Best free option
DIRECTV
Cartoon Network is really two channels, kids in the day and Adult Swim after 8pm, and five days lets you test both before paying.
Start free trial →
You don't need a cable bill to keep watching Cartoon Network. Here's every way to stream it online, and how to do it for free.
Reviewed and updated October 2026 by our cord-cutting team · 4 options
Cartoon Network is available without cable on Sling TV Blue, DIRECTV, Hulu with Live TV, YouTube TV, Spectrum TV Stream, or Spectrum TV Choice.
The cheapest way to watch Cartoon-network is Spectrum TV Stream for $45/month.
Animation may be a saturated market, but no one can do it quite like Cartoon Network. Home to entertainment that defies age-group classification like Adventure Time, Teen Titans Go!, and The Amazing World of Gumball, it's proven itself to be the go-to channel for TV and animation fans alike.
The fastest ways to watch Cartoon Network without cable, at a glance
Cartoon Network is really two channels, kids in the day and Adult Swim after 8pm, and five days lets you test both before paying.
Start free trial →
Sling's cheaper lineup is where Cartoon Network and Adult Swim live, and it is the only sub-$50 service that carries them, but there is no free trial to test it first.
Get Sling TV →
A week of YouTube TV is the longest free look at Cartoon Network, and the profiles keep the kids' side away from the Adult Swim side.
Start free trial →YouTube TV pairs Cartoon Network with the rest of the kids block and six accounts, so one subscription covers the whole house.
Get YouTube TV →
Hulu + Live TV carries Cartoon Network live.
Start free trial →| Service | From | Free trial |
|---|---|---|
 Sling TV |
$45.99/mo | None |
 DIRECTV |
$89.99/mo | 5 days |
 Hulu + Live TV |
$89.99/mo | 3 days |
 YouTube TV |
$82.99/mo | 7 days |
We routinely follow over a hundred live TV and streaming services in the US, closely monitoring their plans, features, and channel lineups. All of that work is on our cord-cutting hub.
Beyond this, we have been reviewing the best on streaming services since 2013, recommending highly-rated but little-known movies and shows: we find the gems that you haven't yet watched, that you will probably like.
Out of Sling TV’s two base plans, Sling Blue is the one with Cartoon Network. That’s because, instead of streaming Disney-owned channels, Blue has more entertainment channels for you to enjoy. Blue also has more local news channels than Orange, though it’s because of that that the price varies from state to state. However, even without our discount, Sling Blue is also the cheapest way to watch Cartoon Network.
Sling TV plans
You can watch Cartoon Network on DirecTV Stream. Like its cable counterpart, the streamer has a huge selection of channels in high definition, but unlike cable, you can stream up to 20 screens at the same time in your home and 3 screens outside. That means, if you’re sharing your plan with the whole family, you don’t have to sacrifice TV time to watch what someone else likes. You can simply check out Cartoon Network on another compatible device.
DIRECTV plans
Craving more cartoons? If you already have Hulu, we don’t need to tell you about the many animated films and shows Hulu has in their library. But you don’t need to limit yourself to what they have on-demand. You can add 100+ more channels, including Cartoon Network, to watch new cartoons live.
Hulu + Live TV plans
Our breakdown of Hulu + Live TV →
YouTube TV has the widest channel line-up out of all the streaming services listed here, so it’s no surprise that Cartoon Network is also included. They also air other channels like Adult Swim, Disney, and Nickelodeon in their base plan, as well as host hundreds of animated shows on-demand like Rick and Morty, Bob’s Burgers, and South Park. Want even more content? You can bundle premium add-ons like HBO Max, Crunchyroll, and Cinemax to your existing plan.
YouTube TV plans
Yes, but on demand only. HBO Max carries Cartoon Network’s shows on demand, since Warner Bros. Discovery owns both. You get the back catalog to stream any time; you just don’t get the live feed or its schedule.
When Warner Bros. Discovery folded discovery+ into HBO Max, the whole Discovery and Turner library came with it, so those networks stream on demand here.
The honest way to watch Cartoon Network for free is a free trial, and the trick is not to spend them one at a time. Start one, then start the next when it ends, and you can string together a few weeks of free live TV back to back, usually enough to cover a tournament or a playoff run without paying for a month.
Cartoon Network and the US services that carry it are geo-locked to the United States, so your login stops working the moment you leave the country. A VPN fixes that: connect to a US server and the service sees a US address again. The catch is that streaming platforms actively block most VPN traffic, so the VPN you pick matters far more than the service does. These three reliably get back in:
A huge US server network (thousands of IPs across 15-plus cities) with SmartPlay DNS baked into every server, so streaming just works without extra setup. The best value of the top tier on a two-year plan.
Best for streaming Cartoon Network with: Hulu + Live TV, Sling TV
Get NordVPN →The budget pick, and the one to get if the whole household travels: it allows unlimited simultaneous devices on one account, plus a Smart DNS for TVs. Reliable with the on-demand and lifestyle services.
Best for streaming Cartoon Network with: Hulu + Live TV, YouTube TV
Get Surfshark →Whichever you pick, connect to a US city first, then sign in to Cartoon Network or the service that carries it as normal. Choose a VPN with a money-back window so you can confirm it un-blocks Cartoon Network before you commit.
No. Cartoon Network is a cable channel and doesn't broadcast over the air, so an antenna can't pick it up. An antenna only gets the free broadcast networks (ABC, CBS, NBC, FOX, PBS, The CW), which pair nicely with one of the services above; check which of those reach your address here.
Who hasn't grown up watching Cartoon Network? Even if you're grown up now, you don't have to let go of watching the channel. You can simply watch it online through live TV streaming services. We've listed all the streaming services that have the channel in their line-up, as well as the key things you might want to know about them. Happy streaming!
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Four criteria, each scored out of 10. The overall score is their weighted average: content 50%, value 20%, apps 20%, streaming quality 10%.
Value for money
0The most expensive service of its kind.
10The cheapest service of its kind, with full content.
Content quality
0None of the 20 most-watched cable channels, or nothing from our recommended list.
10All 20 channels, or the deepest catalog of titles we recommend.
Apps and devices
0A one-star app that runs on none of the 12 major devices.
10Five-star apps on all 12 major devices.
Streaming quality
0Below 720p.
104K on the plan we price.