Xfinity is a cable provider widely available across the US and has inexpensive TV plans with excellent channel lineups. But beware of the pricey fees. YouTube TV streams your favorite channels wherever you’d like on almost every device, and you get an unlimited amount of DVR storage hours. But you’ll only get half the channels you could get with Xfinity. Before we get into the details, we’ll start by saying this epic battle was a close one, but YouTube TV won this one. Let us dive in to see which is the right choice for you. Xfinity TV gives you three choices to fit your budget and your watching needs. Comcast Xfinity has the best prices compared to our other favorite cable TV providers, but when compared to YouTube TV, the cable fees make a big difference. (Scroll down a little for more details.) With no contract requirement and a two-year price guarantee, this is a pretty sweet bundle. YouTube TV has only 85 channels in its lineup, but if you scroll down to the channels section, you might realize that’s all you need. Here’s an idea of how much you’ll need to budget for Xfinity fees: You’ll likely need a TV box for the living room ($9/month), an additional TV box for your bedroom ($9/month), 150-hour DVR storage ($10/month), news channels ($26/month), and sports channels ($11/month). We’re aiming high for the news and sports channels just in case, but you could be looking at paying up to $65 more per month. So we encourage you to double-check how much you’ll be paying in fees based on your location. While Xfinity could learn a thing or two from good ol’ YouTube, these fees aren’t necessarily outrageous in the cable TV world (as we’ve said before, Xfinity is still one of the best cable TV providers). And if you want to take a break without losing all of your Schitt’s Creek recordings, you can pause your YouTube TV membership for up to six months and come back to watch the sibling rivalry between David and Alexis. This cable TV provider nets you 125–185+ channels, so it’s a given that you’re going to find more of your favorite channels with Xfinity. Since YouTube TV only has 85 channels in its lineup, you won’t find channels like DIY Network or Tennis Channel (but maybe you’re not a DIY or Rafael Nadal fan). If you need more information, check out Xfinity’s and YouTube TV’s websites to see which channel lineup and price works best for you. PS: We assure you that both TV providers have your local channels, and if you scroll down a little, you’ll see the sports channels you’ll get front row seats to. We do recommend upgrading to the Ultimate TV package if you’re a fan of the most popular sports (NFL Network, MLB Network, and NBA TV), your spouse loves movie channels (FX Movie Channel), and your kids love cartoons (Nick Jr.). Xfinity TV also has your local channels (ABC, CBS, FOX, and NBC) in all of its packages, as does YouTube TV. Most of the prices are the same, but YouTube TV charges a little less for SHOWTIME and CINEMAX. YouTube TV also has an HBO Max, SHOWTIME, and STARZ bundle that will save you money if you enjoy Made for Love, Billions, and Black Sails. With YouTube TV, you get 13 sports channels among the 85 total channels and it’s the only live TV streaming service that gives you NFL Network and NBA TV for the price of $65. Also, starting the 2023 season, YouTube TV will be home to NFL SUNDAY TICKET. Xfinity’s Popular plan gives you only nine sports channels, but if you upgrade to Ultimate, you’ll get 22! You’ll get channels YouTube TV doesn’t have, like the Tennis Channel, MLB Network, NHL Network, and PAC-12 Network. Xfinity TV’s Popular TV plan has the following sports channels: Record every NBA game this season, every episode of Storage Wars, and every Anderson Cooper 360 episode if you’d like. And if you do, you’ll still have plenty of room to spare. With any cable TV provider, you have to expect to pay DVR service fees. Xfinity TV charges $7.50 per month for each set-top box and $0–$20 per month for the DVR service depending on how much storage you’d like. Although Xfinity’s X1 DVR only holds 150 HD hours, one upside to Xfinity’s DVR is that it stores your recordings indefinitely. Unlike with YouTube TV, you won’t have to worry about your recordings erasing after nine months. Either way, you’ll need to know which devices are compatible with the Xfinity Stream and YouTube TV apps. You can stream Xfinity TV on these streaming devices: Stream YouTube TV all day long on these streaming devices:
