Copyright Tom's Guide
If you're currently a YouTube TV subscriber, things could be better. Thanks to a dispute between YouTube and Disney, YouTube TV is currently without several popular channels, including ESPN and ABC. So you might be wondering, is it time to switch my live TV streaming service? Well, as a YouTube TV subscriber, I'm currently wondering the same thing, too. So I decided to pit YouTube's cable alternative against its three strongest competitors: Hulu with Live TV, Fubo and Sling. To decide a winner, I'm judging these four cable TV replacements based on the criteria I used to review them: price, channels (and premium add-ons), user interface, features, DVR and streaming quality. I've also added a category: value. Typically, I grade a live TV streaming service on value throughout a review, but in this instance, it felt important to make it a separate category. For each category, each live TV service will earn points up to a set maximum (varies by category), and at the end, the service with the most points will be declared the winner. One final note: Currently, I am not adjusting my review of YouTube TV or our guide to the best live TV streaming services due to YouTube TV temporarily losing channels. However, for this face-off, I will hold it against YouTube that it doesn't currently offer ABC, ESPN, and the other Disney-owned networks. So without further ado, let's pit these live TV services against each other. Here's how YouTube TV compares vs. Hulu with Live TV, Fubo and Sling. YouTube TV vs Hulu with Live TV vs Fubo vs Sling: Specs Here's a breakdown on how these four live TV streaming services look on paper, before we start judging them based on categories: YouTube TV vs Hulu with Live TV vs Fubo vs Sling: Pricing and availablity Price is a pretty straightforward category. We're not judging the value of these live TV streaming services. We're just judging which is least expensive, and that's Sling TV. Sling TV starts at $45.99 for Sling Orange or Sling Blue, and you can combine both plans for as little as $60.99. That's much cheaper than YouTube TV and Hulu with Live TV, which are $82.99 a month and $89.99 a month, respectively. Among the four live TV services, only Fubo can compete with Sling on price. Its Fubo Sports plan starts at just $55.99. Winner (max 25 points): Sling (20), Fubo (18), YouTube TV (15), Hulu with Live TV (13) YouTube TV vs Hulu with Live TV vs Fubo vs Sling: Value While Sling and Fubo have great entry-level price points, you get what you pay for. Sling Orange and Blue both have limited channel selections, and once you're paying over $60 for Sling Orange and Blue, you're much closer in price to the competition, but without features like multiview, free streaming services included in your subscription, local sports broadcasts from regional sports networks or even unlimited DVR. Fubo, too, struggles a bit when it comes to value. Yes, you can get Fubo Sports for just $55.99, but that only has 28 channels, and doesn't offer your local NBC affiliate or RSN access to watch local NBA, NHL or NBA games. Once you sign up for plans that do include those channels, it's just as expensive (if not more) as YouTube TV or Hulu with Live TV, and that's before additional taxes and fees. You don't get quite a few popular channels either, including TBS and TNT. YouTube TV is typically good value for money. At $82.99, it's cheaper than Hulu with Live TV and most Fubo plans. Plus, there are no hidden fees. It's more expensive than Sling, but with more popular channels, unlimited DVR, Multiview, catching up with key plays and a clean user interface, you're getting your money's worth. However, YouTube TV's value is currently worse than usual because you don't get ABC, ESPN, or other Disney-owned networks. Yes, it's offering existing customers a $20 credit for the trouble, but given that an ESPN Unlimited subscription costs $29.99, you're still left having to pay more than usual if you want ESPN access. For my money, the best value is Hulu with Live TV. Not only do you get popular channels and features, but you also get ESPN Unlimited, Disney Plus (with ads) and Hulu (with ads) included with your live streaming service. That bundle typically costs $35.99. With a recent price hike, Hulu with Live TV isn't as good a value as it used to be. But if you're planning to get Disney Plus or Hulu anyway, it lets you save some serious cash. Winner (max 25 points): Hulu with Live TV (23), YouTube TV (17), Sling (15), Fubo (13) YouTube TV vs. Hulu with Live TV: Channels and add-ons When it comes to channels, most cable TV alternatives offer you more channels than you'll ever watch. So when I evaluate a service's channel selection, I base it on how many of the 35 most popular channels (see boxout to the side) each one offers. Sling and Fubo are typically the worst when it comes to this. Sling is more complicated because which channels it offers vary significantly based on the plan you choose. Sling Orange offers ESPN (in 4K), ESPN 2 and ESPN 3, while Sling Blue offers local ABC, NBC and Fox channels (varies by zip code), as well as Fox News and MSNBC. Sling Blue also has Fox Sports in 4K, FS1 (in 4K) and NFL Network. Ultimately, if you have Sling Orange, you miss out on 23 of the 35 most popular channels; Sling Blue is a lot better, missing out on just 12 (though missing ESPN is a big mark against). You can combine the plans with Sling Orange and Blue, but then you're still missing nine of the 35 channels, including CBS. Arguably, Fubo is even worse. Yes, it offers ABC, CBS, NBC (not available with Fubo Sports) and Fox, but it lacks 11 of the most popular channels I look for, and that's a problem when you're spending $85 or more. The big thing going for Fubo is that it offers access to RSNs, which let you watch local MLB, NBA and NHL games (varies by market). None of the other three services offers RSN access in most markets, and Sling doesn't offer it at all. Typically, YouTube TV and Hulu with Live TV are pretty even, and both offer the vast majority of the 35 channels I look for. However, with YouTube TV now missing ABC, ESPN and ESPN 2, in addition to already missing out on Lifetime and The History Channel, it offers just 30 of the 35 most popular channels. That means Hulu with Live TV is currently the best when it comes to channel selection, with AMC the lone popular network it lacks. It also wins when it comes to popular premium add-ons. Most of these live TV streaming services allow you to add on a bunch of premium channels and streaming services, but only Hulu with Live TV includes Disney Plus (with ads), Hulu (with ads) and ESPN Unlimited. Fubo only includes ESPN, and both YouTube TV and Sling miss out on all three entirely. Winner (max 15 points): Hulu with Live TV (14), YouTube TV (12), Sling (9), Fubo (8) YouTube TV vs Hulu with Live TV vs Fubo vs Sling: Interface You'd be surprised if I told you that user interface is a crucial factor in determining which of these cable TV alternatives is the best, but it's true. In fact, if Hulu with Live TV had an interface on par with YouTube TV, it'd probably be my pick for the best live TV streaming service. But unfortunately for Hulu, its live TV user interface is not particularly good. This is due to the fact that Hulu with Live TV is shoehorned into the Hulu app, and so it uses the streaming service app's interface, which wasn't designed with live TV in mind. A prime example of this is how you can't access DVR content, Search or Settings from the Live submenu. Instead, you have to go back into the main streaming app to find these things under Search, Settings and My Stuff. Fubo's interface has some notable positives and negatives. Its channel filtering is significantly better than YouTube TV's, for example, but it also removes on-demand tabs for Shows and Movies when using the live TV service on your smartphone app. Overall, it's pretty similar to other live TV services. Similarly, there's not much wrong with the Sling TV interface, which I found to be on par with YouTube TV's interface. Ultimately, I prefer YouTube TV's clean design aesthetic and simplicity, but its search functionality leaves something to be desired. Still, it's essentially on par with Sling and Fubo, all three of which are superior to Hulu with Live TV in this category. Winner (max 10 points): YouTube TV (9), Sling (8), Fubo (7), Hulu with Live TV (4) YouTube TV vs Hulu with Live TV vs Fubo vs Sling: Features Which live TV streaming service features are the best for you, largely comes down to personal preference. Each cable alternative has some unique features going for it, and each has some drawbacks. YouTube TV, for example, includes some must-have features for watching sports. Multiview allows you to watch four channels at once, and it's not limited to just sporting events anymore. If you have NFL Sunday Ticket, you can even integrate it with YouTube TV and watch four NFL games at once on Sundays. YouTube TV also lets you catch up to live with key plays if you're arriving late to a live broadcast of a game. This feature basically gives you a highlight reel of all the big plays you missed, before resuming the broadcast live. Now, Fubo also has a multiview feature, but it's limited to Apple TV and Roku devices. But Fubo has things going for it, too, when it comes to watching sports. If you have the Pro plan or higher, you can watch local NBA, NHL and MLB games (varies by market), something none of the other live TV streaming services I'm comparing here offer in most markets (YouTube TV and Hulu with Live TV offer limited NBC Sports RSN access). You can even sign up for just the RSNs through Fubo in select regions. For example, in Atlanta, I can get access to just FanDuel Sports Network South and Southeast for $29.99 a month (plus taxes and fees). I even still get Fubo's unlimited cloud DVR and 10 streams at once on my home network (plus two on the go). It's important to note, though, that RSNs come with RSN fees as high as $16.99 a month, which is why YouTube TV and Hulu with Live TV only partner with NBC Sports RSNs and Sling avoids them entirely. Speaking of Sling, its main feature is its customization. Unlikely the other live TV streaming services, Sling lets you add on or leave off pretty much any channel or feature you could want — for a price. You can even build a package of just premium add-ons. For $21 a month, you can get a Total TV Deal plan that includes 50 hours of cloud DVR and the following add-ons: Sports Extras, Kids Extras, Comedy Plus Extras, News Extras, Lifestyle Plus Extras, Heartland Extras, and Hollywood Extras. Finally, I know I've already mentioned this, but Hulu with Live TV throws in the $35.99 Disney (with ads), Hulu (with ads) and ESPN Unlimited bundle, which is a major reason to consider the live TV streaming service. Including three streaming services for free is something none of these other cable alternatives can offer. Ultimately, I'm calling it a tie between YouTube TV and Hulu, and then giving Sling's customization the nod over Fubo's RSNs. Winner (max 10 points): YouTube TV (8), Hulu with Live TV (8), Sling (5), Fubo (4) YouTube TV vs Hulu with Live TV vs Fubo vs Sling: DVR When it comes to cloud DVR, most live TV streaming services offer unlimited DVR space. Most also delete your recordings after nine months. That's the case for YouTube TV, Fubo and Hulu with Live TV. Most also make it easy to record shows, though Hulu with Live TV lags a bit behind the competition here. It allows you to record shows and movies from the channel guide, but not from the interface while watching a show. For that reason, it loses a point to YouTube TV and Fubo. But Sling is by far the worst DVR of the four services. It doesn't offer unlimited DVR storage; instead, it only offers 50 hours. If you want unlimited cloud DVR, you have to pay an additional $5 a month. It's not a deal breaker, but it's baffling nonetheless. Winner (max 5 points): YouTube TV (5), Fubo (5), Hulu with Live TV (4), Sling (2) YouTube TV vs Hulu with Live TV vs Fubo vs Sling: Video and audio streaming quality When it comes to streaming quality, you're concerned about two things: video and audio. In terms of the best video streaming quality, the answer is complicated. While YouTube TV, Fubo and Sling all offer 4K content, only Sling offers it for free. YouTube TV makes you pay for the 4K Plus add-on ($9.99 a month). Fubo also makes you pay for a 4K Plus add-on, though it's $5 cheaper than YouTube TV's. Alternatively, Fubo includes 4K streaming in the more expensive Elite with Sports Plus Fubo TV plan. But even if you're paying for 4K streaming, not everything is available in 4K. In fact, most things aren't. Only select broadcasts are available to stream in 4K, typically live sports. That means, no matter how much you're paying, most content is limited to 1080p or 720p HD streaming resolution. YouTube TV offers the most live content in 1080p; Hulu with Live TV only offers 1080p on a small number of devices, and Fubo and Sling only offer 720p streams outside of 4K and on-demand content. When it comes to audio quality, YouTube TV and Hulu both offer 5.1 surround on select content, provided you have the right hardware. Fubo and Sling are limited to 2.0 stereo audio. Ultimately, if you don't care about 4K streaming, YouTube TV wins when it comes to streaming quality. If you do care about 4K streaming, Sling wins for offering it for free in select ESPN and Fox broadcasts. Winner (max 10 points): YouTube TV 8, Sling 7, Fubo 6, Hulu with Live TV 5 YouTube TV vs Hulu with Live TV vs Fubo vs Sling: Which should you pick? Now that we've looked at each category, and assigned score to each live TV streaming service, let's look at the results. As you can see, it's essentially a two-horse race between YouTube TV and Hulu with Live TV, and it's a close one now that YouTube TV lacks ESPN and ABC. But ultimately, YouTube TV gets the little things right, and despite falling short when it comes to channels and value, it makes up for it with a great user interface, excellent features and superior streaming quality. It's worth noting that Hulu with Live TV's recent price hike from $82.99 a month to $89.99 a month really hurt it. Had it kept its previous price point, it'd have beaten out YouTube TV for the top spot.
