Xfinity vs. DISH

Is Xfinity or DISH better?

Cable TV provider Xfinity TV has excellent prices, shorter term agreements (or no term agreements at all), 185+ channels, the X1 TV box, and the Xfinity Stream app—but its cloud DVR is expensive and you’ll pay about 30% more per month for the no-term agreement plans.

DISH Network, a satellite TV provider, has affordable plans, transparent pricing, 290+ channels, the Hopper 3 DVR, top-notch parental controls, the DISH Anywhere app—and our Editor’s Choice Award for best overall TV provider and best TV provider for families. You’ll have to sign a two-year contract to get all that goodness, but it’s worth it.

Xfinity vs. DISH pros and cons

✓ Wide availability
✓ Bundles with high-speed internet and phone service
✓ No-term agreement plans on bundles (extra fee)
✗ Smaller channel counts
✗ High DVR fees

View Plans for Xfinity

✓ Available almost anywhere
✓ 3-year price guarantee
✓ Hopper 3 DVR
✗ Limited internet/phone bundling options
✗ Satellite dish requirement

View Plans for DISH

Jump to:

• Deals and promotions
• Head to head comparison
• Plans, prices, and fees
• Channels
• Equipment and features

Xfinity vs. DISH deals

Before we get into packages and pricing, let’s see what Xfinity and DISH deals and promotions are available.

Xfinity deals

• Military promotion: Active military and veterans can receive a $50 prepaid card. Apply by December 31, 2023.

Be sure to watch our Xfinity deals page for more special offers.

DISH deals

• Free premium channels: New customers get three free months of Paramount+ with SHOWTIME^®, STARZ^®, and the DISH Movie Pack™ with any package.
• Free installation: DISH currently waives the installation fee on new orders ($199 value).
• DISH military discount: Active military, veterans, and first responders get one free movie rental and the eight-channel Stars & Stripes channel pack (regularly $10 monthly) at no additional cost.^†
• DISH discounts for healthcare workers and teachers: Healthcare workers and teachers get a free movie rental and the 12-channel Heartland channel pack (regularly $6 monthly) at no extra charge.^†
• DISH senior discount: Customers aged 55+ qualify for Dish55, which includes free installation, a free movie rental, six free months of equipment protection, and upgraded identity theft protection.^†
• eAutoPay discount: DISH gives you a $5/mo. discount for using paperless billing. Discount is applied automatically at checkout.

^† To get these deals, check the boxes under Special Offers at checkout.

Don’t forget to see our DISH deals page for more money-saving offers.

Xfinity vs. DISH head to head

Data as of post date. Offers and availability may vary by location and are subject to change.
* For the first 12 months with a 1-yr. Agreement.
** With most plans

If you can, we recommend bundling Xfinity TV with Xfinity internet. DISH, however, doesn’t sell internet service at all—you’ll have to buy internet from another provider separately. We’ll talk more about pricing in the next section.

DISH also has 105+ more live channels than Xfinity, and better DVR stats (we’ll expand on this later in this guide).

But, again, this is all based on the information in the table. So let’s zoom in on each provider and see which is better, Xfinity or DISH.

Xfinity vs. DISH plans and prices

Data as of post date. Offers and availability may vary by location and are subject to change.
* For the first 12 months with a 1-yr. Agreement.
^† No-term agreement plan.

There are three Xfinity service areas in the US, and each has different cable TV plans and pricing. The value is best in the West region, where it’s good-to-average compared to other TV providers. In the Central and Northeast regions, Xfinity plans have average-to-poor value. This is based on cost per channel for each region’s packages.

Xfinity TV package cost per channel

Xfinity West region: $0.37–$0.40 per channel
Xfinity Central and Northeast regions: $0.43–$0.48 per channel

Note: Basic cable service is a waste of money, so we didn’t include Xfinity basic cable TV plans in our cost-per-channel figures. There’s no need to pay a TV provider monthly when you can get your local channels and more with an over-the-air (OTA) antenna that costs as little as $25–$70.

In the West region, we recommend Ultimate TV ($68.50 a month, 185+ channels at $0.37 per channel). In Xfinity’s Central and Northeast regions, Ultimate TV costs $12.50 more per month for the same channels, but it’s still a decent deal at $0.43 per channel.

Finally, Xfinity has no-term agreement plans—but only on bundles. These plans cost around 30% more per month, but they’re still good for people in temporary living situations who need flexibility.

Data as of post date. Offers and availability may vary by location and are subject to change.
*All offers require credit qualification, 2-year commitment with early termination fee and eAutoPay. Prices include Hopper Duo for qualifying customers.

DISH satellite TV plans and pricing are the same throughout the US. They have a cost-per-channel of $0.38–$0.52, which is in the good-to-average range—especially since DISH packages have up to 105+ more channels than most cable TV packages. Even better: the prices are guaranteed not to change for the duration of your two-year contract—you get a three-year price guarantee.

So if you value a good deal on TV service more than flexibility, DISH is the clear winner. And if you’re gonna be stuck with a provider, you could do worse than DISH satellite TV service.

We recommend America’s Top 200 ($107.99 a month, 240+ channels at $0.45 per channel) because it has the best mix of popular channels. But if sports channels are your main concern, you’ll probably be more than satisfied with America’s Top 120+ ($97.99 a month, 190+ channels at $0.52 per channel), which is designed for sports fans. You’ll also save 10 bucks a month.

Xfinity vs. DISH fees and extra charges

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

Every TV provider has hidden fees. They’re frustrating, even maddening, but it’s just how the TV business works. To learn more about Xfinity’s sneaky charges, see our guide to the Hidden Costs of Xfinity.

Data effective as of publish date. Offers and availability may vary by location and are subject to change.
* The DISH term for “broadcast TV fee.”

DISH’s fees are a little more reasonable—and there’s one big difference. DISH is one of the only TV providers that allows you to opt out of local channels. This is fantastic, because you get out of paying DISH’s $12-a-month local channels fee. And then you can still have your local channels (see below).

Xfinity vs. DISH channels

In the channel-count department, DISH (290+) has a clear edge over Xfinity (185+). But which provider has the most popular channels?

Popular channels

Both Xfinity and DISH carry the top 50 most-watched channels of 2022 according to Variety.¹

Variety’s Top 50 most-watched channels of 2022¹

• NBC
• CBS
• ABC
• FOX
• FOX News Channel
• ESPN
• Univision
• MSNBC
• HGTV
• Hallmark Channel
• ION
• TLC
• TNT

• Telemundo
• TBS
• HISTORY
• Discovery Channel
• Food Network
• INSP
• USA Network
• CNN
• MeTV
• Bravo
• Lifetime
• The CW
• Investigation Discovery

• TV Land
• A&E
• Hallmark Movies & Mysteries
• Paramount Network
• UniMás
• AMC
• FX
• Grit
• WE TV
• Game Show Network
• Syfy
• BET
• National Geographic

• Travel Channel
• ESPN 2
• Oxygen
• Freeform
• MTV
• Nickelodeon
• Animal Planet
• Nick at Nite
• FS1
• Comedy Central
• Bounce TV

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

Channel comparison

Xfinity and DISH having the top 50 popular channels makes both providers generally equal in terms of the average TV experience. But DISH puts some of these popular channels in its more expensive plans, which gives Xfinity an advantage since its plans are slightly cheaper per month.

For more detailed information on channel lineups—including details on premium channels and on-demand channel packs—check out our Xfinity Channel Lineup Guide and DISH Channel Lineup Guide.

Xfinity vs. DISH equipment, specs, and features

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

The way you access your Xfinity content is somewhat different now. You’ll still use the Xfinity X1 TV box, but it’s now only a receiver with built-in streaming apps instead of the receiver/DVR unit—but it still comes with the excellent X15 voice remote. Expect to pay $8.50 a month for the X1, which is about average compared to other cable TV providers’ TV box fees.

But you might not even need the box (see pro tip below).

As for DVR service, Xfinity—like its rival TV providers—now offers cloud DVR service. Most Xfinity TV plans include 20 hours of cloud storage, which is nearly useless if you watch a lot of series. But you can upgrade to 150 hours ($10 a month) or 300 hours ($20 a month), assuming you can afford the extra fee.

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

DISH, on the other hand, hasn’t yet abandoned its popular Hopper DVRs—and the Hopper 3 remains the best DVR in the business. It’s ridiculously powerful, with the highest storage capacity and most simultaneous recordings (next to the Cox Contour Record 24), so it’s the best DVR for binge-watchers. And it offers much more bang for your buck than Xfinity’s cloud DVR upgrades.

Xfinity vs. DISH mobile apps

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

Mobile streaming apps are one of the main ways that cable TV services compete with the flexibility of live TV streaming services. Xfinity and DISH have two of the best streaming apps, but DISH is slightly better because it has more on-the-go streams and superior parental controls.

Final take

DISH earned our Editor’s Choice Award two years in a row because it has affordable, transparent pricing—no other provider offers that three-year guarantee—plus tons of channels, excellent parental controls, tons of sports and kids channels, the Hopper 3 DVR, DISH Anywhere App, and wide availability.

Xfinity isn’t a bad option, either, if you’re looking for flexibility of shorter term agreements or even no-term agreement plans. But its cloud DVR pricing is pretty steep and you won’t have as many channels.

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Xfinity vs. DISH FAQ

Methodology

The TV experts at CableTV.com have a combined thousands of hours experience researching and testing TV providers. We compare the providers—like Xfinity and DISH for this guide—based on price, features, deals, value and more, analyzing and processing the data into solid recommendations for our readers. For more on our process, see our How We Rank page.

Endnote

1. Michael Schneider, Variety, “Most-Watched Television Networks—Ranking 2022’s Winners and Losers,” December 2022. Accessed March 15, 2023.