15 Best Free Roku Channels & Apps in 2026 (No Subscription)

Roku added more than 100 new free channels in the first half of 2026.

Some of the biggest free Roku channels also disappeared, including Crackle and Freevee.

But there are still hidden gems most lists miss, including ad-free library movies, NASA content, live sports, and more.

I installed and tested more than a few dozen to find the best free Roku channels and apps for cord cutting.

In this guide, I’ll show you my favorite free Roku apps that give you access to hundreds of free movies, TV shows, live channels, local news, kids programming and more.

15 Best Free Roku Channels and Apps in 2026

These are the free Roku channels I’d add first.

Every one of them is free to install and free to watch.

App	Live TV Channels	Account Needed	Best For
The Roku Channel	500+	Optional	Everything in one place
Tubi	Yes	Yes, email	Biggest free movie library
Pluto TV	250+	No	Cable-style channel surfing
Plex	600+	No	The most live channels
Sling Freestream	600+	No	Free DVR
Xumo Play	300+	No	News and quick browsing
The CW	Sports only	No	Next-day network shows
PBS	Local livestream	Yes, free	Documentaries and news
PBS Kids	One 24/7 channel	No	Preschool shows
Kanopy	No	Library card	Ad-free indie films
Hoopla	No	Library card	Ad-free popular movies
NASA+	Live mission feeds	No	Ad-free space content
RetroCrush	A few	No	Classic anime
FilmRise	Yes	No	Crime and classic TV
Local Now	400+	No	Local news and weather

What I like about this lineup is that you can install all 15 and still pay nothing. Start with the first six and you’ve replaced most of what cable gave you.

The Roku Channel

• What you get: 500+ free live channels plus a huge on-demand library
• Account needed: Only for a few titles
• Watch out for: Paid add-ons sitting right next to the free stuff

The Roku Channel is already on your device, so this is the easiest place to start.

Roku says its channel now carries more than 80,000 titles and over 500 live channels. That includes 65+ live Spanish-language channels in the Espacio Latino section.

You don’t need a Roku device to use it either. The app also runs on Fire TV, Samsung TVs, phones, and any web browser.

One thing that trips people up is the premium row. The Roku Channel sells Starz and AMC+ subscriptions inside the same app, and those tiles look just like the free ones.

Look for a price tag or a “Subscribe” button before you press OK. Free titles play right away.

Tubi

• What you get: The deepest free movie catalog on Roku
• Account needed: Yes, an email address
• Watch out for: Titles rotating off when licensing deals end

Tubi is owned by Fox and has 100 million monthly users as of 2026.

If you want movies more than live channels, this is your app. The library dwarfs what Netflix and Prime Video carry, because Tubi licenses older catalog films instead of paying for new hits.

Tubi also streamed two 2026 World Cup matches free in 4K. That kind of live sports deal is rare on a free app, and it came from Fox owning the broadcast rights.

The common complaint is movies vanishing from your list. That happens because Tubi’s licenses expire on set dates. Watch anything you’ve saved within a few weeks instead of letting it sit.

Pluto TV

• What you get: 250+ live channels laid out like a cable guide
• Account needed: No
• Watch out for: A small on-demand section

Pluto TV is the closest thing to old-school channel surfing, and Paramount owns it.

You get 24/7 channels built around single shows. Star Trek, Survivor, CSI, Hell’s Kitchen, and Doctor Who all have their own channels.

I love that you don’t have to sign up or do any of that annoying stuff.

But the trade-off is control. You can’t pause or rewind a live Pluto channel because it’s a real broadcast stream, the same as cable. But you can switch to the On Demand tab when you want playback controls.

Plex

• What you get: 600+ free live channels, more than any other app here
• Account needed: No
• Watch out for: Rentals and Plex Pass mixed into the menus

Most people know Plex as the app for hosting their own movie files. That’s why almost nobody puts it on a free Roku list.

They should. Plex quietly built one of the biggest free channel lineups anywhere, and it keeps growing every month.

You can watch the free channels without signing up for anything. Plex Pass costs money, but you never have to touch it.

If you do have a hard drive full of home videos or ripped DVDs, Plex is the only app on this list that puts your own stuff and free TV in one place.

Sling Freestream

• What you get: Around 600 free live channels plus a free DVR
• Account needed: No
• Watch out for: Constant upsells to paid Sling plans

Sling is a paid live TV service, so people assume the app costs money. It doesn’t.

DISH runs a free tier called Freestream inside the same app. Sling said it crossed 600 channels at the end of 2025 after adding almost 100 that year.

On Roku you can browse and watch without signing in. Open the app and pick “Stream for Free” on the launch screen.

Freestream also gives you a free DVR, which no other app on this list does. That means you can record a live channel and watch it later, for free.

Xumo Play

• What you get: Over 300 free channels
• Account needed: No
• Watch out for: Channels disappearing without notice

Xumo Play is owned by Comcast and Charter, and its lineup leans heavy on news.

Xumo’s own support page confirms the 300+ channel count and updates a lineup PDF as things change.

That’s the honest catch with Xumo. It swaps channels in and out more than most, because its lineup depends on deals that expire. If a favorite vanishes, check Pluto TV or Plex, since the same channels often live on all three.

The CW

• What you get: Full seasons of network shows plus live NASCAR and WWE NXT
• Account needed: No
• Watch out for: Only the last few episodes stay up

The CW app has no login, no subscription, and no cable check. That makes it the only broadcast network you can watch on Roku for free the day after it airs.

You also get live sports. The CW carries NASCAR, WWE NXT, and college football from the ACC and Mountain West, and those streams cost nothing.

In April 2026 Roku signed a deal to bring CW shows to The Roku Channel too. So you’ll start seeing the same episodes in two places, which is handy if you’d rather stay in one app.

Episodes do roll off. New shows stick around for a limited window, so watch a new episode within a couple of weeks of the air date.

PBS

• What you get: NOVA, Frontline, Antiques Roadshow, and your local station’s livestream
• Account needed: Yes, a free PBS account
• Watch out for: Passport titles that need a donation

PBS confirms you do not need to donate to use the app. Plenty of readers think you do, and skip it.

Most PBS shows stream free for at least two weeks after they air. That covers new episodes of everything from NewsHour to Nature.

Older seasons sit behind PBS Passport. Passport is a thank-you gift for donating, usually $5 a month or $60 a year to your local station.

Look for the small Passport icon in the corner of a thumbnail. No icon means it’s free for you right now.

Pro tip: You have to activate the PBS app on each Roku separately. If your bedroom Roku says you’re locked out, that’s why.

PBS Kids

• What you get: A 24/7 kids channel plus full episodes on demand
• Account needed: No
• Watch out for: US-only streaming

PBS Kids is a separate app from PBS, and it’s the better one for little kids.

You get Daniel Tiger’s Neighborhood, Wild Kratts, Sesame Street, Curious George, and Odd Squad. No subscription, no ads between shows.

The live 24/7 channel is the feature I’d point parents to first. Turn it on and it just keeps going, so nobody has to pick the next episode.

By the way, PBS Kids videos only play inside the United States. That’s a licensing rule, not a bug, so a trip abroad will block it.

Kanopy

• What you get: 30,000+ films with no ads at all
• Account needed: Yes, plus a library card
• Watch out for: A monthly limit set by your library

Kanopy is the best free app almost nobody on Roku uses.

Your public library pays for it, so you watch Criterion Collection classics, documentaries, and indie films with zero commercials. Every other free app on this list runs ads.

Your card sets the limit, and it varies a lot by city. Los Angeles Public Library gives you 9 play credits a month, while some systems hand out 20 or more.

Once you press play you have 3 days to watch that film as many times as you want on one credit. So don’t burn a credit on something you only half want to see.

Pro tip: Kanopy Kids usually doesn’t use credits at all. If you have kids, that alone makes the app worth installing.

Hoopla

• What you get: Ad-free movies, TV, comics, and audiobooks
• Account needed: Yes, plus a library card
• Watch out for: Borrow limits getting cut

Hoopla is the mainstream version of Kanopy. The titles are more recognizable and there’s never a waitlist, since every item is always available.

Libraries pay per checkout, and that cost is squeezing them. LA County Library cut its limit from 8 borrows a month to 5 on January 1, 2026.

So check your own library’s number before you plan a movie night. Some systems still give 10 or more, and a few hit a daily cap for the whole city that resets at midnight.

NASA+

• What you get: Live launches, documentaries, and kids’ space shows
• Account needed: No
• Watch out for: Nothing, it’s free and ad-free

NASA+ is the only app here with no ads, no account, and no catch of any kind.

Your tax dollars already paid for it. NASA says the service is ad-free and needs no subscription. It streams live mission coverage, original documentaries, and shows made for kids.

Live rocket launches are the reason to keep it installed. When a launch is happening you get the same feed the networks use, without a commercial break at the worst moment.

RetroCrush

• What you get: Classic anime from the ’70s, ’80s, and ’90s
• Account needed: No
• Watch out for: Titles rotating off when licenses end

RetroCrush got a lot more important on January 1, 2026, and I’ll explain why in the next section.

The short version is that it’s now one of the few places to watch real anime on Roku without paying. Its Roku Channel Store page says free to stream, no subscription required.

You get Lupin the Third, Yu-Gi-Oh, Bubblegum Crisis, and Future Boy Conan. This is old-school stuff, not this season’s simulcasts.

A lot of it is subtitled rather than dubbed, so it’s not the best pick for background viewing.

FilmRise

• What you get: 10,000+ hours of movies and classic TV
• Account needed: No
• Watch out for: Very few new releases

FilmRise is the largest independent supplier of free movies and TV, and it needs no subscription or login.

True crime and classic TV are its strong suits. Unsolved Mysteries with Robert Stack, Midsomer Murders, Hannibal, The Rifleman, and Hell’s Kitchen all live here.

You’ll also see FilmRise channels inside The Roku Channel and Pluto TV, because the company syndicates its channels to other platforms. The standalone app gives you the full on-demand catalog instead of just a live feed.

Local Now

• What you get: Local news, weather, and traffic for your zip code
• Account needed: No
• Watch out for: Older on-demand movies

Local Now is owned by Allen Media, the same company behind The Weather Channel.

You type in your zip code and it builds a local news and weather feed for your city. That fills the one gap most free apps leave wide open.

It carries 400+ channels covering markets across the country, alongside national feeds like Cheddar News and Bloomberg. For more ways to cover this gap, see my guide to watching local TV without cable.

Updates

When I originally wrote mu guide to the best free Roku channels, I had included many other apps including a few that were popular back then.

Here are a few big ones that have either shut down or no longer have free tiers.

Crackle

Its parent company, Chicken Soup for the Soul Entertainment, went into Chapter 7 liquidation, and Crackle’s website went dark on June 7, 2025. The Roku app may still install, but nothing plays.

Freevee

Amazon shut Freevee down in August 2025 and moved everything into Prime Video. You can still watch that content free without a Prime membership, just look for the free section inside the Prime Video app instead.

Peacock’s free tier

NBCUniversal cut off free signups in January 2023 and finished the job that June.

Crunchyroll

Its free ad-supported tier ended on December 31, 2025, so every title now needs a paid plan starting at $7.99 a month.

There’s a workaround for the anime fans. Crunchyroll still runs free channels inside The Roku Channel and Pluto TV, and those are reruns and older titles rather than new simulcasts. Pair one of those with RetroCrush and you’ve replaced most of what the old free tier gave you.

Free Roku Apps vs Free Channels: What Free Really Means

Every app in the Roku Channel Store is free to install. That’s the part that fools people.

Netflix, Hulu, Disney+, Max, and HBO all cost nothing to add to your Roku.

Then you open them and hit a login wall, because the app is free and the service isn’t.

There are three different things called “free” on Roku:

• Free to watch: Tubi, Pluto TV, and the rest of this list. Ads pay for it.
• Free to install, paid to watch: Netflix, Max, Paramount+. The app is a door, not a key.
• Free with something you already have: Kanopy and Hoopla need a library card. Some network apps need a cable login.

The term for the first group is FAST, which stands for Free Ad-Supported Streaming TV. Those channels run 24/7 on a schedule and make money on commercials, exactly like broadcast TV always has.

ABC is one of the big one that confuses a lot of users, for example. The app is free and some clips play, but the live stream and newest episodes want a cable subscription.

So before you get attached to an app, open it and press play on something. If a signup screen appears, it isn’t free.

How to Add Free Channels on Roku

Adding free Roku channels is pretty quick and easy.

Here’s what you do:

1. Open the Streaming Store: From your Roku home screen, scroll down and pick Streaming Store. Older devices call it the Channel Store.
2. Search by name: Type the app name or press the microphone button on your remote and say it.
3. Add the app: Select it, then choose Add app. It lands at the bottom of your channel list.
4. Check the price first: The store page shows a price or “Free” near the top. Read it before you add.
5. Move it where you want it: Highlight the app on the home screen, press the star button, and pick Move channel.

If Roku asks for a four-digit PIN when you add an app, that’s a setting you turned on yourself. You can change it in your Roku account settings online.

For live channels, skip the Streaming Store completely.

Pick Live TV from your home screen and everything in The Roku Channel’s guide is already there, no installing needed.

How to Find New Free Roku Channels Every Month

Roku adds free channels constantly.

For example, in 2026 alone, Roku added 6 channels in January, 17 in February, more than 30 in April, 15 in May, and over 20 in June, including Sports Illustrated and two FIFA channels timed to the World Cup.

That’s more than 70 new free channels in six months.

Now they don’t announce them or send you notification, so you have to check yourself.

Here’s how to catch them:

• Use the Live TV guide’s search: Open Live TV, then find the search option in the category list on the left side.
• Star your favorites: Highlight a channel, press the star button, and pick “Favorite this channel.” It moves to a Favorites row you can actually find later.
• Scan the categories: New channels get sorted into genres like Classic TV, Game Shows, and Sports rather than a “new” row.

The guide has over 500 channels in it as of this writing.

Best Free Roku Channels FAQ

Is Tubi or Pluto TV Better?

It depends on how you watch. Tubi wins if you want to pick a specific movie, since its on-demand library is far deeper. Pluto TV wins if you want to turn on the TV and let something play, because its channel guide works like cable.

Most people end up installing both.

Are Free Roku Channels Legal?

Yes. Every app in the Roku Channel Store is licensed, and the big ones are owned by major media companies like Fox, Paramount, Comcast, and DISH. They pay for content with ad revenue, the same way broadcast television has worked for decades.

Why Did My Free Roku Channel Disappear?

Streaming rights expire on fixed dates. When a licensing deal ends, the app has to pull the title or the whole channel, often with no warning. The same show frequently pops up on a competing free app a few weeks later, so search Pluto TV, Plex, and Tubi before giving up on it.

Do Free Roku Channels Use a Lot of Data?

Yes, and more than most people expect. HD streaming runs roughly 1 to 3 GB per hour, and 4K can hit 7 GB or more. If your internet plan has a data cap, drop the video quality inside each app’s settings.

Can I Get Local Channels Free on Roku?

Partly. Local Now gives you local news and weather by zip code, and The Roku Channel carries NBC local news feeds for major cities. For your actual local ABC, CBS, and FOX broadcasts, you still need an antenna plugged into a Roku TV.

Which Free Roku App Has the Fewest Ads?

Kanopy, Hoopla, and NASA+ have no ads at all. Among the ad-supported apps, Tubi tends to run the lightest ad load, while Pluto TV runs the heaviest because its live channels follow a cable-style commercial schedule.

Research Methodology

I verified every app on this list before publishing. I checked each service’s own website or its Roku Channel Store page for current channel counts, signup requirements, and whether the app still works at all.

For anything that changed, I went to the original reporting and primary sources: NASA’s own site for NASA+, library system pages for the Kanopy and Hoopla limits, PBS support docs for the Passport rules, and news coverage for the Crackle, Freevee, Peacock, and Crunchyroll shutdowns.

Channel counts move constantly, so I used each company’s own published number rather than third-party guides, which tend to be higher.

Which Free Roku Channels Should You Add First?

If you want new releases and this week’s hit shows, no free app is going to make you happy.

Those kinds of shows  usually require paid subscriptions.

But what you can get free is enormous anyway.

Tubi’s movie catalog alone is bigger than Netflix and Prime Video combined, and Plex and Sling Freestream give you 600 live channels each without an account.

Start with these four tonight:

• The Roku Channel: Already installed, 500+ live channels
• Tubi: The movie library
• Pluto TV: Cable-style surfing with no signup
• Plex: The biggest channel count

Then add these based on your household:

• Kids at home: PBS Kids and Kanopy Kids
• Movie fan who hates ads: Kanopy and Hoopla with your library card
• News watcher: Local Now and Xumo Play
• Anime fan: RetroCrush, now that Crunchyroll’s free tier is gone

If you’re building a free setup on other devices too, my guide to the best free movie apps covers the ones that work beyond Roku.

Get a library card, favorite your channels with the star button, and check the Live TV guide every few weeks for new additions. That’s how you get the most out of the best free Roku channels.

If you’ve been using any other legit free Roku channel or app, please let me know in the comments below. Other readers may find it helpful.