While canceling cable is a great way to save some money, you risk missing out on some of your favorite live TV shows. That’s where internet TV providers like Philo and DirecTV Stream come in.
In this article, we’ll compare DirecTV Stream and Philo, to help you figure out which one of these streaming services is right for you. Let’s get started.
Philo
Philo got its start on college campuses, and focuses on providing entertainment, lifestyle and educational channels at a very low price. As of writing, it’s one of the cheapest internet TV services out there. It’s a skinny bundle service that focuses on providing the most possible channels for the lowest possible price.
Philo offers a 7-day free trial, so you can sign up and test out the service for a week before committing.
Best features
The biggest selling point of Philo is its price. It is, by far, the cheapest internet TV service on the market. Its nearest competitor is Sling TV, which only gets you 40+ channels for almost double the price. When it comes to pure value for your dollar, it’s hard to beat Philo.
Philo Base
Try 7 days free
- Unlimited cloud DVR saved for 1 year
- Stream on three screens
- Shows movies and 70+ channels
- 7-day free trial
$25/month
It also has pretty good features. You can save unlimited shows with its DVR, and watch on up to 3 devices at once. And while device support used to be pretty bad for Philo when it launched, it has improved dramatically in recent years.
Downsides
The biggest weakness of Philo is that it lacks channel variety. You won’t get much news programming, and you do not get any sports coverage. Unless you like cooking shows, documentaries, comedy, and some cable dramas, Philo is probably not for you.
You also won't be able to watch any local channels on Philo. However, this is not a huge deal, as you can always use a cable antenna to get OTA TV, and watch networks like ABC, FOX, CBS, NBC and The CW, among others.
DirecTV Stream
DirecTV Stream offers a total of four different channel packages. And while it has plenty of options and channels, it is definitely the priciest internet TV service on the market at the moment.
The base-tier packages are relatively affordable, but some of the more expensive packages cost more than most traditional satellite and cable packages.
DirecTV Stream Entertainment
Pay $49.99 for the first 2 months
- 75+ channels
- Stream on unlimited devices at home
- Unlimited DVR space
- Three months of Max free
$79.99/month
DirecTV Stream Optimo Mas
- 100+ live TV channels
- Spanish and English programming
- Three months of Max free
- Unlimited DVR space
$79.99/month
DirecTV Stream Choice
Pay $49.99 for the first 2 months
- 105+ live channels
- Unlimited DVR space
- Includes regional sports networks
- Three months of Max free
$108.99/month
DirecTV Stream Ultimate
Pay $49.99 for the first 2 months
- 140+ live channels
- Unlimited DVR space
- Includes regional sports networks
- Three months of Max free
$119.99/month
DirecTV Stream Premier
- Unlimited DVR space
- 150+ channels
- Includes Max Cinemax SHOWTIME and STARZ
- Includes regional sports networks
$154.99/month
DirecTV Stream offers a 5-day free trial. This gives you a few days to test out the service and see how you like it without having to pay a dime.
Best features
DirecTV Stream does have some standout features. It has a pretty good on-demand library, for example, with recently-aired shows, past seasons and some movies from most of the cable channels included in your package.
You also get unlimited hours of DVR space and stream on an unlimited number of devices at once on your home network. Even the largest families and households won't have issues streaming on all of their devices.
You’ll also get plenty of top cable channels. This includes sports networks like ESPN, VH1, Viceland, and BET for reality TV, cable networks like FX, AMC, and A&E, and even news coverage from CNN. With multiple package upgrades available, you can get all the channels you need.
Downsides
The biggest downside of DirecTV Stream is its price. When this service started its life as DirecTV Now in 2016, the cheapest package cost around $30 for 60+ channels. It was actually one of the cheapest options out there. But times have changed.
Today, packages start at $60 for 75+ channels, only going up from there. That makes DirecTV Stream the most expensive internet TV service on the market today, bar none.
Philo doesn’t have any sports coverage
Philo’s low price is due to two primary factors. The first is that it eschews any kind of sports coverage. You won’t get any kind of sports programming on Philo at all – no ESPN, Fox Sports, NBCSN, or any other sports channels.
As a cost-cutting move, this makes sense. ESPN is one of the most expensive channels for cable companies to carry, due to the cost of licensing major league games. If you don’t like sports and want a cheap cable bundle, Philo may be right for you.
DirecTV Stream is a much better choice for sports fans. You get ESPN, and ESPN2 with the cheapest subscription, as well as Fox Sports 1, NBCSN, and some other networks like TNT and TBS which often show MLB and NBA games.
Philo doesn’t have any “Big Four” local broadcast channels
The “Big Four” channels refer to ABC, CBS, FOX, and NBC. This is the second factor that makes Philo so inexpensive. Licensing and running broadcast networks on an internet TV service can be quite expensive and difficult, so Philo has opted to avoid doing this altogether.
To get around this, you can set up an OTA antenna and a TV tuner to get all four of these networks – and many more – without cable, for free.
DirecTV Stream does offer FOX, ABC, CBS, and NBC to viewers. However, not all of these channels are available in every geographic location, due to the difficulty of licensing with individual network providers.
Both services have great device support
In the past, DirecTV Stream had Philo beat when it came to device support. However, Philo has made great strides in implementing support for new streaming devices, so they’re quite similar now. Both services support:
- Amazon Fire devices
- Apple TVs
- Samsung TVs
- Roku
- Chromecast
- iOS and Android
- Web browsers
Our takeaway: Choose what works for you
It all comes down to the kind of content you want to watch. DirecTV Stream is a much better choice if sports, local shows, and news coverage are very important to you. But Philo is definitely the cheapest way to watch live TV. No other streaming service even comes close. If Philo offers most of the channels you want, it may be worth subscribing just to save money.
Eric Liston • Author
Eric Liston is a content writer based in Columbus, Ohio. Since 2015, he’s been writing about technology, cord-cutting, and helping everyday people save money. He also has expertise writing about medicine, dentistry, insurance, and a variety of other industries. No matter what he’s writing, his focus is always on simplifying complex concepts and making them approachable for everyone. When he’s not slamming away on his keyboard at his home office, you’ll find Eric reading sci-fi novels, improving his disc golf game (he just hit his first 400-foot drive) and playing video games on his gaming PC.
Davan Hamilton • Editor
Davan Hamilton is an editor and writer based in Jacksonville, FL. Holding a degree in Interdisciplinary Studies, her writing spans a wide range, from essays on film criticism and analysis to surreal poetry. Now, she works for Flixed as an editor, continuing to ignore the list of passion projects she’s accumulated. When she’s not glued to her computer, you can find her building endless amounts of Lego sets, binge-reading manga, or playing with (fighting) her cat.
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