Video Streaming Services That Let You Cut Cable TV

Monthly bill: $85 to $133

What you get: The cheapest plans provide a mix of live TV stations and cable channels. The top-tier package adds premium channels such as HBO Max, Showtime, and Starz.

DirecTV, which until recently was called DirecTV Stream, is essentially the DirecTV satellite service without the dish. The cheapest plans provide a mix of live TV stations and cable channels. The top-tier package adds premium channels such as HBO Max, Showtime, and Starz. Some channels, such as BBC News, FXM (the FX movie channel), Logo, NHL Network, Nick Jr., Oxygen, and the Smithsonian Channel, are available only in the pricier plans.

The entry-level Entertainment plan is $85 a month for about 90 channels. The Choice plan—the cheapest one that provides a good number of regional sports networks, plus access to about 125 channels—costs $108 a month. The Ultimate plan, with about 160 channels plus Starz, costs $133 a month. There’s also a Premier plan (with about 185 channels, plus HBO Max with ads, Cinemax, and Paramount+ with Showtime) for $173 a month. A current promotion gives you a discounted rate on any of the plans for the first month.

All DirecTV plans now include ESPN Unlimited, the new streaming service that provides access to the ESPN cable channels.

You can also get a Spanish-language plan, Óptimo Más, which offers about 100 channels for $80 a month.

DirecTV has also now launched its own free ad-supported streaming service, MyFree DirecTV.

HBO Max, which remains a separate entity within the Warner Bros. Discovery company, can be added separately to plans that don’t include it. HBO Max includes Discovery+ content, but you can still subscribe to Discovery+ separately.

All of the services come with on-demand shows and movies, and unlimited cloud DVR storage.

What you don’t get: Some local channels and regional sports networks aren’t available in all markets or in the most basic plan. And some channels, such as BBC News, CBS Sports Network, FXM (the FX movie channel), Logo, NHL Network, Oxygen, and the Smithsonian Channel, are available only in the pricier plans.

Sign up for DirecTV.

Monthly bill: $85 to $110 per month

What you get: Fubo is a sports-centric service that provides live and on-demand channels from ABC, CBS, Fox, and NBC in most markets. It recently raised prices by $5 a month. You also get cable channels (AMC, Bravo, Discovery, FX, HGTV, Syfy, and TLC) and sports networks (BeIn Sports, FS1, Golf Channel, MSG, NBA TV, and SNY). Thanks to a deal with Disney, the service now has ESPN (ESPN, ESPN 2, and ESPN 3), plus the SEC and ACC networks in certain markets.

Fubo’s Pro plan costs $85 a month and has more than 200 channels with local stations in most markets. It also includes regional MLB, NBA, and NFL games.

The $110-a-month Elite with Sports Plus plan has about 300 channels plus 4K video when available. This package adds the 55 additional sports, entertainment, and news channels you get with the Fubo Extra and News Plus add-on packages. Fubo’s Latino plan is $15 a month; it offers more than 50 channels.

Note that Fubo is currently the only streaming service that charges a fee for regional sports networks—up to $17 a month, depending on your area.

You can also add several premium channels. One plan combines MGM+, Showtime, and Starz for $20 per month. Separately, Showtime costs $11 a month; Starz costs $11 a month. Sports fans can get Sports Plus with NFL Red Zone, with NCAA games, and RedZone from the NFL Network, for an extra $11 per month. An $8-per-month Fubo Extra plan adds more TV shows, movies, news, sports, music, and kids’ entertainment. There are also several Spanish-language plans and add-ons.

Fubo recently rolled out a new MLB.TV direct-to-consumer add-on package for an additional $30 per month that lets baseball fans stream out-of-market games, both live and on demand.

One big piece of news is that Fubo and Disney announced that Disney will be combining its Hulu + Live TV business (see below) with Fubo at some point in the near future. One consequence of the deal is that it ends Fubo’s lawsuit against Disney (and Fox and Warner Bros.) over a proposed live sports streaming service called Venu Sports. (The three companies pulled the plug on Venu Sports shortly after the lawsuit was resolved, however.) Even after the deal is closed, Fubo and Hulu + Live TV will continue to be available to subscribers as separate services via their respective apps.

What you don’t get: Compared with many other services, Fubo’s on-demand library is limited. Also, Fubo hasn’t been able to reach a deal with Warner Bros. Discovery for its networks, including Discovery, Food Network, HGTV, and TLC, among others. It also still lacks the Turner sports networks, TBS, TNT, and truTV. Also missing are A&E networks, including A&E, History Channel, Lifetime, and Vice TV. It did reach a deal to restore the YES Network, home to Yankees games.

Sign up for Fubo.

Monthly bill: $82 to $96

What you get: Hulu + Live TV offers about 95 channels, including the major broadcast channels—ABC, CBS, Fox, and NBC—in a growing number of markets. You also get cable channels such as A&E, BET, CN, CNN, Disney, Fox News, FX, HGTV, TBS, and TNT. The lineup includes CBS Sports, ESPN, and Fox Sports, plus some regional sports networks. You also get access to Hulu’s streaming library, with original content like “Only Murders in the Building” and “The Bear.”

Hulu recently renewed a deal with Fox to keep programs such as “The Masked Singer,” “The Simpsons,” and “Family Guy.” Hulu also recently added 14 channels, including Hallmark and The Weather Channel. 

You can get Hulu + Live TV by itself for $82 a month with ads, but it costs only $1 more per month to bundle it with other Disney services, such as Disney+ and ESPN Select. Live TV plans also include access to the full ESPN Unlimited service, which includes streaming access to the ESPN cable channels within the ESPN app.

The pricing tiers for bundles can be confusing, varying mainly by which parts of your service show ads. A plan with Hulu Live TV, Disney+, and ESPN+—all with ads—costs $83 a month. Another plan, Hulu + Live TV with ads, ad-free Disney+, and ESPN+ with ads, is $88 a month. Finally, the plan with ad-free versions of Hulu + Live TV and Disney, plus ESPN+ with ads, costs $96 a month.

The basic service lets you create six separate profiles—though only two people can use the service at a time—and includes an unlimited cloud DVR. You can add premium networks, pay more to get additional sports and entertainment content, and upgrade to unlimited screens.

As noted above, Fubo and Disney announced that Disney will combine its Hulu + Live TV business with Fubo at some point in the near future. However, even after the deal is closed, Fubo and Hulu + Live TV will continue to be available to subscribers as separate services via their respective apps.

What you don’t get: The service is missing A&E, AMC, BBC America, and NBA TV. Also, it lost some NBC programs that were available on Hulu to NBCUniversal’s own Peacock service. Hulu has a deal with Discovery for several channels, including the Food Network, HGTV, and TLC, but some popular shows, such as “90 Day Fiancé” and “Fixer Upper,” will be available only on the company’s newer Discovery+ and HBO Max services.

Sign up for Hulu + Live TV.

Monthly bill: $28

What you get: Philo can be a great option if you get local channels via an antenna. For just $28 a month, you get access to more than 70 channels from partners, including AMC Networks, Discovery, and Paramount (CBS and Viacom). However, in addition to lacking local channels, Philo doesn’t offer live news (CNN, Fox News) or sports networks such as ESPN and NFL Network. 

The company now has the Smithsonian Channel and Pop, which airs older network shows such as “House” and “NCIS: New Orleans.” Last fall, it reached a deal to bring 11 Warner Bros. Discovery channels to the service. Philo also has a few original series, including “Boss Moves,” with “Love and Hip-Hop” star Rasheeda Frost. The service has a deal with Kin Community for access to that company’s women-focused lifestyle content.

Last year, Philo raised its price for new subscribers from $25 to $28. However, the plan now includes AMC+, which usually costs an extra $5 a month. Current subscribers can keep the $25-a-month plan, but they won’t get AMC+ unless they upgrade to the pricier plan.

You can also add premium channels, such as MGM+ ($7 a month) and Starz ($10 a month).

Philo now also offers 100 free, ad-supported channels that you can get without a subscription.

What you don’t get: Philo has no local channels and doesn’t offer live news (CNN, Fox News) or sports networks such as ESPN or NFL Network.

Sign up for Philo.

Monthly bill: $46 to $66

What you get: You might consider Sling TV if you can find another way to get CBS local channels because the service lacks them. ABC locals are available only in some regions (see below). Sling’s Orange package is now $46 and includes about 30 cable channels, including Disney and ESPN, plus A&E, the Food Network, and TBS, but no local broadcast TV. It supports one user at a time. Sling Blue, $51 per month, supports three users and has a different mix of about 40 channels, including some local broadcasts and regional sports. (Among other differences, Sling Blue doesn’t include ESPN.) A combined plan costs $66.

Sling TV is carrying ABC, Fox, and NBC in some markets with the Blue and combined Sling Blue and Orange plans. But CBS locals aren’t available at all.

Sling is now offering its first sporting events in 4K in some markets. The company says it isn’t charging extra for them.

You can add premium channels, including HBO Max ($17), Paramount+ with Showtime ($10), and Starz ($11). Sling TV offers a large number of add-on packs, which provide extra genre-based programming (sports, news, lifestyle, Hollywood, etc.). They cost an additional $6 to $21 (for a bundle with several packs) each month.

Sling beefed up its cloud DVR, so everyone now gets 50 hours of free DVR storage, up from 10 hours. The DVR Unlimited add-on gives you unlimited storage for $5 per month.

In addition, Sling has an exclusive deal with Barstool Sports, a channel dedicated to sports and pop culture that features live content, including video podcasts, blogs, and video series.

There’s a free ad-supported service called Sling Freestream. It has more than 500 live channels and over 40,000 on-demand titles, including news, sports, game shows, crime dramas, sitcoms, home improvement shows, and cooking shows.

What you don’t get: You can get ABC, Fox, and NBC in some markets, so you need to check before signing on. But CBS is still missing from any plan. Subscribers outside of several major markets can no longer get NBC on-demand channels. (Sling had provided on-demand NBC channels in markets where the live NBC channel wasn’t available.)

Sign up for Sling TV.

Monthly bill: $83

What you get: YouTube TV offers access to more than 100 channels, including all the major broadcast networks, cable channels (AMC, Bravo, Disney, ESPN, FX, Fox News, Fox Sports, MSNBC, National Geographic, Turner, USA), and major sports networks such as CBS Sports, ESPN, and Fox Sports, along with the MLB, NBA, and NFL league networks. It recently added a bunch of Paramount channels, including BET, Comedy Central, MTV, Nickelodeon, and Paramount Network. The service has also expanded its Spanish-language content with three Univision channels as well as two new add-on packages. A cloud DVR with unlimited storage for up to nine months is included. 

With an additional fee, you can also access NFL Sunday Ticket, which lets you watch out-of-market Sunday games on YouTube TV. NFL Sunday Ticket supports YouTube TV’s multiview feature, enabling subscribers to watch multiple games simultaneously.

Earlier this year, YouTube upgraded its multiview feature for all YouTube TV subscribers by letting you pick the games you want to watch. It also upgraded the video quality of 1080p content on 4K devices that support the VP9 video codec. Google says it’s working with the NFL to show all league games in 1080p, including those shot in 720p, which will then be upconverted to the higher resolution.

You can add HBO Max, MGM+, Paramount+ with Showtime, Starz, and a few other channels for an extra fee. YouTube TV subscribers have been able to do this, but now anyone can access the Primetime Channel hub on YouTube. There’s also a 4K Plus add-on plan, which gives you additional channels in 4K, for an additional $10 a month. There’s a Spanish-language plan that costs $35 a month, and you can add more with a $15-a-month add-on pack.

What you don’t get: YouTube TV’s biggest content holes are some cable channels, including A&E, CW, DIY Network, History Channel, and Lifetime.

Sign up for YouTube TV.

Before signing up, browse each service’s channel listing carefully to ensure you’ll be able to watch the channels you want. Some services are more limited than others, and the content can vary by region, especially when it comes to local channels. To find out what you can receive, go to each company’s website, plug in your ZIP code, and see what’s available in your area. (Philo doesn’t have this option because it doesn’t offer local stations.)

In general, video streaming services have been adding more local broadcast channels, such as ABC and CBS, but these channels aren’t available in all areas. If you’re missing some local channels, consider adding an antenna to get free over-the-air broadcasts. In our indoor TV antenna ratings, some testers received dozens of channels and subchannels at home, and the picture often looked even better than what they were getting from cable TV.

In addition, consider the features each service offers. If you can’t watch a lot of your favorites live, you’ll want a generous DVR feature. Some services offer anywhere from 200 to 500 hours’ worth of recording with your base plan, and they may offer more allowance through add-on packages. You’ll also want to consider the availability of add-on packages and special live broadcasts, such as NFL Sunday Ticket on YouTube TV and pay-per-view sporting events on Fubo.

Many of the cable replacement services offer a free trial period. Because most require a credit card number, you’ll have to keep track of when the trial period ends and cancel if you don’t want to continue the service.

Prices for many packages continue to rise. These hikes typically range between $1 and $5 at a time, but they can add up over the years. Consumer Reports will keep this article updated with all the latest pricing information when those changes occur. Be sure to check back for the latest pricing before deciding whether to subscribe.

All of these services are available on top streaming devices from companies like Amazon, Apple, and Roku. Here are three highly rated streaming boxes and sticks that’ll pair perfectly with a 4K TV.