The cheapest live TV service depends on what you actually want to watch. Here are the cheapest picks for each thing people cut cable for, ranked cheapest-first.
Reviewed and updated July 24, 2026 by our cord-cutting team · 7 guides
Cord-cutting is all about cutting costs, but with frequent price increases and confusing offers, many are comparing streaming services to cable. That said, there are still cord-cutting services that offer good deals and cheaper packages. To find them, we tested every live TV streaming service and compared their prices with their offerings, all to find the ones that have the best bang for your buck.
The cheapest live TV streaming services are Frndly TV, Philo, Sling Orange and Blue plans, and “skinny bundles” from DIRECTV and YouTube TV.
To find the best one for your needs, we made this guide that looks in-depth and objectively into each one of them.
A Good Movie to Watch has covered streaming since 2012. Over 14 years we have subscribed to and tested every major live TV service in the US, on real Rokus, Fire Sticks, and phones, paying our own way each time.
We recheck every price on this page monthly, because they change often. Affiliate links may earn us a small commission, but they never change the order. The cheapest option is listed first because it is the cheapest, not because anyone paid for the spot.
The cheapest way to get your local ABC, CBS, NBC, and Fox affiliates is a one-time antenna, not a subscription. After that, Sling Blue is the cheapest streamer that carries locals, but only in some markets. Hulu Live, YouTube TV, and Fubo cover nearly every US zip for more. Coverage is by zip code, so check the service before you subscribe.
Sling TV Blue
$50.99/month
The cheapest paid streamer with locals, but Fox and NBC only appear in select markets. Plug in your zip before you commit.
Get Sling TV Blue →
Fubo 7-day free trial
$73.99/month
Strong local coverage and the widest sports lineup, but priced at the top of the pack.
Start free trial Fubo →
YouTube TV 7-day free trial
$82.99/month
Local channels almost everywhere, unlimited DVR, and six accounts. The default all-rounder for locals.
Start free trial YouTube TV →
Hulu with Live TV 3-day free trial
$88.99/month
Carries your local affiliates in nearly every US zip, plus Disney+ and ESPN+ in the same bill.
Start free trial Hulu with Live TV →
DIRECTV 5-day free trial
$89.99/month
Reliable locals plus regional sports networks on the higher tiers, which most rivals have dropped.
Start free trial DIRECTV →Cheapest of all: an over-the-air antenna. A one-time $30 to $50 antenna gets ABC, CBS, NBC, Fox, and PBS free for life in most markets, with no monthly bill. It is not a streaming service, so it is not ranked below, but for locals alone it beats every subscription here. Check which channels reach your address.
For a full sports bundle, Sling Orange is the cheapest door into ESPN. If you only follow one league, a standalone app almost always beats a full cable replacement. Below are the cheapest ways to get live sports, bundle first, then the single-sport routes.
If all you want is ESPN, ESPN Unlimited beats paying for a whole bundle around it.
Get ESPN Unlimited →
Sling TV Orange
$45.99/month
The cheapest bundle with ESPN, ESPN2, and ESPN3. One stream at a time, so it is a solo-viewer pick.
Get Sling TV Orange → Fubo 7-day free trial
$73.99/month
The widest sports lineup of any streamer, including regional sports networks others have dropped.
Start free trial Fubo → YouTube TV 7-day free trial
$82.99/month
Every major sports channel in the base plan, and the only home for NFL Sunday Ticket.
Start free trial YouTube TV → Hulu with Live TV 3-day free trial
$88.99/month
ESPN, FS1, TNT, and locals for Sunday football, plus ESPN+ thrown in. A near-complete sports package.
Start free trial Hulu with Live TV → DIRECTV 5-day free trial
$89.99/month
The best regional-sports coverage left in streaming, if your team plays on an RSN.
Start free trial DIRECTV →ESPN Unlimited is ESPN's own standalone plan, the cheapest path if ESPN is the only channel you care about. If you want ESPN bundled with other channels, Sling Orange is the cheapest door in.
ESPN, ESPN2, SEC Network, and the full ESPN+ library with no bundle attached. Cheapest if ESPN is all you need.
Get ESPN Unlimited → Sling TV Orange
$45.99/month
The cheapest bundle that includes ESPN, if you also want a handful of other cable channels.
Get Sling TV Orange → Fubo 7-day free trial
$73.99/month
ESPN plus the deepest overall sports lineup, at the high end on price.
Start free trial Fubo → YouTube TV 7-day free trial
$82.99/month
ESPN and every ESPN sister channel in the base plan, with unlimited DVR to catch what you miss.
Start free trial YouTube TV → Hulu with Live TV 3-day free trial
$88.99/month
ESPN in the base plan plus ESPN+ included, alongside locals and 90-plus other channels.
Start free trial Hulu with Live TV → DIRECTV 5-day free trial
$89.99/month
ESPN in every tier, with regional sports on the higher plans.
Start free trial DIRECTV →No single service carries every NFL game: Sunday afternoons are on CBS and Fox, Sunday night on NBC, Monday on ESPN, Thursday on Amazon, and out-of-market Sunday games on YouTube Sunday Ticket. The cheapest full coverage is an antenna for the broadcast games plus one streamer for the cable slots.
Paramount+ 7-day free trial
$8.99/month
Live CBS means the AFC Sunday afternoon games, for less than a cable bundle.
Start free trial Paramount+ →
Peacock
$10.99/month
Sunday Night Football and the occasional exclusive game, at one of the lowest monthly prices here.
Get Peacock → Sling TV Blue
$50.99/month
Fox and NBC for Sunday games plus NFL Network, in the cheapest live bundle that carries them.
Get Sling TV Blue → YouTube TV 7-day free trial
$82.99/month
The base plan covers CBS, Fox, NBC, and ESPN, and it is the exclusive home of NFL Sunday Ticket.
Start free trial YouTube TV →Start with an antenna. Most Sunday afternoon and prime-time NFL games air on CBS, Fox, and NBC, which a one-time over-the-air antenna picks up free for life. It is not a streaming service, but paired with one streamer below it covers nearly every game for the least money. Check your address.
College football is spread across ESPN, ABC, Fox, and the conference networks (SEC Network, Big Ten Network, ACC Network). Sling Orange is the cheapest bundle for the ESPN side; the full-coverage streamers get you the Fox and conference games too.
ESPN plus SEC Network and hundreds of ESPN+ exclusive college games with no bundle.
Get ESPN Unlimited → Sling TV Orange
$45.99/month
ESPN, ESPN2, and the ACC Network for the cheapest bundle price. Add Sports Extra for SEC Network.
Get Sling TV Orange → Fubo 7-day free trial
$73.99/month
Every major college-football channel plus the conference networks, at the top of the price range.
Start free trial Fubo → YouTube TV 7-day free trial
$82.99/month
The widest one-stop college-football lineup: ESPN, ABC, Fox, Big Ten Network, and SEC Network.
Start free trial YouTube TV → Hulu with Live TV 3-day free trial
$88.99/month
ESPN, ABC, Fox, and the conference networks in one plan, with ESPN+ for the streaming-only games.
Start free trial Hulu with Live TV → DIRECTV 5-day free trial
$89.99/month
ESPN, Fox, and the conference networks in every tier, with the best RSN coverage for smaller games.
Start free trial DIRECTV →A free trial lets you test the app, the channel lineup, and the DVR before you pay a cent. These are the cheapest live TV services that still offer one, ranked by what you pay when the trial ends.
Frndly TV 7-day free trial
$8.99/month
A 7-day trial on the cheapest live TV service here. Hallmark, A&E, and lifestyle channels for under ten dollars after.
Start free trial Frndly TV → Paramount+ 7-day free trial
$8.99/month
A 7-day trial with live CBS, sports, and news, then one of the lowest monthly prices with local network access.
Start free trial Paramount+ →
Philo 7-day free trial
$25/month
A 7-day trial, then 70-plus entertainment channels and unlimited DVR for a fraction of a full bundle.
Start free trial Philo → Fubo 7-day free trial
$73.99/month
A full 7-day trial on the widest sports lineup. Test it during a game weekend before you commit.
Start free trial Fubo → YouTube TV 7-day free trial
$82.99/month
A trial on the best all-round bundle, with unlimited DVR and six accounts included.
Start free trial YouTube TV → DIRECTV 5-day free trial
$89.99/month
A 5-day trial, the shortest here, but enough to test locals and regional sports in your zip.
Start free trial DIRECTV →Every live TV service here runs on Roku, so the question is really which is cheapest to install. Two of them cost nothing: The Roku Channel and Sling Freestream both carry free, ad-supported live channels with no login. After that it is the same cheapest-first order as the rest of the list.
Built into every Roku: 400-plus free live channels, no account, no bill. News, sports highlights, and reruns.
Open The Roku Channel →Free, ad-supported live channels from Sling with no card on file. A solid free tier to add on top of Roku.
Open Sling Freestream → Frndly TV 7-day free trial
$8.99/month
The cheapest paid live TV on Roku, and the Roku app is one of its best-supported platforms.
Start free trial Frndly TV → Philo 7-day free trial
$25/month
Runs cleanly on Roku with unlimited DVR, for the cheapest real cable-channel lineup here.
Start free trial Philo → Sling TV Orange
$45.99/month
The Roku app is Sling's most mature; the cheapest bundle door into ESPN and Disney channels.
Get Sling TV Orange → YouTube TV 7-day free trial
$82.99/month
A polished Roku app with unlimited DVR and the full base lineup. The best all-rounder on the platform.
Start free trial YouTube TV →The full list of services on this page in one place, cheapest first, with the free trial where there is one.
| Service | Monthly | Free trial |
|---|---|---|
| The Roku Channel | Free | No sign-up |
| Sling Freestream | Free | No sign-up |
| Paramount+ |
$8.99 | 7-day |
| Frndly TV |
$8.99 | 7-day |
| Peacock |
$10.99 | None |
| Philo |
$25 | 7-day |
| ESPN Unlimited | $29.99 | None |
| Sling TV Orange |
$45.99 | None |
| Sling TV Blue |
$50.99 | None |
| Fubo |
$73.99 | 7-day |
| YouTube TV |
$82.99 | 7-day |
| Hulu with Live TV |
$88.99 | 3-day |
| DIRECTV |
$89.99 | 5-day |
Frndly TV at $8.99/month, as of April 2026. Paramount+ ties it at $8.99 and throws in live CBS. Peacock is next at $10.99 with NBC. Free is an option if you do not mind ads: Pluto TV, Tubi, the Roku Channel, Plex Live TV, and Sling Freestream all run $0 a month. None of them carry locals or live sports beyond highlights, though.
Three ways. The actual cheapest is a $30 to $50 over-the-air antenna: pay once, get the locals free for life, no subscription. After that it is Hulu Live ($88.99), YouTube TV ($82.99), Fubo, or DIRECTV. They all carry your local affiliates in most zips. The third option is each network's own app: Paramount+ for CBS, Peacock for NBC, Disney+ or ABC.com for ABC. None of those last three give you live sports off CBS or NBC, just the on-demand stuff.
Lots. Frndly TV at $8.99 is the floor. Sling Essentials at $19.99 includes ESPN. Philo at $25 covers entertainment cable channels. Sling Orange or Blue is $45.99. The catch is what you give up. Anything cheaper than Hulu Live ($88.99) skips local broadcast networks. That is what the extra $40 a month is buying you.
Not really. Prime gets you on-demand video and Thursday Night Football, but it does not include live TV channels. If you want live cable through Amazon, you can add channels one by one via Prime Video Channels (which is just a billing wrapper), or install one of the regular live TV apps on a Fire Stick. Either way, the actual subscription cost is on top of Prime.
Sling Blue at $50.99 is the cheapest paid streamer with locals, but only in some markets. After that it is Hulu Live, YouTube TV, and Fubo. They cover nearly every US zip but cost $73 a month and up. The actual cheapest path is a $40 antenna plus a $25 streamer like Philo for the cable channels. The antenna pays for itself in a month and a half.
Sling Essentials at $19.99 is now the cheapest cable bundle that includes ESPN, alongside ESPN2 and Disney Channel. If you want ESPN plus a fuller cable lineup, Sling Orange at $45.99 covers ESPN, ESPN2, ESPN3, plus TNT, TBS, and USA. For NFL Network and FS1, switch to Sling Blue at $50.99. Sport-specific apps beat the bundles on price if you only watch one league: NFL+ ($6.99), MLB.TV (~$5.99 a month paid yearly), DAZN ($19.99 for combat sports). And if all you want is broad ESPN coverage in one app, ESPN Unlimited standalone is $29.99.
Yes, all of them. Pluto TV is owned by Paramount. Tubi is Fox. The Roku Channel is Roku. Xumo is Comcast. Sling Freestream is Dish. Plex is independent but fully legal. Every one of these is a legitimate, ad-supported service from a real media company. The trade is heavier ad loads, smaller channel lineups, no local broadcast networks, and no premium cable.
Sling Essentials at $19.99/month is the cheapest paid path to watch ESPN since it launched in 2025. The lineup is ESPN, ESPN2, Disney Channel, and 9 other family and lifestyle channels for the same $19.99. Standalone ESPN Unlimited at $29.99 is next, and gives you ESPN, ESPN2, and ESPN3 in one app. If you want ESPN bundled with broader cable (TNT, TBS, USA), Sling Orange at $45.99 is the next jump. For sport-specific access without ESPN at all, league passes (NFL+, MLB.TV, NBA League Pass) are usually cheaper. Hulu Live, YouTube TV, Fubo, and DIRECTV all include ESPN in their base plans but cost $73 and up.
Yes, multiple ways. NFL+ at $6.99/month covers live games but phones and tablets only, so Sunday on the couch is not going to happen. NFL Sunday Ticket is exclusive to YouTube TV. Hulu Live, YouTube TV, Fubo, and Sling Blue all carry your local CBS, Fox, and NBC for Sunday afternoon games. Amazon owns Thursday Night Football. ESPN has Monday Night. And an antenna gets you the broadcasts free, no subscription.
All the major live TV streamers include cloud DVR by default. YouTube TV: unlimited storage, 9-month retention. Hulu Live: same. Fubo: 1,000 hours. Sling: 50 hours free, $5 a month for unlimited. Philo: unlimited with a full year of retention, which is genuinely the best of the bunch. Frndly: 90 days. The real differentiator at this point is not whether you can record. It is how long recordings stick around and how usable each app's DVR interface actually is.
Founder of A Good Movie to Watch. I have been covering streaming services for over a decade, longer than some of the streaming services on this list have even been around.