating the inherited list or the tier raises limits rather than adding capability, the record does not distinguish the two, so this page does not either.
The Roku Channel
FreeThe entry tier. It covers free live linear channels, free ad-supported on-demand library, no sports or major broadcast network feeds included.
Premium add-ons
On requestOver The Roku Channel, this tier adds:
- Individually priced channels such as Starz or Showtime
- Sports and news bundles priced separately
- Billed per add-on, not as one package
Where The Roku Channel stops being free
The Roku Channel, Free
- Free live linear channels
- Free ad-supported on-demand library
- No sports or major broadcast network feeds included
No paid tier on record
The Roku Channel lists a free tier and no priced tier above it in the record we hold.
What the product covers
The full The Roku Channel feature record, grouped as the catalogue groups it. This is the product as a whole; the record does not map every feature onto a specific tier.
Other
- Free ad-supported live channels
- On-demand library
- Premium channel add-ons
- Cross-platform app
- No Roku hardware required
- Unified billing
People bring The Roku Channel 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. If that is not the job you are buying for, the alternatives to The Roku Channel are worth a look before you commit to a tier.
How that compares in Entertainment
Too few entertainment tools in this directory publish a starting price to quote a meaningful median, so the table below is a like-for-like list rather than a ranking.
| Tool | Entry price | Model | Rated | Head to head |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| The Roku Channel (this page) | Free | Free, ad-supported; individual paid channel add-ons | - | |
| Philo | $33/month | Per household per month, single plan | - | vs The Roku Channel |
| StubHub | Free | Free to browse, two sided transaction fees on buyers and sellers | - | vs The Roku Channel |
| mpv | Free | Open source, no licence fee | - | vs The Roku Channel |
| Infuse | Free, then $1.99/month | Per user per month | - | vs The Roku Channel |
| fuboTV | $73.99/month | Per household per month, tiered plans | - | vs The Roku Channel |
| IINA | Free | Open source, no licence fee | - | vs The Roku Channel |
Ratings are aggregated from third-party sources and imported with each catalogue entry, they are not reviews hosted on Softwr. How each figure is used is set out on the The Roku Channel badges page.
Before you pay for The Roku Channel
Three things this page cannot tell you, and all three change the bill. The record carries a price and a billing period but not the unit - per-seat and flat-rate pricing are indistinguishable in this data, so a five-person team may be looking at five times the figure above. It carries no annual rate, so any discount for paying yearly is not something this page can quote. And it carries no trial length.
What it can tell you is the shape of the ladder: 2 tiers between Free and On request, with the jump itemised above. Because there is a free tier, the cheapest way to answer the rest is to use it before paying anything.
The Roku Channel runs on roku, ios, android, web, fire tv, apple tv, and is published by Roku, Inc. of San Jose, California, United States. The full record is on the The Roku Channel review, and the rest of the category is under best entertainment tools.
The Roku Channel pricing questions
- How much does The Roku Channel cost?
- The Roku Channel publishes 2 tiers, from Free for The Roku Channel up to On request for Premium add-ons. The entry tier costs nothing.
- Does The Roku Channel have a free plan?
- Yes. The The Roku Channel tier costs nothing and covers free live linear channels, free ad-supported on-demand library, no sports or major broadcast network feeds included.
- What is the difference between The Roku Channel and Premium add-ons on The Roku Channel?
- Premium add-ons costs On request against Free, and adds individually priced channels such as starz or showtime, sports and news bundles priced separately, billed per add-on, not as one package.
- Which entertainment tools can I use without paying?
- 4 of the 8 entertainment tools listed alongside The Roku Channel have a free tier: StubHub, mpv, Infuse, IINA.
- What am I actually paying for with The Roku Channel?
- The record lists 6 features across 1 area: other. In practice it is 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.
- Does The Roku Channel charge per user?
- The record carries a price and a billing period for each of its 2 tiers, but not the unit that price is charged in. Per-seat and flat-rate billing look identical in this data, so check the vendor's page before budgeting for a team.
- Are these The Roku Channel prices current?
- They are what the catalogue entry holds, refreshed when the entry is. Vendors change pricing without notice and nobody at Softwr re-verifies each tier by hand, so treat this as a structured summary and the vendor's own pricing page as the authority.
- What should I compare The Roku Channel against before paying?
- The closest entertainment tools in this directory are Philo, StubHub, mpv, Infuse. Each has a side-by-side comparison with The Roku Channel covering price, platforms and features.