Sling TV vs. Hulu + Live TV

Is Sling TV or Hulu + Live TV better?

Sling TV and Hulu + Live TV are two of the biggest live streaming TV services. Sling TV gives you streaming on the cheap, and it’s worth a look for the kids and sports add-on packages.

But Hulu + Live TV is a very good value, with a surprising amount of popular entertainment, sports, and local channels at an attractive price. Read on to learn more about pricing, channels, and more.

Jump to:

• Deals
• Prices and plans
• Channels
• Specs and features

Deals and promotions

Sling TV regularly offers a veritable “sling-load” of deals that it rotates frequently. Check out all the latest discounts in our Sling Deals guide.

Hulu + Live TV currently includes Disney+ and ESPN+ with its packages. Scan our Hulu Deals guide for more of the latest deals.

How are Sling TV and Hulu + Live TV different?

The biggest differences between Sling TV and Hulu + Live TV are pricing, channel count, and Cloud DVR storage. We’ll break them down below.

Data effective as of post date. Offers and availability may vary by location and are subject to change.

Sling will get the job done for less money for most casual TV viewers. Just make sure you’re getting the right channel package for your household. For example, with the right add-ons, you can get almost as many popular sports channels for less money than a Hulu + Live TV subscription.

For the avid TV watchers out there, you’ll probably want to go with Hulu since it has a lot more live channels and Hulu on-demand content. Not only that, but you can bundle with Disney+ and ESPN+ for more on-demand content and live sports action.

Sling TV vs. Hulu + Live TV prices and plans

We’re starting to sound like a broken record, but if you’re looking for a cheaper streaming plan, Sling TV is one of the cheapest services out there. (And a pretty damn good one at that.)

Data effective as of post date. Offers and availability may vary by location and are subject to change.

Simply summed up, Hulu + Live TV costs more but delivers a lot, including Hulu content and the popular Disney+/ESPN+ bundle, and you get exactly what you pay for with Sling TV—which isn’t much, at least in the base packages. When we get into Sling’s wild world of add-on options later, though, you’ll see more to like.

Sling’s Orange and Blue packages cost the same but offer mostly different channel lineups. Both include entertainment staples like AMC, TNT, and Comedy Central, but they split up sports channels like ESPN, ESPN2, and ESPN3 (Orange only) and FS 1 and 2 (Blue only).

Of the three plans, we like the combined Orange + Blue package because of its rounded-out lineup of kids, entertainment, and sports channels. It’s not as complete as we’d like, but it’s not bad for $55.

Data effective as of post date. Offers and availability may vary by location and are subject to change.

Sorry, the “No Ads” qualifier applies only to the on-demand library—essentially, the Hulu side of Hulu + Live TV. There’s no getting around commercials on live TV … yet. If and when we crack that code, rest assured that we’ll be retiring as they back up the money trucks.

In the meantime, we say go with Hulu + Live TV (No Ads). We prefer to not have our It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia binges interrupted by commercials; we’re going to assume you’re with us on this.

Sling TV vs. Hulu + Live TV live channels

To keep things simple, we’ll highlight Sling TV’s Orange + Blue package below. It offers the most channels (45+), and it’s closer in price to Hulu + Live TV’s basic package.

If you’re wondering how they stack up against other services, check out our Best Live TV Streaming Services review for comparison (it’s pretty good; you should check it out).

Jump to: Live sports | Local channels | Premium channels
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Sling TV vs. Hulu + Live TV channel lineups

*Availability varies by area. Data effective as of post date.

Across all packages and services, the availability of broadcast networks like ABC, CBS, FOX, NBC, The CW, and PBS varies by region—unlike with cable and satellite, not all local affiliates are on-board with streaming yet.

The CW and PBS are particularly hard to come by. TL;DR, Sling doesn’t carry ’em, but Hulu inked a deal with PBS and PBS Kids in 2023.

Dive deeper into the full channel lineups and available add-ons for Sling TV and Hulu + Live TV.

Data effective as of post date.

Sling TV and Hulu + Live TV have about the same amount of included sports channels, but Hulu has a slight edge thanks to its wider local-channel lineup.

But then there’s Sling TV’s Sports Extra add-on package (we told you the add-ons would come into play here eventually). This is where Sling TV really evens up the scoreboard.

For an additional $11 a month, you can get Sling TV’s Sports Extra Orange package, which includes NBA TV, ESPN SEC, ESPN SEC+, PAC 12 Network, ESPNU, ESPNews, NHL Network, BeIN Sports, ESPN Goal Line, Stadium, ESPN Bases Loaded, Outside TV, and Tennis Channel.

Or, for the same price, you can opt for Sports Extra Blue package, which gets you NFL RedZone, NFL Network, NBA TV, NHL Network, NBC Golf, BeIN Sports, Pac 12 Network, Stadium, Outside TV, Olympic Channel, and Tennis Channel.

Whew. We’re winded just thinking about all that action.

True sportsballers may want them both—overlapping channels and all—for $20 a month. Of course, there’s no combined Sports Extra Orange + Blue add-on package because that would make too much sense. You’re killin’ us here, Sling TV.

Premium channels

Sling TV and Hulu + Live TV offer the same array of premium channels, all of which you could also get through the channels’ standalone apps for about the same prices. If you like the convenience of having all your TV available on one service, though, go with the add-ons.

Speaking of add-ons, there’s a world of difference between Sling TV and Hulu + Live TV in this category. Hulu offers only two add-ons besides premiums: Entertainment, which includes extra lifestyle and news channels, and Español, which gives you similar lifestyle channels in Spanish.

Sling TV, on the other hand, offers dozens of add-ons beyond its Sports Extra variations and four premium channels, all priced between $5 and $15 a month. The old “something for everyone” promise tends to be overused, but yeah, Sling TV can probably make it happen.

Sling TV vs. Hulu + Live TV original shows and movies

Sling TV doesn’t produce any original content—and since there are already too many shows to keep up with, we should probably thank it for that. Not every service has to contribute to Peak TV.

Hulu + Live TV, on the other hand, gives you access to Hulu’s 60+ original comedies, dramas, movies, documentaries, and kids’ shows. Sure, that’s no match for Netflix’s monthly onslaught of originals, but what Hulu lacks in quantity it makes up for in quality. Hulu has everything from award-magnet dramas (like The Handmaid’s Tale) to timely documentaries (like Fyre Fraud) to smart comedies (like Woke).

But we’re still most grateful to Hulu for acquiring Canadian cult series Letterkenny—”pitter-patter!”

See what to watch on Hulu

Sling TV vs. Hulu + Live TV specs and features

They differ in content and approach, but Sling TV and Hulu + Live TV are pretty similar on the technical side—as are most TV services of any type. You probably couldn’t tell an Xfinity HD picture from a DIRECTV HD picture, DVRed or live, any better than we could, and we’re experts.

Cloud DVR

Hulu + Live TV includes unlimited hours of Cloud DVR storage (which it will keep for nine months before auto-deletion), whereas Sling TV will charge you an extra $5 a month for 200, which sort of eats into the “savings” between the two. That’s far from the whole DVR story here, however.

Hulu + Live TV’s included Cloud DVR lets you record only series, not individual episodes. That’s standard practice for many live TV streaming services, but this isn’t: you can’t fast-forward through commercials on your recordings.

Sling TV’s 50-hour Cloud DVR, on the other hand, will allow you to record single episodes, full seasons, or new episodes of series exclusively, just like cable and satellite DVRs do. They’re cool options, but you can’t record ESPN or any other Disney-owned channels at all.

Hulu + Live TV’s cloud DVR wins here pretty easily.

Multiple streams

Sling TV’s plans continue to baffle, even down to the tech specs. Stay with us here: Sling Orange allows for only one device stream; Sling Blue allows for three between TVs, tablets, phones, and computers; and Sling Orange & Blue allows up to four. Streaming math shouldn’t be this hard.

Hulu + Live TV keeps things a little simpler: you get two streams included, or you can upgrade to unlimited in-home streams (and three mobile streams) for an extra $14.99 a month.

We like Sling TV’s Orange + Blue four-stream allowance; Hulu + Live TV’s two seems a bit stingy.

Compatible devices

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Video and audio quality

In general, live TV streams at 720p HD, while on-demand content can stream up to 1080p. This is true for both Hulu + Live TV and Sling TV—if they were streaming at 1080p all the time, they’d be telling everybody.

Also, while regular Hulu does offer some content in 4K HDR, neither Hulu + Live TV nor Sling TV can handle that resolution for livestreaming.

Both Hulu + Live TV and Sling TV stream with standard 2.0 stereo audio.

Channel guide

They may have channel grids that look like traditional cable and satellite TV guides, but Hulu + Live TV and Sling TV’s layouts are far more interactive and customizable.

With the exception of local stations, there are also no channel “numbers” associated with networks—relax, it’s only weird for a minute.

Hulu + Live TV’s channel guide is tinged with its trademark green, with shortcut tabs located to the left. Its transparency is a nice touch because it allows you to see what’s still happening live behind the grid.

Sling TV’s channel guide is made up of opaque blacks and greys, with shortcut tabs along the top. It’s nothing fancy, but who’s studying grids when there are shows to watch? Exactly.

Commercials

We’ve talked plenty about the advantages that livestreaming TV has over cable and satellite, but there’s also an annoyingly large disadvantage: you can’t always skip over DVRed commercials.

You certainly can’t skip ‘em with basic Hulu + Live TV. You can pay an extra 13 bucks for the privilege, but even then, some networks won’t allow you to fast-forward through ads.

The same no-skip restriction also applies to some networks on Sling TV—except for CBS, one of the biggest culprits of non-skippable commercials, only because you can’t get CBS with Sling TV.

So overall, ad-skipping is easier and cheaper with Sling TV than with Hulu + Live TV but only by a slight margin.

Is Sling TV or Hulu + Live TV more worth it?

Despite a handful of drawbacks, we prefer Hulu + Live TV to Sling TV. Hulu + Live TV has more channels and full access to Hulu’s on-demand and original content (and that sweet Disney+/ESPN+ bundle)—that’s a definite built-in bargain.

That said, Sling TV’s à la carte package stacking and exclusive deals are more affordable than Hulu + Live TV. If you’re looking for a better deal, go with Sling, dear readers.

Sling TV vs. Hulu + Live TV FAQ

Methodology

Our live TV streaming experts spent dozens of hours testing Sling TV and Hulu + Live TV to compare visual and audio quality, features, and user experience. We compared these services’ packages and channel lineups to each other and all the other major live TV streaming services to help you find real value for your money. For more details, check out our How We Rank page or our annual Customer Satisfaction Survey.