Hulu + Live TV vs. YouTube TV: Which Is Best for Cord-Cutters?

Price and Platforms

Hulu + Live TV, which includes ad-supported access to Hulu's on-demand library and Hulu's Live TV plan, costs $82.99 per month. Hulu also has a plan that bundles the ad-free version of Hulu with the Live TV plan for $95.99 per month. YouTube TV also costs $82.99 per month.

In addition to web browsers, Hulu is available on mobile devices (Android and iOS), media streaming devices (Android TV, Apple TV, Fire TV, Roku), select smart TVs, and gaming consoles (such as the Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 5, and Xbox X/S). YouTube TV mostly matches that platform support, although it lacks a Switch app.

Winner: Tie

Channel Lineup

For this article, we compare Hulu + Live TV’s and YouTube TV’s lineup based on a New York City zip code. Depending on your location, you may see a slightly different lineup of broadcast affiliates and regional sports networks (RSNs) on whichever live TV service you choose. Right now, both Hulu + Live TV and YouTube TV offer around 100 channels in our test location, although YouTube TV has a slight edge.

Networks

Hulu + Live TV and YouTube TV cover all the major broadcast networks with local ABC, CBS, FOX, NBC, PBS, and Telemundo channels.

News

Regarding news coverage, Hulu + Live TV offers ABC News Live, CBS News, Cheddar, CNBC, CNN, CNN International, FOX Business, FOX News, HLN, and MSNBC. Apart from CBSN and CNN International, YouTube TV matches Hulu's lineup. The service also has BBC America, BBC World News, Local Now, and TYT.

Entertainment and Lifestyle

Hulu + Live TV's entertainment and lifestyle lineup includes A&E, BET, Bravo, CMT, Comedy Central, Discovery Channel, E!, Food Network, FX, FXM, FXX, HGTV, History, ID, Lifetime, MTV, NASA, National Geographic, National Geographic Wild, Oxygen, Pop, SYFY, TBS, TLC, TNT, Travel Channel, truTV, Turner Classic Movies, USA, and Vice.

YouTube TV is missing A&E, History, Lifetime, NASA, and Vice, but its lineup offers AMC, IFC, Sundance TV, Tastemade, and WE TV, none of which are available on Hulu.

Family and Kids

Hulu + Live TV and YouTube TV are similar in their support for family-friendly channels. They both offer Animal Planet, Cartoon Network, Disney Channel, Disney Junior, Disney XD, Freeform, Nickelodeon, PBS Kids, Smithsonian Channel, and Universal Kids.

Sports

Although many sports air on broadcast networks, non-primetime matches, overflow coverage, and commentary shows may only be available on other channels. Our guide on how to watch every sport can help you determine which networks and channels you need to watch your favorite teams and sports. Check out our roundup of the best NFL streaming services if you are only concerned about watching NFL games.

Hulu + Live TV and YouTube TV have similar sports coverage. They include CBS Sports Network, ESPN, ESPN2, ESPNews, ESPN U, FS1, FS2, Golf Channel, and NFL Network. YouTube TV differentiates itself with a major exclusive: NFL Sunday Ticket, which costs an extra $349.

Winner: YouTube TV

Premium Channels and Packages

In addition to standard channels, most live TV services let you add premium channels or packages that expand coverage in a particular genre, so you don't have to deal with multiple logins, billing statements, and interfaces.

Hulu + Live TV offers separate Cinemax, Max, Showtime, and Starz premium channel add-ons, along with two package add-ons: Entertainment and Español. The $7.99-per-month Entertainment package includes American Heroes Channel, BET Her, Boomerang Channel, Cooking Channel, Crime + Investigation, Destination America, Discovery Family, Discovery Life, Hallmark Drama, Military History Channel, Nicktoons, MTV2, MTV Classic, TeenNick, and Science. The Español package costs $4.99 per month and features CNN en Español, Discovery en Español, Discovery Familia, ESPN Deportes, History Channel en Español, and Universo.

YouTube TV subscribers can add Acorn TV, AMC+, Cinemax, Curiosity Stream, Max, NBA League Pass, Showtime, Shudder, Starz, Sundance Now, and more as part of their subscription. YouTube TV's Sports Plus package add-on includes FOX Soccer Plus, GOLTV, MAVTV Motorsports Network, NFL RedZone, and Stadium.

Many YouTube TV add-ons are standalone services you can subscribe to on their own (despite the disadvantages mentioned earlier). Hulu + Live TV offers several of the major standalone services, too, but its Entertainment and Español packages are arguably more valuable since the included channels are more difficult to get.

Winner: Hulu + Live TV

On-Demand Content

Hulu + Live TV and YouTube TV offer on-demand content from the channels in their live TV lineup. If a channel broadcasts a TV show or movie as part of its programming schedule, you can likely watch it on-demand at your leisure even after it airs live. The content fits into your schedule instead of the other way around.

As mentioned, a Hulu + Live TV subscription includes access to the service's expansive lineup of on-demand shows and movies. With Disney firmly in the driver's seat, we expect its content library to continue to grow. Currently, the on-demand lineup includes animated shows (Adventure Time, Bob’s Burgers, and Futurama), comedies (Broad City, Malcolm in the Middle, Parks and Recreation, and Scrubs), dramas (The Good Wife, Killing Eve, The Orville, and The X-Files), and a dedicated hub for new and old FX shows.

Hulu also produces original shows, one of the biggest appeals of on-demand services. Although its originals do not rival those from Netflix or Prime Video, some Hulu titles, such as Castle Rock, Casual, Catch-22, Harlots, Ramy, The Handmaid’s Tale, and the Veronica Mars reboot, are worth watching.

YouTube TV relies on aggregating existing channels rather than providing its original content. Of course, regular YouTube has nearly infinite original content through its user-created channels and a smattering of original shows on YouTube Premium. But YouTube TV has no equivalent to the prestige exclusive shows and movies you'll watch on Hulu.

Winner: Hulu + Live TV

Features and DVR

Both services support 1080p streaming at 60 frames per second on select platforms, but YouTube TV has more 4K options than Hulu. Hulu + Live TV lets two concurrent viewers simultaneously stream, but that falls short of YouTube TV's support for three simultaneous streams. However, Hulu+ Live TV's Unlimited Screens add-on ($9.99 per month) lets you simultaneously stream on unlimited home devices and up to three devices elsewhere.

Hulu + Live TV has unlimited DVR storage, and you can keep everything you've saved for as long as you maintain your subscription. A YouTube TV subscription includes unlimited DVR storage that keeps your recordings for nine months.

Winner: YouTube TV

About Our Experts

Jordan Minor

Principal Writer, Software

My PCMag career began in 2013 as an intern. Now, I'm a senior writer, using the skills I acquired at Northwestern University to write about dating apps, meal kits, programming software, website builders, video streaming services, and video games. I was previously a senior editor at Geek.com and have written for The A.V. Club, Kotaku, and Paste Magazine. I'm the author of the gaming history book Video Game of the Year: A Year-by-Year Guide to the Best, Boldest, and Most Bizarre Games from Every Year Since 1977, and the reason everything you know about Street Sharks is a lie.

The Technology I Use

I use the newest Android and iOS smartphones for testing, but I currently use an iPhone 14 as my personal phone. I just hate that we gave up headphone jacks.

I've always favored gaming laptops over desktops. On that note, I have a 16-inch HP Envy with an Intel Core i9-13900H CPU and Nvidia GeForce RTX 4060 GPU. No matter what machine I’m working on, an alarming amount of my personal and professional life revolves around cloud-synced Google Drive files.

For food subscriptions, my household sticks with CookUnity and HelloFresh for meals. Video streaming is a bit more complicated. While there are too many services to list, we're subscribed to most of the major ones. These days, I find myself drawn to HBO Max's movies and shows, as well as Peacock's reality trash.

I've been a lifelong Nintendo fan, and I sincerely believe the Nintendo Switch will go down as one of the best gaming consoles of all time. It has an unbelievable library of new and old games from Nintendo and third-party companies. The handheld/console hybrid approach makes playing games so much more flexible, a legacy that continues with the Nintendo Switch 2 and Valve’s Steam Deck.

Read the latest from Jordan Minor

Read full bio

Ben Moore

Managing Editor, Software

My Experience

I’ve been writing and editing technology articles for more than seven years, most recently as part of PCMag's software team. I am responsible for content in the AI, financial, graphic design, operating system, photo and video editing, productivity, and small business categories, among others. I also worked for several years on the consumer electronics team, where I edited articles on topics such as cameras, headphones, phones, speakers, and tablets. Before PCMag, I was at Neowin.net, Tom’s Guide, and Laptop Mag.

The Technology I Use

I use a Lenovo ThinkPad P14s for work and a 2021 Razer Blade 14 for everything else. I also keep a Lenovo Yoga Tab tablet and a HiBy M300 digital audio player. My current phone is a Google Pixel 9a.

As for software, I use Firefox everywhere, as well as Bitwarden and Mullvad VPN. I rely on Adobe Lightroom to edit photos and Google Keep or Microsoft Excel to manage the rest of my life. To organize my music library, I use MusicBee on Windows and Musicolet on Android.

I’m currently split between wired and wireless headphones. I use a Fiio K3 amp/DAC for the Beyerdynamic DT 700 Pro X headphones and the Moondrop Kato earphones. For wireless audio, I switch between the Shure Aonic 50 (Gen 2) headphones and the Technics EAH-AZ40M2 earphones.

My current camera is a Nikon Z6III.

Read the latest from Ben Moore

Read full bio

Live TV streaming lets you easily watch your favorite network and cable channels. We compare two of our top-rated services, Hulu and YouTube TV, to see how they stack up on pricing, programming, and more.

YouTube TV

Bottom Line

Hulu

Bottom Line

Buy It Now

Price and Platforms