Is Sling TV worth the money of a subscription in 2025?
Is Sling TV worth the money of a subscription in 2025?
With Sling’s price increase in 2024, cord cutters may well wonder if it’s still worth their time in 2025.
Did everyone make it through 2024 with their streaming subscriptions intact? It would be hard to blame you if the answer is no; after all, nearly every top streaming service on the market raised prices last year, including Sling TV. Its monthly subscription price rose from $40 to $46 per month for its base plans in December, and the combined Sling Orange and Blue offering is now $61 monthly.
With that in mind, is it really worth it to stay subscribed to Sling TV in 2025? Our answer is still a resounding, “Yes,” and we’ll walk you through our reasoning as to why Sling is absolutely worth your time and money this year.
Why Sling TV is still worth subscribing to in 2025
How does Sling TV’s price compare to competitors?
Sling TV’s latest price increase bumped the price of its respective Orange and Blue base packages to $46 per month. However, the streamer is still at least $36 cheaper than the least-expensive plans of DIRECTV STREAM, Fubo, Hulu + Live TV, and YouTube TV.
While Sling is still more expensive than Philo, whose plans begin at $28 per month, the extra price unlocks a huge number of popular cable channels that you can’t watch on Philo, including CNN, ESPN, Fox News, FX, MSNBC, TNT, and others.
Compare the cheapest plans from every major live TV service in the table below:
| Streamer | Cheapest package price |
|---|---|
| DIRECTV | $87 per month |
| Fubo | $85 per month |
| Hulu + Live TV | $82 per month |
| Sling TV | $46 per month |
| Philo | $28 per month |
| YouTube TV | $83 per month |
What are Sling TV’s base channels?
As you can see in the chart below, while Sling TV doesn’t carry all of the top cable channels, it does still provide access to a wide selection of the most popular networks on the markets. The Orange plan is more geared toward sports lovers, with ESPN, ESPN2, and ESPN3 available while the Blue package balances sports, news, and entertainment, with networks like Fox News, FX, MSNBC, and NFL Network.
| “Essentials” | “Select” | “Orange” | “Blue” | “Combo” | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Save with Sling | Save with Sling | Save with Sling | Save with Sling | Save with Sling | ||
| $19.99 | $29.99 | $45.99 | $45.99 | $60.99 | ||
| A&E | - | - | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | |
| AMC | - | - | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | |
| BET | - | - | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | |
| Bravo | - | - | - | ✓ | ✓ | |
| Cartoon Network | - | - | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | |
| CNN | - | - | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | |
| Comedy Central | - | - | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | |
| Discovery | - | - | - | ✓ | ✓ | |
| Disney Channel | ✓ | - | ✓ | - | ✓ | |
| Disney Junior | - | - | + $6 | - | + $6 | |
| E! | - | - | - | ✓ | ✓ | |
| ESPN | ✓ | - | ✓ | - | ✓ | |
| Food Network | - | - | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | |
| Fox News | - | ✓ | - | ✓ | ✓ | |
| Freeform | ✓ | - | ✓ | - | ✓ | |
| FX | - | ✓ | - | ✓ | ✓ | |
| FXX | - | - | - | + $6 | + $6 | |
| Hallmark Channel | - | - | + $6 | + $6 | + $6 | |
| HGTV | - | - | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | |
| The History Channel | - | - | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | |
| Investigation Discovery | - | - | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | |
| Lifetime | - | - | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | |
| MS NOW | - | - | - | ✓ | ✓ | |
| MTV | - | - | + $6 | + $6 | + $6 | |
| Nickelodeon | - | - | - | - | - | |
| Paramount Network | - | - | + $6 | + $6 | + $6 | |
| SYFY | - | - | - | ✓ | ✓ | |
| TBS | - | - | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | |
| TLC | - | - | - | ✓ | ✓ | |
| TNT | - | - | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | |
| Travel Channel | - | - | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | |
| truTV | - | - | + $6 | ✓ | ✓ | |
| USA Network | - | - | - | ✓ | ✓ | |
| VH1 | - | - | + $6 | + $6 | + $6 | |
| WE tv | - | - | + $6 | + $6 | + $6 |
If that doesn’t look like enough channels for your liking, Sling has an extensive list of add-on packs that let you build your lineup your way. If you want more sports channels, the Sports Extra plan comes with at least 10 additional sports-themed channels for $11 per month. Sling offers seven main channel add-ons running between $6 and $11 per month, allowing you to customize your plan. Browse Sling TV add-ons here!
Can you add on-demand streamers to Sling TV?
If you want to add on-demand options to your Sling TV subscription you can do that as well. Major streamers that can be added to your Sling account include AMC+, discovery+, the MGM+ App, Paramount+, and STARZ, and that’s just a partial lineup.
Not only can this help you save money, but it also simplifies your billing by giving you access to multiple streamers under the same subscription.
What about Sling’s lack of local channels?
One of the admitted weaknesses of Sling TV is that it does not offer local channels in every market. The streamer only offers ABC, Fox, and NBC in select markets, and doesn’t carry CBS or The CW anywhere. Browse through the table below to see where you can watch local channels on Sling TV.
| Market | Fox Station | NBC Station | ABC Station |
|---|---|---|---|
| Atlanta | WAGA | ||
| Austin | KTBC | ||
| Boston | WBTS | ||
| Chicago | WFLD | WMAQ | WLS |
| Dallas/Fort Worth | KDFW | KXAS | |
| Detroit | WJBK | ||
| Fresno | KFSN | ||
| Gainesville | WOGX | ||
| Hartford/New Haven | WVIT | ||
| Houston | KRIV | KTRK | |
| Los Angeles | KTTV | KNBC | KABC |
| Miami/Fort Lauderdale | WTVJ | ||
| Milwaukee | WITI | ||
| Minneapolis/St. Paul | KMSP | ||
| New York | WNYW | WNBC | WABC |
| Orlando/Daytona/Melbourne | WOFL | ||
| Philadelphia | WTXF | WCAU | WPVI |
| Phoenix | KSAZ | ||
| Raleigh-Durham | WTVD | ||
| San Francisco/Oakland/San Jose | KTVU | KNTV | KGO |
| San Diego | KNSD | ||
| Seattle | KCPQ | ||
| Tampa/St. Petersburg | WTVT | ||
| Washington, DC | WTTG | WRC |
There are a couple of workarounds, however. For an extra $13 per month, you can add the Paramount+ with SHOWTIME plan to your Sling subscription to stream your local CBS station. Alternatively, you can shop for an over-the-air antenna. These will deliver all local broadcast channels in your area, and best of all, there’s no monthly subscription rate to use them once you’ve bought an antenna.
Other features of Sling TV
Sling TV comes with 50 hours of Cloud DVR standard for all new subscribers, and it also allows customers to watch select programming in Ultra-High-Definition 4K at no extra charge. In addition, Sling has a rewards program that allows viewers to win up to $10,000 in cash, and all you have to do to participate is to keep watching for 30 straight minutes every day. Finally, Sling comes with access to Sling Freestream, an ad-supported service with hundreds of additional channels absolutely free.
Final thoughts
Sling TV raised prices in December 2024, but it’s still one of the best overall values in live TV streaming. The excellent channel lineup combined with a great starting price, the flexibility of Sling’s add-on packs, and its additional features add up to one inescapable conclusion: Sling TV is completely worth your time in 2025.
Sling TV
Sling TV is The Streamable’s choice for cord-cutters on a budget. Sling is a live TV streaming service with multiple channel packages. The $45.99/month Sling Orange plan offers about 30 channels, including Disney Channel and ESPN. The $45.99/month Sling Blue plan offers about 40 channels, including ABC, Fox, and NBC in major markets.
You can combine Orange+Blue for a total of $60.99 / month. Sling also offers many channel add-on packages starting at $6/month.