If you’re in the market for a live TV streaming service to help you cut the cord, you’ve probably heard of Philo and Hulu + Live TV. These are both leading names in the live TV streaming industry — each for different reasons.
Philo offers the cheapest option, making it great for those who want an affordable cable alternative. On the other hand, Hulu + Live TV offers a much more comprehensive channel lineup along with a robust selection of sports programming. This makes it a great option for sports fans who want to cut the cord.
If you’re having trouble choosing between the two, this post will come to the rescue. You can get a detailed comparison of Philo vs. Hulu + Live TV, so it’s easier to decide on the best live TV service for you.
Plans and pricing for Philo vs. Hulu + Live TV
| Philo | Hulu + Live TV | |
| Monthly price | $20 | $54.99 |
| Free trial length | 7 days | 7 days |
| Number of channels | 60+ | 65+ |
| Original content available? | No | No |
| Cloud DVR storage | Unlimited for 30 days | 50 hours |
At $20/mo., Philo costs less than half the price of Hulu + Live TV, which will set you back by $54.99/mo. The two services offer a comparable number of channels — Philo has 60+ and Hulu + Live TV has 65+. But keep in mind that the Philo lineup mostly focuses on entertainment and lifestyle channels and doesn’t include any sports.
Philo gives you unlimited storage and stores the content for up to 30 days. Meanwhile, Hulu + Live TV caps storage at 50 hours with the option to increase it up to 200 hours for an additional $9.99/mo.
Philo offers just the 1 plan, so there’s no option to upgrade. And you only have 2 premium add-ons to choose from — EPIX and STARZ. But with Hulu + Live TV, you can upgrade to the Hulu (No Ads) + Live TV plan for $60.99/mo. Plus, you have several add-ons to choose from, so there’s better customizability. This includes the Unlimited Screens Add-on for $9.99/mo. and several network and premium add-ons.
Comparing the Philo vs. Hulu + Live TV experience
How it works
Philo and Hulu + Live TV are subscription services that give you access to live TV programming over the internet.
User experience
The two services both offer a clean layout that’s easy to use and navigate even for new users. From the top menu bar, Philo lets you navigate between your home screen, saved content, and TV guide. But there aren’t any category tabs, unlike with Hulu, which lets you browse through kids’ programming, movies, news, and sports.
App usage
Philo and Hulu + Live TV offer a pretty consistent layout and user experience across all their supported devices. Their apps don’t have a lot of lags or major usability issues, so the two services are comparable in this aspect.
Device compatibility
Philo supports the following devices:
- Amazon Fire tablets (OS 5.0 or higher)
- Amazon Fire TV devices
- Android phones and tablets (OS 5.0 or higher)
- Android TVs (OS 5.0 or higher)
- Apple TV (4th generation or later)
- Chromecast (2nd generation or later)
- iOS devices
- Roku devices
Hulu + Live TV has a more expansive selection of supported devices:
- Amazon Fire tablets (OS 5.0 or higher)
- Amazon Fire TV devices
- Android phones and tablets (OS 5.0 or higher)
- Android TVs (select models)
- Chromecast
- Echo Snow
- iOS devices
- LG TVs (select models)
- Nintendo Switch
- PlayStation 4
- Roku devices
- Samsung TVs (select models)
- VIZIO SmartCast TVs
- Xbox 360, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X|S
Personalization
Philo and Hulu + Live TV both offer several features to personalize your streaming experience.
Accounts
Philo lets you create up to 10 user profiles, which means that you can have your own saved shows and viewing history to personalize your experience. Hulu + Live TV also lets you create up to 6 user profiles, which is still a lot more than what many other services offer. Plus, you can even create a Kids Profile, making it easier to control what your kids can watch.
Setting controls
Philo lets you personalize your experience by adjusting the settings just how you like it. You’ll have the option to adjust the playback quality, enable or disable closed captioning, and even set channel playback to start from live or from the beginning of a show.
The personalization settings on Hulu + Live TV are even more robust. Besides the basics, such as adjusting the video quality, you can customize your subtitles and captions according to your preferred language and visual formatting. You can even turn on audio description for select movies and shows.
Hulu + Live TV also lets you like or dislike certain programming and remove items from your Watch History to personalize your recommendations even more accurately.
Features
Feature-wise, the Philo offering is slightly more impressive, although Hulu + Live TV doesn’t fall too far behind.
Cloud DVR
Philo gives you unlimited storage by default with your subscription. And it’ll save the recorded content for up to 30 days.
Meanwhile, Hulu + Live TV only offers 50 hours of storage by default. You can expand the storage with the Enhanced Cloud DVR Add-on, which gives you up to 200 hours of DVR for $9.99/mo.
Simultaneous streams
Philo allows up to 3 simultaneous streams without having to pay any additional fee. Hulu + Live TV allows up to 2 simultaneous streams. But the Unlimited Screens Add-on allows you to stream simultaneously from as many devices as you want to for $9.99/mo.
You can also save some money each month if you get both the Enhanced Cloud DVR and Unlimited Screens add-ons for $14.98/mo.
Philo vs. Hulu + Live TV content
Philo
Philo gives you access to 60+ channels that mainly focus on lifestyle and entertainment programming. This includes popular channels like AMC, BBC America, Discovery, HGTV, and Nickelodeon. Its news selection is a bit barebones, but it still offers BBC World News and Cheddar. The sports channel lineup, however, is nonexistent.
Hulu + Live TV
Hulu + Live TV comes with 65+ channels, which includes a wide variety of programming. This includes lifestyle and entertainment channels like ABC, Bravo, Disney, FX, TLC, and more. It also has a decent selection of news channels, including Bloomberg, Cheddar, CNN, and FOX News.
Most importantly, its sports channel lineup is pretty impressive. It gives you the entire ESPN channel slate plus Big Ten Network, FOX Sports 1 and 2, NBCSN, and more.
The final cut
Philo and Hulu + Live TV are both excellent live TV streaming services. But if you need something that replaces cable and has a comprehensive channel offering, Hulu + Live TV may be the better choice. Philo makes sense for someone who just needs an affordable way to access lifestyle and entertainment channels.
But before you commit, sign up for a free trial of Philo and Hulu + Live TV to see which one you like more.