Streaming

Sling TV vs YouTube TV: Pick Your New TV Experience

By Gabriela Vatu / October 19, 2018

Sling TV and YouTube TV are two of the big competitors in the over-the-top (OTT) platform race and they're as different as they can be, which makes things that much more interesting. So, let's see who the winner is for our Sling TV vs YouTube TV competition.

When we reviewed Sling TV, we noted that it's one of the platforms that offer the most room for customization. On the other hand, when we reviewed YouTube TV, we mentioned that they have a very "take it or leave it" attitude as they barely allow any modifications to be made to their users' subscriptions. As mentioned, they're as different as can be.

That being said, we thought we'd start with a breakdown of the biggest features of each platform.

Overview Sling TV YouTube TV
Bundles Sling Orange ($25/mo), Sling Blue ($25/mo), Sling Orange + Blue ($40/mo) One - $40/month
Customization Channel bundles: Kids, Sports, News, Lifestyle, Hollywood, Heartland, International, Espanol, Comedy

Premium channels: HBO, Showtime, Starz, Cinemax, Epix, CuriosityStream, Pantaya, UP Faith & Family, Dove Channel, Stingray Karaoke, Outside TV

Premium channels: Showtime($11/mo), Starz ($9/mo), CuriosityStream ($3/mo), Fox Soccer Plus ($15/mo), AMC Premiere ($5/mo), Shudder ($5/mo), Sundance Now ($7/mo), NBA League Pass ($40/mo)
Device support Apple TV, Roku, Amazon Fire TV, Chromecast, Android TV, AirTV Player, Xiaomi, LG Smart TVs, Samsung Smart TVs, iOS, Android, Fire tablets, Xbox One, Chrome web browser  iOS, Android, Chromecast, Roku, Apple TV, Android TV, Xbox One, Samsung and LG TVs
DVR Up to 50 hours, unlimited storage time. Expandable by another 50 hours with the extra feature Unlimited space, content saved for 9 months
Free trial Yes, 7 days Yes, 7 days
Visit Sling YouTube TV

Also, since they'll come in handy down the road, let's see what scores the platforms received for each category we're going to look into.

Criteria Sling TV YouTube TV
Channel bundles 10/10 4/10
Customization options 10/10 8/10
Supported features 6/10 9/10
Streaming quality 10/10 8/10
Supported devices 8/10 8/10
Usability 9/10 9/10
Overall Score 8.8/10 7.7/10

Now that you've got these here, let's go in depth and check these platforms out.

Sling TV vs YouTube TV: Side by Side Comparison

The next step is to take a look at the details of each of these platforms, whether we're talking about channel packs, premium features, DVR, and so on. So, let's begin!

Channel Bundles

Sling TV Orange

Both services feature quite a few channels in their bundles, so let's see what they have to offer.

Winner: Sling TV wins this one because the whole point of cutting the cord is being able to pick what you watch, having the option to choose what channels you pay for and which not. So, while YouTube TV has some great channels in there, it doesn't really compare.

Customization Options

Sling TV Premiums

On top of choosing a base bundle, you can take things a step further and decide if you want to pay for extra channels or premium channels.

Winner: Sling TV wins this one too simply because it lets you pick your channels based on your interests and then offers you premium options, while YouTube TV only gives you the latter possibility.

Supported Features

YouTube TV features

So, how much space do you have to record all your favorite shows, and can your family watch other content on a separate device?

Winner: YouTube TV wins this one by a mile thanks to the unlimited DVR space that you don't have to pay any extra cash for and the fact that you can watch three simultaneous streams.

Streaming Quality

Watching Sling TV

When you take into consideration a wide range of platforms that you might switch to once you cut the cord, you need to also make sure your Internet speeds are up to par with the platform's requirements.

Winner: Sling TV wins this one because it requires slightly less bandwidth to get you the quality you want to see.

Supported Devices

YouTube TV devices

Can you watch on all your devices? Are any of them left off the list? Well, let's find out.

Winner: We have a draw here! Both platforms feature pretty much the same devices, although it should be noted that YouTube TV has a slightly better collection of Smart TVs and features Xbox.

Usability

How easy are these platforms to use? Let's find out.

Winner: Another draw! But that's pretty much because all video streaming platforms nowadays follow the same design idea. Frankly, even though it limits the creativity, we can't complain too much about it because it's the golden format.

Sling TV vs YouTube TV: Which One to Pick?

Sling TV wins this war by quite a bit. If YouTube started offering several channel bundles so users have more room to choose, things would likely be a bit different. As it currently stands, however, Sling TV is the winner, so go ahead and subscribe if you want more channel diversity.

Final Thoughts

We hope we've been of some help in getting to decide between the two platforms and that you'll be able to pick the one that suits your needs best.

We'd love to hear what direction you took in the comments section below, and please share the article online so others can find it too when struggling to make a decision. Come chat with us on social media, on TechNadu's Facebook and Twitter pages.



For a better user experience we recommend using a more modern browser. We support the latest version of the following browsers: For a better user experience we recommend using the latest version of the following browsers: Chrome, Edge, Firefox, Safari