Is Sling TV good?
Sling TV is one of the original live TV streaming services and still one of the least expensive. Besides its three main plans, Sling TV offers dozens of add-on channel packages. It also provides deals on over-the-air antennas to pick up the many local channels it doesn’t carry. This all sounded great to us, initially.
But we weren’t thrilled by Sling TV’s plans, especially when compared to our editorial favorites YouTube TV and Hulu + Live TV. Sling TV’s channel lineups are just OK, and the limited streams and cloud DVR space don’t exactly sweeten the deal.
Still, don’t overlook Sling TV’s customization capabilities. If, like us, you prefer to build your own channel lineups and don’t mind paying extra for add-on packages, Sling TV is loaded with more options than a Cheesecake Factory menu.
Potential Slingers, this isn’t our favorite streaming service—but if you want to know more, we break it down in detail in our expert guide.
Sling TV is affordable and worth it
Data effective as of post date. Offers and availability may vary by location and are subject to change.
The difference between Sling Orange and Sling Blue shakes out like this: Sling Orange is tailored toward sports and family channels (like ESPN and Disney); Sling Blue has more entertainment and news channels (like Syfy and MSNBC).
We like Sling Orange + Blue because it features a decent combined channel lineup for just $55 a month, which is at least $10 cheaper than close competitors YouTube TV and Hulu + Live TV (but $30 more than Philo). But if either the Orange or the Blue plan alone covers your channel needs, go for it.
Only Philo ($25 monthly, 70+ channels) offers less-expensive live TV streaming than Sling TV. But, while Philo may have a few more channels, it can’t compete with Sling TV’s plethora of add-on options. And at least Sling TV streams sports and local channels; Philo has exactly zero.
Check out our Best Streaming Services guide for more on live TV streaming details and options.
Customize your experience with Sling TV add-ons
Here’s my favorite part: customization. Sling TV has 11 channel-pack add-ons and 44 premium and on-demand add-ons that you can add to any of Sling TV’s three plans. Unfortunately, HBO and CINEMAX aren’t among the premium channels offered (no MaxTM streaming service, either). That’d be a dealbreaker for me (Randy)—but maybe not for you.
Add-on package | Channel count | Price | Details |
---|---|---|---|
Sports Extra | 10+ | $11/mo. | View plan |
Entertainment Extra | 10+ | $6/mo. | View plan |
Kids Extra | 5+ | $6/mo. | View plan |
News Extra | 5+ | $6/mo. | View plan |
Lifestyle Extra | 5+ | $6/mo. | View plan |
Hollywood Extra | 5+ | $6/mo. | View plan |
Heartland Extra | 10+ | $6/mo. | View plan |
4 Extras Deal | 25+ | $13/mo. | View plan |
Total TV Deal | 40+ (and 200 hrs. DVR storage) | $21/mo. | View plan |
Compatible device and internet connection required. Offers and availability may vary by location and are subject to change.
Add-on package | Channel count | Price (w/ any package) | Details |
---|---|---|---|
Paramount+ with SHOWTIME | 5+ | $10.00/mo. | View plan |
STARZ | 15+ | $9.00/mo. | View plan |
MGM+ | 4+ | $5.00/mo. | View plan |
AMC+ | 5+ | $8.99/mo. | View plan |
Discovery+ | 20+ | $4.99/mo. | View plan |
Discovery+ (Ad-free) | 20+ | $8.99/mo. | View plan |
NBA League Pass | — | $16.99/mo. | View plan |
Acorn TV | — | $7.99/mo. | View plan |
ALLBLK | — | $5.99/mo. | View plan |
BET+ | — | $10.99/mo. | View plan |
Carnegie Hall+ | — | $7.99/mo. | View plan |
CineFest | — | $5.00/mo. | View plan |
Cocina On | — | $3.00/mo. | View plan |
Comedy Dynamics | — | $5.00/mo. | View plan |
CONtv | — | $5.00/mo. | View plan |
Curiosity Stream | — | $4.99/mo. | View plan |
Docurama | — | $5.00/mo. | View plan |
DOGTV | — | $5.00/mo. | View plan |
Dove Channel | — | $5.00/mo. | View plan |
DOX | — | $3.00/mo. | View plan |
FlixLatino | — | $3.99/mo. | View plan |
FOX Nation | — | $5.99/mo. | View plan |
Gallery | — | $5.00/mo | View plan |
Grokker | — | $7.00/mo. | View plan |
Hallmark Movies Now | — | $6.00/mo. | View plan |
Here TV | — | $8.00/mo. | View plan |
Hopster | — | $5.00/mo. | View plan |
IFC Films Unlimited | — | $6.00/mo. | View plan |
Inglés Para Todos | — | $2.99/mo. | View plan |
Kartoon Channel | — | $4.00/mo. | View plan |
Magellan TV | — | $5.00/mo. | View plan |
Magnolia Selects | — | $5.00/mo. | View plan |
Monsters & Nightmares | — | $3.00/mo. | View plan |
Newsmax | — | $4.99/mo. | View plan |
Outside TV Features | — | $1.99/mo. | View plan |
ScreamFlix | — | $3.00/mo. | View plan |
Shudder | — | $6.99/mo. | View plan |
SOMM TV | — | $5.99/mo. | View plan |
Sundance Now | — | $7.00/mo. | View plan |
Tastemade+ | — | $3.00/mo. | View plan |
True Royalty TV | — | $6.00/mo. | View plan |
UP Faith & Family | — | $5.00/mo. | View plan |
ViX Premium | — | $6.99/mo. | View plan |
Warriors & Gangsters | — | $3.00/mo. | View plan |
Compatible device and internet connection required. Offers and availability may vary by location and are subject to change.
What are the downsides of Sling TV?
I’ve already mentioned two of Sling TV’s downside: Its local channels problem and lack of HBO/Max and CINEMAX. I said the latter drawback would be a dealbreaker for me, but it’s worth mentioning that this problem is easily solved. If you really want to add either of these premiums, you can subscribe to them separately from Sling TV. You’ll have a separate bill, and you won’t be able to access them through the Sling TV app—but that’s no biggie. You won’t even break a sweat switching between streaming services.
There are a couple of other downsides to Sling TV. You can’t fast-forward through commercials on on-demand movies and shows. That’s common among streaming services, so it’s not a unique con to Sling TV. If anything, it’s just a mild pain in your couch cushions (if ya feel me). The other is that I used up Sling’s free 50-hour Cloud DVR storage in, like, a week. It’s probably by design, so they can get me to pay for the DVR upgrade.
You know what? There’s one more thing. Sling TV is missing some popular channels. We’ll tell you more about that in the next section.
Watch 45+ channels with Sling TV
If you’re switching from cable or satellite TV to streaming, Sling TV’s channel lineups will look skinnier than Machine Gun Kelly on a juice cleanse. Even the combined Sling Orange + Blue plan is missing several popular channels, like Nickelodeon, Paramount Network, and CBS Sports Network.
You can get those channels, and nearly a hundred more, with Sling TV’s Extra add-on packages, which range from $6 to $11 more a month. Click the button below to check out our Sling TV channel lineups and add-ons guide for the full picture (better hydrate first—it’s a big list).
To take a deeper dive into Sling TV channels, check out our Sling TV channel lineup guide.
How to watch live sports on Sling TV
Sling Orange has ESPN, ESPN2, and MOTOR TREND sports channels included in its plan, and Sling Blue has FS1, USA Network, and NFL Network. That’s not an impressive sports lineup, even when combined into the Sling Orange + Blue plan.
Fortunately, Sling TV’s add-on packages are here for you, sports fans: Sling TV’s Sports Extra package delivers 10+ sports channels, including NBA TV, MLB Network, and beIN SPORTS. For just $11 a month, this bridges the sportsball gap nicely.
We’ve compiled a guide to Sling TV’s sports channels if you’re hungry for more color commentary and stats.
How to watch local channels on Sling TV
Sling TV would rather give or sell you an over-the-air antenna than pay for the rights to stream most local ABC, CBS, FOX, NBC, The CW, or PBS stations. This keeps Sling TV’s costs down and, as they say in the pizza biz, they pass the savings onto you.
Sling TV does carry ABC, NBC, and FOX stations in some markets, but only in the Blue and/or Orange + Blue plans. However, with Sling TV’s AirTV setup, you can use an antenna to integrate over-the-air channels into your on-screen guide. It takes a little more effort but works seamlessly once hooked up.
What do customers think of Sling TV?
In our 2024 survey, we asked 8,097 real customers of 7 top live TV streaming services to rate their particular streaming service. Unfortunately, Sling TV rated fifth in overall satisfaction (75%) and last or next-to-last on 15 of 21 questions, scoring particularly low on questions about features, user experience, and pricing.
That said, there are some bright spots in Sling’s scores: 81% of Sling TV users enjoy the service’s overall customer experience—that was good enough for third place. And 79% say they’d continue to subscribe and that Sling meets their expectations as a streaming service.
"I was skeptical at first, but Sling TV has really been great and I have a good friend who also got Sling after me. He too is 100% happy."
Sling TV specs and features
Sling TV has the usual live TV streaming features, like a cloud DVR and a simultaneous streams cap, and it’s compatible with most streaming TV devices, tablets, smartphones, and web browsers. Aside from its unique AirTV/antenna integration capabilities, Sling TV is a straightforward, meat-and-potatoes service (or quinoa-and-kale, if you prefer).
Sling TV DVR
Plan | Storage | Price | Upgrades |
---|---|---|---|
Sling Orange, Sling Blue, Sling Orange + Blue | 50 hrs. | Included | 200 hrs. ($5/mo.) |
Sling TV’s included 50 hours of cloud DVR space isn’t bad—especially considering it used to give you just 10 hours. Meanwhile, the 200-hour upgrade for an extra $5 a month is another example of how Sling TV’s add-ons can add up : If you’re not careful, your monthly bill can creep up into cable and satellite TV price territory.
Sling TV simultaneous streams
Plan | Streams |
---|---|
Sling Orange | 1 |
Sling Blue | 3 |
Sling Orange + Blue | 4 |
Confused? So are we. Sling Orange carries more sports and kids’ channels, but it’s limited to a single stream, whereas Sling Blue offers three streams. If we were suspicious types, we’d think it’s a trick to get you to upgrade to Sling Orange + Blue’s sweet four-stream plan.
Sling TV supported devices
Sling TV supports tons of devices—but not all of them. Sorry, PlayStation, Nintendo, and Wii streamers—Sling TV’s got nothing for you.
Device | Sling TV |
---|---|
AirTV | ✔ |
Amazon Fire Cube, Stick, TV | ✔ |
Android phones, tablets | ✔ |
Android TV | ✔ |
Apple TV (4th gen.) | ✔ |
Apple TV 4K | ✔ |
Chromecast, Chromecast with Google TV | ✔ |
Echo Show | ✔ |
iPhone, iPad | ✔ |
LG TVs (select models) | ✔ |
Nintendo Switch | — |
NVIDIA SHIELD Pro TV | ✔ |
Oculus | ✔ |
PC, Mac web browsers | ✔ |
Portal | ✔ |
PlayStation 3, 4, 5 | — |
Roku Ultra, Express, Premiere, Stick, TV | ✔ |
Samsung TVs (select models) | ✔ |
TiVo Stream | ✔ |
Wii | — |
Xbox One | ✔ |
Xfinity X1 | ✔ |
Data effective as of post date.
Is Sling TV easy to use?
Sling TV channel guide and interface
Sling TV is easy to use. It has the standard grid guide with a week’s worth of programming information, nine ways to sort the information, and more customization options with favorite-channel settings and a watchlist.
The Sling TV home screen features 18 carousel menus, including live sports, recommendations, most-watched channels, and more. One carousel is all about easy access to add-ons. Sling TV’s on-demand menu has 20 carousels and a six sorting options. Sling TV makes finding what you want to watch simple.
Sling TV video and audio quality
Sling TV streams at 720p and 30 fps (frames per second), with some sports and premium channels streaming at 60 fps. It’s an HD picture close to what you get from most cable providers but slightly lower resolution than satellite TV.
Sling TV audio is standard 2.0 stereo, with some on-demand content in Dolby 5.1 Surround.
As with all streaming services—live and on-demand—the faster your internet connection, the better your Sling TV picture will stream. We recommend at least 25 Mbps of download speed—more than what streaming services suggest—because we know you’re not using the internet to just watch Sling TV.
Sling TV FAQ
What is Sling Watch Party?
Sling TV lets you invite up to three guests for a Sling Watch Party, a Zoom-like experience where you can see and chat with other people while watching a show or movie. Currently, Sling Watch Parties are limited to Chrome and Safari browsers, and they aren’t available for premium channels, local channels, or pay-per-view events.
Does Sling TV carry local channels?
Sling TV carries only local ABC, NBC, and FOX channels (Sling Blue and/or Sling Orange + Blue plans only) and not in every area of the country. To get local CBS, FOX, NBC, The CW, and PBS channels, Sling TV offers various over-the-air antenna deals to receive them for free.
Does Sling TV have live sports channels?
Sling TV features ESPN, ESPN2, and Stadium in its Orange plan, and it carries FS1, NBC Sports Network, and NFL Network in its Blue plan—all are included in the combo Orange + Blue plan.
Sling TV’s Sports Extra add-on package includes 26 more sports channels for an additional $11 a month.
Why you should trust us
To create this Sling TV review, our TV experts employed hours of hands-on testing with the streaming service, rating it on bang for your buck, reliability, features, and customer satisfaction. Then, we matched up Sling TV with other on-demand streaming services head to head to give a clearer picture of its strengths and weaknesses. For more information on our methodology, check out our How We Rank page.