One of the hottest battles in the streaming arena is YouTube TV vs Hulu (or, more precisely, Hulu With Live TV.)
In one corner we have YouTube TV, the live streaming service from Google. In the other corner is Hulu with Live TV, owned by Disney.
These two services have a big lead over their main rivals — Sling TV and FuboTV — in terms of subscribers and there's little doubt that the choice is going to be YouTube TV or Hulu for a while to come.
The good news is that you've got two great options here. So let's take a look at the two streaming services side by side.
YouTube TV vs Hulu — price
It used to be that when you pitched YouTube TV against Hulu With Live TV on price it was an even match. Both used to cost $64.99 a month, plus tax and both had a free trial period. Now though, there's clear water between them. The YouTube TV price is still $64.99 a month but Hulu With Live TV monthly cost has been bumped up to $69.99 and the Hulu free trial has gone (it's still available for the "plain" Hulu without live channels service though.)
Despite that, Hulu has a pretty big ace up its sleeve. A couple of them, actually. First is that along with the Hulu With Live TV subscription comes the entire on-demand catalog from Hulu. That means a world of movies and shows and it also means Hulu exclusives like The Handmaid's Tale, A Teacher and more. There's also FX on Hulu, which is where you'll find all of the FX network shows, as well as new FX on Hulu exclusives like Devs and Mrs. America.
The second is that if you pay for Hulu With Live TV you get ESPN Plus and Disney Plus as well — all for just $69.99 a month, as part of the Disney Bundle.Or $5 more than what you'd pay for YouTube TV service. That is a really good deal if you plan on watching sports on ESPN Plus or anything from the Marvel/Star Wars/Pixar libraries on Disney Plus.
So, yeah, it's YouTube TV vs. Hulu With Live TV on paper. But in reality, it's actually more than that.
YouTube TV vs Hulu With Live TV — channels
Both YouTube TV and Hulu have pretty healthy rosters of live channels. The usual caveats also apply to both — what you actually get will vary a little bit by market, and that's especially true for your local broadcast affiliates and regional sports networks. So you'll want to be sure to check which channels are actually available in your area.
But the broad strokes show a good bit of overlap between the two services on most of the major channels. The edges are where things start to differentiate.
YouTube TV has more channels overall, as well as more exclusive channels, from AMC and BBC America to The Young Turks and Universo.
Here's how they break down:
Channels shared by both YouTube TV and Hulu With Live TV: ABC, ABC News Live, ACC Network, Adult Swim, Animal Planet, BET, Bravo, BTN, Cartoon Network, CBS, CBS Sports Network, Cheddar News, CMT, CNBC, CNN, Comedy Central, Cozi TV, Dabl, Discovery Channel, Disney Channel, Disney Junior, Disney XD, E!, ESPN, ESPN2, ESPNews, ESPNU, Food Network, Fox, Fox Business, Fox News, Freeform, FS1, FS2, FX, FXM, FXX, Golf Channel, HGTV, HLN, ID, MotorTrend, MSNBC, MTV, Nat Geo, Nat Geo Wild, NBC, NBCSN, NewsNation, NFL Network, Nick Jr., Nickelodeon, Olympic Channel, Oxygen, Paramount Network, Pop, QVC, SEC Network, Smithsonian Channel, Start TV, SYFY, TBS, Telemundo, TLC, TNT, Travel Channel, TruTV, Turner Classic Movies, TV Land, Universal Kids, USA, VH1, WE TV
Channels only on Hulu With Live TV: A&E, Bloomberg TV, Boomerang, CNN International, Crime & Investigation, ESPN College Extra, FYI, History Channel, Lifetime, Lifetime Movies, Localish, Military History, NASA TV, Vice
Channels only YouTube TV: AMC, BBC America, BBC World News, BET Her, BTN Overflow, Comet TV, Court TV, Hallmark Channel, Hallmark Drama, IFC, MLB Game of the Week, MLB Network, MTV Classic, MTV2, NBA TV, NBC News Now, NBC Universo, NBCLX, Nicktoons, OWN, PBS, PBS Kids, Sundance TV, Teen Nick, TYT Network.
YouTube TV vs. Hulu — premium add-ons
The basic set of channels is just one way to look at YouTube TV vs. Hulu. But we also have to compare the various premium add-on services that are available. You have to pay extra for these — they're not included in the monthly subscription fee. But there's also no way to properly size up YouTube TV vs. Hulu without it.
Here's how they break down, including monthly fees:
Premium add-ons on Hulu: HBO Max ($14.99), Cinemax ($9.99), Showtime ($10.99), STARZ ($8.99), Español (CNN en Español, Discovery en Español, Discovery Familia, ESPN Deportes, Fox Deportes, History Channel en Español, NBC Universo for $4.99), Entertainment (American Heroes Channel, CNBC World, Cooking Channel, Crime + Investigation, Destination America, Discovery Family, Discovery Life, DIY, Great American Country, Military History Channel, Science for $7.99) , Sports (NFL RedZone, TVG, TVG2, Sportsman Channel, Outdoor Channel and MAV TV for $9.99)
Note that the Español and Entertainment add-ons are only available if you also have Hulu With Live TV. All others are available with the basic Hulu on-demand service.
Premium add-ons on YouTube TV: HBO Max ($14.99), NBA League Pass ($39.99/$124 a year), Sports Plus (includes NFL RedZone, Fox College Sports, GOLTV, Fox Soccer Plus, MAVTV Motorsports Network, TVG and Stadium for $10.99), Showtime ($11), STARZ ($9), Hallmark Movies Now ($5.99), Cinemax ($9.99), EPIX ($6), Curiosity Stream ($3), AMC Premiere ($5), Shudder ($6), Sundance Now ($7), ALLBLK ($5), Acorn TV ($6), HBO ($14.99)
YouTube TV also now has a bundle for $29.99 a month that includes HBO Max, Showtime and STARZ, saving you $5 a month.
YouTube TV vs. Hulu — what's different
YouTube TV has a couple of features available for free that Hulu makes you pay for. YouTube TV allows for unlimited DVR recording — that is, you can "save" just about anything for later playback, and save as much as you want. YouTube TV also now allows you watch on as many devices simultaneously as you want. No limits.
Hulu also has both of those things — unlimited screens and "enhanced cloud DVR," which gives you 200 hours of cloud-based storage. So not quite as much as "unlimited."
And while Hulu serves up some of its on-demand content in 4K resolution, it doesn't do anything live in 4K. YouTube TV now has a 4K Plus add-on option, which enables 4K viewing for available content, including some live programming (mostly sports); it also provides unlimited concurrent streams at home and the ability to view DVR recordings offline. The 4K Plus add-on costs $10 per month.
YouTube TV vs. Hulu — the devices
What good is a streaming service if you can't watch it anywhere, right? In that respect, it's basically a tie for YouTube TV vs. Hulu. They're both available on just about every platform available.
The two biggest traditional streaming platforms are Roku and Amazon Fire TV — and you can watch Hulu on both of them. Same goes for the two mobile platforms, iOS and Android. The Hulu and YouTube TV apps work just fine on both of them, too — and neither has any sort of special sauce that gives one a leg up over the other.
You'll also find Hulu and YouTube TV available on a number of smart TV platforms. (Hulu probably has the advantage here, because the on-demand service dwarfs both Hulu With Live TV and YouTube TV.) But if for some reason it's not available baked in as a full-fledged app, you can stream via Chromecast or AirPlay, which is definitely better than nothing.
YouTube vs. Hulu — the interfaces
This part is going to be a bit subjective.
Hulu's interface tends to be a little busier than YouTube TV. Both work real hard to put content they think you'll want to watch in front of you before you even realize you want to watch it. But Hulu goes a little further because it pushes entire networks (channels, really) and not just individual shows.
Both live guides tend to look like live guides. Hulu's is designed a little nicer, but YouTube TV's is easier to read. YouTube TV also has a couple of features with its guide that we like. The first (and most important) is the ability to set up a custom order with the channels on the live guide. You can put things in whatever order you want, which is an incredibly useful feature.
Second (and less important because it's kind of niche) is that YouTube TV gives you a live preview of what's on a channel at that particular time before you select it. It's a small but very cool feature that'll save you from spotting something you'd like to watch, only to click straight into a commercial. It works great on mobile devices and also on Apple TV.
YouTube TV vs. Hulu — which is better?
Boiling down which is better — YouTube TV vs. Hulu — is tough. Both are really good and are easy to use. Both have strong channel lineups.
YouTube TV has more optional premium add-ons and options are always good. But those cost extra money. Hulu With Live TV, meanwhile, comes with the full Hulu on-demand catalog and all the content that comes with it. (It's possible to subscribe without the on-demand part, but you're only going to save $1 a month that way, and that's just a silly trade-off.) Hulu With Live TV also comes bundled with ESPN Plus and Disney Plus, getting you loads more shows and movies for less money — and that's no small thing.
But — and this is the part that I think you need to pay the most attention to — YouTube TV and Hulu have different sets of channels. Yes, there's a good bit of overlap, but there also are a good number of channels that you can only get on one service or the other.
So you've got a decision to make. The good news? You can cancel one or the other anytime you want, without penalty and try the other.
So you almost can't go wrong either way.
