8 Best Live TV Streaming Services of 2026

YouTube TV is the most complete replacement for a cable package on this list. The main plan lists 100+ channels, including local stations in most markets, and costs $82.99 a month, with new users paying $59.99 for the first 2 months under an offer that ends November 16, 2026. Every plan comes with unlimited DVR space, and YouTube says it keeps each recording for 9 months. One subscription covers 6 household accounts and 3 streams at a time, and features such as multiview let you watch several games at once. Households that only care about games and headlines can choose the Sports + News Plan at $71.99 or the Sports Plan with 30+ channels at $64.99. The 4K Plus add-on costs $9.99 a month and adds 4K on select content, offline recordings and unlimited streams at home. YouTube also sells NFL Sunday Ticket as an add-on. The price is high, but there are no box rental, DVR or broadcast fees on top.

Hulu + Live TV makes the most sense for households that would subscribe to Disney+ and ESPN anyway. The main plan costs $99.99 a month and bundles 95+ live channels with the Hulu streaming library, Disney+ with ads and ESPN Select, while Live TV Only costs $98.99, so the apps cost just $1 more. Hulu says English Live TV plans also include the full ESPN Unlimited experience in the ESPN app, covering networks such as ESPN+, SEC Network and ACC Network. Local ABC, CBS, CW and FOX affiliates are carried in most cities, and select regional sports networks are available by ZIP code. Cloud DVR has unlimited storage, though recordings keep their ad breaks and you fast forward through them. Video reaches 1080p at 60fps with 5.1 surround sound on supported devices. The main limit is two screens at a time unless you add Unlimited Screens. Spanish speakers can choose Live TV Only Español at $28.99, with prices current for new subscribers since September 23, 2026.

Philo is the best fit for people who used cable mainly for entertainment channels rather than news and games. Essential costs $25 a month with a 7-day free trial and includes 70+ live channels, a library of 75,000+ on-demand titles and an unlimited cloud DVR that keeps recordings for a year and lets you skip the ads. Both plans stream on up to 3 devices at once and support up to 10 profiles, with no contract. Bundle+ costs $33 a month and adds HBO Max Basic with Ads, AMC+, discovery+ and All Reality, which Philo says saves $22 a month against buying the apps separately. Add-ons include Hallmark+ for $9, MGM+ for $8 and STARZ for $12 a month. The trade-off is clear: Philo does not carry local broadcast stations or the big sports networks, so it suits households that can get locals with an antenna. Philo also offers free channels that need only an account.

Frndly TV is built for one kind of viewer and does that job at the lowest paid price here. All three plans include the same 50+ channels, among them A&E, The HISTORY Channel, all 3 Hallmark channels, INSP, UPtv and The Weather Channel. Basic costs $8.99 a month but streams in SD on 1 screen and has no DVR, only a 72-hour look back. Classic at $10.99 moves to HD, adds a second screen and unlimited DVR with recordings kept for 3 months. Premium at $12.99 allows 4 screens and keeps recordings for 9 months, which makes it the plan most households should pick. Frndly offers monthly or annual billing and a 7-day free trial on most plans, though returning customers do not get a new trial. Add-ons such as Hallmark+, HISTORY Vault and Lifetime Movie Club bring full on-demand libraries. There are no local stations, live sports or major news networks, so treat it as a low-cost companion or a replacement for light cable viewers.

Tubi is the strongest free option for cord cutters because it combines live channels with a very large on-demand catalog. Fox Corporation, which owns it, describes Tubi as the most watched free TV and movie streaming service in the US, with a library of over 250,000 movies and TV episodes, a growing set of exclusive originals and over 250 live channels. There is no subscription and no paid tier, so the cost of entry is zero and the trade-off is ads. Tubi will not replace a full live TV service: it does not offer the local network stations, live sports networks or cloud DVR that paid services provide. Where it helps is in cutting the paid bill. A household that keeps one paid live service for news and games, or uses an antenna for locals, can lean on Tubi for movies, older series and themed live channels instead of paying for a bigger plan.

DirecTV sells live TV over the internet in several tiers, and its main draw is sports coverage. The Entertainment package includes the ESPN Unlimited Plan, and DirecTV says regional sports networks are included in the Choice package or higher, which matters for fans who follow a local NBA, NHL or MLB team. A Sports Pack add-on brings over 35 regional and specialty sports networks, and genre packs such as MySports and MiEspañol offer narrower, cheaper lineups. DirecTV lists unlimited in-home streams, which is more generous than Hulu's two screens. New residential customers can start with a free trial. Local channels vary by market and blackout rules apply. The downside is cost and clarity: DirecTV's pages mix promotional prices, add-ons and device options, and we could not load a verified US price from our location, so the price is marked as pending here. Enter your ZIP code on DirecTV's site and compare the total with YouTube TV and Hulu before you sign up.

Xumo Play is the easiest free live TV service to start, because Xumo says it needs no subscription or login. The service offers 350+ channels, the most free live channels on this list, plus 15,000 titles on demand, and Xumo designs it to work on any device. It is also built into Xumo's own smart TVs and Stream Box, which come preloaded with 250+ apps. Xumo is a free, ad-supported service, so it does not include local network stations, the big sports networks or cloud DVR. Its on-demand library is much smaller than Tubi's, so it works best as a channel-surfing option rather than a movie catalog. For cord cutters, the value is in having a cable-style grid of free channels to flip through when nothing on a paid service appeals, and in giving guests or older relatives a service they can open without passwords.

Samsung TV Plus is worth knowing about if you already own a Samsung TV, because it costs nothing and is already on the set. Samsung says the service is free on Samsung Smart TVs released after 2016, Galaxy devices, Smart Monitors and Family Hub refrigerators, so there is nothing to install on most recent models. It offers free movies, live TV channels and shows on demand, with sections for live national and local news, live sports coverage, kids, music, K-content and Spanish-language entertainment, plus channels exclusive to the service. The limits are the same as other free services: it is ad-supported, has no cloud DVR and does not carry the major cable sports networks. It is also tied to Samsung hardware, so it will not help on a Roku or Fire TV. Samsung does not publish a channel count on its main page, so check the channel list before relying on it for a specific channel.