50 Best Cable Alternatives on Roku for Cord-Cutting

In response to the growing popularity of free streaming services like Tubi, Xumo, and Pluto, Sling TV has come up with Sling TV Freestream, an ad-supported version of its live TV and on-demand streaming service. Compared to its paid tier, Freestream has fewer channels and premium titles, but with more than 200 live channels and on-demand content to boot, it's certainly worth giving a try—you don't even need to sign up for an account to start watching. Notable channels in Freestream include AMC+, Comedy Central, Discovery, TBS, Cartoon Network & Adult Swim, and major news broadcasters like CBS and ABC. Sling TV has been at the forefront of live TV for years, but it breaks new ground with Freestream, a platform designed to both entertain and entice users to upgrade to their meatier packages. Recently, Freestream also added free DVR.

With Sling TV's Total TV Deal, you get all seven of the service's add-on packages, namely all the channels in its Comedy, Hollywood, Heartland, Kids, Lifestyle, News, and Sports extras. You'll also be getting the DVR plus, which gives you access to 200 more hours of storage. Getting all extras plus DVR storage normally cost about $45, so this bundle from Sling is actually quite the steal.

Sling TV's 4 Extras bundle deal gives you access to the service's Kids, News, Lifestyle, and Comedy channels on top of your base Sling subscription. These four extras are among the service's most popular, and while each normally costs about $5 each as an add-on, you'll only be paying $13 for all additional 35 channels through this deal. The new channels include the likes of NickToons, BBC World News, MTV, and TV Land.

Sling's "Orange" plan will get you channels like ESPN and Freeform, while the"Blue" plan will get you channels like TBS and Lifetime. If you get the "AMC+ extra", you sign yourself up for one of the most cost-efficient bundles of the cord-cutting era. For $7, you will get AMC+ (which costs $6.99 as a standalone service), plus Shudder ($4.95 standalone), plus Sundance Now ($6.99 standalone), plus IFC Films Unlimited ($5.99)

Name a better bundle deal. I'll wait.

Philo Free is a completely free live TV streaming platform that carries more than 70 channels, including AMC Thrillers, BBC News, The Walking Dead Universe, and beIN Sports Extra, on top of on-demand films and TV shows. Like Philo's paid plan, Philo Free also offers DVR storage, though here it's limited to 30 days, as opposed to a year, and you can still create up to 10 custom profiles. You'll need an account to start watching Philo for free, as well as a compatible device, but you notably do not need to provide credit card information. In case you want more live channels or DVR storage, you can always upgrade your account to Philo Core, which is $25/month.

A subscription to NFL+'s premium tier costs $15/month and comes with NFL Redzone. That means apart from getting access to the NFL Network and digital exclusives, you also get to watch every Sunday afternoon game during the regular season via Redzone, as well as replay all-22 coaches games and access advanced stats on your favorite players. The kicker is that live local and primetime games are still only available on mobile devices due to blackout restrictions (nothing an antenna can't fix), but everything else, including Redzone and replays, can be viewed on major streaming devices. Users have reported that the app tends to go wonky, especially on Apple TVs and older versions of the Xbox, but if you don't mind those issues, this bundle will be perfect for hardcore football viewing.

NFL+ is the league's official streaming service that gives you access to live and local regular season and postseason games, on-demand programs, and even tools for your next fantasy football game. As of 2023, NFL+ also offers the NFL Network and NFL Redzone channels in its plans, making it a solid option for true-blue football fans hoping to finally cut the cord. A regular subscription costs $6.99/month and includes everything in the above, except for NFL Redzone and replays of full games, highlights, and all-22 coaches films, which are only available in NFL+'s premium subscription, priced at $14.99/month. Both plans offer free trials and are available on most major streaming devices, with the exception of live local and primetime regular season and postseason games, which can only be viewed on phones and tables.

NewsOn is a free streaming service that lets you access live TV newscasts from over 200 local stations around the United States. According to the platform, it has partnered with ABC, NBC, CBS, and FOX and their respective local affiliates to cover up to 91% of the country (a full list of their local channels can be seen here). You can also watch previous news, sports, and weather reports on NewsOn from up to 48 hours ago and select your favorite stations so that they appear first on the homepage. No registration is required, and it allows you to watch local channels wherever in the country you may be.

Remember those thrashy (but fascinating!) films that would air on TV late into the night, long after the proper programs had their run? Those titles have found a new home in Midnight Pulp, a free streaming service that lets you watch films and TV shows on-demand and live. It specializes in the weirdest content you can imagine; whether that's a 1960s Star Trek knockoff, a B-movie erotica, or a laughable monster flick, they likely have it here. Midnight Pulp also offers a live TV stream that's active 24/7 with channels that offer much of the same—with the exception, perhaps, of RetroCrush and AsianCrush, which have solid lineups of anime and dramas. Midnight Pulp also offers more titles (many of which are adult-themed) and ad-free content if you pay for their premium $5.99/month tier, which you can try free for 14 days.

The Max + B/R Sports add-on combines Max's arsenal of on-demand titles from Warner Bros., HBO, DC, and Cartoon Network with The Bleacher Report's wide coverage of live sporting events, including March Madness, the NBA Playoffs, The Stanley Cup Playoffs, and various MLB matches. You could say it's an extension of TBS, TNT, and truTV sports as it airs select (not all) games from those channels, but it also covers so much more, including other sports like golf, cycling, and MMA. Since October 2023, B/R Sports has been added to all Max plans completely free of charge, but once the promo ends, you'll have to pay $10/month on top of your Max subscription to enjoy B/R content. And of course, blackout restrictions apply.

Local Now is a free streaming service from The Weather Channel that offers localized content geared to where you're using it. That means you can get local news, weather updates, and even restaurant reviews that are specific to where you, the user, are from. Aside from the convenience of getting local coverage, Local Now also provides thousands of movies and live TV channels to choose from, perfect for when you're relaxing or on the go.

Whether you're a Korean expat living in North America or a true-blue Hallyu fan, you'll find much to like in OnDemandKorea, also sometimes known as Korea on Demand. The streaming service has both live TV and on-demand content, which it makes available in three tiers. The basic plan is ad-supported and free, the premium plan costs $13.99/month and gives you exclusive ad-free content, while the premium + box plan costs $19.99/month and gives you all the benefits of the previous plans plus five simultaneous viewings and 100 live channels. Korea on Demand also gives you the option to pay yearly to help you save up to $200 in costs. In terms of content, the platform has an impressively wide range. On the on-demand side, it has more than 500 films that range from mainstream to indie, while on the live TV side, it has multiple channels that cover news, entertainment, variety, and sports. It's important to note, however, that the entire site is in Korean and not all titles have English subtitles, making it most suited to native or advanced speakers of the language.

Similar to Xumo or Pluto TV, KlowdTV is a streaming service that offers users a free way to watch Live TV. The selection is limited to news channels like France24 and right-wing channels, but you can pay a monthly or yearly fee to get even more channels.

Haystack TV is an independently-run streaming service that delivers live and on-demand news, 24/7. It's ad-supported so it's completely free, but if you want to get rid of the commercials and dive straight into the latest news, you can subscribe to Haystack Premium for $4.99/month or try it for free for 30 days. The convenient thing about Haystack is that it allows you to navigate not just by channels but by topics as well. It also picks up news from more than a hundred TV stations around the US (check if they cover your area here) which saves you the trouble of switching services when looking for local news.

Glewed TV is a free, ad-supported streaming channel that provides an extensive lineup of movies, series, and documentaries. It also has its own exclusive set of titles and podcasts, with genres spanning travel, sports, comedy, action, and more, plus it's available on a plethora of platforms. If you're still on the fence about going completely cordless, Glewed TV is one of many easy and accessible streaming options to choose from.

Cord-cutters only interested in Spanish-language content will find much to like in Fubo Latino. Instead of the usual lineup, the Latino plan carries more than 65 channels in Spanish, including Unimas, Univision, BeinSports, Nat Geo Mundo, Sony Cine, and Discovery en Español. And since Fubo started as a soccer streaming service, it also has live sporting events featuring leagues like the UEFA Champions League, Bundesliga, and MLS. At only $33/month, it's Fubo's most affordable plan yet, but it still has base features like 250 hours worth of cloud DVR and two simultaneous streams. If you already have a Fubo base plan, Fubo also offers these channels as an add-on for $20/month.

Editor's note: unfortunately, Amazon has said it plans to shut down Freevee in the coming weeks. 

Amazon Freevee, or simply freevee, is a free, ad-supported streaming service powered by Amazon. It has a notable library of titles, not to mention its own original shows, plus it's easy to access since it runs on most if not all available devices. Although other free streamers have it beat in terms of range and variety, freevee is still a great option for newbie cord-cutters, especially since it already comes on most Amazon platforms.

Formerly Bally Sports+, FanDuel Sports Network is a streaming service that lets you access live and on-demand content from your local teams, including those from the NBA, WNBA, MLB, and NHL. Since it depends on RSNs, availability depends on where you live (you can check FanDuel availability on this website). Apart from letting you watch live games cordless, the platform offers on-demand replays, mobile viewing, and up to two concurrent streams. It's also available on most streaming devices.

For the diehard soccer fan, Fanatiz is a streaming service dedicated to Latin American and Spanish soccer. Here, you'll get access to live and on-demand matches held by La Liga and Copa Libertadores, as well as complete coverage of Brazil's intense local competition Brasileirão. It's available in most countries worldwide, but North American viewers, in particular, will be glad to know that Fanatiz carries beIN and TyC Sports—vital channels that have exclusive rights to stream select leagues. Fanatiz has an $8 and $10 monthly tier, the latter of which gives you access to even more leagues and hours of VOD content, but we suggest you try the platform first (free for a week) to really test its quality and see how it stacks up to other similarly inclined platforms like FuboTV.

Distro TV is a free streaming service that features free shows, movies, documentaries, news, concerts, and more from all around the world. It specializes in global content, drawing from the US, UK, and Canada, as well as from other parts of Europe, South Asia, and Southeast Asia. It has both live and on-demand content, plus it's easy to stream from many devices, making it an easy and affordable option for cord-cutters.

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Cineverse is a free streaming service that has both on-demand content and live channels, all of which feature a broad range of content. The new streaming service's mission is to offer as many titles as it can, so you won't find a lot of blockbusters or big studio productions here (unless they're available for rent on ROW8), but you will have access to a ton of vintage, international, and niche films and TV shows. Our personal favorites include Howard's End, Mustang, and The Little Shop of Horrors. Since the streaming service is free, you'll encounter a lot of ads, but you can always subscribe to Cineverse's premium version, which costs $2.99/month, to get rid of the commercials and access to even more content.

The Amazon Prime Video and Paramount+ Bundle is for those looking to boost their streaming subscription with even more original shows, popular films, and live broadcasts of news and sports. Under the Paramount tent, you get ongoing franchises like Star Trek and Yellowstone, kids' TV shows like Spongebob Squarepants and Dora the Explorer, and blockbusters like Top Gun and Everything, Everywhere, All at Once—not to mention local CBS stations that stream news, sports, and other live events. And now that Paramount+ has merged with Showtime, you also get the latter network's enviable lineup of documentaries, series, and sporting coverages.  Since the merger is fairly new, Amazon Prime will occasionally offer the bundle at discounted rates, but generally, it still costs a total of $22.98/month ($11.99 for Amazon Prime, $7.99 for Paramount+). That's not a bad deal for a bundle packed with popular movies, original shows, and live TV (albeit with ads).

If you have an Air TV streaming device, you'll automatically have free access to 1oo local channels from affiliates like ABC, CBS, FOX, NBC, and PBS all in HD. To be clear, the local channels are free in the sense that you don't have to pay a monthly bill to watch them, as you would on a cable or live TV subscription, but you do have to pay a one-time fee that sets you up with an Air TV device and an HD antenna. Depending on the bundle you pick, that can cost you anywhere from $150 to $250. It seems like a lot, but it makes sense when you consider that it comes with DVR, the ability to watch local channels anywhere, and for Sling TV subscribers, seamless integration in all your devices. Although you don't need to be a Sling TV subscriber to start using Air TV, the two are perfect complements that save you a lot of money, in the long run. Sling TV has live TV channels equipped for sports, entertainment, and nationwide news, while the one-time-payment Air TV gives you constant and uninterrupted access to your local channels. If you do combine them, Sling takes care of any overlaps to ensure you're getting the best of both streaming worlds in all compatible devices.