Sling TV vs. Fubo: Which live streaming service is better?

3 weeks ago 15

When it comes to streaming live TV in the U.S., viewers have a number of options to choose from. Sling TV and Fubo are two of them. While they aren’t the most popular options in terms of total number of subscribers, they’re still well worth considering.

Fubo delivers a more traditional experience. You pick a plan, pay your fees, and get access to channels ready for your eyes. Although with four tiers of plans, it can be slightly trickier to ensure you’re getting the channels that you really want. Sling TV goes a different route with two different basic plans, plus a variety of add-ons to curate your watching. It starts out as a very affordable option, but it’s also easy to see that monthly bill grow.

Whichever one has your eye, they still work essentially the same way. Pick a service that has the channels you want, at a price you’re willing to pay.

Thankfully, Sling TV and Fubo are available on pretty much any modern connected device. So let’s dive in.

Plans and price

Fubo has a habit of adjusting its plans without telling anyone, so things may have changed, including names and prices, but you’ll get the gist.

Fubo has four different tiers of service. Fubo Pro delivers 196 channels, 1,000 hours of cloud DVR recording, and you can watch on up to 10 devices at once for $80 a month. Fubo Elite with Sports Plus comes with 302 channels, 4K video (wherever available), and SportsPlus with NFL RedZone. It’ll run you $100 per month. Fubo Deluxe is their top tier and has 316 channels, including MGM+ and International Sports Plus, for $110 per month. Fubo Latino delivers 62 channels, unlimited DVR, and lets you watch on two screens for $33 per month. Every tier also comes with an initial discount. Fubo Pro, Fubo Elite, and Fubo Deluxe knock off $20 from your first month of service. Meanwhile, Fubo Latino is only $20 for the first month.

Sling TV does things a little differently. Instead of just one track of channels, it splits them into two. There’s Sling Orange and Sling Blue. They run $40 each or $55 if you want both. But even if you get both, you’ll still have far fewer channels than you will with Fubo. But you’ll also be paying far less.

Sling then bolsters things with optional add-ons it calls “Extras.” It’s not quite the same thing as a la carte TV, in which you only pay for individual channels, but it’s just about as close as you can get.

Channels

On paper, Fubo has more channels than Sling TV. A lot more. But sit down and look at it, and you’ll find that a lot of them are more of the sort that you’d find on a free ad-supported streaming service.

Here’s how things look as of Autumn 2024:

Fubo channels

Again, these channels can change at any time. Currently, Fubo has:

ABC, ABC News Live, ABC Localish, AXS TV Now, ACL Cornhole, Always Funny, Accuweather, Africa News English, ACCN ESPN, Alien Nation, At Home Family Handyman, beIN SPORTS 4, beIN SPORTS 5, beIN SPORTS 6, beIN SPORTS 7, beIN SPORTS 8, beIN SPORTS en Espanol, Bravo, Big Network, Bloomberg television, Bleav Football, Bounce, Boxing TV, Billiard TV, Bare Knuckle Fighting, BET, Big Ten Network, Bloomberg Originals, BET Jams, BET Soul, BET Her, Buzzr, Baywatch, Cheddar News, CNBC World, CL Sports, Court Sports Network, Circle Country, Classic TV, Cheaters, Chess TV, Crime and Punishment, Curiosity Now, CBS Sports Network, 2, CLEO TV, Curiosity, Comedy Dynamics, Court TV, Court TV Legendary Trials, Craftsy TV, CMT, Comedy Central, CBS News 24/7, Comet, CNBC, Charge,

Disney Channel, Disney XD, Disney Jr, Dabl, Dove Channel, Dark Matter TV, Dog Whisperer with Cesar Millan, Documentary Plus, Euro News, ESPN U, ESPN News, ESports Television, EarthX TV, E!, ESPN, ESPN 2, Estrella TV, FS1 4k, FS2, Fox News, Freeform, FX, FXX, Fox Business, Fox Weather, Fox LiveNow, Fox Sports, Fox Soul, FailArmy, Free Movies, Family Time, Fubo Radio 1, Fubo Radio 2, Fubo Radio 3, Fubo Radio 4, Fubo Radio 6, Fubo Radio 7, Fubo Radio 8, Fubo Radio 9, Fubo Radio 10, Forensic Files, FloRacing, FeTV, Filmrise Unsolved Mysteries, FMC, Fubo Movies, Fubo Sports, Fubo Sports 2, Fubo Sports 3, Fubo Sports 4, Fubo Sports 5, Fubo Sports 6, Fubo Sports 7, Fubo Sports 9, Fight Network, Fuel TV, FXM, Family Feud, Game Plus Network, Great American Faith & Living, Great American Adventures, Gusto TV, Great American Family, Grit, Glory, Game Show Central, Galavision, Get TV,

Hallmark, Hallmark Mystery, Hallmark Family, Horse & Country, Hello Inspo, i24 News, InWonder, InTravel, InFast, Ion Mystery, Ion, Ion Plus, JTV, Justice Central TV, Judge Nosy, Kitchen Nightmares, LSN, Law & Crime, Locked On Sports Los Angeles, Live Tennis, Locked On Sports Today, LX TV, Local Now, Lego, MLB Network, MLB Strike Zone, MTV2, MTV U, MTV Live, MTV Classic, Mystery Science Theater 3000, Mysteria, Marquee, MASN, MASN, MSNBC, Maximum Effort Channel, Man Cave Movies, MTV, NBC Sports Philadelphia, NBC Sports 4k, NBC Golf, NFL Network, NBC News Now, National Geographic, NitroCircus TV, NewsMax, NewsMax2, News12 New York, Nickelodeon, Nick Jr, NBC Universo, News Nation, NFL RedZone, NBA TV, NHL Network, Next Level Sports & Entertainment, NickToons, NickMusic, Nat Geo Wild, Nosey, Non-Stop 90s,

Outside TV, Oxygen True Crime, Origin Sports, Power Sports World, Professional Football League, PBTV, Powder, Paramount, Pop TV, Pickle TV, Poker GO, People are Awesome, QVC, QVC’s Big Dish Channel, OZ TV, RealMadrid TV, Revry News, ROI, Racing America, Revry, Retro Crush, Rig TV, SyFy, Sport Stak, Scripp News, Speed Vision, Start.tv, Swerve Combat, Salem News, Shop LC, Speed Sport, Surfer, Smithsonian Channel, Stadium, SEC ESPN Network, Sports Grid, Strongman Champions League, Sony Movie Channel, Shout TV, Sensical Makers, Supermarket Sweep, Sensical Gaming, Sensical Jr,

TasteMade Food & More, TasteMade Travel, The First, The Pet Collective, The Design Network, The Bob Ross Channel, Tastemade home, Team Liquid, The Boat Show, True Crime, Telemundo, TV Land, The Weather Channel, TBD, The Jami Oliver Channel, The Nest, TUDN, TUDNXtra 1, TUDNXtra 10, TUDNXtra 11, TUDNXtra 2, TUDNXtra 3, TUDNXtra 4, TUDNXtra 5, TUDNXtra 6, TUDNXtra 7, TUDNXtra 8, TUDNXtra 9, The Washington Post Television, TYT, Tennis Channel, TNA Wrestling, Teen Nick, True Crime Now, USA, Univision, Universal Kids, Unimas, Unbeaten, VH1, WSN, Willow, Weather Spy, Whoa That Was Wild, Western, WPT, World’s Wildest Police Videos, XOXO & Zona Futbol.

Sling TV channels

Channels that are exclusive to Sling Orange: Disney Channel, ESPN, ESPN2, ESPN3, ESPN4K, FreeForm, and Motor Trend.

Channels that are exclusive to Sling Blue: Bravo, Discovery Channel, E!, FS1, FS1 4K, FX, Fox News, HLN, MSNBC, NFL Network, National Geographic, SYFY, TLC, USA, and TruTV.

The following channels are available on either track: A&E, AMC, AXS TV, BBC America, BET, Bloomberg, Charge!, CNN, Cartoon Network, Comedy Central, Comet, Food Network, Fuse, HGTV, History Channel, IFC, Investigation Discovery, Lifetime, Local Now, MGM+ Drive-In, Nick Jr., QVC, Sling Scapes, Sling Scapes 2, TBS, TNT, Travel Channel, and Vice.

Local channels

Both Fubo and Sling TV have local channels. You’ll want to double-check that you actually get them where you live, though. Fubo has all the main ones — ABC, CBS, Fox, and NBC. Sling, on the other hand, only has CBS, Fox, and NBC in a limited number of markets. And it doesn’t have CBS at all.

However, Sling TV will push something called AirTV, which is basically a branded over-the-air antenna and tuner. You’ll hook it up and scan for channels, and everything appears in the Sling TV live guide.

Fubo definitely wins here for the sake of simplicity.

The local Fox network as seen in the Sling TV live guide.

Add-ons

Sling TV and Fubo each have a good number of add-ons (not counting the Extras that will bring Sling’s channel listings closer to par). And each has premiums like Showtime, STARZ, and NBA League Pass.

Fubo will also let you buy extra recording storage — $1 a month will get you unlimited DVR storage. Sling TV comes with 50 hours for free. If you need more than that, another $5 a month will get you 200 hours.

Fubo also lets you buy the ability to stream on up to 10 devices at once (and two on the road) for $10 a month. It calls that option “unlimited screens” for some reason. The “Family Share” add-on lets you share your account with up to three people at once, away from your home network, for $6 a month.

Total subscribers

Fubo has never been the biggest streaming service. But unlike Sling TV, it’s actually been growing. Ever so slowly, perhaps, but the trend is up and to the right.

Sling TV at the end of 2023 had some 2.06 million subscribers, continuing its slow decline. (It peaked at 2.68 million in the third quarter of 2019 and hasn’t been that high since.)

Fubo, meanwhile, finished 2023 at 1.6 million subscribers, up from 1.44 million at the end of 2022 and 1.13 million at the end of 2021. That’s not huge growth, but it is growth.

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