The Best Live-TV Streaming Services
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With the number of on-demand streaming services available now, you can watch nearly anything whenever you want. But sometimes it's nice to scroll through a TV guide and dive into a 6-hour marathon of Property Brothers or Real Housewives. We all have our things. Subscribing to a live-TV streaming service gets you that joy without shelling out for cable.
There are quite a few options to choose from, and while they cost more than Netflix or Hulu, they give you the ability to watch livestreams of many major channels, often with more ease and on more devices than cable. These are the best live-TV streaming services for every kind of viewer.
Updated February 2021: We added T-Mobile's TVision service, available only for those on the company's phone plan. We also updated prices throughout. Jess Grey also heavily contributed to this piece.
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Best Overall
Hulu's live-TV interface isn't the best. There's a separate tab for only live channels, but if you're searching through anything else, the on-demand options are confusingly mixed in with the live offerings. Plus its price has increased by over $10 since we first recommended it, making it now more than YouTube TV. Still, it has a leg up on the competition because it offers both live TV and its vast library of streamable content, including original shows like Castle Rock and The Handmaid's Tale. That's a big advantage.
If you can live without Netflix, you can cut your subscriptions to one payment of around $70 for its base plan—though that price includes ads on live shows and in on-demand content. Not so great when you consider an on-demand Hulu subscription without ads is just $13. You can disable ads for on-demand content, but your monthly price will jump to $76. If you're a sports fan, you may want to look elsewhere. Hulu doesn't carry the NFL Network, NBA TV, or MLB Network. There's a free seven-day trial if you want to test the service before committing.
Watch It on: Android, iOS, MacOS, Windows, Chromecast, Apple TV, Xbox, PlayStation, Nintendo Switch, Amazon Fire TV, Roku, Android TV, Samsung TV
Major Channels Missing: AMC, BBC America, Comedy Central, MLB Network, MTV, NBA TV, NFL Network, NFL Red Zone, Nickelodeon
Runner-Up
YouTube TV is widely available and isn't a hassle to use. It's quite pricey at $65 a month, especially since it doesn't include Hulu's library and original content. But it supports three simultaneous streams without making you shell out extra money, and up to six people can share your account (with their own profiles). Not to mention you get unlimited cloud DVR storage so you can watch movies and shows you missed at any other time. There are some notable omissions from its lineup (every streaming service has channels it doesn't carry), but YouTube TV's list of missing channels is shorter than many. It also includes popular networks like NBA and MLB, which are missing from Hulu's live-TV lineup.
Strangely enough, using YouTube TV doesn't give you access to YouTube Premium, which is a service that lets you watch YouTube and listen to YouTube Music ad-free. That means you'll have to pay extra to access YouTube Originals.
Watch It on: Android, iOS, Windows, MacOS, Fire TV, Apple TV, Xbox, Nintendo Switch, PlayStation, Chromecast, Roku, and some Samsung and Vizio smart TVs
Major Missing Channels: A&E, History, Lifetime, NFL Network
Best for Sports and Spanish-Language Channels
FuboTV and Sling TV (below) are quite similar, so the right one for you depends on your needs. Both have several plans to choose from, and prices can add up, but Fubo's base prices are more expensive. It ranges from about $65 to $80, and it includes almost every major channel that's missing from our other picks. MLB network isn't part of the base plan, but you can get it with the sports add-on. Even without baseball, Fubo includes several sports channels in the base plan, including the NFL Network, ESPN, Golf Channel, and Fubo's own Sports Network. It also includes ABC, CBS, and NBC.
Even better, there are a few Spanish-language channels, with the option to add the full lineup to your plan for $20 extra. If you want only those channels, you can get a Spanish-language package for $33 a month.
Watch It on: Android, iOS, MacOS, Windows, Chromecast, Fire TV, Apple TV, Xbox, Roku, Samsung Smart TV, Android TV
Major Missing Channels: MLB Network
The Most Affordable (With a Good Lineup)
Sling TV evolved from its original Slingbox, and it's now one of the longest-running live-TV streaming services available. It's also one of the most affordable (starting at $35) and versatile live-TV streaming services.
There are drawbacks. You can't set up family accounts for other users, so all users of your Sling TV account share a single DVR and viewing history. It has a confusing number of channel bundles, with one base plan meant for entertainment and news and the other for sports and families. You can tack on bundles of additional channels, which will quickly rack up the price, but if you stick to the base plan, you can save quite a bit of money.
Watch It on: Android, iOS, MacOS, Windows, Chromecast, Fire TV, Apple TV, Android TV, Xbox One, Roku, Amazon Fire devices
Major Missing Channels: ABC, CBS, Animal Planet, Fox News, MLB Network, Nickelodeon
If You Have T-Mobile
TVision is available only to T-Mobile customers (including legacy Sprint customers). If you aren't already on a T-Mobile phone plan, I wouldn't recommend switching solely for this service, though I thoroughly enjoyed using it.
TVision gives you live channels alongside Netflix, Hulu, and the other streaming services you might use. It has channel plans similar to Sling, so you can pay as low as $40 a month or upgrade your way to $70-plus, depending on which plan and add-ons you get.
If you can download the TVision app directly on your TV (or tablet or phone), but it's not on Roku. T-Mobile does let you purchase a TVision Hub for $50. The Hub is an HDMI streaming stick, similar to our favorite TV streaming devices. It comes with a remote you can program to control your TV's power and volume.
Watch It on: Android, iOS, Chromecast with Google TV, Apple TV, Amazon Fire TV, or any TV that can be connected to the TVision Hub via HDMI
Major Channels Missing: CBS, A&E, History, Lifetime, MLB Network
Other Options
Photograph: WinegardHonorable Mentions
The streaming services on this list are our favorites, but there are options you may want to check out if none of the services above strike your fancy.
Philo TV is the cheapest live-TV app we've found, at $20 a month. It's perfect for my MTV reality-show binges. There are 61 channels in its lineup, and it's available on Apple TV, Android TV, Amazon Fire TV, Roku, the web, iOS, and Android. We think the other options are worth the extra cash for most folks, though. Philo's interface isn't as easy to use, and it lacks features (and some major channels).
Peacock Premium from NBC ($5 per month) and CBS All Access ($6 per month) aren't quite live-TV services, but they offer some live sports and news alongside access to on-demand shows and movies. CBS's service is supported on many of the platforms we mentioned above, but Peacock is far more limited. It doesn't support Roku or Amazon Fire TV, for example.
A digital antenna may be the cheapest option to get a few broadcast channels if you live within range of some local stations. You can likely pick up most (or all) of the major network TV channels like ABC, Fox, NBC, and CBS over the air, and they are totally free. The Winegard FL5500A ($44) has a 50-mile range and is a quality indoor antenna to try first. You can place it near a window, so there's no need to climb up on your roof. Be sure to look up your local stations to see your coverage.
