So you’re finally ready to cut the cable cord forever, but you’re not ready to leave the volume of high-quality programming you get from cable TV behind just yet. What next? The obvious answer is to find a live TV streaming service that fits your needs. These streamers come with dozens or even hundreds of the most popular cable networks on the market, meaning that you can still get your favorite channels, just without the hassle of having a cable contract.

Considering there are six to seven major live TV services, as well as smaller skinny bundles available, it can be easy to get overwhelmed with the number of choices you have. In this article, I’ll break down all of the most important things to think about when choosing a live TV streaming service, so you can make the most informed decision possible when choosing a new streamer!

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What are the most important factors to consider when picking a live TV streaming service?

Price

Price is clearly the most important factor here because it’s likely the main reason that many cord-cutters left cable in the first place. Live TV streaming services range in cost per month from $8 per month for Frndly TV to $100+ for some DIRECTV STREAM and Fubo packages.

As with most things in life, live TV streaming plans are a “get what you pay for” proposition. The cheaper streamers like Frndly TV, Philo ($28 per month), and Sling TV ($46) come with fewer channels and fewer features, but they let you save $30 per month or more over services like DIRECTV STREAM (starting at $86), Hulu + Live TV ($82), or YouTube TV ($83).

All of that is to say that while price is very high on the priorities list for cord-cutters, it goes hand-in-hand with other factors that are important to think about when choosing a live TV service as well. Many services come with multiple plans that include more features and different channel lineups, so make sure to compare carefully when shopping.

Channel selection

There are five main streaming services to think about if you want a channel selection that resembles what you found on cable. DIRECTV STREAM, Fubo, Hulu + Live TV, Sling TV, and YouTube TV all carry top cable networks like ESPN, FX, Nickelodeon, TNT, and USA Network, but these tend to be the more expensive streamers on the market. Sling TV is the exception; it comes with around 40 channels in each of its base plans, starting at $46 per month.

If you only need a few select live channels, however, you can pick from streamers like Frndly TV and Philo. Frndly offers Hallmark Channel and Lifetime, but few other networks, while Philo takes one step further by offering around 18 of the most popular cable networks out there — though it doesn’t carry sports channels or local broadcast networks.

Knowing which channels you want to stream most will have a big impact on which live TV streaming service, so you should double-check which streamers carry which networks using our Service Matchmaker if you’re not completely sure.

Local broadcast networks

Access to local broadcast networks can be extremely important for some viewers, but not at all relevant for others. Being able to watch local affiliates of ABC, CBS, Fox, NBC, and The CW means you have access to local news stories, live sports like NBA, NFL, and college sports games, plus primetime programming, and more.

The good news with live TV streaming services is that only Sling TV charges an extra fee to receive your local broadcast networks. But you do have to decide if access to these channels is important to you; some streamers like Frndly and Philo don’t carry them at all, going a long way to keeping their price down. Others, like Sling, only carry select local channels, and only in a handful of markets. Others, like Hulu + Live TV and YouTube TV, carry them nearly everywhere, but once again, these streamers tend to be more expensive.

Add-on packages

Unfortunately, no live TV service yet has the ability to offer single channels a la carte. But add-on packs can help replicate that experience somewhat, giving viewers the option to pay extra every month to get more niche networks. Sling TV is a good example of this; its base channel plans come with a more limited selection, but it has seven major add-on packs that can add as many as 10+ channels to the equation.

Some live TV streaming services even allow you to bundle a subscription with on-demand streamers, such as Max or Paramount+. Sometimes these options come with discounts — such as Hulu + Live TV, which gives its customers free access to Disney+, Hulu, and ESPN+ as part of their subscription — but even if they don’t, these types of arrangements allow consumers to keep more of their video entertainment on the same monthly bill.

Simultaneous streams

This might not seem like an important consideration at first, but for families with multiple members who love TV, the ability to watch one account on more than one device at a time is critical. The days of fights over the remote are long over, but some live TV services allow you to watch more simultaneous streams than others.

As with most of the other factors on this list, price has a direct correlation to the number of simultaneous streams available on live TV services. DIRECTV STREAM, for instance, lets you stream on up to 20 devices at the same time, whereas Sling TV drops the number of available streams to four.

This may not be as much of a factor for individuals, but for families, it is definitely an important thing to consider when signing up for a live TV streaming service.

4K streaming ability

This is another key factor that may not be important to everyone but has great value to large swaths of viewers. Ultra-high-definition 4K is the best video resolution widely available to consumers, and sports fans in particular enjoy watching in 4K because having a good picture quality can make the difference between knowing what’s happening on the field or not. Most live TV channels don’t stream in 4K anyway, but even having access to select programming can be a big deal to some viewers.

Some streamers, like Hulu + Live TV, don’t offer 4K streaming at all. Others, like YouTube TV charge an extra fee to watch in 4K, while services like DIRECTV STREAM and Sling TV include 4K programming at no extra monthly cost. Make sure to double-check the 4K streaming arrangements with your chosen service if UHD streaming is important to you. Keep in mind, that to stream in 4K, you also need to have a 4K enabled TV.

TV Everywhere credentials

TV Everywhere is a program that allows viewers to sign in to various channel-associated apps using the same username and password as their live TV streaming service, and watch the content on that channel live. For example, the ESPN app allows fans to sign in with TV Everywhere credentials and stream live sporting events, so long as they can authenticate that they are subscribers to a service that carries the ESPN cable channel.

The importance of TV Everywhere login credentials cannot be overstated for customers who have to watch TV on the go, and each service has a different number of partner apps that can be accessed via TV Everywhere.

DVR

Ever since the days of the VCR, TV watchers have prized the ability to record a show or movie from a live TV channel and watch it on demand. That’s as true as ever in the age of streaming, and many live TV services offer unlimited cloud-based DVR storage, so you don’t have to worry about running out of space for your shows and movies.

Some live TV services don’t include unlimited DVR, however — Sling TV, for example, only comes with 50 free DVR hours — and even those that do only let you keep your recordings for a certain length of time. Make sure you know which live TV streamers offer unlimited Cloud DVR, and how long you get to keep your saved titles if you rely on the ability to record your favorites. There are some services, including Sling, that allow you to upgrade your DVR capabilities for a nominal fee.

Regional sports

One of the things that made cable so popular in its heyday was the ability to watch your hometown sports teams. The NBA, NHL, and MLB all play 80+ games per season, and the vast majority of those games wind up on regional sports networks (RSNs) that are specially dedicated to covering teams in a specific market.

Most live TV streaming services do not carry a large number of RSNs because of the expense. Not forcing all viewers to pay for RSNs keeps the price of a service’s base package lower for the average viewer, but for sports fans, it can mean they have to pay $15 per month or more to get those channels on top of a base plan. DIRECTV STREAM, for instance, charges $115 per month for its lowest-priced package with RSNs, and Fubo’s regional sports network fee of $15 per month is the only way to unlock those channels there. These are the only two services that carry a wide range of RSNs, however, so viewers will have to pick their poison if they want a good selection of local NBA, NHL, and MLB games.

Additional features

There are occasionally features available on some live TV services that others don’t have. Sling TV, for example, lets you switch back and forth between its two base channel plans for free, and YouTube TV allows viewers to watch up to four sports games at once. fubo has a similar feature, but it is only available on select devices.

Not all streamers have these types of unique features, but knowing which ones your prospective choice does have is definitely a big deal before committing your hard-earned dollars.

Final thoughts

Each of these factors connects with the others on the list, but they’re all important to consider when signing up for a live TV streaming service. Hopefully, this list has helped clarify the choice for viewers who have cut the cord, but still want to preserve access to their favorite cable networks.