We want to know whether Sling still represents good value for money. How does it stack up against the competition? What has Sling offered to make the price hike more palatable for users? Keep reading to find out…

How Expensive Is Sling TV Today?

In January 2021, Sling increased its prices by up to 17%. First, lets take a look at Sling’s entire line-up of products and services, along with their new cost (old price listed in brackets).

Sling Blue: $35 ($30) Sling Orange: $35 ($30) Sling Blue + Orange: $50 ($45) Sling Total TV, Blue or Orange: $21 ($20) Sling Total TV, Blue + Orange: $27 ($25) Sports Extra: $11 ($10) All other add-ons: $6 ($5)

Although the price increases don’t look significant when considered in isolation, they can quickly build up if you subscribe to a lot of add-ons. For example, if you subscribe to the Blue + Orange bundle, and pay for Sports Extra plus a couple of other add-ons, your monthly bill has gone up by almost $10 per month, or $120 per year. That’s the equivalent of an entire month of cable.

Furthermore, remember that Sling previous price hike came in December 2019, only 13 months before the latest increase. That means your annual bill could have gone up by as much as $240 in a little more than one year.

Did Sling Offer Any Price Hike Perks?

Sling clearly knew that it was in for a backlash from its users. When the news broke, the group’s president, Michael Schwimmer, was quick to pass the buck onto the TV companies.

To try and make the pill a little easier to swallow, Sling offered all its users 50 hours of free DVR storage, up from 10 hours. Sadly, that was the only perk on offer.

How Does Sling TV Compare to Its Competitors?

Sling arguably has four major competitors. They are Hulu, YouTube TV, Fubo TV, and Philo. Together, they make up the best TV streaming services.

Hulu

Hulu is unique in that it offers both a standalone video-on-demand streaming service and a more expensive package that also includes live TV.

The live TV package costs $65/month and offers more than 65 channels. Sling Blue + Orange offers slightly fewer, with 53 available. However, when you account for all the channels that you’d never want to watch, the two services are more or less on a par. Sling’s Blue + Orange bundle, however, is $15 cheaper.

Of course, there are some differences in channel availability, but that comes down to personal preference.

YouTube TV

YouTube TV has exactly the same price point as Hulu: $65/month. More channels are available on the platform, however, with more than 85 to choose from at the time of writing.

A rudimentary calculation shows that Sling’s bundle costs about around $0.95/channel, whereas YouTube TV costs around $0.75/channel.

YouTube TV also offers unlimited cloud DVR storage space, which makes Sling’s “perk” of 50 hours look somewhat paltry in comparison.

Fubo TV

Fubo’s entry-level package is $65/month, with the Elite package costing $80/month.

The Starter package offers 114 channels (approx $0.55/channel) and the Elite package includes 158 channels ($0.50/channel). The Elite package also offers additional premium features such as 250 hours of DVR space (normally $10/month) and the ability to watch on three screens at once (normally $6/month).

When you consider that Fubo also excels in sports channels, which normally carry a premium price tag, it definitely represents better value for money than Sling.

Philo

Philo has made a name for itself as being the cheapest of all the live TV streaming services. It provides access to 64 channels for a mere $20/month, meaning it only costs around $0.30/channel.

Be aware, however, that there is not the same availability of high-quality networks on Philo as you will find on the other services. For example, you cannot get PBS, ESPN, FOX, CBS, and many of the other networks that you are likely to watch every day. Instead, the numbers are inflated by second-tier networks like GetTV, Cleo TV, Motortrend, People TV, and other similar channels.

What About AT&T TV?

Our advice is to steer clear of the AT&T service. In truth, the company seems unsure what to do with the platform; it’s already been through a couple of confusing rebrands and its popularity has suffered.

The biggest red flag, however, is the way that the service’s website tries every trick in the book to try and convince you to sign up for a 12-month plan. One of the best aspects of all these services—and generally using cord-cutting services as an alternative to cable TV—are the month-to-month rolling contracts. To sacrifice that for a service that does not have any standout features is not a sensible move.

Which TV Streaming Service Offers the Best Value for Money in 2021?

Now we’ve looked at some of the prices, channels, and extra features, it is easier to make an informed decision about which live TV streaming service offers the best value for money.

Taking all three aspects into consideration, we think Sling only offers the fourth-best value for money out of the five services we reviewed.

Here’s our entirely unscientific league table:

FuboTV: Access to the most channels, many of which are premium sports channels. YouTube TV: A cheaper price-per-channel than Sling, and better extras included in the base price. Hulu: On a par with Sling in terms of channel availability and price-per-channel, but also provides access to its mammoth video-on-demand streaming library. Sling: Prior to the first round of price hikes in December 2019, it would have probably been in first or second place. However, the double increase in 12 months has seen it slip down the value for money charts. Philo: Offers the best price-per-channel, but is let down due to a severe lack of quality channels. For anyone who doesn’t watch sport or premium networks, however, it should probably be at the top of the list.

So there we have it. Based on a number of different factors, we’re no longer sure Sling TV offers good value for money, especially when compared to the competition.