Roku vs Amazon Fire Stick: Which is Better?

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Roku vs Fire Stick: The Showdown Summary

Roku and Amazon Fire Stick are both devices that you can use to stream content from a lot of apps directly on your TV. For Smart TVs, it broadens the range of available features. For classic TVs, it opens the way to streaming, allowing you to watch YouTube and thousands of other apps.

Amazon Fire Stick is a wonderful option if you love your Prime subscription and Alexa. If you plan on subscribing to dozens of streaming services and want accessible 1080p, 4K streaming, Roku is the better option. Here’s a summary of which system came out on top in which criteria:

• Accessibility: Fire Stick
• Available content: Overall tie, with a slight advantage for Fire Stick
• Ease of use: Fire Stick
• Tech specs: Tie
• Pricing: Roku

If you want to find out why we think Fire Stick is better in most of these categories, as well as when we think Roku might be the right choice for you, read our full comparison below.

Roku and Amazon Fire Stick may look slightly different, but overall these devices are very alike. Both allow you to stream entertainment, such as shows and movies, on your TV, and they have similar features, available content, and pricing. For example, both devices start at around $30 for their cheapest version. Both Roku and Fire Stick have unique operating systems, along with their own app stores.

However, there are slight differences. For example, some streaming apps (such as Vudu) aren’t available on Roku, and the Roku Channel isn’t available on Fire Stick. So to understand which streaming device is best for you, you’ll need to look at the details.

We compared these two streaming devices in terms of their capabilities, price, content, usability, and privacy. In our comparison, we mostly focus on Roku’s and Fire Stick’s software. but we’ll also touch on device-specific differences here and there. If you’re doubting between the two, here’s all the information you need!

What is Roku?

Roku is an American company that manufactures and distributes streaming devices. If you want to use Roku, you can get a small device to connect to your computer or TV via HDMI for as low as $29, remote control included. You can also buy Roku-powered soundbars, from $129 upwards, depending on the sound quality you want. These devices will play the sound from your TV and allow you to use your TV with Roku’s operating system.

Roku also sells accessories, like headphones you can connect to a Roku remote control. Lastly, if you want a new TV, you can buy a Roku TV to get the full package. This doesn’t mean the hardware is actually created by Roku, however. Instead, Roku takes TVs made by other popular brands, like Philips, LG, or Hisense, and adds the Roku operating system for built-in TV streaming.

What is Amazon Fire TV Stick?

Amazon Fire TV Stick is Amazon’s streaming device, and it’s pretty similar to Roku. The cheapest media player and remote control package costs $34, but this price may vary depending on where you buy it. When it comes to soundbars, the Fire Stick Nebula is similar to a Roku soundbar, although it’s slightly more expensive (around $200). The Nebula has Alexa-powered voice control, which may explain the bump in price.

As far as we could tell, Fire Stick doesn’t come pre-installed on any TV, so Roku has a slight advantage there. However, since Fire Stick is owned by Amazon, a massive company, it wouldn’t be surprising to see them release their own TV in the future.

Roku vs Amazon Fire Stick: Which is More Accessible?

Before we compare the technologies and devices themselves, it’s important to make a clarification about accessibility. If you’re reading this article from the US, you’ll likely be able to buy an Amazon Fire Stick or Roku device without running into any issues. However, if you’re reading from anywhere else in the world, it might not be that easy. This is because these devices, especially Roku, aren’t available in a lot of countries. Roku simply hasn’t set up distribution everywhere.

From what we could gather, this is where Roku is available:

• North America (including the US and Canada)
• Latin America (including Brazil)
• Parts of Europe (including Ireland, the UK, and France)

Even if you don’t live in one of these countries, you might be able to get your hands on a Roku device by using a market place in a different country. This could be a solution within the rest of the European Union, for example. However, there are no guarantees that you’ll actually be able to order from abroad.

Comparatively, a Fire Stick device is much easier to get your hands on. If you don’t buy it from your country’s Amazon website, it’s available on smaller, regional online marketplaces. This means that Amazon Fire TV Stick is generally more easily available than Roku, which might already help you choose between the two.

Regardless of what we show in this comparison, check whether you actually have the option to buy both first. If not, the choice is simple: just get the one that’s accessible.

Roku vs Amazon Fire TV Stick: Which Has Better Content?

When it comes to popular content, you can’t really go wrong with either option. Both Roku and Fire Stick have apps for and work with the most well-known streaming giants, including:

• Netflix
• HBO Now/HBO Max
• Disney+
• Peacock TV
• Hulu
• BBC iPlayer
• Amazon Prime Video

There are some smaller differences between the devices and their company’s exclusive content, however. Although Fire Stick naturally has better access to Amazon Prime Video, the Roku Channel, a free, ad-supported streaming platform, is exclusive to Roku. Even so, Amazon has considerably more well-known titles.

In turn, Roku has thousands of apps, far more than the Fire Stick, and while it’s not a front runner for the platform, you can still use Amazon Prime Video with Roku devices. Therefore, if we look at the pure quantity of media, Roku definitely wins this round. If you want easy access to more obscure titles, Roku is a safer bet. There are other things to consider, however.

If you want to access content that’s not available on any app that Roku or Fire Stick features, you can use a web browser. Roku doesn’t have a built-in browser, while Fire Stick has several. That’s why, for an all-around best experience that doesn’t just rely on streaming, Fire Stick is the better option.

Whether you want to binge-watch Marvel and Star Wars content or you’re a fan of old British crime shows, you can access most movies and TV shows with both devices. Do keep in mind that you need a subscription for any paid streaming services before you’ll get access to them, even with Roku or Amazon Fire TV Stick. Finally, you can use both of these platforms to unblock more content with the help of a VPN. More about that down below.

Roku vs Amazon Fire TV Stick: Which is Easier to Use?

In terms of usability, both options work well. Each has its own TV remote and a unique interface, although they’re both easy to navigate. There’s not an enormous difference between the interface of Roku, Fire Stick, or any smart TV’s home menu.

When you use Fire Stick, Amazon will push Prime Video content to the forefront. This means that the content of other apps might be harder to find.

Roku is slightly easier to use, because it instantly gives you access to a streamlined user interface. As you can see below, it easily allows you to access whatever streaming platform you want right away, without preferential treatment.

The remote controls of the two streaming devices aren’t extremely different. That being said, Roku’s remote is a bit more complex, though their buttons are more self-explanatory compared to the Fire Stick remote. As you can see below, the Roku remote has specific buttons dedicated to Netflix, HULU, Disney+, and Sling TV. On the right side, the Fire TV Stick remote shows a simpler, more classic design.

Keep in mind that different versions of Roku and Fire Stick devices might come with different remotes, so the one you get might not look exactly the same as those pictured above. Even so, it should be easy to make sense of.

A final advantage for Fire Stick comes from their soundbars. Because those work with Alexa voice control, they are even more user-friendly and accessible than any of the other streaming device. With that in mind, and considering Fire Stick has a very simple yet effective interface, we consider Fire Stick the winner of this usability showdown. Its only drawback is the fact that you’ll see relatively more Prime Video content when using it.

Installing a VPN on your streaming device

Another reason why Fire Stick outshines Roku in terms of user-friendliness, is because it’s easy to install a VPN on it. A VPN (Virtual Private Network) will allow you to change your IP, making it look like you’re using streaming services from a different country. This means you can unblock regionally restricted content. With a VPN you can access Netflix shows that wouldn’t otherwise be available in your country, for example. Similarly, if you live outside the US and want to access Peacock, you can do so with a VPN as well.

With Fire Stick, it’s as easy as installing a VPN app. With Roku, you’ll need to install a VPN on your router, which is a more complicated process. You can read more about this in our article “How to install a VPN on Roku”.

Roku vs Amazon Fire TV Stick: Which Has Better Tech Specs?

Both Roku and Amazon Fire TV Stick have distributed similar devices. This makes choosing a winner when comparing tech specs pretty hard. For example, the Roku Streaming Stick+ and the Amazon Fire TV Stick 4K have virtually the same tech specs, except for the GPU. Even then, they just use a different brand of GPU, not a considerably different technology.

Even so, there are some important technical differences between Roku and Fire Stick:

• You can’t jailbreak Roku devices, which makes the Fire Stick a better choice for people who want to install third-party software on their streaming device.
• Fire Stick devices have more storage than Roku devices. For example, the Roku Streaming Stick+ has 256 MB or 512 MB of internal storage, while the 4K Fire Stick has 8 GB.
• Fire Stick supports VPN installation on their devices, while Roku does not.

Other than that, both brands have very similar devices. Their processors, TV compatibility, supported video and audio formats, ports, and network receivers are all pretty much the same. The table below compares two mid-tier products from both brands:

Roku vs Amazon Fire TV Stick: Which Has the Best Price?

We’ve shortly touched on pricing before in this showdown, but here we’ll go a bit more in-depth. Before we do, remember that the pricing of Roku and Fire Stick devices depends on the country you buy them from, as well as special offers available at the time of purchase.

That being said, Fire Stick devices tend to be slightly more expensive. For a small device, the difference isn’t huge (about $5-10), but the Fire Stick Nebula Soundbar costs as much as $70 more than a basic Roku soundbar.

If you don’t need the expensive soundbar, but still want HD, 1080p 4K streaming, the pricing tides shift a bit. The Roku Ultra, Roku’s premium streaming device, is $99. The Fire TV Cube can be found for as little as $79. That makes the Fire TV Cube a bargain, especially since it has more or less the same tech specs as Roku Ultra, and it adds Alexa to the package. Here’s a price comparison table to see what you can expect to spend on a Roku or Fire Stick device:

In Conclusion

While both Roku and Fire Stick are good choices, the Amazon Fire TV Stick is generally the better option. This is because Fire Stick offers:

• Support for VPN installation
• The ability to be jailbroken, offering more flexibility to the user
• Slightly better specs compared to Roku
• The built-in Alexa functionality on soundbars

We think Amazon Fire Stick is the all-around winner of this Roku vs Amazon Fire TV Stick showdown. However, that doesn’t mean Roku is a poor choice. It has a wide library of content which is good for more obscure movies and TV shows, offers a more balanced interface with equal treatment of all apps, and usually comes with a cheaper price tag. If those advantages outweigh the possibilities of the Fire TV Stick for you, Roku definitely won’t disappoint you, either.