Roku Vs Amazon Fire TV Stick: Which Has More Free TV And Movies?

If you're ready to ditch your TV's streaming OS in favor of a dedicated streaming stick, there are plenty of options to choose from. Roku and Amazon are big players in the market, and their respective sticks each have their share of dedicated fans. While the Fire Stick is part of the Amazon ecosystem, you don't have to have a Fire TV for it to work, and the same goes for Roku and Roku TVs. 

You can have a TCL, Sony, Samsung, etc., and still plug in one of these streaming sticks and start watching your favorite shows. While both offer the same things at their core, the Fire TV Stick and Roku stray slightly from each other. As a result, it will come down to some personal preference, and it helps to know if one offers more TV shows and movies over the other to make the decision easier.

If you're picking up a streaming stick to watch household names like Netflix, Max, and Hulu, you can't go wrong with either. What the Roku stick is able to offer, however, is hidden channels. If you have the exact channel code to enter, you can access things that have since left the official store, like Twitch. This can give you more content than the Fire Stick, but it's not a major selling point for everyone — it's a rather niche feature to take advantage of.

Both devices have access to free streaming channels like Tubi, Pluto, and The Roku Channel. For The Roku Channel, you'll still be able to use it on the Fire TV Stick, provided you have a Roku account, so it's not an exclusive service. At the end of the day, both sticks offer the same amount of free content if you know where to look. The edge here goes to Roku, but that's only if you plan to utilize the hidden channels.

Since both sticks offer the same services, with the exception of Roku's secret channels, it's really a matter of preference. You might find that you like one interface better than the other, which could help with your decision, but there's no wrong answer, as both provide the same streaming specs if you go after the premium versions. This includes 4K streams, HDR, Dolby Vision, and Dolby Atmos. Getting all of the features does cost extra, so keep that in mind.

For Fire TV users, you might want to try and stay in that ecosystem because it allows you to create some nice synergy. The Fire TV soundbar, announced during the Amazon event in September 2023, will seamlessly fit right in with your TV, and it'll also use the same remote. It'll still work with other TVs and devices, but staying with some of the same brands does have its benefits.