Jody Serrano
Editor in chiefEditor in Chief at Xataka On. Before joining Webedia, I was a tech reporter at Gizmodo and The Messenger. While I've covered all sorts of things related to technology, I'm specialized in writing about social media, Internet culture, Twitch, and streamers.
In this post, we’ll explain the main differences between YouTube TV and Sling TV. Both streaming TV services are popular with people that have decided they’re tired of traditional cable. With these options, you can watch traditional linear TV, access popular channels, view live sports, and record content for later with DVR.
Of course, YouTube TV and Sling TV aren’t exactly the same. They differ when it comes to price, number of channels, and more.
Price
Price is one of the biggest differences between the two. Sling TV has a lower cost of entry, offering 34 channels for $45.99 with its Orange plan. The budget offering does have some limitations, such as set hours of DVR. Furthermore, with Orange, you can only watch Sling TV on one screen. You can upgrade to Blue, a more expensive tier, that has a few more channels and lets you watch on three screens simultaneously.
YouTube TV, on the other hand, costs nearly double what Sling TV does. Its basic plan starts at $82.99, though that price can increase if you add on additional live sports channels. You can quickly see why though. YouTube TV offers more than 100 live channels and unlimited DVR. It also lets you watch on service on three screens at once.
- YouTube TV Price: $82.99 per month
- Sling TV Price: Starts at $45.99 per month. Different plans
Channels
Sling TV offers significantly less channels across all its plans when compared to YouTube TV. Specifically, Sling TV offers a max of 46 channels compared to YouTube TV’s more than 100 channels. However, Sling TV does let you add more premium channels for an additional fee. Both services offer the major channels, including CBS, NBC, and CNN.
As far as sports go, both YouTube TV and Sling TV let you watch live sports channels through their different packages.
YouTube TV, for example, now has the NFL Sunday Ticket, though that’ll set you back a cool $378 per year. It also offers the NFL and NBA. Because YouTube offers ABC, it lets subscribers view some national and local sports events not available on Sling TV.
While Sling TV doesn’t have the NFL Sunday Ticket, it does carry the NFL network in one of its plans and allows you to add on the NBA and MLB channels for an extra cost.
Device Support
Both offer good support all around. They’re available for smart TVs, Fire TV, Roku, Chromecast with Google TV, Apple TV, iPhones, iPads, and Android. (Note: There is a difference between Chromecast and Google TV).
YouTube TV is available on more platforms out of the two, allowing you to use the service on the Xbox One and Series X and S as well as the PS4 and PS5.
Simultaneous Viewing
YouTube TV comes out on top here. Both services allow you to pay extra to add more screens, though Sling TV’s max is 4 screens. YouTube TV’s 4K Plus add-on provides unlimited screens.
DVR
YouTube TV offers unlimited DVR by default in its plans. Sling TV’s plans offer 50 hours of DVR, but you can get unlimited DVR by paying an additional $5 per month.
Bottom Line
It depends on what you’re looking for. If you’re not a big sports fan and have only a few go-to shows on certain networks, Sling TV could be a good fit for you and let you save a bit of cash. But if you are a big sports fan and have varied tastes, across multiple channels, then YouTube TV might be a better fit for you, though it’ll be more expensive.
Image | Oscar Nord
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