5 Best Live TV Streaming Services (2025), Tested and Reviewed

I won’t mince words: Sling TV is confusing. It has, by far, the most confusing array of plans and add-ons of any live TV streaming service I’ve tested. There are a handful of basic plans, none of which encompass the scale of Hulu Live TV, YouTube TV, or DirecTV, plus about a half-dozen add-ons to bring the channel roster up to par. This modular approach is boring when shopping, but it also means you can save quite a bit of money by only getting what you need.

Sling’s core is blue and orange. The Blue plan focuses on news and entertainment, while the Orange plan removes news like MSNBC and CNN in favor of an array of ESPN channels. It’s clear that Sling wants people to choose the Orange & Blue package that combines these channel lineups. It’s about 30% cheaper to put them together than to buy them separately (and about $30 less than most other suppliers).

The Orange & Bleu package, which I recommend to most people, covers the main bases, but it loses out on certain secondary channels available elsewhere. For example, you get ESPN and Fox Sports 1, but not Fox Sports 2 or Big Ten Network. You’ll need an add-on for those.

Most of Sling’s add-ons cost an extra $6 per month, minus the sports add-on, which costs $15. Add-ons fill in the gaps based on what interests you most. The Entertainment add-on includes Cartoon Network and MTV, for example, while the Movies add-on comes with Grit, TCM, and FXX. You can grab all the extras for $27 per month with Blue & Orange or $21 per month with other plans. However, even with the full plan, Sling costs a few dollars below YouTube TV and Hulu Live TV, and there are opportunities to further reduce your monthly price by removing certain plans.

For apps, Sling has just about everything you could want. Roku, Samsung, LG, Apple, and Google TV are all supported, as are boxes from Cox, Xfinity, and even TiVo Stream. Mobile apps are available and there is an app for the Xbox (but not the PlayStation 5).

While not as responsive as YouTube TV, the app was smooth on my TCL QM8K. You can create profiles, see upcoming games and your favorite channels in the guide so they’re easy to find.