Never miss the latest breaking story with CNN, including news commentary and investigative reports in the fields of business, culture and much more.
You can watch CNN without cable on DirecTV Stream, Sling TV Orange, Sling TV Orange + Blue, Sling TV Blue, Hulu with Live TV, YouTube TV, Max, Spectrum TV Choice, Pluto TV Live, or Spectrum TV Stream.
Below, we list their prices, channel line-ups, and trial offerings to help you choose the best one for your needs.
DirecTV Stream
Incredible picture quality and often said to be "the best all-around streaming service for cord-cutters." (Rolling Stone) Includes most local channels and major national networks.
Channels: CNN, ESPN, ABC, NBC, CBS, FOX, RSNs, and most major channels.
Price: $79.99/month
Free trial: 5 days
Devices: Amazon Fire TV, Android, Apple TV, iOS, Roku, Samsung TV
Go to DirecTV Stream |
DirecTV Stream differentiates itself from other cable-streaming hybrids like Hulu + Live and Sling in two key ways: it carries more regional sports networks than any other streaming service, and it has unlimited hours of Cloud DVR storage. You also have the choice to receive the DirecTV Stream device (called Gemini Air), or continue using your own.
Price: $79.99/month
Free Trial: 5 days
Device availability: Amazon Fire TV, Android, Android TV, Apple TV, iOS, Roku, Roku TV, Samsung TV
Channel lineup: ACC Network, AccuWeather, AMC, Animal Planet, AXS TV, Baby First TV, BBC America, BET, Bloomberg Television, Boomerang, Bravo, C-SPAN, C-SPAN2, Cartoon Network, CBS local channels, Cleo TV, CMT, CNBC, CNN, CNN en Espanol, Comedy Central, Court TV, Daystar HD, Discovery, Disney Channel, Disney Jr, Disney XD, E! Entertainment, EarthxTV, ESPN, ESPN2, ESPN3, FMC, Food Network, FOX, Fox Business Network, Fox News Channel, FOX SOUL, Fox Sports 1, Fox Weather, Freeform, FUEL TV, Fuse Music, FX, FXX, Galavision, Hallmark Channel, Hallmark Mystery, HGTV, HLN, Home Shopping Network, HSN, IFC, Investigation Discovery, ion Television, Jewelry Television, MotorTrend, MSNBC, MTV Classic, MTV2, NBA TV, NBC local channels, News Nation, Nick Jr., One America News, Ovation, Oxygen True Crime, Paramount Network, PBS Kids, PBS local channels, Pursuit Channel, QVC, QVC2, QVC3, ReelzChannel, REVOLT, RFD-TV, RSNs, Scientology Network, Shop LC, SportsGrid, SundanceTV, SYFY, Tastemade Home, Tastemade Travel, TBS, TCM, TeenNick, Telemundo local channels, The First, theGrio, TLC, TNT, truTV, TV Land, TV One, Univision, Up TV, USA Network, VH1, WE tv
As Sling’s most bare-bones live TV package, Sling TV Orange still provides a pretty sweet deal. For $40 a month you get more than 30 channels, 50 hours of DVR storage, and the option to customize your channel lineup with “Extras,” additional channel packages catered to your specific interests.
Price: $40/month
Device availability: AirTV, Amazon Fire TV, Android, Android TV, Apple TV, Chromecast, Cox, iOS, LG TV, Mi Box, Roku, Samsung TV, TiVo, Vizio, Windows 10, Windows 11, Xbox, Xbox One
Channel lineup: A&E, AMC, AXS TV, BBC America, BET, Bloomberg Television, Cartoon Network, Charge!, CNN, Comedy Central, Comet, Disney Channel, EPIX Drive-In, ESPN, ESPN2, ESPN3, Food Network, Freeform, Fuse, HGTV, History, IFC, Investigation Discovery, Lifetime, Local Now, MGM+, MotorTrend, Nick Jr., QVC, TBS, TNT, Travel Channel, Vice
When you combine Sling’s two basic packages, you get the perks of both. The $55 a month price tag gets you 51 channels, 50 hours of DVR storage, and simultaneous use on up to three screens. You don’t have to make any sacrifices on which channels you receive, and you’re still paying less than you would be for cable.
Price: $60/month
Device availability: AirTV, Amazon Fire TV, Android, Android TV, Apple TV, Chromecast, Cox, iOS, iPhone, LG TV, Mi Box, Roku, Samsung TV, TiVo, Vizio, Vizio Smart TV, Windows 10, Windows 11, Xbox, Xbox One
Channel lineup: A&E, AMC, AXS TV, BBC America, BET, Bloomberg Television, Bravo, Cartoon Network, Charge!, CNN, Comedy Central, Comet, Discovery Channel, Disney Channel, E!, EPIX Drive-In, ESPN, ESPN2, ESPN3, Food Network, Fox News Channel, Fox Sports 1, Freeform, Fuse, FX, HGTV, History, HLN, IFC, Investigation Discovery, Lifetime, Local Now, MGM+, MotorTrend, MSNBC, National Geographic, NBC local channels, NFL Network, Nick Jr., QVC, SYFY, TBS, TLC, TNT, Travel Channel, truTV, USA, Vice
Sling TV Blue lets you be in control of your TV. With a base package of more than 40 channels, you can stream their live and on-demand content whenever you’d like for just $40 a month. Plus, you have the option to customize your package and subscribe to curated add-on channel bundles if the baseline isn’t cutting it.
Price: $45/month
Device availability: AirTV, Amazon Fire TV, Android, Android TV, Apple TV, Chromecast, iOS, LG TV, Roku, Samsung TV, Xbox
Channel lineup: A&E, AMC, AXS TV, BBC America, BET, Bloomberg Television, Bravo, Cartoon Network, Charge!, CNN, Comedy Central, Comet, Discovery Channel, E!, EPIX Drive-In, Food Network, Fox News Channel, Fox Sports 1, Fuse, FX, HGTV, History, HLN, IFC, Investigation Discovery, Lifetime, Local Now, MGM+, MSNBC, National Geographic, NFL Network, Nick Jr., SYFY, TBS, TLC, TNT, Travel Channel, truTV, USA, Vice
Hulu with Live TV ties up its subscribers’ streaming needs in one tidy bow. You get access to all the movies and shows in Hulu’s library, plus over 75 local, regional, and national live channels for $75 a month. Since several other streamers offer add-on premium content packages for a fee, with this plan you cut out the middleman and have everything under one roof.
Price: $75.99/month
Free Trial: 3 daysNew: since April 15, 2024, Hulu with Live TV now offers a free trial.
Device availability: Amazon Fire TV, Android, Android TV, Apple TV, Chromecast, iOS, iPhone, LG TV, Nintendo Switch, Roku, Roku TV, Samsung TV, Vizio Smart TV, Xbox
Channel lineup: A&E, ABC, ABC Localish, ABC News Live, ACC Network, Adult Swim, Animal Planet, BET, Big Ten Network, Bloomberg Television, Bravo, Cartoon Network, CBS, CBS local channels, CBS News, CBS Sports Network, Cheddar News, CMT, CNBC, CNN, CNN International, Comedy Central, Comedy TV, Cozi TV, CW, Dabl, Discovery Channel, Disney Channel, Disney Junior, Disney XD, E!, ESPN, ESPN 2, ESPN College Extra, ESPNews, ESPNU, Food Network, FOX, Fox Business, Fox News Channel, Fox Sports 1, Freeform, FS1, FS2, FX, FXM, FXX, FYI, Golf Channel, Hallmark, Hallmark Mystery, HGTV, History, HLN, ID, Justice Central TV, Lifetime, Lifetime Movies, Localish, Military History Chanel, Motor Trend, MSNBC, MTV, NASA, Nat Geo Wild, National Geographic, NBC, NBC local channels, NBC News Now, NBCLX, News Nation, NFL Network, Nick Jr., Nickelodeon, OWN, Oxygen, Paramount Network, Pop, QVC, SEC Network, Smithsonian Channel, Start TV, SYFY, TBS, Telemundo, The Grio, TLC, TNT, Travel Channel, truTV, Turner Classic Movies, TVLand, Universal Kids, USA, VH1, Vice, Weather Channel
YouTube TV is the most extensive live TV streamer available today. 85 channels, multiple simultaneous streams, and unlimited DVR storage, all for $73 a month. You don’t have to sacrifice live sports or local channels either, as is the case with some other live streamers. Basically, it’s cable without the hassle of cable.
Price: $72.99/month
Free Trial: 7 days
Device availability: Amazon Fire TV, Android, Android TV, Apple TV, iOS, LG TV, PlayStation, Roku, Samsung TV, Sharp, Vizio, Xbox
Channel lineup: ABC, ABC News, ACCN, Adult Swim, AMC, Animal Planet, BBC America, BBC World News, BET, BET Her, Big Ten Network, Bounce, Bravo, Cartoon Network, CBS, CBS local channels, CBS Sports Network, Cheddar, Cheddar News, CMT, CNBC, CNBC World, CNN, Comedy Central, Comedy TV, Comet, Court TV, Cozi TV, Dabl, Discovery, Disney, Disney Junior, Disney XD, Docurama, Dove Channel, E!, ESPN, ESPN U, ESPN2, ESPNews, Food Network, FOX, Fox Business, Fox News, FOX SOUL, Fox Sports 1, Fox Sports 2, Fox Weather, Freeform, FX, FXM, FXX, Galavision, Game Show Network, Get TV, Golf Channel, Hallmark Channel, Hallmark Family, Hallmark Mystery, HGTV, HLN, HSN, IFC, Investigation Discovery, ION, Justice Central TV, LAFC Channel, Law & Crime, Live Now, Local Now, Localish, MotorTrend, MSNBC, MTV, MTV 2, MTV Classic, My TV, Nat Geo Wild, National Geographic, NBA TV, NBC, NBC local channels, NBC News Now, NBC Universo, NBCLX, NBCSN, NECN, News Nation, NFL Network, Nick Jr., Nickelodeon, Nicktoons, Orlando City Channel, OWN, Oxygen, Oxygen True Crime, Paramount, PBS, PBS Kids, PBS local channels, PC Mag, Pop, QVC, Recipe.TV, Scripps News, SEC Network, Smithsonian Channel, SNY, Start TV, Sundance TV, SYFY, Tastemade, TBS, Teen Nick, TeleHit, Telemundo local channels, The CW, The Great Courses, The Weather Channel, TLC, TNT, Travel Channel, Tru TV, Turner Classic Movies, TV Land, TYT, Unimas, Unimas local channels, Universal Kids, Univision, Univision local channels, USA, VH1, WE tv
If you’re a Spectrum internet customer, Spectrum offers a unique deal with its TV Choice package, now with ESPN back after the dispute has been resolved. You take your pick of 15 must-haves from a list of 65 channels, completely customizing your own mini live TV lineup. It’s around $53 a month with no cable box and no annual contract, so if you have very streamlined TV interests, it’s a cost-effective move. Most of the price goes to local channels, which it also comes with.
Price: Varies depending on your location and account history.
Pluto TV is a modern take on traditional cable: it has hundreds of channels streaming live, a huge library of on demand content, and it’s supported by ads. But the key difference from the competition? It’s totally free.
Price: $free/month
Device availability: Amazon Fire TV, Android, Android TV, Apple TV, Chromecast, iOS, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Roku, Virgin Media, Vizio SmartCast, webOS, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S
Channel lineup: BBC Food, BBC Home, Bein Sports XTRA, Bloomberg Television, CBS Sports HQ, CBSN, Check with Pluto TV for the full channel lineup, Cheddar News, CNN, ET Live, Food TV, Fox Sports, Hallmark En Espanol, Hip Hop Family, Hip Hop Family VH1, Love & Hip-Hop VH1, Major League Soccer, MLB, MotorTrend FAST TV, NBC News Now, Newsmax, NFL Channel, NFL Super Bowl Classics, Nosey, People TV, PGA Tour, Pluto Channels, RuPaul’s Drag Race, Sky News, Smithsonian Channel, Stories AMC, TBN, Today, TV Land Drama, WeatherNation, WPT
This newcomer to cord-cutting quietly launched in April 2024. It's about 90 channels for $39.99, without any additional fees like a local channels surcharge, because there are simply no local channels. What you won't find either are sports channels. And some of the channels are Spectrum channels like Spectrum Originals and Spectrum News.
With Philo having a similar channel lineup but costing $15 less, you probably need a very good reason to go for Spectrum TV Stream. But, it's always nice to have another option.
Price: Varies depending on your location and account history.
Let's recap the streaming services that allow you to watch CNN without cable.
The most cost-efficient way to watch CNN content is to get a subscription to Pluto TV Live for free.
You can get a limited time free trial to CNN by subscribing to DirecTV Stream, Hulu with Live TV, YouTube TV, or Spectrum TV Choice.
Read more: 4 Best Services to Get a CNN Free Trial >The platforms that will get you a CNN live stream are DirecTV Stream, Sling Orange, Sling Orange + Blue, Sling Blue, Hulu with Live TV, YouTube TV, Max, Spectrum TV Choice, or Spectrum TV Stream.
You can watch CNN on your Roku device by subscribing to DirecTV Stream, Sling Orange, Sling Orange + Blue, Sling Blue, Hulu with Live TV, YouTube TV, Max, Spectrum TV Choice, or Pluto TV Live.
Read more: 7 Best Services to Watch CNN Without Cable on Roku >CNN can be accessed on an Amazon Fire TV device by subscribing to DirecTV Stream, Sling Orange, Sling Orange + Blue, Sling Blue, Hulu with Live TV, YouTube TV, Max, or Pluto TV Live.
The streaming services that include CNN and are available on Apple TV are DirecTV Stream, Sling Orange, Sling Orange + Blue, Sling Blue, Hulu with Live TV, YouTube TV, Max, Spectrum TV Choice, and Pluto TV Live.
On a web browser head to the websites of DirecTV Stream, Sling Orange, Sling Orange + Blue, Sling Blue, Hulu with Live TV, YouTube TV, Max, Spectrum TV Choice, or Pluto TV Live to start watching CNN.
You can watch CNN on an iPhone or iPad by subscribing to DirecTV Stream, Sling Orange, Sling Orange + Blue, Sling Blue, Hulu with Live TV, YouTube TV, Spectrum TV Choice, or Pluto TV Live.
You can watch CNN on an Android device such as Samsung or Google Pixel by subscribing to DirecTV Stream, Sling Orange, Sling Orange + Blue, Sling Blue, Hulu with Live TV, YouTube TV, Spectrum TV Choice, or Pluto TV Live.
You can watch CNN on a Smart TV that runs on Android by getting a subscription to DirecTV Stream, Sling Orange, Sling Orange + Blue, Sling Blue, Hulu with Live TV, YouTube TV, Max, Spectrum TV Choice, or Pluto TV Live.
You can watch CNN on an Xbox console through Sling Orange, Sling Orange + Blue, Sling Blue, Hulu with Live TV, YouTube TV, Max, or Spectrum TV Choice.
The services that accept Paypal and carry CNN are: DirecTV Stream, Sling Orange, Sling Orange + Blue, Sling Blue, Hulu with Live TV, YouTube TV, Max, Spectrum TV Choice, Spectrum TV Stream, DirecTV Stream Premier, and DirecTV Stream Choice.
The services that accept Paypal and carry CNN are: Sling Orange, Sling Orange + Blue, and Sling Blue.
The services that accept Paypal and carry CNN are: Sling Orange, Sling Orange + Blue, Sling Blue, and YouTube TV.
Ready to cut the cord? Here are the 14 live TV streaming services that offer a free trial.
The streaming services on this page were chosen by our editors. If you choose to subscribe to a streaming service we recommend as a result of our research, analysis, and curation, our work is sometimes (but not always) supported by an affiliate commission from the streaming service when you make a purchase.