As cord-cutting grows more popular, TV networks have responded by bringing their cable channels to the internet. That means you no longer need an expensive satellite or cable TV service to watch local news, sports, and your favorite shows live. Most services even offer DVR service in the cloud, so you can record your favorite shows and watch them later–sometimes with the added perk of being able to skip past the commercials.
But with all this competition comes more confusion. Between Sling TV, YouTube TV, Hulu + Live TV, and others, cord-cutters have a lot to think about. Each service has its own quirks and caveats, and their channel lineups (and increasingly, their prices) are constantly in flux. Here are top picks today, with links to our in-depth reviews.
Reviewed on August 4, 2023 to confirm our top picks and check for accuracy and timeliness.
YouTube TV — Best TV streaming service overall
Pros
- Simple interface makes live TV easy to navigate
- Unlimited DVR allows for a huge on-demand library (with skippable ads)
- Broad selection of local, news, sports, and entertainment channels
Cons
- Can't delete recordings or mark them as watched on TV devices
- One-off recordings only work for live sporting events
- Menu doesn't clearly separate DVR and on-demand video (with unskippable ads)
YouTube TV might not meet every cord-cutter’s needs, but even at $65 $73 per month (effective April 18, 2023), we think it’s the best path to local stations, live news, national sports, and a broad selection of entertainment channels. It also includes cloud DVR service that can record an unlimited number of programs for up to nine months, and YouTube TV is now the home of NFL Sunday Ticket (albeit as a pricey add-on). If you’re looking to replace cable TV with something cheaper, this is your safest bet.
Hulu + Live TV — Best TV streaming service, runner-up
Pros
- Excellent value for Disney bundle subscribers
- Expansive on-demand catalog
- Recommendations and staff picks make the app fun to explore
Cons
- Live TV can be inefficient to navigate
- Hard to figure out which programs allow ad skipping
- Can't watch on TV devices while traveling
What sets Hulu’s live TV bundle (starting at $70/month) apart from others is its inclusion of Hulu’s on-demand service, which offers a large catalog of network shows, plus originals such as The Bear, Only Murders in the Building, and The Oroville along with strong TV shows from Disney-owned networks including FX. Even better, access to Disney+ and ESPN+ is also included in the package. Hulu’s interface can be busy, but it ties everything together in a way that encourages discovery.
DirecTV Stream — Best TV streaming service for sports fans
Pros
- Excellent grid guide with useful sorting options
- More sports (at least in its $100-per-month tier) than other streaming services
- DVR is easy to navigate and has its own dedicated menu section
Cons
- No visual preview when fast forwarding on Fire TV and Android TV
- Sluggish performance on some lower-end streaming devices
- Some national sports channels are pushed out to more-expensive packages
Sports fans will like DirecTV Stream’s strong sports coverage, and viewers fresh from cutting the cord will appreciate its similarity to cable and satellite TV, but you’ll need to pay at least $100 per month to get the regional sports channels that are so hard for cord-cutters to find. And while we find its cloud DVR to be terrific, the service chugs on lower-cost Amazon Fire TV and Android TV streaming devices.
Sling TV — Best budget-priced TV streaming service
Pros
- Lower entry price than any other streaming bundle
- Simple menu system with easy access to favorites
- DVR supports ad-skipping, partial recordings, and time-shifting
Cons
- Price can quickly escalate to get certain channels
- Most channels top out at 30 frames per second
- Only supports one user profile
Sling TV is an intriguing option if you’re using an antenna to get local channels, because it doesn’t include much local coverage on its own. As such, its starting price of $40 per month is a lot lower than other bundles, and you can add channel packs that otherwise might be cost-prohibitive. On the downside, integrating local over-the-air channels with the Sling app requires extra hardware.
Philo — Best budget-priced TV streaming service, runner-up
Pros
- DVR has helpful ad-skipping features
- Easy to find your favorites and recently-watched shows
- Integrates well with Fire TV, Google TV, and Apple TV devices
Cons
- No sports, major cable news, or local broadcast channels
- Channel guide layout is disorienting
- No surround sound or adjustable streaming quality
Philo’s bundle of non-sports channels is reasonably priced and easy to navigate. You won’t get sports coverage or cable news, but that’s good news if you don’t care about those features, because you’re not paying for them.
How to watch TV online
TV streaming services like YouTube TV and Sling TV carry live network television programming from the likes of ABC, CBS, and NBC. Most also include feeds from your local broadcaster (channel 2, channel 4, etc.). In this regard, they’re close cousins to cable and satellite TV, but their content streams over the internet instead of coming into your home via coaxial cable or a satellite dish on your roof. Most streaming TV services let you record live TV programming to a DVR in the cloud, just like cable and satellite TV set-top boxes–or third-party devices like TiVo–do. Some let you skip past the commercials in live TV. This policy, the number of programs you can store in the cloud, and the length of time they’re stored, vary by service provider. You can read our individual reviews for those details.
What’s the difference between TV streaming and video streaming?
TV streaming services like the ones covered here differ from video streaming services like Netflix and Amazon Prime Video in that the latter services don’t offer nearly as much live TV programming or shows as you’ll find on network television (ABC, CBS, NBC, et al). Netflix, Amazon, and the like are more focused on movies and TV shows they produce on their own, although they also license movies and TV shows from other producers, including the aforementioned broadcast networks. Then again, some of the biggest streamers are getting more aggressive in terms of live sports, with Amazon Prime Video now producing and streaming Thursday Night Football while Apple TV+ has Friday Night Baseball and live Major League Soccer coverage. Meanwhile, Peacock has pledged to live-stream all of NBC’s 2024 Summer Olympics coverage.
You don’t need a set-top box or a tuner to receive streaming TV, but you will need an internet connection and a display you can watch TV on. Most people will use a smart TV, and virtually every TV manufacturer builds those these days, including LG, Samsung, and Vizio to name just a few. You’ll find our top picks in smart TVs at the preceding link. You can also subscribe to these services with a streaming device that plugs into a TV, such as an Amazon Fire TV, Apple TV, Roku, or something similar. Such devices come as either an HDMI stick or as a small box with an HDMI cable. They connect to your TV’s HDMI port either way, drawing power from the TV’s USB port or from a power adapter. You’ll find our top picks in streaming devices at the preceding link. Yet another alternative would be to install an app from your TV streaming service provider of choice on your smartphone, tablet, or personal computer.
Other TV streaming services to consider
If none of our top picks meet your needs, sports fans might want to read our thoughts on FuboTV. Vidgo is another less-expensive competitor, although we were even less enthused with it the last time we checked it out.
If local channels are important to you, click the following links and enter your zip code to see which channels are available on DirecTV Stream Hulu with Live TV, FuboTV, Sling TV, and YouTube TV.
Author: Jared Newman
Jared Newman has been helping folks make sense of technology for over a decade, writing for PCWorld, TechHive, and elsewhere. He also publishes two newsletters, Advisorator for straightforward tech advice and Cord Cutter Weekly for saving money on TV service.