The cheapest live TV services for cord-cutting are the free ones: Pluto TV and Xumo. There are paid ones that cost very little, like Philo, Paramount+, and Sling (especially the individual Blue or Orange plans).
Below, here are the best cheap offerings so that you can cut the cord and make the biggest savings.
As Sling’s most bare-bones live TV package, Sling TV Orange still provides a pretty sweet deal. For $35 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: $35 per month
Free Trial: 3 days
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, Bloomberg Television, Cartoon Network, Cheddar, Cheddar Big News, CNN, Comedy Central, Disney Channel, EPIX Drive-In, ESPN, ESPN2, ESPN3, Food Network, Freeform, Fuse, HGTV, History, IFC, Lifetime, Newsy, TBS, TNT, Travel Channel, Tribeca Shortlist, Viceland
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 $35 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: $35 per month
Free Trial: 3 days
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, Cheddar, Cheddar Big News, CNN, Comedy Central, EPIX Drive-In, Food Network, Fox News, Fuse, FX, HGTV, History, HLN, IFC, Lifetime, MSNBC, National Geographic, NBC, NBC Sports Network, Newsy, NFL Network, Nick Jr., SYFY, TBS, TLC, TNT, Travel Channel, Tribeca Shortlist, truTV, USA, Viceland
When you combine Sling’s two basic packages, you get the perks of both. The $50 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: $50 per month
Free Trial: 3 days
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, Bravo, Cartoon Network, Cheddar, CNN, Comedy Central, Comet, Discovery Channel, Disney Channel, E!, EPIX Drive-In, ESPN, ESPN2, ESPN3, Food Network, FOX (select markets), Fox News Channel, Fox Sports 1 (FS1), Freeform, Fuse, FX, HGTV, History, HLN, IFC, Investigation Discovery (ID), Lifetime, Local Now, MotorTrend, MSNBC, National Geographic, NBC, NBCSN, Newsy, NFL Network, Nick Jr., Stadium, SYFY, TBS, TLC, TNT, Travel Channel, truTV, USA, Vice
More than 60 live channels, unlimited DVR storage, and streaming on multiple devices for $25 a month? It’s hard to find a sweeter cord-cutting deal. As good as it is, you do go without some cable mainstays: Philo doesn’t carry any sports channels. But if you get that content elsewhere and you’re fine without it, Philo’s deal is unbeatable.
Price: $25 per month
Free Trial: 7 days
Device availability: Amazon Fire TV, Android, Android TV, Apple TV, Chromecast, iOS, Roku
Channel lineup: A&E, AccuWeather, AMC, American Heroes Channel, Animal Planet, aspireTV, AXS TV, BBC America, BBC World News, BET, BET Her, Bloomberg Television, Cheddar, Cheddar News, Cleo TV, CMT, Comedy Central, Cooking Channel, Crackle, Crime-Investigation, Destination America, Discovery Channel, Discovery Family, Discovery Life, DIY Network, Food Network, FYI, Game Show Network, GetTV, Great American Country, Hallmark Channel, Hallmark Drama, Hallmark Movies & Mysteries, HGTV, History, IFC, INSP, Investigation Discovery, Law&Crime, Lifetime, LMN, Logo, MotorTrend, MTV, MTV Classic, MTV Live, MTV2, Newsy, Nick Jr., Nickelodeon, Nicktoons, OWN, Paramount Network, PeopleTV, REVOLT, Revry, Science Channel, Sundance TV, Tastemade, TeenNick, TLC, Travel Channel, TV Land, TV One, UPtv, VH1, Vice, WE tv
DirecTV Stream is a Live TV streaming platform with a twist: you can download the app on any of your existing devices, or for a $120, you can get a box with a custom remote control for the service. But without the box, DirecTV Stream functions like a Netflix or Hulu, allowing you to stream Live TV from anywhere by downloading the app. Within your home, you can stream on up to 20 devices (!), and from outside your home you can stream on up to three devices.
Price: $69.99 per month
Device availability: Amazon Fire TV, Android, Android TV, Apple TV, iOS, Roku, Roku TV, Samsung TV
Channel lineup: A&E, ABC, AMC, Animal Planet, AXS TV, Baby First TV, BBC America, BET, Bloomberg Television, Boomerang, Bravo, C-SPAN, C-SPAN2, Cartoon Network, CMT, CNBC, CNN, CNN en Espanol, Comedy Central, Discovery, Disney Channel, Disney Jr, Disney XD, E! Entertainment, ESPN, ESPN2, ESPN3, Food Network, Fox Business Network, Fox News Channel, Fox Sports 1, Freeform, FX, FXX, Galavision, Gem Shopping Network, Hallmark Channel, Hallmark Movies & Mysteries, HGTV, History, HLN, Home Shopping Network, Investigation Discovery, Lifetime, MotorTrend, MSNBC, MTV, MTV2, One America News, Ovation, Paramount Network, QVC, QVC2, ReelzChannel, REVOLT, RFD-TV, SundanceTV, SYFY, TBS, TCM, TeenNick, TLC, TNT, truTV, TV Land, Univision East, USA Network, VH1, Vice, WE tv
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 $65 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: $64.99 per month
Free Trial: 7 days
Device availability: Amazon Fire TV, Android, Android TV, Apple TV, Chromecast, iOS, LG TV, Nintendo Switch, Roku, Roku TV, Samsung TV, Xbox
Channel lineup: A&E, ABC, ABC News Live, ACC Network (ACCN), Adult Swim, Animal Planet, Big Ten Network (BTN), Bloomberg, Boomerang, Bravo, Cartoon Network, CBS, CBS Sports Network, CBSN, Cheddar, CNBC, CNN, CNN International, Cozi TV, CW, Dabl, Discovery Channel, Disney Channel, Disney Junior, Disney XD, E!, ESPN, ESPN College Extra, ESPN2, ESPN3, ESPNews, ESPNU, Food Network, FOX, Fox Business Network, Fox News Channel, Fox Sports 1 (FS1), Fox Sports 2 (FS2), Freeform, FX, FXM, FXX, FYI, Golf Channel, HGTV, History, HLN, Investigation Discovery (ID), Lifetime, Lifetime Movie Network (LMN), MotorTrend, MSNBC, Nat Geo Wild, National Geographic, NBC, NBCSN, Olympic Channel, Oxygen, Pop, QVC, SEC Network, Smithsonian Channel, Start TV, SYFY, TBS, TCM (Turner Classic Movies), Telemundo, TLC, TNT, Travel Channel, truTV, Universal Kids, USA, Vice, WGN America
Paramount plus is mostly a Netflix-style streaming service, offering movies and TV shows on-demand like The Good Fight or Yellowstone.
The premium plan of Paramount Plus gives you access to Live TV from CBS: CBS local channels, CBS News (CBSN), CBS Sports, ET live, and some live sporting events like NFL on CBS Live. It also offers on-demand access to programming from Comedy Central, MTV, BET, Nickelodeon, Nick Jr., Paramount Pictures and Smithsonian Channel.
Price: $9.99 per month
Free Trial: 7 days
Device availability: Amazon Fire TV, Android, Apple TV, Chromecast, iOS, LG TV, PlayStation 4, Portal TV, Roku, Samsung TV, Vizio, Xbox, Xbox One, Xbox Series S, Xbox Series X, Xfinity Flex
Channel lineup: CBS local channels, CBS Sports HQ, CBSN, ET Live
With people overwhelmed by the onslaught of mammoth streaming services, companies like Xumo are having a moment. A free, ad-supported hub for both live and on-demand content, Xumo is gaining ground in the streaming landscape.
Price: free
Device availability: Amazon Fire TV, Android, Android TV, iOS, Panasonic, Roku, Samsung TV, Visio TV, webOS, Xfinity Flex
Channel lineup: ABC News Live, AccuWeather Now, Bloomberg, CBC News, CBSN, Check with Xumo for the full channel lineup, Cheddar News, Fox Sports, History, NBC News Now, NBCLX, PGA Tour, Today, USA Today
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
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, Major League Soccer, MLB, NBC News Now, Newsmax, NFL Channel, Nosey, People TV, PGA Tour, Pluto Channels, Sky News, Smithsonian Channel, Stories AMC, TBN, Today, TV Land Drama, WeatherNation, WPT
Frndly TV is a streaming platform focused on family-friendly live TV channels, with an attractive price starting at $5.99. There are three plans, Basic, Classic and Premium, which respectively cost the $6.99 starting price, $8.99, and $10.99. The Basic plan only allows for SD streaming, but both other plans allow for HD. The basic plan doesn't allow for DVR recordings, but the other plans allow for 3 months and 9 months respectively. And lastly, the basic plans allows for only one simultanious stream, but the Classic allows for 2 and the Premium allows for 4.
Price: $6.99 per month
Free Trial: 7 days
Device availability: Amazon Fire TV, Android, Android TV, Apple TV, Chromecast, iOS, Roku
Channel lineup: A&E, BabyFirst TV, BYU TV, Circle, Curiosity Stream, DECADES, Dove Channel (on-demand), FETV, FMC (Family Movie Classics), FYI, GAC Family, GAC Living, Game Show Network, GetTV, Hallmark Channel, Hallmark Drama, Hallmark Movies & Mysteries, Heros & Icons (H&I), INSP, Lifetime, Lifetime Movie Network, Local Now, Outdoor Channel, PixL, QVC, Recipe.TV, Sportsman Channel, Start TV, The History Channel, The Weather Channel, UPtv, Vice, World Fishing Network
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.