Are you ready to nix cable or streaming in favor of your new budget? It’s a good bet. But if you give up regular cable and switch to a live TV streaming service, it can be less expensive each month. They offer a much wider selection of channels than an antenna, and you can stream on your phone or computer, too.
DirecTV Stream, YouTube TV, Hulu Plus Live TV, Sling TV, FuboTV and Philo are the six primary services available today. Our live-TV streaming guide has all the details about prices and features of the various services, but really, it’s all about the channels. That’s why we combed through these services to bring you this list.
Read more: Best Sports Streaming Service for 2023: FuboTV, DirecTV Stream, ESPN Plus and more
The Big Chart: Top 100 channels compared, updated February 2023
The main difference between the services is their channel lineups. All of them offer different slates of channels for various prices.
Below you’ll find a chart that shows the top 100 channels across all six services, but note that not each service has a worthy 100. There are actually seven listed because Sling TV has two different «base» tiers, Orange and Blue. And if you’re wondering, I chose which «top» channels made the cut. Sorry, AXS TV, Discovery Life, GSN and Universal HD.
Plenty of live TV streaming choices are available to anyone who wants to cut the cable. Hulu Plus Live TV now offers two price plans for service: $70 per month with ads and $83 without ads. Sling TV’s basic packages are $40. DirecTV Stream expanded its PBS channel availability, and YouTube TV and Hulu added the Hallmark network. FuboTV upped the price of its base bundle to $75, and DirecTV Stream increased its plan subscriptions as well. Those changes are reflected in the chart below where applicable.
Some more stuff to know about the chart:
- Yes = The channel is available on the cheapest pricing tier. That price is listed next to the service’s name.
- No = The channel isn’t available at all on that service.
- $ = The channel is available for an extra fee, either a la carte or as part of a more expensive package or add-on.
- Regional sports networks — local channels devoted to showing regular-season games of particular pro baseball, basketball and hockey teams — are not listed. DirecTV Stream’s $100 tier has the most RSNs by far, but a few are available on other services. See our NBA and NHL streaming guides for details.
- Local ABC, CBS, Fox, NBC, MyNetworkTV and The CW networks are not available in every city. Since availability of these channels varies, you’ll want to check the service’s website to make sure it carries your local network.
- Local PBS stations are only currently available on YouTube TV and DirecTV Stream. Again you’ll want to check local availability.
- Fubo subscribers may find that the ACC Network and SEC Network are included with their package at no extra cost. Check availability for your state.
- The chart columns are arranged in order of price, so if you can’t see everything you want, try scrolling right.
- Overwhelmed? An easier-to-understand Google Spreadsheet is here.