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The three big live-TV services are $82.99, $88.99 and $99.99 a month. Over a year that is $995.88, $1,067.88 and $1,199.88 — and Fubo’s figure is before a regional sports fee its own page says runs up to $16.99 a month.
So the cheapest headline price is YouTube TV, by $204 a year against Hulu. The question that decides it for most households is narrower: would you be paying for Disney+ and Hulu anyway? If yes, the gap almost disappears. If no, you are paying $17 a month for a streaming library you didn’t ask for.
The prices, read from each company’s own page
All figures below were read on 15 October 2026 from YouTube TV’s plans page, Fubo’s plans page and Hulu’s own price list. They are exact, and they are the regular prices — the promotional ones come later.
| Plan | Monthly | 12 months | Channels (their count) | Simultaneous streams |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| YouTube TV (main plan) | $82.99 | $995.88 | 100+ | 3 |
| Fubo Pro | $88.99 + regional fee | $1,067.88 + fee | 229 | 10 |
| Fubo Elite (adds 4K) | $98.99 + regional fee | $1,187.88 + fee | 291 | 10 |
| Hulu + Live TV (with ads) | $99.99 | $1,199.88 | 100+ | not stated |
| Hulu Premium + Live TV | $109.99 | $1,319.88 | 100+ | not stated |
| Hulu Live TV Only | $98.99 | $1,187.88 | 100+ | not stated |
All three advertise unlimited cloud DVR. Fubo’s small print adds that recordings expire after nine months; YouTube TV and Hulu’s pages didn’t state an expiry on the pages we read. Hulu describes streaming on “multiple devices” without giving a number, so we haven’t invented one.
Channel counts are each company’s own and are not comparable. Fubo’s 229 includes a lot of channels the other two don’t carry and many households won’t watch. Count the channels you actually turn on, not the ones on the brochure.
Fubo’s hidden line: the regional sports fee
Every Fubo live-TV plan on its page carries the same footnote: an additional regional sports fee “may apply” and “varies by region from $3.99 to $16.99 per month”.
That turns Fubo Pro’s $88.99 into a range:
- Low end: $88.99 + $3.99 = $92.98 a month, $1,115.76 a year
- High end: $88.99 + $16.99 = $105.98 a month, $1,271.76 a year
At the high end, Fubo Pro costs more than Hulu + Live TV. The fee exists because Fubo carries local regional sports networks — the channels that show your local NBA, NHL and MLB teams, which its plan cards list. If you follow a local team, that’s what you’re paying for. If you don’t, you’re paying for it anyway, and you should find out your fee before the trial ends rather than on the first bill.
Fubo’s plan cards also say NBC is “available in select markets”. If Sunday Night Football or your local NBC news matters, check your zip code before signing up.
The Hulu calculation: is the library worth $17 a month?
Hulu + Live TV costs $17.00 a month more than YouTube TV — $204 a year. But it isn’t the same product. Hulu’s price list says the $99.99 plan includes the Hulu streaming library, Disney+ and ESPN Select, all with ads, and that Live TV subscribers also get the full ESPN Unlimited experience in the ESPN app.
Here is the check to run on yourself. Hulu sells the Disney+ and Hulu bundle with ads on its own for $12.99 a month. So:
- YouTube TV ($82.99) + Disney+/Hulu bundle ($12.99) = $95.98 a month
- Hulu + Live TV = $99.99 a month
If you would subscribe to Disney+ and Hulu anyway, the real gap is $4.01 a month, or $48.12 a year — and for that you also get ESPN Select inside Hulu. At that point Hulu + Live TV is a reasonable buy and one bill is simpler than two.
If you wouldn’t, the gap is the full $204 a year, for a library you won’t open. Our standalone Hulu breakdown covers whether that library is worth having on its own merits.
Hulu also sells a Live TV Only plan at $98.99 — no library, no Disney+. That’s $1 less than the full plan, which tells you how Hulu values the extras: $12 a year to give up Disney+, the Hulu library and ESPN Select. And at $98.99 it is still $16 a month more than YouTube TV.
Paying for more screens or 4K
Households with more than three people watching at once hit YouTube TV’s limit first. Each service sells its way out of that differently:
| Need | YouTube TV | Fubo | Hulu |
|---|---|---|---|
| More than 3 streams at home | 4K Plus, +$9.99 | Included (10) | Unlimited Screens, +$9.99 |
| 4K on select content | 4K Plus, +$9.99 | Elite tier, +$10.00 | not on the pages we read |
| Monthly total with that need | $92.98 | $88.99–$98.99 + fee | $109.98 |
| 12 months | $1,115.76 | $1,067.88–$1,187.88 + fee | $1,319.76 |
YouTube TV’s 4K Plus add-on is one $9.99 charge covering unlimited streams at home, offline recordings and 4K on select content. For a big household that wants all three, YouTube TV plus 4K Plus undercuts Fubo Elite by at least $10.00 a month: Elite plus Fubo’s lowest regional fee is $102.98.
Premium add-ons: price them separately
All three will sell you HBO Max, Paramount+ and Starz on top. YouTube TV bundles the three as Entertainment Plus at $29.99 a month. Hulu sells them individually on its price list: HBO Max Basic With Ads at $10.99, Paramount+ with Showtime at $13.99 and Starz at $11.99 — $36.97 for all three.
You don’t have to buy them through your live-TV service at all. HBO Max is also sold as a Prime Video Channel, or direct from HBO Max, and the trade-offs of each route are in our Prime Video Channels vs subscribing direct comparison. Buying a premium channel inside your live-TV bill makes it easy to forget, because it never appears as its own line on your bank statement.
The intro offers, and what the first year really costs
Each service had a different first-month deal on 15 October 2026:
- YouTube TV: $59.99 a month for two months, then $82.99. New users only, ends 16 November 2026. First year: $949.88.
- Fubo Pro: $63.99 for the first month, then $88.99. First year: $1,042.88, plus the regional fee.
- Hulu + Live TV: $49.99 for one month, then $99.99. Ends 26 October 2026. First year: $1,149.88.
The offers shave $46, $25 and $50 off year one. None of them changes the ranking, and none is a reason to choose. The thing that costs real money is year two, at full price, on a service you picked because the first month was cheap. Set the reminder the day you sign up — the method is in our free trials guide.
If you only want sports
YouTube TV’s own page currently contradicts itself. Its plan cards show a Sports + News plan at $71.99 with 50+ channels ($49.99 a month for the first five months, ending 16 November). Its FAQ, on the same page, still describes a Sports Plan at $64.99 with 30+ channels. We’re reporting both because we can’t tell you which one you’ll be offered; check at signup.
For football specifically, our football streaming bundle breakdown prices every route, including the antenna-plus-Prime option that costs almost nothing.
And if you want live channels without the $1,000-a-year price, Sling lists Orange or Blue at $45.99 and Orange & Blue at $60.99. That’s $551.88 a year for one of the single plans. Check Sling’s lineup for your zip code, because the gap in price reflects a gap in channels.
Verdict
YouTube TV, for most households. It is the cheapest of the three at $995.88 a year, and 4K Plus fixes its three-stream limit for $9.99 if you need it.
Hulu + Live TV, only if you’d pay for Disney+ and Hulu anyway. Then it’s $4.01 a month more than buying YouTube TV and the bundle separately, with ESPN Select thrown in. Anyone who wouldn’t watch the library should skip it: that’s $204 a year for nothing.
Fubo, if you follow local teams on regional sports networks — that’s what its regional fee pays for, and it’s the one service here that includes ten streams without an add-on. Look up your fee first. At the top of Fubo’s range, Pro costs more than Hulu.
Don’t buy any of them if you mostly watch network TV and a couple of streamers. At $995.88 to $1,271.76 a year, live TV is a cable bill delivered over the internet. An antenna gets the local networks for a one-off cost, and two on-demand services cost a fraction of this. The live-TV subscription only earns its price if you watch live sports or news most days.
All YouTube TV, Fubo, Hulu and Sling prices were read from those companies’ own pages on 15 October 2026 and are exact. Fubo’s prices were read with a Texas zip code; its regional sports fee varies by location. YouTube TV’s page shows two different sports-plan prices and we have reported both. Hulu’s page does not state a default number of simultaneous streams. No Amazon price appears in this article. Prices change; check before you subscribe.