You don’t need a cable package or even a paid streaming subscription to get real live TV on a Roku device. Between ad-supported apps and Roku’s own built-in channel, there’s a solid lineup of completely free, fully legal live channels available – news, sports highlights, movies, and 24/7 themed channels. Here’s where to find them.

The Roku Channel

Already installed on every Roku device, The Roku Channel includes a large lineup of free live channels covering news, sports, comedy, true crime, and movies, alongside a big on-demand library. It’s the easiest starting point since there’s nothing to install – just open the app and browse the “Live TV” row.

Pluto TV

Pluto TV runs dozens of themed, always-on live channels – news networks, sitcoms, movies, game shows, and even channels dedicated to a single franchise. It works exactly like traditional live TV: you flip between channels instead of picking a title, which makes it a good option if you just want something on in the background.

Tubi and Amazon Freevee

Tubi leans more on-demand but includes a growing set of live channels for news and sports. Amazon’s free, ad-supported service (now folded into the Prime Video app under the Freevee section) offers a mix of live channels and a large free on-demand catalog as well.

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Local News and Sports Apps

Many local news stations and networks (NBC, CBS, Fox affiliates) run their own free apps with live, 24/7 news streams available on Roku. If you have a specific local market you want coverage from, search for that station’s app directly – most are free with no login required.

Unlocking More With a VPN

Free ad-supported apps like Pluto TV and The Roku Channel sometimes offer a different, larger channel lineup depending on which country you’re connecting from. A VPN lets you connect through a server in another region to see what’s available there, and it also keeps your streaming activity private from your ISP on any network. We recommend IPVanish for this – it has a native app, fast servers, and a strict no-logs policy: check the current IPVanish discount.

Between these apps, you can build a genuinely solid free live TV lineup on Roku without paying for a single subscription.

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