Hulu + Live TV vs. YouTube TV: how to pick the best live-streaming service

By Phil Nickinson and Jen Karner Updated April 18, 2025

If you’re having trouble choosing the best live TV streaming service for your needs, we don’t blame you — viewers today have more choices than ever. Whether you’re looking for a big on-demand content library or a reliable live TV streaming platform, there’s no shortage of solid options to explore.

Two of the most popular choices — YouTube TV and Hulu + Live TV — stand out for their reasonable pricing, similar features, and strong channel lineups. But when it comes down to it, which one should you pick?

If you’re comparing these two top services, we’ve got everything you need to know. From pricing and features to content selection and user experience, we keep tabs on all the streaming services out there are are here to help you make the right call.

Both YouTube TV and Hulu + Live TV make things pretty simple. Each has but a single plan, with a single price.

YouTube TV costs $83 a month (you may occasionally find deals, though). The least expensive option for Hulu + Live TV also currently costs $83 a month (or occasionally a little less if you’ve got a promotional price). And as we’ll talk about below, you’re actually going to be paying more for fewer channels if you go with Hulu + Live TV.

Meanwhile, the YouTube TV plan gets you unlimited DVR recording and the ability to share the service with up to six other accounts in your household and have up to three simultaneous streams going. That’s useful to keep recordings and recommendations a little cleaner, and it’ll be tied to individual Google accounts.

Buy at YouTube TV

But there’s one pretty major thing to note here: When you subscribe to Hulu + Live TV, you’re actually getting a lot more than that. First, there’s the inclusion of the entire Hulu on-demand catalog. That means movies and TV shows and exclusives. That on its own would cost $10 a month (and while you’re able to subscribe to Hulu + Live TV without the on-demand content, it’d only save you about $1 a month. Don’t be a cheapskate).

Even bigger, though, is that a Hulu + Live TV subscription also gets you access to Disney+ and ESPN+. That trifecta is known as the Disney Bundle , and it’s one heck of a deal at this price. The Disney Bundle Basic on its own currently runs $17 per month if you don’t mind some advertising, or $27 a month if you want to get rid of ads (that bundle is called the Disney+, Hulu, ESPN+ Bundle Premium). So including it with Hulu + Live TV really is icing on the cake.

Buy at Hulu

YouTube TV has another option that’s a bit intriguing. There’s now a Spanish Plan (that’s what they call it) that serves up more than two dozen Spanish-language channels for $35 a month (you’ll currently get the first six months for $25 a month, though). With it, you’ll still get unlimited recording and the ability to have up to six folks share a subscription.

One more major point for YouTube TV, however — it (and YouTube proper) is the only place you can get NFL Sunday Ticket.

Winner: YouTube TV. More channels, more options, less expensive.

When it comes to comparing the channels available on Hulu Live TV versus YouTube TV, you need to ask yourself one simple question: Which service has the channels you want?

On paper, YouTube TV has the obvious leg up, with nearly two-dozen more channels than Hulu + Live TV. And the two services mostly have the same major channels — things like broadcast networks, sports, and the major cable news and movie options. It’s around the edges where you’ll see a little more differentiation.

YouTube TV gives you more channels for less money.

And that’s the key to the whole thing. You’ve got to do your homework and see if one service has channels on your must-have list that the other doesn’t. Or, you have to be willing to give something up. Your call.

On the other hand, there’s that whole Disney Bundle thing that comes along with Hulu + Live TV. It’s not quite apples to apples, but content is still content.

Both services should carry your local broadcast networks, by the way. There’s a slight chance that your locale doesn’t allow for that — so you should check with each service, just in case.

As for which channels are on YouTube TV and which are on Hulu Live, skip on down to the bottom of this piece for the full breakdown.

Winner: YouTube TV. It’s got more in the base plan, and more available add-ons.

There are a lot of variables at play when it comes to streaming video quality. Your incoming internet speed. The speed, latency, and stability of your home network. The maximum resolution of the streaming service you’re using, and (separately) of the content actually being streamed. And that’s before you start talking bit rate and compression.

Oversimplifying things, YouTube TV and Hulu + Live TV are pretty even on this front. Live, linear channels top out at 1080p and 60 frames per second (fps), which is what you want to see at this point in time. As often as not, you might end up seeing things at 720p. It just depends. Don’t drive yourself nuts worrying about that sort of thing.

The bigger difference is YouTube TV’s 4K option. It’s now priced much better at $10 a month, and it’s not like it suddenly gives you everything in 4K resolution. Really, what you get is a very small handful of live sports in (upscaled) 4K, as well as a decent amount of on-demand content. Is that worth that extra cash? That’s a call you’ll have to make on your own. But if you’ve yet to experience live sports in that increased resolution, definitely take it for a spin.

Hulu Live, on the other hand, doesn’t have a 4K option. Yes, Hulu serves up some of its on-demand content in 4K, and that’s great. But there’s no option (yet, at least) for improved resolution in the live linear content.

Winner: Tie. YouTube TV at least has the 4K option. And while that’s great for sports, actual 4K events are few and far between.

Comparing YouTube TV and Hulu + Live TV in terms of audio is another little interesting point. YouTube TV has 5.1 surround sound support on all 2021 and later TVs, Chromecast, Apple TV, Roku, Android TV, Google TV, and most Fire TV devices. But it’s all dependent on the source content. Not everything will be served up with 5.1 audio.

Hulu, meanwhile, says it’s got 5.1 surround sound available on some of its on-demand and live content.

In other words, both services have the same capability.

But whether you actually get 5.1 surround sound audio will depend on what you’re watching. (And, of course, having audio hardware capable of surround sound in the first place.) This is one of those specs that look great in headlines and on paper. And to be clear, it’s a great thing to have, whenever possible. It’s just that neither service really rises above the other in terms of audio.

Winner: Tie. There’s nothing really exciting here.

The base plans for both Hulu + Live TV and YouTube TV are important, for obvious reasons. But both services have a decent number of additional add-ons that you can use to expand your full streaming experience. Of course, all these add-ons will increase the overall price. But they’re optional, and most have free trials so you can kick the tires before deciding to buy. And like everything else here, you can turn them on and off at your leisure.

Here are all the optional add-ons available with YouTube TV:

Hulu has fewer available add-ons than YouTube TV, but there definitely is some overlap. And the first option you’ll want to visit is the one that removes advertising from most Hulu on-demand content. That’ll take things up to $100 a year.

As for options for Hulu + Live TV, you’ve got:

Winner: YouTube TV. It has so many more options.

That’s all the “on-paper” stuff. Beyond the available channels, the next question you have to ask is “OK, but what are they like to use?”

YouTube TV probably is the simpler of the two services if only because it’s not tied into a larger on-demand library. It’s all about live TV. There are three main sections: A library of your “recorded” content, a “Home” screen with recommendations, and a “Live” tab that recommends live shows and sports, and houses the channel grid.

The live guide really is where YouTube TV has shined. It’s never been fancy — and it’s worth noting that there actually are two versions of it floating around out there. One is a full-screen guide with huge fonts, which is great for us older folks. It’s being replaced, however, but one with a smaller, tighter guide that also gives you a better summary and preview of the content.

Hulu + Live TV also has a pretty good guide. While the whole Hulu experience is notably busier because there’s a lot more going on, the guide is nicely designed. It’s fairly easy to get a summary of what you’re watching.

YouTube TV’s ability to reorder channels — or hide them altogether — is a next-level feature.

But the Hulu Live guide also isn’t anywhere near as flexible as YouTube TV’s. Channels are sorted by what you’ve recently watched, which can be handy enough, along with categories for sports, news, movies, and kids. There’s also a “favorites” section, though for the life of me I haven’t been able to figure out how to add and remove channels from my favorites. That’s a huge strike against it. And the full “channels” section gives you all the channels in alphabetical order, which is fine. Unless what you want to watch is all the way at the bottom of the list. (Though that’s where the “recents” section may well help.)

YouTube TV, on the other hand, has what I’d consider a must-have feature for any lives streaming service. You can either use YouTube TV’s order for the channels — or you can have a custom list. And it’s not just about putting channels in whatever order you want (though you certainly can do that). You also can hide channels that you never watch. Don’t want to subject yourself to cable news? Turn ’em off. Don’t watch kids’ shows anymore? Turn off those channels and make your list that much more compact. It’s a brilliant feature, and one we’d like to see on every service.

Otherwise, it’s a pretty standard experience from both sides. And it’s a good one.

YouTube TV has a few other nuggets that are fun. It’s got “Stats for nerds,” which let you see the raw stats of bandwidth and codecs and other things most folks never need. It’s directly tied into your Google account, making things that much easier.

Winner: YouTube TV. Look, this one’s pretty subjective. But the ability to hide and reorder channels is a great one to have.

Here’s the deal: When it comes to choosing between YouTube TV and Hulu + Live TV, you can’t go wrong with either one. Both are easy enough to use. They have comparable prices and specs. Each has some things the other doesn’t. And each is easy to start up or shut down if you decide you like one more than the other. Seriously, try them both. That’s not a cop-out — it’s the smart thing to do.

Really, the decision should start with the channels. If one service has a channel the other doesn’t that you just have to have, then that’s the one you should go with.

Both services are great. But you can’t beat Hulu Live as part of the Disney Bundle.

If that’s a wash, the next thing you should turn to is price. In this case, there’s only a couple dollars’ difference (for now, anyway) between YouTube TV and Hulu + Live TV. But you do need to consider what else you get on the Hulu side of the equation. First, there’s the full Hulu on-demand catalog. That’s pretty good in and of itself. But when you consider that you also get ESPN+ and Disney+, along with a subscription to Hulu + Live TV, it’s almost a no-brainer.

That’s basically one live streaming service (Hulu Live) with three on-demand services (Hulu, Disney+, ESPN+) thrown in for free. That’s a really hard deal to pass up, even if you don’t think you’ll be watching anything on them very often.

The one thing I’d say might sway things back in YouTube TV’s favor is the ability to customize the channel guide. Yes, that’s a very subjective feature. Yes, you’re well in your rights to say that it’s not a big deal and that you’d rather have the free on-demand services. And you wouldn’t be wrong to do so. That’s what’s so great about all this — it’s all your choice, and it’s hard to go wrong.

Yes, Hulu Live has fewer channels. But you just can’t beat that bundle.