The Best and Cheapest Live TV Streaming Services in 2026

Frndly started as a family-friendly (get it?) cord-cutting service, but thanks to its very small price tag of $8.99, its brand evolves more around affordability. You'll get Hallmark, Weather Channel, Lifetime, and Frndly will even throw in a free 7 day trial.

If you are considering Frndly, we recommend the classic plan over the base. The $8.99 base plan does not have DVR, and only supports streaming in 480p, which is the lowest quality support of any paid live TV service. The classic one plan includes DVR, and allows streaming at 720, which is still not HD, but will be less noticeable.

Sling Essentials is Sling's newest skinny tier and the only sub-$20 cable bundle that includes ESPN. The full lineup at launch is ESPN, ESPN2, Disney Channel, Freeform, Game Show Network, Hallmark Mystery, Lifetime Movie Network, Bounce, MeTV, Start TV, Grit, and Heroes & Icons. That is 12 channels for $19.99 a month, which makes Essentials the cheapest paid path to ESPN by a wide margin (Sling Orange is $45.99 and standalone ESPN Unlimited is $29.99). The trade is what you do not get: no local broadcast networks, no Fox News or CNN, no premium cable like AMC or HGTV. If you want ESPN plus a small lineup of family and lifestyle channels and nothing else, this is the best deal on the page.

While other big-names like the Youtube TV and DIRECTV are in the range of $90/month, Philo only costs $33. It comes with a solid lineup: AMC, TLC, Hallmark, Lifetime, Paramount Network, and more. The base package also includes HBO Max for free, and they offer some of the cheapest add-ons: AMC+ for only $4/month or "Movies & More" for $3/month which includes REELZ, Sony Movies, FMC, Fandor, and a few others movie channels.

If Philo has some or all of the channels you like to watch, you're in huge luck. It's a solid service, at a reasonable price point. However, if you need different channels (namely sports, locals, and news), you might be better off looking at other options like Sling.

DirecTV MyEntertainment is the entertainment-only skinny bundle from DIRECTV Stream at $34.99 a month. It carries cable entertainment standards (AMC, HGTV, Bravo, A&E, Discovery, History, FX, Comedy Central) plus Disney+, Hulu Basic, and Max with ads in the higher tier. It is essentially DIRECTV Stream's answer to Philo, with a slightly broader lineup at a higher price. If you want HGTV, History, and Bravo without the rest of the cable bundle, this is one of the only paths that includes them at this price point.

DirecTV MyNews is the news-only skinny bundle from DIRECTV Stream at $39.99 a month. It carries CNN, Fox News Channel, MSNBC, BBC America, plus your local broadcast networks in some markets. It is positioned for cord-cutters who want a cable-news lineup without paying for the entertainment tier. Cheaper alternatives exist (Sling Blue at $50.99 has CNN, Fox News, and MSNBC and includes some local sports), but MyNews is the cheapest service built specifically around news channels and the only one of its kind from a major live TV streamer.

YouTube TV launched its Entertainment Plan in 2024 as a cheaper alternative to its $82.99 base plan. At $54.99 a month, it drops ESPN, FS1, and the major sports channels in exchange for a 35% price cut. The lineup keeps locals in nearly every US market, all the cable entertainment standards (AMC, FX, Hallmark, Bravo, Discovery), and the same unlimited DVR with 9-month retention as the full plan. It is the cheapest way to get YouTube TV's interface, locals, and most cable networks if you do not need sports. If you watch any live sports at all, this plan will not work for you. Sling Essentials at $19.99 is cheaper if you want a similar entertainment-only lineup, but you give up YouTube TV's polish.

DirecTV MySports is the sports-focused skinny bundle from DIRECTV Stream. At $69.99 a month it carries ESPN, ESPN2, ESPN3, FS1, plus several Regional Sports Networks, which is now rare in the streaming category. It is more expensive than Sling Orange but cheaper than Fubo for similar sports coverage. The trade is that you give up most of the cable entertainment lineup. DirecTV's core advantage in this category is RSN coverage. Most live TV streamers dropped these in 2023 and 2024, leaving DirecTV and Fubo as the only services where your local team's regional sports network is still likely to be available.

MLB.TV is one of the longest-running league streaming services and still one of the best deals if you watch a lot of baseball. Pricing is $149.99 a year for the full season pass, working out to roughly $5.99 a month, the cheapest single-sport subscription in this list. You get every out-of-market regular-season game live and on-demand, plus an archive of every game from 2014 onward. The big catch is blackouts: home-market games are blocked and routed to your local Regional Sports Network, which most live TV streamers no longer carry. If you are watching the Yankees from outside New York, MLB.TV is perfect. If you live in New York and want to watch the Yankees, MLB.TV will not help you.

NFL+ is the cheapest legitimate way to watch live NFL games, but only on phones and tablets. Sunday on the couch is not happening through NFL+ alone. At $6.99 a month it includes live local-market and primetime regular-season and postseason games, plus the NFL Network 24/7. Sunday Ticket is not included; that is on YouTube TV separately. If you mostly watch football on your commute or while doing something else, NFL+ is genuinely good value. If you want NFL on a TV, you need a different setup: an antenna for your local games, plus YouTube TV with Sunday Ticket if you want out-of-market matchups.

Paramount+ includes CBS News and CBS Sports HQ, and if you get the premium version, you can also watch a live broadcast of your local CBS channel. Not to mention, live sports offering, especially NFL on CBS and UEFA Champions League.

Lately I’ve also been consistently impressed by the depth of their movie catalog and the addition of content from channels like Comedy Central, MTV, and Nickelodeon. For families, the kids' programming alone makes it a worthwhile consideration as a serious alternative to Disney+.

That said, it would be a complete affordable live TV solution if it had a couple more channels.

Like Paramount+, Peacock offers a decent amount of live TV: local news, next-day Bravo shows, and live specials like the Olympics or NBC. That said, Peacock does not have any DVR, or any non-NBC live content of note. That said, the price point is decent and you'll still get a Netflix-type service with a big catalog of on-demand movies and shows.

Sling TV has a lesser-known but interesting $20/month bundle called "Select". At first, it looks like a cheaper alternative to Sling Orange or Blue, or even Philo. But in reality, it's its own little creature. It includes Fox Sports 1, NFL Network, and FX - channels that you can't find elsewhere for this price.

There are some trade-offs. Watching is limited to only one simultaneous stream, so if you have a family with many members watching at the same time, this could be a problem. It is also not possible to upgrade to get unlimited DVR unless you subscribe to a more expensive package like Orange or Blue. Lastly, depending on where you live, a local channel surchage can run you anywhere between $5 and $10.

DAZN is the cheapest way to watch live combat sports on a single subscription. The headline content is boxing and MMA, including most major Saturday-night cards, plus some women's basketball and soccer leagues depending on your region. At $19.99 a month, it is more expensive than NFL+ or MLB.TV but covers a wider range of sport-specific events that none of the live TV bundles carry. The 7-day free trial gives you enough time to check if your sport is actually on the platform, which depends a lot on your country. If you only watch boxing, DAZN is the cheapest legitimate path. If you also watch other sports, you are probably better off with a bundle that includes ESPN.

Step 1 here is making sure you don't already have ESPN Unlimited. It comes included in many other live TV offerings, including many cable providers like Xfinity, Verizon FiOS and DirecTV. It is also offered for free with cord-cutting subscriptions like Youtube TV, DIRECTV (the cord-cutting offer), Hulu with Live TV, and some Fubo plans.

At first, it sounds like a good deal. Sports are the main reason to turn on live TV anyway, and if you watch a lot of ESPN, why get anything else? If it was $20/month cheaper, I would agree, but this is quite simply too expensive for what it is. Not to mention, it doesn't come with DVR, and at least the last time I tested it, the interface still has many issues.

Get this if you really only ever watch ESPN, don't already have access to this somewhere else, and don't record games.

Xumo Play is the free streaming service Comcast acquired and folded into its lineup. The interface used to feel dated compared to Pluto or the Roku Channel, but it has improved over the last year. The channel guide carries around 350 channels, including a respectable mix of news, sports highlights, kids programming, and movie blocks. Ad load runs higher than the Roku Channel but lower than Pluto, around 13 to 16 minutes per hour in our testing. There are no DVR features and no live local channels (the news channels are 24/7 streams, not real broadcast affiliates). Xumo's biggest advantage is that it ships pre-installed on a lot of smart TVs, which makes it the path of least resistance if you want free TV without installing anything new. As a primary service, it would feel thin within a week.

Tablo is unique on this list because it is not really a streaming service. It is a hardware DVR that pairs with an over-the-air antenna to record local broadcast TV (ABC, CBS, NBC, Fox, PBS) and let you watch live or recorded content on any device in your house. There is no monthly fee, but you have to buy the device first, which runs $100 to $200 depending on the model. After that, the live TV is free forever, since broadcast TV is free. If you live in an area with strong OTA reception and you mostly want locals plus DVR, Tablo is the cheapest long-term setup we have tested. The trade is upfront cost and a slight setup curve. Worth it if you would otherwise pay $90 a month for Hulu Live just to get NBC.

The Roku Channel is a free service you can use without owning a Roku device, despite the name. Roku launched it in 2017 to surface advertising inventory across its TVs, and it has grown into one of the better-stocked free streamers. The guide carries 350+ live channels, plus a deep on-demand library that includes Roku Originals, some of which are surprisingly watchable. Ad load runs around 12 to 14 minutes per hour, lighter than Pluto or Tubi. The interface is the easiest of the free services. The trade is the same as every free option: smaller channel lineup than paid live TV, no real locals, no live sports beyond highlights. Use it as your Pluto alternative if Pluto's UI annoys you, or stack the two for a wider total lineup.

Plex Live TV is the most underrated free option in this category. Plex started as personal-media-server software (the kind people use to stream their own DVD rips and home videos), but the company added a free, ad-supported live TV service a few years ago. The lineup is smaller than Pluto or Tubi, but the interface is far cleaner than either, and the integration with your own media library is unique to this category. Plex is also independent rather than owned by a major media company, which is rare in free streaming. If you already use Plex for personal media, the live channels are a free add-on you should be using. If you do not, this is unlikely to be your first stop.

Compared to its paid tier, Sling Freestream has fewer channels and premium titles, but with more than 200 live channels and on-demand content to boot, it's worth giving a try. You don't even need to sign up for an account to start watching.

Pluto TV is the biggest free, ad-supported streamer by channel count, with over 300 channels organized into a familiar cable-style guide. Owned by Paramount since 2019, it carries a mix of network reruns (CBS, MTV, Comedy Central archives), themed channels (a 24/7 Star Trek channel, a Mr. Bean channel, all-Bob-Ross programming), and licensed live news (CBSN, NBC News Now, Sky News). The catch is the ad load: 15 to 22 minutes per hour in our testing, heavier than paid services. There is no DVR, no real local channels (the "local" affiliates are reruns, not live broadcasts), and no premium content. Pluto is genuinely useful as background TV or to supplement a paid subscription. As your only TV, it will feel thin within a week.