YouTube TV vs Hulu Live TV Channels Comparison: Best Base Plan?

YouTube TV provides access to more than 100 live TV channels while a Hulu Live TV subscription unlocks more than 95. If the quantity of channels matters the most then this is an instant win for YouTube TV. Of course, things are never quite that simple when it comes to picking the right live TV plan.

Considering YouTube TV and Hulu Live TV are two of the most popular live TV streaming services in the US, either is likely to be a good option to sign up to. However, they are both also fairly expensive subscriptions with YouTube TV’s base plan priced at $72.99 per month and Hulu Live TV’s at $76.99 per month.

When it comes to choosing between them, the monthly price can only help so much considering both services are similarly priced. That said, Hulu Live TV does include access to both Disney+ and ESPN+, which may make a difference to some homes.

If the additional subscriptions are not enough to sway your decision, then it might be worth taking a closer look at the channel lineups. While there is some significant overlap in the channels department, there are enough differences as well.

YouTube TV & Hulu Live TV Channels Comparison

YouTube TV comes with more channels (100+) than Hulu Live TV (95+) although the exact number you’ll get will vary depending on location and access to local and regional channels.

Base Plans Compared

Below is a comparison of all of the base channels that all subscribers get with each service, excluding local differences.

As mentioned, YouTube TV provides access to a greater selection of channels overall. However, it is missing some that Hulu Live TV has, and they may prove to be important to some users.

Most notably, YouTube TV is missing A&E, the History channel, and Lifetime, and all of these popular channels are included with Hulu’s base subscription.

Conversely, choosing the base Hulu Live plan will result in missing channels elsewhere, including AMC, BBC, Hallmark Drama, MTV2, and Nicktoons, among others.

Hulu Entertainment Add-On

It is worth noting that Hulu does offer an Entertainment add-on which does include many of the missing YouTube TV channels.

Hulu Entertainment add-on channels:

• American Heroes Channel
• BET Her
• Boomerang Channel
• CNBC World
• Cooking Channel
• Crime + Investigation
• Destination America
• Discovery Family
• Discovery Life
• Hallmark Drama
• Military History Channel
• Nicktoons
• MTV2
• MTV Classic
• Science
• TeenNick

However, Hulu’s Entertainment channel pack costs an additional $7.99 per month, taking the total to $84.98 for the add-on and the base plan, and that’s $12 more than YouTube TV’s base plan.

YouTube TV And Hulu Sports Add-Ons

One of the main reasons to consider signing up to a live TV package is access to live sports. While both YouTube TV and Hulu include a variety of sports channels in their base plans, they also both offer a sports add-on.

YouTube TV’s Sports Plus costs $10.99 per month and adds more than 10 sports channels. Hulu Live TV’s Sports Add-on costs $9.99 per month and adds more then 5 sports channels.

YouTube TV is also now the home of NFL Sunday Ticket which is available as another add-on. While beneficial to YouTube TV members, a YouTube TV subscription is not necessary as Sunday Ticket is also available as a standalone Primetime Channels subscription through YouTube.

YouTube TV and Hulu Spanish Add-Ons

Similar to sports, both live TV services also offer a Spanish add-on that adds a number of Spanish-language channels.

YouTube TV’s Spanish Plus costs $14.99 per month and adds more than 25 channels. Hulu’s Spanish add-on costs $4.99 per month and adds eight channels.

YouTube TV And Hulu Premium Channels

Both YouTube TV and Hulu Live also offer the option to add a number of premium channels to the base subscription. These channels cost an additional amount per month, and vary depending on the network.

Channels Comparison Recap

If the sheer number of channels matters the most to an individual or household, then YouTube TV is likely to be the better option. Not only does YouTube TV’s base plan come with more channels (100+ versus 95+), but it also offers more sports and Spanish channels through add-ons. It also offers more premium network add-ons as well.

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$73/mo

• 100+ channels
• 3 streams
• Unlimited DVR

Deal: Pay $65/mo for first 4 months

7 day Free Trial

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On the other hand, a base Hulu Live TV subscription comes bundled with a basic Hulu, Disney+ and ESPN+ as well. Homes thar are already signed up to any of these subscriptions may find they save on their overall monthly streaming costs by subscribing to Hulu Live TV.

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$77/mo

• 95+ channels
• Basic Hulu
• Disney+
• ESPN+

3 day Free Trial

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While YouTube TV and Hulu Live TV are both good services, and offer well-balanced channel lineups, they are not the only options. Some homes may find that one of the other live TV streaming services offer a more suitable selection of channels, a cheaper monthly price, or both.