The Best & Cheapest Live TV Streaming Services

Cord-cutting started with a simple promise: a cheaper alternative to cable. But in recent years, the opposite has happened: most rights owners started their own streaming services, and the big streamers have jacked up their prices. So instead of saving you money, much of cord-cutting today means getting more subscriptions, and a higher price.

Luckily, some streaming services have kept the cord-cutting services. You can still get cheap live TV streaming subscriptions from Frndly TV, Philo, and Sling TV. Let's go through each option and decide which one fits your needs best.

Philo is a great streaming service option for folks who are on a budget and are a fan of popular TV channels, at a price tag that won’t break the bank. Philo carries over sixty of the popular channels you got with other streaming services, plus a lot more. Philo has three Hallmark channels and the Game Show Network (GSN), along with other channels like A&E, MTV, HGTV, Lifetime, TLC, AMC, and the Food Network. There’s just the one plan with Philo, but you have the option to add on Starz and MGM+ for an additional fee. Philo works with Apple TV (4th gen and up), Amazon Fire TV, Chromecast, Roku, and Android TV. You can stream on up to three devices at once, and register up to ten accounts. Philo also offers unlimited DVR recordings, and you can watch them up to a year after recording.

$25/month • 7 days free trial • Lifetime, TLC, and 86 other channels.

Sling TV is basically the granddaddy of every live TV streaming service ever made. Owned and operated by Dish Network, this service provides a somewhat convoluted selection of subscription TV internet TV options for cord-cutters. With Sling TV, you can get a package with 30+ channels with Sling Blue or Sling Orange, or you can combine their two basic channel options into one, and save some money. Unlike Fubo or Philo, there’s plenty of channel selection on Sling without any focus or emphasis exclusively on sports or entertainment. Instead, you can get both sports and entertainment from Sling TV. Additionally, Sling TV is not only one of the only live TV streaming services that offers occasional pay-per-view options, it's one of the only Live TV streaming services where you can do sports betting thanks to the company's exclusive agreement with DraftKings.

$60/month • ABC, ESPN, TNT, TBS, Lifetime, Fox Sports 1, TLC, Bravo, NBC, and 43 other channels.

Frndly TV is a small-scale live TV streaming service that's designed to be ultra family-friendly. The service carries 30+ entertainment network channels.

$6.99/month • 7 days free trial • Lifetime, A&E, AccuWeather, BabyFirst, Bounce, BYUtv, Catchy Comedy, Circle, Court TV, Cowboy Way Channel, Crime-Investigation, Dove Channel, Dove Family Movies, Dove Kids, FETV, FMC, FYI, Game Show Network, GetTV, Great American Family, Great American Living, GRIT, Hallmark Channel, Hallmark Family, Hallmark Movies Now, Hallmark Mystery, Heartland TV, Heroes & Icons, INSP, ION, ION Mystery, JusticeCENTRAL.TV, Laff, Lifetime, Lifetime Movie Network, Local Now, MeTV, Military HISTORY, Movies!, Outdoor Channel, PixL, Pursuit, QVC, Recipe.TV, Sportsman Channel, Start TV, StoryTV, The History Channel, The Weather Channel, UPtv, VICE TV, Waypoint TV

Paramount+ is above all else a broadcaster-specific service. The service offers a large amount of CBS content, including new originals such as Star Trek Picard and Star Trek Prodigy. You can also watch live TV and some sports through this option.

$11.99/month • 7 days free trial • CBS local channels, CBS Sports HQ, CBSN, ET Live

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