Philo and Sling TV are two of the least expensive live TV streaming services available, with plans starting at under $50. Tempting, right? But, before you take out your credit card, there are a few details you’ll need to know before you make the switch from a pricier service like YouTube TV or Hulu + Live TV.

For starters, Philo doesn’t carry any sports, news, or local channels, just entertainment networks like A&E, HGTV, and Paramount Network. Sling TV, on the other hand, features a wider variety of channels that can be enhanced with several available add-on channel packs to get more sports, movies, or whatever else you might be looking for. Let’s get into the differences between Philo and Sling TV.

Philo vs. Sling TV: Which is right for you?

The Essentials

Price

Sling TV is The Streamable’s choice for budget live TV providers because it offers a more cable-like experience with a solid mix of popular entertainment, sports, and news channels at a much cheaper monthly rate than most of its competitors. The service’s separate Sling Orange and Sling Blue base plans each offer you 30 to 40 channels, with Orange focused on sports and kids’ programming while Blue is more about entertainment and news. The combined Sling Orange + Blue plan is closer to what you’d get with a higher-priced service like DIRECTV STREAM or Hulu + Live TV while still being considerably cheaper.

Besides a handful of premium channel add-ons, Philo is far less customizable than Sling TV. You get a little over 70 channels, including AMC, Comedy Central, Food Network, Hallmark Channel, and Lifetime, but no sports, local, or news channels. Like Sling TV, Philo also features over 100 FAST (free ad-supported streaming TV) channels, similar to the “live TV” sections of Tubi and Pluto TV.

Overall Channels

In a refreshing turn of honesty, neither Sling TV nor Philo pads their advertised channel counts with those FAST channels. Philo’s base package includes 70 channels; Sling TV’s combined Orange + Blue plan features around 50. Excluding sports and local channels is how Philo keeps its price down.

Sling TV is more complete, but it’s still missing popular channels like FXX, Hallmark, MTV, Paramount Network, and VH1 — but they are available through Sling TV’s add-on channel packages. It may take some homework (and added cost) to build your perfect channel lineup, but Sling TV is all about options.

Popular Channels

Local Channels

Sling TV streams local ABC, Fox, and NBC affiliates in most areas (only on the Sling Blue and Sling Orange + Blue plans), but not CBS or The CW. Sling TV makes it relatively easy to integrate an over-the-air antenna to receive more local channels, but if you’re not a tech tinkerer, this might be more trouble than you’re willing to take on. Workaround: Watch your local CBS station on Paramount+ and try out the free CW app that’s compatible with most streaming devices.

Philo, as mentioned before, doesn’t carry any local TV channels.

Sports Channels

Pro Sports Channels

Sling TV’s Orange plan features ESPN and ESPN2, the Blue plan includes FS1 and NFL Network, and Orange + Blue delivers both — but it’s still not a complete sports lineup. For a fatter chunk of sports channels, Sling TV’s Sports Extra add-on fills in the blanks with over 15 channels, including FS2, beIN Sports, MLB Network, NBA TV, NHL Network, and more, for an additional $11 per month.

You can catch some auto action (MotorTrend Network) and pro wrestling (AXS TV) on Philo, but that’s all. If you want sports coverage, Philo isn’t the live TV streamer for you.

College Sports Channels

Sling TV’s base plans don’t include any college-specific sports channels, but college sports are central to many of the broadcast and cable channels that it does cover. However, with the Sports Extra add-on package, you get ACC Network, Big Ten Network, ESPNU, and SEC Network if you need more collegiate coverage in your streaming diet. If you’re an all-around sports fan, Sling TV’s Sports Extra add-on is a must-have.

Philo doesn’t carry any college sports channels.

Pro and College Sports Channels

Regional Sports Channels

Neither Sling TV nor Philo carries any regional sports networks. If you want RSNs to keep up with your favorite local teams, look into Fubo or DIRECTV STREAM.

Included Features

On-Demand Library

Sling TV and Philo feature TV shows and movies from their respective channel lineups available on-demand, usually with ads. Also, Philo offers on-demand AMC+ TV series and movies from AMC, IFC, Shudder, Sundance Now, and “The Walking Dead” universe.

Add-On Channel Packages

Sling TV’s premium add-on options include Paramount+ with Showtime and STARZ, as well as AMC+, MGM+, Discovery+, and Shudder. The add-on multi-channel packs are where Sling TV shines: Entertainment Extra (Paramount Network, MTV, TV Land, and more), Kids Extra (Boomerang, Disney XD, Nicktoons, and more), and Hollywood Extra (FXX, SundanceTV, TCM, and more), Sports Extra, and more are available (for additional monthly cost — be careful, as they can add up fast).

Philo offers a slimmer choice of add-on streamers: ALLBLK, AMC+, Hallmark+, MGM+, and STARZ, which is the most expensive at $11 per month. On the budget side, Philo’s $3-per-month Movies & More package includes HDNet Movies, REELZ, Sony Movie Channel, FMC, Movies!, and Fandor.

DVR

One slight advantage that Philo has over Sling TV is in its cloud DVR storage of recorded shows and movies: Sling TV will keep your content for nine months before deletion, whereas Philo will give you a full year to get around to those Hallmark Christmas movies you recorded last season.

Simultaneous Streams and 4K

Sling TV’s simultaneous stream logic is a bit skewed: The Sling Orange plan gives you a single stream inside your home network, Sling Blue gives you three, and Orange + Blue gives you four. Philo gives you three, which is the standard for most streaming services.

Sling TV offers some 4K streaming for select events and shows; Philo features no 4K content.

Device Compatibility

Which is Right for You?

For under $30 per month, Philo delivers an adequate array of entertainment channels for fans of home renovation, murder mystery, and reality shows, as well as all the Hallmark and Lifetime Christmas movies you can fit under the tree. But, sports fans wouldn’t even get a lump of coal out of it — Philo is a skinny-bundle streamer that isn’t all things for all audiences.

Sling TV’s Orange + Blue plan is a $20 cheaper alternative to YouTube TV — we feel your streaming price tag pain — but the real attraction here is customization. With over 50 available add-on channel packs and extras, you can build a personalized lineup with any of Sling TV’s color-coded plans. If you want a more robust cable-like experience with the benefits of streaming, Sling TV is hard to beat.