In today’s world, luckily there’s a lot of good and affordable cable alternatives out there that can help you save money and change your lifestyle overall. And today I’d love to share these great options with you.
If the average household spends $103 a month on a cable bill, it’s $1,236 a year right there!
We don’t watch a lot of TV in our family, but we still love to check out our favorite shows and have a movie night sometimes.
I don’t think that it’s reasonable to pay over $100 a month for watching a couple of shows.
Thanks to cable alternatives that are saving us money.
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1. Digital Antenna
One of the most affordable cable alternatives is a digital antenna.
I know when you think of antennas you’re probably imagining those old-fashioned rabbit ears and blurry image that is about to fade away completely.
Well, now antennas are digital, they’re flat which means you can hide them behind your TV and they allow you to watch your favorite TV shows with amazingly clear reception.
The best part of using a digital antenna is that you pay only once for the antenna which is less than $30, and that’s it! You can watch local channels as much as you want without any monthly payments.
All you need to do is to connect it to your TV and scan for channels such as ABC, CBS, FOX, NBC, CW, etc.
2. Netflix
Netflix is what we’ve mostly been using to watch TV, and I think it’s one of the most popular and best alternatives to cable.
I love that it has lots of our favorite shows, including original ones and it’s constantly adding new movies to keep the content fresh.
You can also create multiple profiles for each member of your family to have separate lists. I love that Netflix learns what types of shows you watch and gives you recommendations.
There are three pricing plans that you can choose from:
- The Basic plan, which is $8.99/month allows you to watch an unlimited amount of movies on one screen only. And has HD-level picture quality.
- The Standard plan is $12.99/month and it allows you to watch movies on up to two screens at a time.
- The Premium plan is $15.99/month, it has HD and Ultra HD level picture quality and allows you to watch movies on up to four screens at a time.
Netflix also offers a 30-day free trial.
3. Philo
Another great alternative to cable TV Philo offers you a package of 58 top-rated TV channels such as TLC, HGTV, MTV, Food Network, AMC, Hallmark Channel, Comedy Central, Discovery, Nickelodeon, Lifetime, BBC America, and more!
You can watch live, save unlimited shows to watch later for up to 30 days each, or browse a huge library of content available on-demand.
You can watch your shows on up to three devices at a time and you can also create up to 10 profiles per account.
All that is just for $20/month!
Oh, there’s also a 7-day free trial if you want to find out if it’s right for you.
4. Sling TV
If you want to cut the cord but don’t really know how to get started, Sling TV is definitely worth exploring, because it operates similarly to the actual cable and has great benefits.
There are two packages where each is $30 (each with a different lineup of networks).
You can choose between the “Orange” package and the “Blue” package.
The “Orange” package offers 1 device stream, 30+ channels including popular ones like ESPN, Disney and HGTV, and free 10 hour DVR. The majority of channels are family and sports channels.
The “Blue” package offers 3 device streams, free 10 hours DVR, and 50+ channels, where more of them are entertainment and news channels.
They also offer add-ons for $4.99 more per month so you can customize it to your liking.
For example, you can get the “Blue” package with more channels and add ESPN+, easy-peasy.
You can try out Sling TV for free for 3 days!
5. Hulu
Hulu is one of the most affordable alternatives to cable and satellite TV and the best streaming service available.
It offers you access to the current season of lots of your favorite shows, including Hulu Original series like The Handmaid’s Tale, The Path, and Casual.
There are also a lot of movies, and add-ons like adding channels including Showtime, HBO, Cinemax, Starz, and more, so you can customize your plan.
Hulu is also great because it offers you different features and pricing plan options you can choose from according to your budget.
There are 4 plans you can choose from:
- Hulu (ad-supported plan) costs just $5.99/month and gives you access to thousands of hit shows, including Hulu Originals, movies, and more from the Hulu streaming library.
- No-Ads Hulu costs $11.99/month If you’d prefer to binge without interruption and download shows and movies for offline viewing.
- Hulu +Live TV (ad-supported plan) is $54.99/month and you’ll have access to everything in the Hulu streaming library, plus 65+ live and on-demand channels you can watch at home or on the go.
- No-Ads Hulu + LiveTV is $60.99/month and offers you the best experience without ads.
There’s also a 30-day for the basic plan and a 7-day for Live TV.
6. ESPN+
Are you paying for cable TV to watch sports? ESPN+ is one of the most affordable alternatives to cable for sports lovers.
It offers thousands of live sports events, including ESPN+ originals and access to the “30 for 30 libraries” and premium articles. You can rewind, replay, or download your shows to watch later.
All that for only $4.99 per month! Or you can also save $10 when you get a yearly plan at $49.99.
There’s an option to bundle it with Hulu and Disney+ for $12.99/month.
It’s a dream for many people who are trying to cut the cord because you get access to a wide range of shows for much less than you would normally pay for cable TV.
7. Amazon Prime Video
If you’re already paying for an Amazon Prime subscription, for free one-day or two-day shipping, then you already have access to the Amazon Prime Video library!
I think it’s a great way to reduce the number of your monthly subscriptions by having a two-in-one option.
If you don’t have Amazon Prime you still can get an Amazon Prime Video plan separately for only $8.99 per month.
Oh, and you can get a 30-day free trial of Amazon Prime here.
You’ll get access to your favorite and award-winning shows like The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel and Fleabag, but you can also get add-ons for Starz, HBO, Showtime, and PBS.
By the way, your kids will love this. Amazon Prime Video is offering kids’ movies and TV for free, even if you’re not a Prime Member. All you need to do is create a free Amazon account.
Enjoy!
8. Disney+
Pretty new but already loved by many people streaming service, Disney+ can be a great cable alternative for families and fans of Disney, Pixar, Marvel, Star Wars, and National Geographic. In fact, more than 10 million people signed up for this on-demand streaming service.
You can stream Disney+ on up to 4 devices at a time and create up to 7 user profiles.
Disney Plus costs $6.99 per month or $69.99 per year in the US. For that price, you get ad-free access to all of the service’s streaming titles spanning many different genres and interests.
Get a free 7-day trial when you first sign up!
Oh, you can also bundle Disney+ with Hulu and ESPN+ for an extra $6.
9. Vudu
Vudu is a rental and on-demand streaming service owned by Walmart.
There’s no subscription, so you just pay for movies and shows that you watch.
Most of the time Vudu has the latest content for you. It offers a lot of free shows supported by ads, but most of the new and most popular movies start at $14.99 to purchase. Older movies can cost as little as $3.99.
You can also rent them starting at $1.99 to $5.99 for 30 days.
10. YouTube
Well, everyone knows YouTube for hosting thousands of viral videos. But it’s also a great place where you can learn a wide range of different things, including recipes, DIY projects, workouts, gardening, and more.
You can even find many classic movies there too, which makes it an amazing free alternative to cable TV.
There’s also a YouTube Premium plan that includes original movies and series which costs $11.99 per month.
It also has a 30-day free trial.
11. YouTube TV
Unlike the free video app, YouTube TV is more like traditional cable alternatives. It lets you stream your favorite channels, more than 70 of them, including ESPN, AMC, CNN, Food Network, Fox Sports, ABC, CBS, Fox, and more!
Another benefit is that you can share it with up to 6 YouTube accounts. And watch on up to 3 screens at a time.
You can also record as many shows as you want to for later— there’s no storage limit — and recordings are kept for up to nine months.
YouTube TV costs $49.99/month for 1 membership. Oh, and you can try it out for free.
12. The Library
That’s crazy but your local library can offer you a large variety of shows and movies for free including even new releases and complete series. Which makes it one of the best cable alternatives out there.
If you check out your local library’s website, you’ll probably find information on digital rentals and other free perks they might offer!
13. Go straight to the channel’s official website
Sometimes, for some channels, you can go straight to their website and watch a TV show or the latest episode of your series for free. All you need is the internet.
You can check out how to get free or cheap internet services.
14. Do something else!
There are a ton of different things you can do instead of watching TV or scrolling through social media.
Did you know that an average person watches over 28 hours of TV a week? That’s over 8 weeks a year that we could be spending on something else, working towards accomplishing our goals, and more.
I have a great article that can give you different ideas such as:
- Doing yoga
- Learning a new language
- Taking care of your plants
- Turning your passion into a full-time job, so you can leave the job you hate.
- Planning your meals
- Reading a book
- Camping
- Fishing
- Starting a blog and more!
How much money can you save by cutting the cord and finding cable alternatives to it?
The average estimated cost for pay-TV service is around $103 per month. So you can potentially save $1,236 a year.
If you use one of the cable alternatives let’s say, Netflix, then by using its Standard plan for $12.99/month where you can watch movies on up to two screens with HD picture quality, you will save around $1,081 a year.
How amazing is that?
Or if you use a digital antenna, this one, for example, costs less than $30. You will be able to save even more since it’s not a monthly subscription plan.
If you’re trying to change your lifestyle or save money, cutting the cord and finding cable alternatives is a great idea that will help you get results faster!
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Alrighty, here I listed 14 affordable cable alternatives to save money this year!
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I hope you enjoyed it 🙂
Now it’s your turn: Are you considering cutting the cord? What great cable alternatives would you recommend?
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I love cable alternatives! We have never paid for cable in the 6 years my husband and I have been married!
That’s great! We haven’t been paying for cable either, it is cheaper to use cable alternatives for sure 🙂