Live TV streaming services are a natural starting point when you’re cutting the cord.
These services offer many of the same channels you had with cable or satellite TV, but deliver them over the internet to your smart TV or streaming device. They include cloud-based DVRs so you can record your favorite shows—and skip through the commercials—in many cases, they’re the only way to watch specific pay TV channels.
Still, the cost of live TV streaming services can get quite high, and in some ways they won’t be exactly like what you had with cable. Our top picks will help you avoid overpaying and get the TV features you most care about.
As TechHive’s resident cord-cutting expert, I’ve been reviewing live TV streaming services ever since the launch of Sling TV back in 2015, and I’ve been a cord-cutter myself since 2008. Beyond just product reviews, I write a weekly column about streaming and over-the-air TV for TechHive, and my Cord Cutter Weekly newsletter has more than 30,000 readers.
Updated December 20, 2024: We’ve updated this story with the most recent price changes (or should we say price increases) and performed a general refresh of this story.
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YouTube TV is the best drop-in replacement for cable or satellite TV. It’s not exactly cheap at $83 per month, but it offers a broad mix of the local stations, live news, national sports, and entertainment channels you’d get with a typical pay TV package, almost certainly at a lower price. Its interface is easy to comprehend, its cloud DVR lets you record an unlimited number of programs for up to nine months, and you even can bundle NFL Sunday Ticket at a discount.
If you want to cut the cable cord without overthinking it, this is the easiest starting point to recommend. Still, other services may offer a better value—either by bundling other services or omitting popular channels—or by delivering more regional sports coverage.
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The main thing that distinguishes Hulu + Live TV from YouTube TV is its inclusion of the full Disney bundle, so you get Hulu’s on-demand catalog, Disney+ (with ads, unless you were grandfathered in), and ESPN+ in the $83-per-month base package. Hulu’s cloud DVR service lets you save an unlimited number of shows for up to nine months, and while the interface can be busy, it ties everything together in a way that encourages discovery.
Hulu’s live TV package makes a lot of sense if you’re paying for any of Disney’s other streaming services. Disney+ and Hulu each cost $10 per month on their own (or $11 per month together), while ESPN+ is even pricier at $12 per month (also available with Disney+ and Hulu for $17 per month). With Hulu + Live TV, you get all those services at no extra cost.
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DirecTV Stream’s starting price is $101.98 per month, but the main attraction is its $115-per-month “Choice” package, which includes more sports coverage than other live TV streaming services. In some markets, it’s the only way to stream certain regional sports channels that remain tied to pay TV bundles. The cloud DVR and grid guide are highlights as well, with an interface that will make cable or satellite converts feel at home.
YouTube TV and Hulu + Live TV only offer patchy regional sports coverage, and standalone streaming options are still limited. Sports fans who can’t stream their local baseball, basketball, or hockey teams any other way would be wise to consider DirecTV Stream despite its steep price.
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Sling TV’s starting price of $40 per month is a lot lower than most other bundles, which it accomplishes by splitting its channels into two base packages and omitting local broadcasts in many markets. The DVR feels a bit stingy—you get 50 recording hours, or 200 hours for an extra $5 per month—but it’s still the cheapest way to access certain cable channels without a big cable bundle.
Sling TV is an invaluable option for those who can skate by without a full range of local channels. It pairs especially well with an over-the-air antenna for local channels, and you can even use an AirTV device to feed those channels into Sling’s app.
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For $28 per month, Philo offers lots of entertainment channels in an easy-to-navigate interface, and its cloud DVR even marks up commercial breaks to help you skip through them. Equally notable, however, is what’s missing: Philo doesn’t include any local channels, sports channels, or major cable news networks, which is a big part of why it’s much cheaper than other live TV streaming services.
Cord-cutters who favor reality shows, documentaries, and other forms of comfort food TV will find plenty to watch on Philo. Cheaper standalone services such as Max or Netflix might scratch a similar itch at lower prices, but they don’t have the same live TV and DVR features.
Beyond just watching a lot of TV, we evaluate each service’s channel lineup to point out any important omissions, while also comparing basic features such as simulataneous streams and out-of-home viewing restrictions. We scrutinize each service’s DVR capabilities, including the ease with which you can access recordings, manage your storage, and skip through commercials. To evaluate video quality, we look for features such as 60-frames-per-second video support across a broad range of channels.
We also examine every corner of each service’s interface, comparing features such as the grid guide, on-demand menu, and home screen. Our in-depth reviews include plenty of screenshots, so you can see for yourself what each service looks like.
On-demand video services such as Netflix (also known as SVOD (streaming video on demand) or direct-to-consumer services) offer original programming you can’t find on cable, along with catalogs of movies and shows licensed from Hollywood studios. Some of these streamers are dabbling in live sports—most notably, Max’s B/R Sports add-on offers every event that airs on its cable channels—but for the most part this coverage is different from what’s on cable.
By comparison, live TV services carry the exact same channels you’d find in a cable or satellite package, including major networks such as ABC and CBS, news channels such MSNBC and Fox News, and sports channels such as ESPN. They have similar grid-style channels guides and DVR features as well.
Each of these services offer their own apps, which you can install on your smart TV, streaming device, smartphone, or tablet. You can subscribe to these services through their own websites, or in some cases directly through the app.
All live TV streaming services include some form of cloud DVR, allowing you to record live programming and skip through the commercials. The recordings are stored online, rather than on a box in your home, so you can access them from any of your devices—even while traveling.
Yes, though some services have restrictions on what you can watch and how you can watch it. This article has more details.
No, live TV streaming services do not charge activation fees, and you can log in to watch on as many devices as you want at no extra charge. You may hit a limit on how many devices can be actively streaming at the same time—usually it’s two or three, depending on the service—and some services allow you to pay for more simultaneous streams if you need them.
