Despite the fact that YouTube TV is set to become more expensive in the new year, it is still the most popular live TV streaming service and one of the first stops for cord-cutters looking to move on from cable and satellite providers (which aren’t getting any cheaper, either). However, if you’re looking to scale back on the money you’re spending on TV every month, there is a live TV streamer that has not yet raised its price above $30: Philo, named after television pioneer Philo T. Farnsworth.

If Philo sounds too good to be true, you’re right — and wrong, depending on what you are looking for. YouTube TV aims to be all things to all viewers, carrying a full raft of entertainment, news, sports, and local channels. Philo, on the other hand, focuses solely on entertainment, which leads to huge savings since the channel distributor doesn’t have to shell out huge fees to offer expensive sports and local channels.

YouTube TV and Philo are as different as a loaded combo pizza and plain cheese, so let’s slice ‘em up and see which live TV streaming service is the one for you.

Everything you need to know about YouTube TV vs. Philo

The Essentials

Price

YouTube TV began as a $35-per-month service in 2017, adding more channels and features over the years, while also adding up to a whopping $82.99 per month in 2025. Remember when we believed that streaming would forever be cheaper than cable and satellite? Those days are as gone as PlayStation Vue (an early casualty of the streaming wars).

In contrast, Philo also launched in 2017, starting at $16 per month, and now goes for the still-streaming-low of $28 monthly. How do they do it? Philo only carries entertainment channels like AMC, Hallmark Channel, and HGTV, excluding the big-name news and sports channels like CNN, ESPN, Fox News, and TNT. Philo features a little over 70 channels, none of which are local or sports networks. If all you care to watch are house-flipping shows and holiday rom-coms, Philo fits the bill for less than $30 a month.

Overall Channels

For sheer quantity, YouTube TV easily beats Philo with over 100 channels that appeal to broad audiences. As a full-on cable or satellite replacement, YTTV is competitive with legacy TV providers like Xfinity and DIRECTV, but without all the shopping and music filler channels, which is why YouTube TV is almost as pricey as cable and satellite these days.

Philo is known as a skinny bundle and keeps its cost low by excluding local and sports channels, simple as that. If your tastes are focused on entertainment programming, reality shows, and movie channels, then it is almost perfectly tailored to you. Also, like YouTube TV, you can add premium channels to your Philo subscription, but more on that later.

Popular Channels

Local Channels

This will be quick: YouTube TV carries all of your local broadcast affiliate channels in most areas — ABC, CBS, Fox, NBC, PBS, The CW, Telemundo, etc. Philo carries exactly zero (you can work around this with a good ol’ over-the-air antenna. For easy access to local channels, YouTube wins handily.

Sports Channels

Like with local channels, Philo simply doesn’t offer sports networks. Of course, that is by design, as the service would not be able to keep its price as low as it is while also providing access to channels like Big Ten Network, ESPN, FS1, and more. So, in general, as we look at which service wins in terms of sports networks, YouTube TV is going to run away from Philo. Not only does it offer the full complement of sports options on its base package, but it also has a Sports Plys add-on package that is available for $11 per month.

Pro Sports Networks

Unless you count MotorTrend Network auto action or TNA Impact pro wrestling on AXS TV, Philo is a sports-free zone. YouTube TV, on the other hand, features a loaded sports channel lineup, as well as the option for even more with a sports add-on channel package. Most importantly for the football faithful, YTTV is also the exclusive home to the NFL Sunday Ticket both as a subscription add-on and an a la carte option. So, in terms of pro sports, this is another categorical W for YouTube TV.

College Sports Networks

And the beating continues, Philo is just as devoid of college sports as pro sports. Meanwhile, YouTube TV carries ACC Network, Big Ten Network, CBS Sports Network, ESPNU, SEC Network, and more, all of which feature college games. YouTube TV is victorious once again.

Pro and College Sports Channel Breakdown

Regional Sports Networks

Any guesses here? YouTube TV doesn’t offer nearly as many regional sports networks (RSNs) as other live streamers like DIRECTV STREAM and Hulu + Live TV, but it does offer infinitely more than Philo does. YTTV offerse Monumental Sports Network, NBC Sports Bay Area, NBC Sports Boston, NBC Sports California, and NBC Sports Philadelphia while Philo — as we’ve over-established in this section — carries nada.

Included Features

On-Demand Library

Neither streamer produces original content, but YouTube TV and Philo still have on-demand capabilities — only from the channels featured in its lineup, in YouTube TV’s case. Philo includes AMC+ shows and movies with its base $28 plan, where you can watch select content on-demand from AMC, IFC, Shudder, [Sundance Now,] and “The Walking Dead” universe.

Also, if you want to watch a show or movie on demand that you didn’t record via your DVR (more on that momentarily), you will have to deal with unskippable ads on both Philo and YouTubeTV.

Add-On Channel Packages

For a comparatively bare-bones streamer, Philo offers a decent array of premium add-ons, including Starz, MGM+, and Hallmark+. It can’t compete with YouTube TV’s premium add-on library, though, which includes Max, Paramount+ with Showtime, Starz, AMC+, and many others are available for an additional charge. YTTV also has a formidable sports add-on package field of choices that you won’t get from Philo.

DVR

Since both services feature unlimited cloud DVR storage for recorded content, you wouldn’t think either YouTube TV or Philo would have an advantage here. However, there’s a plot twist: Where YouTube TV will keep your shows and movies for nine months before deletion, Philo gives you a full year — great news if you have a season or two of “RuPaul’s Drag Race” piled up.

Simultaneous Streams and 4K

Three is the magic number for simultaneous YouTube TV and Philo streams, which is pretty standard with streaming services. With YouTube TV’s 4K Plus upgrade, you get unlimited streams — but is it worth an extra $20 per month? That’s something for you and your many, many roommates to sort out.

As you’d expect, that 4K Plus add-on implies that you can watch 4K content on YouTube TV. Discovery, ESPN, FX, National Geographic, and some sports events are available in ultra HD on YouTube TV, while Philo has no 4K capabilities.

Device Compatibility

Which is Right for You?

For cord-cutting TV completists, YouTube TV is the winner here, with over 100 channels, multiple add-on options, and full access to local channels and sports. If you want macro-level television closer to what you get with cable and satellite, YouTube TV is it.

But if you just want entertainment programming at a price point that won’t break the bank, then Philo is the streamlined way to go. You get a decent lineup of channels for just $28 a month, which is far easier on the wallet than YouTube’s monthly $83. Bonus: Philo also carries no cable news channels — we’ve all earned a break from Fox News and MSNBC after the past year.