YouTube TV vs. Hulu Plus Live TV: Which Offers the Best Experience for Your Buck?

Are you aiming to replace cable TV? Two popular streaming platforms happen to be among of our favorite picks for cord-cutters and cord-cutter wannabes: Google’s YouTube TV and Disney-owned Hulu Plus Live TV. Both streamers offer a swath of live channels, such as CNN, ESPN and TNT, along with local stations ABC, CBS, Fox and NBC, among others  — all without a cable box.

Yet, pricing for each service has steadily increased over the past few years. Currently, the least-expensive plan for YTTV is $83 a month, while Hulu Plus Live TV will put you back $90 a month. While the trend of streaming being less expensive than cable TV remains true, the costs for both are higher than they were just a couple of years ago. Price hikes aside, you still get plenty of value with both Hulu and YTTV. Both offer features like an advanced DVR with a program guide and extensive on-demand content. Not to mention, both platforms are easy to watch on the go, whether on your phone or tablet. They can also be streamed on TVs through a media streamer (such as Roku, Amazon Fire TV or Apple TV), a game console or your smart TV itself.

Hulu has an outstanding selection of live channels and a vast catalog of on-demand shows and movies, and it comes bundled with Disney Plus and ESPN. Of all the live TV streaming services, YouTube TV still offers the most channels among the top 100.

Need more information about YouTube TV and Hulu Plus Live TV? Let’s dive in.

Hulu’s greatest asset is the integration of a full lineup of live TV channels with a massive catalog of on-demand content, all for one price. Its channel count is solid, including some must-have programming. The $90-per-month price includes the ad-supported versions of Disney Plus and ESPN Plus, and there are even higher-priced options for people who don’t want to watch ads. Hulu Plus Live TV is where the smart money is if you want other services bundled with it.

With an excellent channel selection, easy-to-use interface and excellent cloud DVR, YouTube TV is a stellar cable TV replacement. If you don’t mind paying a bit more than the Sling TVs of the world, YouTube TV offers a great live TV streaming experience.

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Channels: YouTube wins, but Hulu’s a close second

It all comes down to channels, really. When you compare both streamers, this is the biggest difference. If you take a look at our list of the top 100 channels on each service, YouTube TV is the winner with 78; Hulu is a close second with 75. That total doesn’t include every channel the services carry, just the ones in the top 100 as determined by CNET editors.

You can find most major national channels on both, including Cartoon Network, Disney Channel, ESPN, Fox News, NFL, TBS, USA Network, PBS and more. There are a few differences, though.

Here’s a condensed version of that list showing the 12 of the top 100 channels carried by one service and not the other.

You may be asking: What about the major local channels? Hulu Plus Live TV and YouTube TV offer all four — ABC, CBS, Fox and NBC — in most areas of the country, along with local affiliates for The CW and MyTV and a number of local PBS stations.

On the premium channels front, you can get add-ons for Starz, Cinemax and HBO by paying an extra fee. Hulu also offers optional channel add-on packages: the Entertainment Add-On for $8 a month with 15 channels including MTV Classic, Cooking Channel and NickToons, its Sports Add-on with seven channels for $10 per month and the Español Add-On with 16 Spanish-language channels for $5. 

Sports: YouTube TV hits a home run

Hulu dropped most of its regional sports networks in 2020. YouTube TV followed suit at the time, but currently carries NBC Sports Bay Area, NBC Sports California, NBC Sports Boston and NBC Sports Philadelphia as part of its base package. The streamer has an advantage when it comes to national sports networks: NBA TV is included in YouTube TV’s base package. 

With YouTube, you can pay another $11 to get the Sports Plus add-on that also includes Fox Soccer Plus, NFL RedZone and Tennis Channel. In addition, new customers get exclusive access to the NFL Sunday Ticket for an added $240 for the first year. That price goes up to $378 annually for returning customers. Separately, there are new skinny TV packages that YouTube TV offers that are genre specific, including four that are sports-centric. These options are different from the platform’s main live TV streaming plan discussed here.

Meanwhile, those with Hulu who opt for the $10 sports add-on can watch the likes of NFL RedZone, MLB Strike Zone, Outdoor Channel, Sportsman Channel, MAVTV Motorsports Network, Racer Network, FanDuel Racing and FanDuel TV.

Read more: With the Tablo Over-the-Air DVR, I Can Watch and Record Live TV — No Subscription Required

Usability: YouTube TV has simpler menus

The menus and interfaces on both are quite different from those of a typical cable provider, and we prefer YouTube TV’s menus overall. 

YouTube TV: In general, the YouTube TV interface is easier to use, not just for people who are already familiar with regular YouTube. Whether you’re using the desktop or app versions, Google’s streamer offers a streamlined structure — even if it’s not as pretty as Hulu.

Hulu Plus Live TV: If it were all about which interface is more fun, Hulu would take the win. Hulu’s look is brighter, and though it lacks YouTube’s comprehensive search, it’s still relatively easy to drill down into the kind of content you want to watch.  

The difference in the number of simultaneous streams is worth noting, especially for families and other households that watch a lot of TV. YouTube TV lets you stream to three different devices — say, the living room TV, a bedroom TV and a tablet — at the same time. Pay Hulu an extra $10 per month, and it will upgrade your stream count to unlimited and let you stream content on more devices simultaneously. On the other hand, the main reason to pay for YouTube’s $10 4K upgrade is to also get unlimited streams.

As for the cloud DVRs on both YouTube TV and Hulu, they offer unlimited storage and let you fast-forward through commercials in recorded programming. While CNET still considers YouTube TV’s DVR the gold standard, Hulu’s is an excellent option as well.

Read more: 10 of the Best Movies on Hulu You Should Watch Now

On-demand and originals: Hulu with the runaway win

YouTube TV includes on-demand TV shows and movies from participating networks and shows, much like your cable service. But it pales in comparison to what Hulu offers. 

As mentioned above, a Hulu Plus Live TV subscription includes all of the on-demand TV shows and movies available on the standard Hulu service, offering thousands of episodes of network TV shows, as well as originals such as Paradise, The Bear, Alien: Earth, Only Murders in the Building and movies like Palm Springs and Prey. 

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Which service is best for you?

Both services represent the peak of what live TV streaming has to offer, and both are better overall than competitors Sling TV and DirecTV. Your choice between the two comes down to cost, channel selection, usability and content — and it’s pretty close between the two. Hulu lets you integrate a wide channel selection with its exemplary on-demand library, which may be worth it for some. In the end, though, it’s all about having access to your favorite channels, so choose the service that offers them.

Channel comparison

Below you’ll find a smaller version of this massive channel comparison. It contains the top 100 channels from each service. Some notes:

• Yes = The channel is available on the cheapest pricing tier. That price is listed next to the service’s name.
• No = The channel isn’t available at all on that service. 
• $ = The channel is available for an extra fee.
• Not every channel a service carries is listed, just the “top 100,” as determined by CNET’s editors. Less popular channels including AXS TV, CNBC World, Discovery Life, GSN, POP and Universal Kids didn’t make the cut.
• Regional sports networks — channels devoted to regular-season games of particular pro baseball, basketball and hockey teams — are not listed. To find out if your local RSN is available, you can search YouTube TV by ZIP code here and search Hulu Plus Live TV by ZIP code here.