How to Watch Peacock for Free on Roku, Amazon Fire TV (for Now)

Todd Spangler
·3 min read

Nearly two months after Peacock took flight nationwide, the NBCUniversal streamer remains unavailable on Roku and Amazon’s Fire TV — two of the biggest over-the-top video platforms — from their digital storefronts.

What’s the holdup? The companies are at an impasse over business terms, including over the platforms’ access to Peacock ad inventory. (HBO Max is similarly unavailable on Roku and Fire TV over deal haggling.)

But there are a few workarounds for how to watch Peacock content on Roku and Fire TV devices, along with ways to bring Peacock streams to HDTVs that don’t require either platform.

NBCU launched Peacock nationwide July 15, available in three tiers: Premium Free (with ads) and Peacock Premium, which includes a bigger content selection, available with ads ($4.99/month) and no ads ($9.99/month). In addition, Comcast Xfinity X1 and Flex customers and Cox Contour subscribers have access to Peacock Premium with ads for no extra charge (or the ad-free tier for $5/month).

While it’s not available on Roku or Fire TV, Peacock is accessible on the web (at peacock.tv), Apple devices (including iPhone and Apple TV HD), Google platforms and devices (including Android 6.0 or above and Android TV-enabled smart TVs like Sony Bravia and set-tops including Nvidia Shield), Xbox One, PlayStation 4, and smart TVs from Vizio and LG.

Here are other ways to get Peacock streaming on your living-room TV:

Amazon Fire TV: This takes a few steps, but once you’ve walked through them, you should be able to stream Peacock directly on any Fire TV device (including Fire TV Stick, Fire TV Cube, and Fire TV-enabled sets from Toshiba and Best Buy’s Insignia).

Even though Peacock isn’t in Amazon’s Appstore, the Fire TV family of devices supports Google’s Android TV — and there’s a Peacock app for that. To enable Peacock on Fire TV, as outlined in this helpful TechHive article, first install the Downloader app to your device. Then, under Fire TV’s developer options menu, set it to allow “ADB Debugging” and “Apps From Unknown Sources.” From the Downloader’s browser, launch Peacock’s Android Application Package (APK) by typing in the following URL: https://bit.ly/3j7iJHF, per TechHive. Restart the Fire TV device, and off you go with Peacock.

Roku: Recent-model Roku streaming players and Roku TVs support screen mirroring — so you can pitch content, including Peacock video, from a computer to Roku devices over an in-home Wi-Fi network. To enable screen mirroring on Roku devices, select “Settings” and then “System.” Under the “Screen mirroring” option, select “Screen mirroring mode” and make sure either “Prompt” or “Always allow” is checked.

HMDI-connected device: While this isn’t necessarily an ideal setup, you can connect a computer, smartphone or tablet (from which you’re able to play Peacock) to an HDTV or projector using a male-to-male HDMI. (We’ve tested this out, and it works with Peacock.) The downside: Unless you’re using a PC with a wireless mouse you’ll have to access playback controls from the TV-connected device connected.

Apple AirPlay wireless streaming: This method requires a recent-model iPhone, iPad or Mac to sling video to a television. Apple’s AirPlay 2 wireless AV protocol currently is supported on Apple TV set-tops and select models of LG, Samsung, Sony and Vizio smart TVs. To use it, select the AirPlay icon in the video you want to play on TV and pick a compatible device from the menu (which must be on the same Wi-Fi network).