Sling TV Vs. fuboTV in 2021 – 9 Facts You Need to Know

This guide compares Sling TV vs. fuboTV. Keep reading to see how these two streaming services stack up.

Before we continue, we want to highlight a particularly relevant stream for news, sports, and entertainment. Sling TV is one of the best options for streaming in 2022 with a rich catalogue of 50+ live channels and 50k+ on-demand movies and episodes.

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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 now start at $35/month. 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.

fuboTV‘s base plan is more expensive, but you get more channels– and half of the channels you get are sports channels. Moreover, fuboTV 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.

fuboTV

With fuboTV’s Starter plan, you get 119 channels and three simultaneous streams with 250 hours of Cloud DVR space for $65/month. The next two steps up are for people that need upgraded features. fuboTV Plus comes with expanded recording time (1,000 hours) and unlimited streams (10 at home), on sale for just $70/month. fuboTV’s Elite plan comes with 46 more channels because you automatically get a channel pack when you buy it, along with all the feature upgrades included in the fuboTV Plus plan.

Sling TV

Sling TV’s cheapest subscriptions seem to be purposely constructed to leave you feeling unsatisfied. The least expensive $35/month 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 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 costs $35 and it 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 (also $35) 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 starting at $50/month. On this plan, you get 51 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: fuboTV 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 fuboTV 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. 

fuboTV sells 35+ sports channels, which is far more than any other internet TV service.

Here are some of the sports channels that fuboTV 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 fuboTV’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: fuboTV Has Better Recording Features

fuboTV’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: fuboTV Unlocks More Cable TV Apps/Websites

Many cable TV websites and apps let you access live streams, full episodes, on-demand content and more through TV Everywhere.

fuboTV 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 fuboTV 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 fuboTV now.

Fact 6: FuboTV Has Better Account Sharing Restrictions

FuboTV’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 fuboTV 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 fuboTV website doesn’t reveal how much on-demand content is in the fuboTV video library. A casual inspection of the app reveals that fuboTV 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 FuboTV here.

Fact 8: Sling TV Has More Apps

Sling TV and fuboTV both have apps for most popular next-gen TV devices. Recently, fuboTV added more apps and compatible devices, including several smart TVs and Xbox. Sling TV still wins out here because they have more compatibility, but fuboTV 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

fuboTV

• 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.

Free 7-day Trial

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Sling TV Vs. fuboTV: Which Is Better?

The answer depends on your priorities.

If you’re on a tight budget…

Sling TV beats fuboTV 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 a price point of $50/month, you’re cutting down on overall savings and it might be better to spend a little extra cash on more overall features at fuboTV. 

Related: Sling TV Channel List – What Channels are on Sling TV?

If you like soccer and other sports that are more popular abroad…

fuboTV 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, fuboTV is the best choice. fuboTV has over 30 sports channels.

If you speak Spanish…

fuboTV 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.

fuboTV 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

Alex Munkachy is a freelance writer, game developer and hobby robotics enthusiast. You can find his blog about robotics news and reviews at robotfanatics.com.

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