Roku has launched Howdy, an ad-free U.S. SVOD service that will cost $2.99 per month for access to a catalog of nearly 10,000 hours of entertainment from inaugural partners Lionsgate, Warner Bros. Discovery and FilmRise, as well as select Roku Original titles. “Priced at less than a cup of coffee,” Howdy is “meeting a real need for consumers who want to unwind with their favorite movies and shows uninterrupted, and on their terms,” said Roku founder and CEO Anthony Wood who feels people are willing to pay to avoid ads even though many ad-supported streaming services are available free.

“Roku is coming out with its own Netflix-style subscription video service that provides thousands of TV and movie titles without any ads, but the company sees the new Howdy service as a cheaper complement to the likes of Netflix — not a direct competitor,” reports Variety.

Howdy “is currently only accessible via a web browser or the Howdy app on Roku OS,” writes Ars Technica, adding that Roku plans to roll out to “mobile and additional platforms in the near future.”

“With engagement of over 125 million people a day, Roku is the perfect partner to launch a more accessible complement to the higher-priced SVODs,” Lionsgate President of Worldwide Television Distribution Jim Packer said in Roku’s announcement, adding that “this service has the ability to scale quickly while providing us with a new way to monetize our content.”

Ars Technica comments on the “dated” nature of the content, describing Howdy as “an add-on, not the main course,” quoting a Roku spokesperson saying “we believe Howdy will appeal to a very specific segment of the market: premium subscribers who are looking for a low-cost, ad-free complement to more expensive offerings with prestige content.”

Roku factored the Howdy launch into the outlook that accompanied its Q2 2025 earnings,” Variety explains, noting 15 percent topline growth and “a surprise, a quarterly profit.”

Roku claims its flagship streaming service, the Roku Channel, “is the most-watched free ad-supported television (FAST) service in the U.S.,” according to Variety. In May, Roku announced that it agreed to acquire Frndly TV, a subscription streaming service, for $183 million.