Comparing the Budget Live TV Streaming Services

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In an ever-growing era of cord-cutting, live TV streaming services have become some of the most popular cable alternatives on the market, but they’re also some of the most expensive streaming subscriptions. However, not all live TV streaming services need to break the bank, and budget-minded options like Sling TV and Philo can help keep costs down.

Sling and Philo rank among the best live TV streaming services we’ve tested, with Sling earning its place as best for the essentials and Philo getting dubbed the best budget plan. While both come with our recommendation, they’re fairly different services, and there’s a pretty good chance that one might be better for you than the other. We’ve tested both streaming services on and off for over a year across various devices, including smart TVs, computers, and mobile.

Prices

Sling and Philo are two of the cheapest live TV streaming services on the market, with both streamers offering monthly plans under $50. In comparison, other live TV streaming services like DirecTV, Fubo, Hulu + Live TV, and YouTube TV typically cost upward of $83 a month (although some of them have begun to introduce cheaper genre-based channel packages).

Philo costs $28 a month. Sling’s pricing is much more varied. The classic base plans, Sling Orange and Sling Blue, start at $46 a month each. The combo plan costs $61 a month, and the recently launched Sling Select plan starts at $20 a month. Sling Blue, Sling Orange + Blue, and Sling Select might cost $5 a month extra in certain areas, depending on the availability of local channels.

Sling also has pricing for short-term and long-term plans. Sling Orange, Blue, and Orange + Blue are available in five-month “season” passes that cost $199, $199, or $274, respectively. Sling Orange also recently launched daylong, weekendlong, and weeklong passes, which cost $5, $10, and $15, respectively.

Channels and plans

Philo has one paid plan, Philo Core, with 70+ channels. Philo’s lineup is entertainment and lifestyle-focused, forgoing sports and news channels. Some of Philo’s top paid channel offerings include AMC, BBC America, BET, Hallmark Channel, HGTV, Lifetime, MTV, Nickelodeon, Paramount Network, TLC, TV Land, and VH1, among others.

Philo excels at being one of the cheapest ways to live stream niche entertainment and lifestyle channels. Its base plan includes access to networks that are sometimes only found in higher tiers or add-ons of other live TV streaming services or basic cable plans. For example, Philo was the cheapest way to live stream Yellowstone Season 5, Part B in the US since the show’s final episodes aired on the Paramount Network and didn’t reach Peacock until several months after the airdate.

Philo also comes with ad-supported AMC Plus, meaning viewers will get the full on-demand catalog of originals found on the AMC Plus streaming service. Users can upgrade to ad-free AMC Plus for an extra $4 a month. Our Philo guide has a breakdown of relevant channels.

As detailed in our Sling TV review, the cord-cutting service has four main plans. Sling Orange has 30+ channels, including ESPN, ESPN2, ESPN3, ESPN4K, and Disney Channel. Sling Blue has 40+ main channels, including FX, FS1, Fox News, MSNBC, the NFL Network, USA, and Bravo. Sling Blue also carries select local channels, including NBC, FOX, and/or ABC (not CBS), although Sling’s local channel availability varies by region. Both plans carry over 20 of the same channels, with AMC, TNT, TBS, and CNN among some of the most popular options found on both tiers.

Sling Orange + Blue combines the two services under one cheaper price. Sling Select offers about 10+ channels, including locals (subject to regional variability), most of which can be found in Sling Blue’s offerings. If you’re having trouble deciding on a Sling plan, check out our Sling Orange vs. Blue guide. You can also learn more in our Sling TV channels guide.

Both Sling and Philo also have free streaming channel options, which are automatically tacked onto a paid subscription. If you’re not ready to sign up for a paid subscription, you can stream 110+ channels through Philo’s free option and/or 600+ channels via Sling Freestream. Neither service requires you to make an account for the free versions.

App experience and user interface

Sling TV and Philo offer similar interfaces on TVs, laptops, and mobile devices. They’re straightforward and easy to navigate, with no major learning curves for new users. I’ve found them equally easy to use across mobile and desktop devices, as well as on actual TVs.

Sling has adopted a feature that I’ve really enjoyed on other, more flashy (and expensive) live TV streaming services, which allows you to live stream a channel while you browse the TV guide.

My main complaint about Philo’s TV guide is that the time blocks are organized and displayed by program length, so you can’t scroll across the entire guide by half-hour or one-hour intervals to compare channel offerings. This deviates from how most standard TV guides function across streaming and cable. For example, the A&E and AMC channels displayed in the image below show a 30-minute “Storage Wars” episode lined up with a 3-and-a-half-hour showing of “Gladiator.”

Additionally, you can’t scroll across the entire TV guide at one time and instead must do it by channel, while Sling allows you to scroll through the entire TV guide by time. This isn’t a huge problem if you’re looking for a specific program, but it’s not ideal if you’re a scroller just wanting to see what’s being broadcast at any given moment.

Devices and simultaneous streaming

Philo allows viewers to stream on up to three devices. Sling, for the most part, allows the same. Most Sling plans, like Blue and Select, allow up to three simultaneous streams. However, Sling Orange only permits one. If you subscribe to Sling Orange + Blue, you can still only stream Sling Orange channels on one device.

Both services are available across various devices, including Android, iOS, LG, Apple TV, Samsung, Vizio, and Fire TV, among several others. You can learn more on the Philo and Sling websites. Notably, Philo isn’t available on any gaming consoles, while Sling is compatible with Xbox.

Free trials and deals

Philo has always offered a seven-day free trial for new users, making it one of the longest live TV streaming service free trials in the game (Hulu + Live TV’s free trial spans three days, while Fubo and DirecTV’s free trials last for five).

Sling doesn’t have a free trial, but the service offers a range of introductory deals, including half off on your first month of service when you sign up for the Sling Blue or Sling Orange + Blue plan. Sling’s five-month season passes also offer some savings compared to what you’d pay when subscribing monthly for five months.

Sling TV vs. Philo: The bottom line

While they’re often mentioned in the same conversation, Sling and Philo offer very different services. Philo is a great option for people seeking either very specific lifestyle and entertainment channels, or those looking for a true budget live TV streaming service with enough popular channels to satisfy the casual viewer.

Sling will be the best bet for people hoping for an alternative to cable, especially when it comes to key sports, news, and entertainment channels traditionally found in cable packages. If you’re only interested in ESPN, our ESPN Unlimited vs. Sling TV Orange guide recommends just signing up for ESPN Unlimited. But if you’re looking for a replacement to cable with various network genres (and have a little extra cash on hand), then the Sling Blue or Sling Orange + Blue plan won’t disappoint (especially if you’re in an area that can get local channels).

For more information on prices and plans, you can check out the Sling TV or Philo websites.