Early in January 2025, Hulu + Live TV owner Disney and Fubo announced a plan to join forces. However, despite this planned move, the two streamers will remain separate and independent from each other. So even though Disney is set to own roughly 70% of Fubo if and when the deal goes through, we will continue to treat them as the unique live TV streaming services that they are.

Hulu + Live TV carries over 100 channels, covering a wide range of popular entertainment and sports networks, and comes with the added bonus of offering the Hulu and Disney+ on-demand libraries, as well as the live and on-demand sports programming of ESPN+. Fubo also features over 100 channels, but it’s missing several networks that you would expect from a cable replacement, like TNT, A&E, Discovery, and AMC.

Hulu + Live TV vs. Fubo: Which is right for you?

The Essentials

Price

Hulu + Live TV begins at $83 a month but goes up to $96 monthly if you want the included Hulu and Disney+ without ads — something to be mindful of if you have an aversion to unskippable commercials. Still, either plan delivers plenty of entertainment for the price.

Fubo’s pricing is a little trickier since it offers three English-language plans and a tempting array of optional add-on packages. The basic Essential plan serves up over 150 channels at $85 a month. The Pro plan gives you many of those same channels plus regional sports networks (RSNs) for NBA, NHL, and MLB games for $85 a month. Finally, the Elite plan features over 290 channels, the RSNs, 4K capability, and a couple of bonus add-on channel packages for $90 a month. Keep in mind though, that those monthly rates do not include the RSN fee associated with the Pro and Elite packages. That will add up to $15 to your monthly bill.

Overall Channels

Hulu + Live TV carries almost every popular channel available, with the notable exception of AMC, which is something it has in common with Fubo. Where Hulu + Live TV’s 100-plus channel count is evenly populated with entertainment, sports, and kids channels, Fubo’s various plans are each missing a noticeable chunk of entertainment options. But it makes up for that shortfall on the sports side.

Popular Channels

Local Channels

Your local affiliate stations for ABC, CBS, Fox, NBC, The CW, and Telemundo are available on both Hulu + Live TV and Fubo. But only Hulu + Live TV carries PBS — if you can’t live without “Call the Midwife” and “Austin City Limits,” you’d probably want to fortify your Fubo with an over-the-air digital antenna.

Sports Channels

Pro Sports Channels

Sports is where Fubo shines, even if you’re not a fan of soccer (sorry, fútbol). Besides staples like ESPN, FS1, and CBS Sports Network, Fubo also carries a suite of beIN Sports channels and a fat slate of RSNs covering 98% of national markets. On the downside, you’d be missing out on NBA and NHL action on channels like TNT, TBS, and truTV, channels not carried by Fubo.

Fubo also offers six sports add-on channels, including International Sports Plus (international soccer and more for $7 a month), Sports Plus with NFL RedZone (RedZone and college football and basketball games for $11 a month), and Adventure Plus (racing and extreme sports for $5 a month), as well as the out-of-market game services NBA League Pass and MLB.TV.

Hulu + Live TV also has a loaded lineup of sports channels, including all of the ESPN networks, as well as FS1 and [Fox Sports 2], CBS Sports Network, NFL Network, and MLB Network. Hulu + Live TV’s $10 monthly Sports Add-On package beefs it up more with NFL RedZone, MAVTV, Outdoor Channel, Sportsman Channel, Tennis Channel, TVG, and TVG2.

College Sports Channels

Hulu Live + TV features an excellent array of college sports channels, including the ACC Network, ACC Network Extra, Big Ten Network, ESPNU, and SEC Network.

You can get the same lineup of college sports channels with Fubo, but you’d have to spend some extra cash every month for the Sports Plus add-on to watch ESPNU and ACC Network.

Pro and College Sports Channels

Regional Sports Channels

Furthering its sports dominance, Fubo is flush with RSNs, including FanDuel Sports Network channels (formerly Bally Sports RSNs), NBC Sports Boston, NESN, Chicago Sports Network, Marquee Sports Network, SportsNet Pittsburgh, FanDuel Sports Network Oklahoma, FanDuel Sports Network Southwest, and Space City Home Network.

Hulu + Live TV does carry some RSNs, including Monumental Sports Network, NBC Sports Bay Area, NBC Sports Boston, NBC Sports California, NBC Sports Philadelphia, and NBC Sports Philadelphia+, but you won’t find Bally Sports, AT&T SportsNet, or Spectrum Sports RSNs on Hulu.

Keep in mind that even with Fubo, you will only receive access to the RSNs available in your market, so you are only getting one or two extra channels in this department.

Included Features

On-Demand Library

Since Hulu + Live TV comes with the Disney Bundle of Hulu, Disney+, and ESPN+ at no extra charge, it has more on-demand TV shows and movies than you could probably ever completely make your way through, and you can opt for the ad-supported or ad-free versions of Hulu and Disney+ — ESPN+ doesn’t offer an ad-free option, given the nature of live sports broadcasts.

You can watch on-demand content from Hulu + Live TV’s channels, but expect unskippable commercials. Similarly, Fubo offers on-demand from its channels, with the same unavoidable ads.

Add-On Channel Packages

In addition to its Sports Add-On package, Hulu + Live TV also offers Max, Cinemax, Paramount+ with Showtime, and STARZ as premium add-on channels for extra monthly fees. You can also subscribe to the 16-channel add-on Entertainment package that includes niche networks like Boomerang, MTV Classic, and Destination America, and a nine-channel Español package with Hulu + Live TV.

With Fubo, you can add Paramount+ with Showtime, STARZ, and MGM+ individually or as a discounted bundle for $19.99 a month. Fox Nation, Hallmark+, TV5MONDE (French sports and entertainment), and RAI Italia (Italian sports and entertainment) are also available as add-ons.

Fubo also has eight optional channel packs: Fubo Extra and News Plus (which are both included with Fubo’s Elite plan), as well as Fubo Select (movies and documentaries) and five Spanish and Portuguese-language add-on packages.

DVR

Hulu + Live TV and Fubo feature unlimited cloud DVR storage that will keep your recordings for nine months before deletion. So, if you record something to watch later, you better get it done in 270 days, or the services will automatically delete it.

Simultaneous Streams and 4K

Hulu + Live TV offers only two simultaneous streams, but you can add more with its Unlimited Screens option for $10 per month. Fubo, on the other hand, gives you 10 simultaneous streams within your home network — you may never actually need that many, but it’s certainly better than two.

Fubo offers 4K resolution streaming from select channels, provided your streaming device and TV can support it. Hulu + Live TV doesn’t have any high-def 4K options.

Device Compatibility

Which is Right for You?

For the average viewer who’s after a well-rounded TV experience that includes entertainment, sports, kids, and local channels, Hulu + Live TV is arguably the best value in streaming. When you throw in the combined on-demand libraries of Hulu, Disney+, and ESPN+, it’s uniquely unbeatable.

Because it’s missing several significant entertainment channels, Fubo isn’t the same all-around crowd-pleaser — even its fullest and most expensive Elite plan can’t match Hulu + Live TV. But if you’re really into the soccer of all nations and want multilingual options (FYI, Fubo also offers a 48-channel Latino plan for $15 per month), Fubo is the way to go.