I have Roku and Chromecast.

Roku is a better standalone app with remote control. Make sure you invest in micro SD card (if the Roku you choose has a slot for it - it makes Roku a lot faster). Roku requires more setup time than Chromecast.

I rarely use Chromecast, but when I do, it's for music, casting music from one of the desktops in my office to the speakers in my living room. It's not only used with a phone. I can cast Netflix from my desktops, laptops, Chromebooks, and tablet to my living room TV.

Both will work. I end up using Roku more for just watching TV stuff like Netflix and MLB.

Works very well, rarely buffers, and you can control it several ways, and you can stream to it from iPhones, any Mac, iPad or PC running iTunes or an Airplay capable device or application etc. Mine is hard wired to my network, but you can do it all wireless.

One downside, is that currently, you cannot do Amazon Prime Video, unless you stream it from an iDevice... which does work.

Rumors are that it will change soon, but I will probably need to get the newest version.

Mine is connected to a Bose receiver, and I control it from the Bose remote with 0 issues.

We use it for Netflix a lot. The user interface is very nice, and it talks to iTunes as well for music and videos.

If you do not like Apple gear.... skip the recommendation. Not going to argue about it, so no hating, ok?

I have found many great programs on the selections available. Mind you my unit is several years old. Maybe a gen 1 or 2. The newer ones look like it is worth upgrading to.

Works fine for me. Control with a remote or a phone app. Half the price of an Amazon Fire but it does everything I need it to.

I dig it. My TV is 720p anyway so I don't need (nor want) super-fancy HD capabilities. So far I've had no trouble finding channels I like. Netflix is the only channel I pay for. I did HBO Now and Showtime on trials and decided not to continue. I can cast to ROKU from my Android phone if I need to - which comes in handy with YouTube because the interface for that channel sucks.

The Stick is supposed to be slightly faster, better WiFi connection but the big selling point is that the remote that comes with the Stick can control the TV volume, unlike the remote that the Express has. The Roku Streaming Stick + and the Roku Ultra can stream 4k- https://image.roku.com/ww/docs/compare-chart-products-en-us.pdf Since the TVs we have the Rokus on can't do better than 1080P we were not worried about 4K

I really like the menus with the Rokus - very straightford and easy to navigate.

I also have a LG 4k Smart TV that has its own streaming apps. While it works just as well as the Rokus, the menus are different and to me not as easy to use. The LG does come with an multi-function remote though we have not yet attempted to program our AV receiver and DVD player.

Be sure to get the 2017 Roku devices if you go for one of them. There are still 2016 ones out for discounts, but the side by side reviews indicate the new ones are significantly faster.

It's the Roku 3, was $99 when I bought it several years ago. Has a remote and ear buds so you can listen w/o bothering anyone else. Say 1080 HD streaming. Have never had any problem with streaming, no freezing or other glitches.

I am unable to comment on its technical merits vis-a-vis the others, but if price is a sticking point, you might want to wait a few days. There might be some other model Fire that suddenly becomes attractively priced.

Full disclosure: I do not own stock in Amazon. I do own a few shares of AAPL. Whatever you end up with, it won't affect me one way or the other.