This guide compares Sling TV vs. Fubo. Keep reading to see how these two streaming services stack up.
Fact 1: Sling TV has cheaper plans (but there's a catch)
Sling TV’s low starting price broke the mold when it first debuted several years ago, but its fees have steadily risen in recent years. Despite multiple price hikes, it's still one of the cheapest streaming services around. With a few exceptions, Sling TV's competitors have all raised their prices as well. What’s more, Sling TV works with more next-gen TV devices than any other TV service of its kind.
Fubo's base plan is more expensive, but you get more channels-- and half of the channels you get are sports channels. Moreover, Fubo has much better local channel support than Sling TV. It also has better features, especially when it comes to recording.
Here's a closer look at both of these streaming services' subscription packages.
Fubo
With Fubo’s Pro plan, you get 170+ channels and three simultaneous streams with 250 hours of Cloud DVR space. The next two steps up are for people that need upgraded features. Fubo Elite comes with expanded recording time (1,000 hours) and unlimited streams (10 at home). Fubo's Premier plan comes with 240+ channels, along with all the feature upgrades included in the Fubo Elite plan.
Fubo Pro
Try 7 days free
- 1000 hours of cloud DVR
- Stream on ten screens
- 180+ channels
$84.99/month
Fubo Elite
Try 7 days free
- Stream on ten screens
- 1000 hours of cloud DVR
- 250+ channels
- HD and 4K video quality
$94.99/month
Fubo Premier
Try 7 days free
- Stream on ten screens
- 250+ channels
- HD and 4K video quality
- 1000 hours of cloud DVR
- Showtime included
$109.99/month
Sling TV
Sling TV’s cheapest subscriptions seem to be purposely constructed to leave you feeling unsatisfied. The least expensive subscription comes with a solid mix of channels -- but if you want to add more channels or extra features, Sling TV will nickel and dime you to death. Once you start piling on add-ons, Sling TV is not a good deal compared to competing internet TV services.
Bottom line: you really can save money with Sling TV, but only if you stick to the core plans and avoid buying extra features and channel packs.
Sling Orange
$20 off your first month
- 30+ channels
- ESPN
- Stream on one device
$45.99/month
Sling Blue
$20 off your first month
- 40+ channels
- Local channels in select cities
- News and entertainment
- Stream on three screens
$45.99/month
Sling Orange & Blue
$20 off your first month
- General cable replacement
- 45+ channels
- Stream on three screens
$60.99/month
Sling Orange might be a good starting point for sports fans. It's an excellent low-cost solution for cord-cutters who have stuck with cable primarily because they don’t want to miss out on sports events. Sling Orange also comes with all the core ESPN channels. Orange allows streaming on only one device at a time, and comes with 50 hours of DVR recording.
Sling Blue is supposed to provide an alternative way to watch broadcast networks without a TV antenna, but you may not get many channels unless you live near a major metropolitan area. Sling TV is still hashing out deals with local broadcast network affiliates across the country. Before subscribing to Sling Blue, be sure to check the Sling TV website to find out what channels you’ll be able to get in your locality. Sling Blue comes with three simultaneous streams and 50 hours of DVR recording.
You can opt for a combination of both plans with Sling Orange + Blue. On this plan, you get 45+ channels, between one and three device streams, and 50 hours of DVR recording.
Fact 2: Sling TV has better promo codes and deals
You can often get some free gear with your Sling TV subscription if you punch in a promo code when you buy.
Some of the deals that Sling TV has offered in the past include:
- A free Roku Express (if you prepay for 2 months of service).
- A 50% discount on Roku Ultra (if you prepay for 3 months of service).
- $80 off AirTV Player (if you prepay for 3 months of service).
- $105 off an HDTV antenna / AirTV Player bundle (if you prepay for 3 months of service).
- A free HDTV antenna (if you prepay for 1 month of service).
The free HDTV antenna offer is a great deal for people that have a TV but currently get all their local channels through their cable company. It partially compensates for the fact that Sling TV doesn't carry all four American broadcast networks. If you don't mind switching inputs when you want to catch your local news broadcast or watch a regional sports team play, it may make sense to take advantage.
These deals change regularly, so visit the Sling TV website and check the forum to get the latest codes.
Fact 3: Fubo has more sports channels
Sling TV has a good sports channel selection, but you have to pay extra to get the best sports add-ons. You have to pick from a variety of different channel bundles after you get one or more base plans.
After you get a few sports add-ons, you'll end up with a bigger bill. That makes Fubo a better deal for sports fans, since half the channels in its base plan are sports channels and you don't have to pay more to get them.
Fubo just added ESPN and ABC, which is great news for sports fans, and expands their overall sports streaming selection.
Fubo sells 35+ sports channels, which is far more than any other internet TV service.
Here are some of the sports channels that Fubo offers:
- NBC Sports Network
- NFL Network
- Pac 12 Networks
- Big 10 Network
- CBS Sports Network
- NBA TV
- Fox Sports 1
- Fox Sports 2
- Big 10 Network
- NBC Golf
- Fox Desportes
- Eleven Sports
- Olympic Channel
- Fox Soccer Plus
- 10 different BeIN sports channels
For an additional fee, you can get around 15 additional sports channels with Fubo’s Sports Extra channel add-on pack:
- NFL RedZone
- 6 Pac 12 channels
- 3 Fox College Sports channels
- GolTV (English and Spanish)
- TyC Sports
- FNTSY Sports Network
- Fight Network
- NHL Network
- MLB Network
If you get the right channel bundles, you can also watch sports with Sling TV. With the Orange + Blue plan and tack on the Sports Extra, you can get about 25 sports channels (the exact number varies depending on where you live). These include:
- NFL Network, NFL RedZone.
- ESPN, ESPN2, ESPN3, ESPN Bases Loaded, ESPN Goal Line, ESPNews, ESPNU.
- beIN Sports, Motorsport TV, NBA TV, NHL Network, Outside Television, Pac-12 Network, Stadium, Univision Deportes.
- ACC Network Extra, SEC Network, SEC Network+, Golf Channel.
Fact 4: Fubo has better recording features
Fubo’s cloud recorder lets you save 250 hours of content in the Starter plan and keep your recordings as long as you want. With the Pro and Elite plans, you get 1,000 hours of content that never get deleted (until you do so yourself).
With Sling TV, you get only 50 hours of recording time, and there’s no way to upgrade to get more.
Fact 5: Fubo unlocks more cable TV apps/websites
Source: Flixed.io.
Many cable TV websites and apps let you access live streams, full episodes, on-demand content and more through TV Everywhere.
Fubo can unlock all these TVE websites/apps:
- Broadcast networks: CBS, NBC, CBSN, Fox Now.
- News: CNBC, Viceland, MSNBC.
- Sports: beIN SPORTS, beIN SPORTS en Español, BTN2Go, Olympic Channel, Fox Sports Go, MSG Go, Pac-12, NBC Sports.
- Arts and education: Nat Geo TV, FYI, History.
- Lifestyle: A&E, E! Now, Esquire TV Now, Lifetime.
- Entertainment: Hallmark Channel Everywhere, FXNOW, UDN, Oxygen Now, Syfy Now, Sprout Now, Bravo Now, USA Now.
- Spanish: Galavision, Universo Now, UniMas, Univision.
Note: Some of the apps listed above won’t work with Fubo unless you subscribe to the appropriate channel package. If you don’t have the channel, you can’t unlock the app.
Sling TV works with the following TVE websites/apps:
- Broadcast networks: Fox Now, NBC.
- News: CNBC, MSNBC Now.
- Sports: Fox Sports Go, Golf Channel, NBC Sports, NFL Network, WatchESPN.
- Arts and education: Nat Geo TV.
- Lifestyle: None.
- Entertainment: Bravo Now, E! Now, FX Now, Oxygen Now, SYFY Now, USA NOW.
- Spanish: UNIVERSO NOW.
Note: Some of the apps listed above won’t work with Sling TV unless you subscribe to the appropriate channel package. If you don’t have the channel, you can’t unlock the app.
For people with lots of roommates or large families, TV Everywhere support could be a significant advantage. The great thing about TV Everywhere is that it lets you circumvent your streaming service's account sharing policy. When you watch TV through a TV Everywhere app, it doesn't count against your simultaneous stream limit.
Each service regularly updates the networks which they support, so check out the current supported networks for Sling TV and Fubo now.
Fact 6: Fubo has better account sharing restrictions
Fubo’s Starter plan comes with three simultaneous streams, and their Pro and Elite plans come with unlimited simultaneous streaming, with up to 10 on your home network. You can add that feature to a Starter plan for a fee.
Sling Orange doesn’t allow simultaneous streaming at all. That means that if you’re watching ESPN, nobody else in your house will be able to watch any of the other Orange channels until you switch to a Blue channel or close your Sling TV app. Up to 3 devices can stream Sling Blue channels simultaneously. If you get the Orange + Blue plan, you still have a limit of one stream on any channels that are just Orange, and three streams on any Blue channels.
Fact 7: Sling TV’s on-demand library is bigger
Both Fubo and Sling TV have on-demand TV shows and movies that you can watch anytime you want. However, Sling TV has more.
Sling TV says it has 10,000 hours of on-demand content. The Fubo website doesn’t reveal how much on-demand content is in the Fubo video library. A casual inspection of the app reveals that Fubo doesn't seem to have as much on-demand content compared to Sling TV. You can read a full breakdown of the on-demand library at Fubo here.
Fubo has a relatively small on-demand library compared to Sling TV. Source: Fubo
Fact 8: Sling TV has more apps
Sling TV and Fubo both have apps for most popular next-gen TV devices. Recently, Fubo added more apps and compatible devices, including several smart TVs and Xbox. Sling TV still wins out here because they have more compatibility, but Fubo is catching up fast.
Sling TV
- Living room devices: Air TV Player, Amazon Fire TV, Android TV, Apple TV, Chromecast and Roku
- Smart TVs and Blu-ray players: Certain models from LeEco, LG, Samsung and ZTE.
- Mobile devices and tablets: Amazon Fire tablets, Android and iOS
- Game consoles: Xbox One
- Desktop browsers: Chrome
Fubo
- Living room devices: Apple TV, Amazon Fire TV, Android TV, Chromecast and Roku
- Smart TVs and Blu-ray players: Samsung Smart TV, Vizio TV, HiSense and LG TV
- Mobile devices and tablets: Android and iOS
- Game consoles: Xbox
- Desktop browsers: Chrome is recommended
Fact 9: Both services have 7-Day free trials
If you’re still not sure which is right for you, try them both out yourself and see what you think.
Sling TV vs Fubo: Which is better?
The answer depends on your priorities:
If you’re on a tight budget...
Sling TV beats Fubo when it comes to low-cost plans.
Sling Orange is the best Sling TV plan to get if you’re trying to maximize your TV savings. With a TV antenna and Sling Orange, you’ll be able to get a solid selection of cable TV channels plus lots of free broadcast networks.
Sling Orange has ESPN, Disney Channel and plenty of other standard cable TV channels like AMC, TNT, Cartoon Network, Comedy Central, CNN and others.
You may be able to get a free TV antenna if you use a promo code. Check the Sling TV website to get the promo codes.
Sling Blue seems to be designed for people that don’t want to use a TV antenna, but it’s not that great of a deal because the channel selection is somewhat thin overall and Sling TV’s local TV affiliate stations are extremely spotty.
The Orange + Blue plan offers more channels overall, but at its current price, you’re cutting down on overall savings and it might be better to spend a little extra cash on more overall features at Fubo.
Related: Sling TV Channel List – What Channels are on Sling TV?
If you like soccer and other sports that are more popular abroad...
Fubo has cornered the market for exotic sports that are hard to watch in the US. If you’re into soccer or if you’re a sports nut, Fubo is the best choice. Fubo has over 30 sports channels.
If you speak Spanish...
Fubo and Sling TV both have TV subscriptions that cater to Spanish speakers, but Sling TV has more Spanish-language channels.
Sling TV has a Spanish TV Extra that comes with over 25 channels. If you buy the Spanish TV Extra with Sling Orange, your total monthly payment will still be pretty affordable.
Besides the Spanish Extra, Sling has Mini packs for Mexico, Central America, South America, the Caribbean and Spain. There’s around 60 different Spanish-language channels, but you’ll have to pay extra to get them all.
Fubo also has a Spanish-language option, but it's a standalone subscription. It comes with 34 Spanish-language channels for just $33/month, but it doesn’t include any other channels. It still includes 250 hours of DVR recording and two screen shares at a time.
Alex Munkachy • Author
Alex Munkachy is a freelance writer, game developer and hobby robotics enthusiast.
Lisa Holden • Editor
Lisa Holden is an editor and creative based in Houston, TX. Lisa holds a BA in African-American Studies from Temple University and has spent her career working in news publications and magazines, even founding a magazine herself. She began working as an editor for Flixed in 2023. When she’s not editing or working on one of her many creative endeavors (whenever that is), she enjoys traveling to new places and biking on sunny days.
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