I primarily own Apple devices. As such, I have an iPhone, iPad, Mac, and many other Cupertino devices. This list also includes an Apple TV. And yet, I can see the appeal of Roku streamers. In fact, I have a Roku Streaming Stick (primarily for testing) and find it excellent hardware.
Google has spent years getting Google TV onto more televisions, and in August 2026 it gave its free Freeplay service an on-demand library for the first time. Apple still sells the Apple TV 4K as the premium box for people who want the best picture and the tightest iPhone integration. Neither push has moved Roku off the top spot in American living rooms.
Roku passed 100 million streaming households worldwide in April. Parks Associates research released this spring puts Roku OS at 28% of TV operating system usage in US broadband homes, ahead of Samsung’s Tizen at 23%. Apple’s tvOS and Android TV rank lower, with smaller shares. A separate report Android Headlines covered in July put Roku at 37% of the US streaming OS market, with Google TV at 14% and tvOS at 8%.
Those gaps didn’t happen by accident.
It’s still the cheapest way to stream in 4K
Every box got pricier this year, but Roku’s floor stayed lowest
Memory chips got expensive this year, and every streaming hardware company passed the cost along. Apple went first. On June 25, the 64GB Apple TV 4K jumped from $129 to $199, and the 128GB model with Ethernet went from $149 to $249. Google moved the Google TV Streamer from $99.99 to $149.99 at the end of the summer.
Roku raised prices as well. In late July, the basic Streaming Stick went to $39.99, the Streaming Stick 4K to $79.99, and the Roku Ultra to $149.99.
Even after the increase, a Roku Streaming Stick 4K lists for $120 less than the cheapest Apple TV 4K. That stick handles Dolby Vision and HDR10+. For someone outfitting a guest room or replacing a dead stick on the bedroom TV, the price settles the question before features ever come up.
I paid just $45 for my Roku Streaming Stick 4K because it was on sale.
Roku TV is built into the TVs people actually buy
Most viewers pick a platform the day they pick a TV
Plenty of people never shop for a streaming platform. They buy a TV at Best Buy or Target, and whatever software it boots into becomes their platform for the next six years.
The multi-functional Roku wins a lot of those purchases without selling a stick. In its early-2025 shareholder letter, the company said its TV OS had been the No. 1 selling TV OS in the US for six straight years, with sales greater than the No.2 and No.3 platforms combined. Licensed Roku TV sets from partner brands make up the largest share of its unit volume, and Roku now builds its own TVs too.
The memory shortage may help Roku here. In its Q1 2026 shareholder letter, Roku said its TV OS needs significantly less RAM and flash storage than competing platforms, and that it expects new TV brand partners to start shipping Roku TV models in the second half of this year. When memory costs more, a TV maker that can ship with less of it keeps more margin on a $300 set.
Google TV has strong partners in TCL, Hisense, and Sony. Apple doesn’t license tvOS to anyone, so its only path into a living room is a $199 box.
The Roku Channel leads free streaming on TV
Google’s Freeplay is growing fast after starting years behind
Many viewers have moved to free, ad-supported streaming, and Roku got there early. In Nielsen’s May report, The Roku Channel hit a 3.1% share of all US TV viewing, sitting just behind Amazon Prime Video at 4.5%. On Roku’s own platform, it was the No. 2 app by engagement in the second quarter.
Google is catching up on paper. On Aug. 11, it added more than 10,000 free on-demand movies and shows to Freeplay and grew the live lineup to more than 300 channels. By comparison, the Roku Channel offers more than 80,000 on-demand titles and over 500 live channels. Freeplay only runs on Google TV devices in the US. The Roku Channel also shows up as an app on other platforms.
Apple doesn’t run a free, ad-supported channel service. If you want something to watch without paying, the Apple TV box sends you to someone else’s app.
Roku works with both iPhone and Android
You get the same experience whichever phone is in your pocket
Apple TV shines when everyone in the house carries an iPhone. Google TV leans on your Google account, Gemini, and Google Home. Both make perfect sense if your household already lives in one of those ecosystems, and they get clumsy when it doesn’t.
Roku stays neutral. Many Roku devices support AirPlay, and the Roku mobile app works as a remote on both iOS and Android.
That neutrality extends to the apps. Roku carries the Apple TV app, YouTube, and pretty much every service that matters. It even sells subscriptions on behalf of its rivals: Roku added Apple TV and Peacock as premium subscription partners earlier this year, so some of Apple’s streaming revenue now flows through Roku’s billing.
Roku’s home screen is simple to use
The tile grid has barely changed, and plenty of people like it that way
Roku’s app-tile grid has looked roughly the same for a long time. Some people find it dated. Plenty of others, including the relatives you set up a TV for over the holidays, like that it never surprises them.
Google TV’s home screen, by contrast, centers on recommendations pulled from across your services. It’s useful once you learn it. It also means more rows of content between you and the app you meant to open.
Roku isn’t free of clutter. Its home screen carries ads, and the company released a redesigned home screen earlier this year.
Roku sells streaming hardware at a loss
Ads and subscriptions pay for the cheap sticks and TVs
Apple needs to make money on every Apple TV it sells. Roku doesn’t. In the first quarter, Roku’s devices segment ran a negative gross margin of 16.3%. The company was intentionally losing money on hardware.
It makes money from ads and subscriptions. In the second quarter, Roku’s platform revenue reached $1.22 billion, up 25% year over year, and people streamed 37.9 billion hours on its devices. More households mean more ad inventory, which pays for the next round of cheap sticks and TVs. Google runs a similar model with Google TV, but it has never matched Roku’s US reach. Apple has never tried to.
Fox’s Roku acquisition could change the picture
The biggest threat to Roku’s position might not come from Apple or Google. In June, Fox agreed to buy Roku for about $22 billion, a deal expected to close in the first half of 2027. Fox already owns Tubi, one of The Roku Channel’s closest free-streaming rivals. Both companies say Roku will stay an open, partner-friendly platform.
Neutrality is a big part of why the ever-tricky Roku got this big, so how Fox handles it will matter more than any new streaming box from Cupertino or Mountain View.