Let’s take a look a how you can save a bunch of money each year with affordable alternatives to cable TV.

How much do you pay for cable TV each month? $150? $200? $250? More???

Are you tired of paying the outrageous price of cable TV these days? Are you thinking that there has got to be some better alternatives to cable TV? Well, there are. Some are basically free and some cost very little.

I finally got fed up with cable costs in 2015 and cut the cord for good. I got tired of the cable companies jacking prices up every year, nickel and diming me with cable boxes, remotes, and everything needed just to make it work. Every year I would have to call them and try to negotiate a cheaper rate. Bleh!

Back in 2015 there were only a few options and most meant you had to give up some channels and find the best you could.

But now there are so many options available that it seems a pure waste to have cable. Plus, so many of the early options have grown their channels so much that they provide thousands of hours of programming. More than you could ever watch.

Most of the cheap alternatives to cable TV come in the form of streaming the channels over the Internet. If you have a decent Internet service, you will have no problem streaming your TV over it. By getting just a couple of the paid streaming services coupled with using the vast number of free channels, you will have plenty to watch, and your TV bill will be drastically reduced.

The best cheap alternatives to cable TV will depend on you and what you (and your family) like to watch. There will be many channels and paid services that don’t interest you at all but there will be many that cover the things you like to watch.

Let’s look at each of the best alternatives to cable TV and see if there are some things that will work for you. I’m sure I will miss a few but that is bound to happen with so much available. On a side note, I provide links to many of the main services, but I do not get paid for these links, except for Amazon Prime. The links are just to help you more easily find information.

Antenna TV

Good old antenna TV. Antenna TV has come a long way in the last decade or so, now offering many more channels other than just the networks and PBS. With the small price of a digital antenna that can sit behind the TV or in a window, this free service brings an abundance of HD quality channels. I live out in the country and bring in about 30 channels through my antenna. All free!

You can purchase a digital antenna for around $50 or less and bring in good quality channels. Some Smart TVs have digital antennas built in. This is always a great option to have in case the Internet goes down.

Roku, Amazon Fire, Smart TV free channels

With these devices, you have access to several free movie and TV apps. You can also download more apps than what they show out of the box. Apps like Tubi, Pluto, Vudu, and Crackle offer thousands of hours of TV channels and movies and they are just the tip of the iceberg.

Roku has its own channel called the Roku channel that provides a variety of programs. The Amazon Fire Stick offers the Freevee app, formally known as IMDB, which has a plethora of free channels. Both Roku and Amazon Fire come already equipped in some models of TVs but can be purchased separately if your TV does not have them. You can also go directly to their website and watch on a computer or download their app on your phone.

Most of these apps come free with ads, but the ads are considerably shorter than network and cable TV.

Netflix

Netflix is a paid service and is the biggest service out there, for now. They offer a wide variety of shows and movies and offer many of their own programs. With so many new streaming services (Disney+, Discovery+, Apple TV, and more) showing their own shows and movies, Netflix is not as big as they once were and have lost many subscribers in the last year. It is still a good service but is starting to get pricey. As of this writing, Netflix is working on a cheaper option that will have ads. Their prices range from the basic package at $9.99/month up to $19.99/month.

Disney+

Disney+ offers just about everything that Disney has made. Kids movies, Star Wars, Marvel, and a bunch more. At $7.99/month or $79.99/year it is a pretty good deal, especially if you have kids.

Disney owns Hulu and ESPN so they offer a Disney Bundle package for $19.99/month (Hulu no ads) or $13.99/month (Hulu with ads). They also offer a $75.99/month TV package with 75 channels. You can also get addons like HBO, Cinemax, Showtime, and Starz.

You can also check with your wireless provider to see if they offer the bundle for cheaper. I got the Disney bundle for $10/month through Verizon.

Hulu

You can just get Hulu for $6.99/month with ads or $12.99/month with no ads. Hulu has a huge selection of full seasons of exclusive programming, current-season programming of network TV and movies. If you love TV shows, this is the one to get. They have a selection of Live TV and many other shows that ran on network and cable just a few hours before.

Youtube TV

I have Youtube TV and use it as my streaming full cable TV alternative. It offers more channels of live TV than basic cable for $64.99/month. It looks and acts just like cable or dish TV for a fraction of the price. No equipment to rent or buy, other than a Roku, Amazon Fire, or Smart TV to play it. You can also get addons like HBO, Cinemax, Showtime, and Starz.

It also includes all of your local channels and some PBS. It has a customizable guide to remove unwanted channels and rearrange channels on the list. It has unlimited DVR capacity thanks to your DVR being stored in the cloud. If you already have a Google account, then you will use that account to activate your Youtube TV.

With Youtube TV, I will never think about going back to cable or dish. There is no contract, you can quit and restart when you want.

Sling TV

Sling TV is also a streaming full cable TV alternative. They offer a smaller number of channels but at a lower price than Youtube TV. Their packages are $35 and $50. There is no contract, you can quit and restart when you want.

Philo

Philo is another streaming cable TV alternative. They offer 50 channels of live TV and on-demand shows for $25/month. Their channels are limited but it is a good deal if they show what you want to watch.

Amazon Prime

Amazon Prime streaming service comes with your regular Amazon Prime subscription. They have some decent shows and movies, some of which is their own created content.

Their selection of movies includes what comes free with your subscription and other movies that you rent or buy.

Discovery+ 

Discovery+ has a nice assortment of over 15 TV show channels that are sure to please just about anyone. Their plans start at $4.99/month with ads and $6.99/month with no ads. They also offer military and student discounts that are pretty impressive.

Discovery and Warner Brothers have recently merged so look for this package to beef up tremendously soon.

Wiith the merger, they now own HBO and HBO Max.

Peacock

Peacock has a wide variety of TV shows and movies. Their plans start with a free service that gives access to over 40,000 hours of programming with ads. Their $4.99/month plan has limited ads and more content. Their $9.99/month plan is ad-free and offers offline viewing.

The best cheap alternatives to cable TV

I know there are some that I’m forgetting. The point is that there are so many affordable alternatives to cable TV available at a fraction of the price of cable and some are even free.

Most have a 7-day or longer free trial and no contracts so you can check them out for free and cancel whenever you want. Except for broadcast TV with an antenna, these options will require an Internet connection to stream.

If I was just cutting the cord now, I would start out with either the Disney Bundle (Disney+, Hulu, and ESPN+) or YouTube TV. They offer the most for your money. I would always go buy a cheap antenna and also set up broadcast TV to have if the Internet is down.

Well that’s it. There are so many cheap alternatives to cable TV today that it really doesn’t pay to keep your cable or dish subscription. It’s a whole new world out there. Please see my post on saving money fast to get more ideas and tips to save money.