At the start of the pandemic, over a fresh piece of avocado toast and a $5 latte, I officially punched another hole on my Millennial Card by cutting the cord to my cable services. With no live events and no appetite for the news, it was the necessary nudge toward a move that was a long time coming. But after a few months, as sports returned and the political/social climate necessitated local news, I began to yearn for the cable watching days of yore. Thus began my adventures in cutting the cord and finding streaming alternatives.

After cutting the cord in March, I held out for a couple months without the standard television entertainment. But upon reaching the end of the Netflix programming universe a few months later—or at least going as far as I was willing to go—it was time. I needed some sort of streaming cable plan.  

Plan A – YouTube TV for $50/month

Enter YouTube TV, by most accounts the best of the available streaming options. The user interface was friendly enough and the channel options were plentiful, allowing me to indulge on some obscure sports as background noise during the work day. I got way too into golf and the Premier League and was rather enjoying the cord cutting experience. That is, until YouTube TV hiked its rate by $15/month.

At $65/month, this simply felt like too steep a price to pay for mindless entertainment. After two months, I cut the invisible cord with YouTube TV, on principle alone if nothing else.

Plan B – Hulu TV for $55/month

Hulu TV is universally regarded as the runner-up to YouTube TV in terms of overall quality, but it had the edge thanks to an extra $10 off the monthly bill. Plus, you got access to regular old Hulu, which is far superior to YouTube’s exclusive content. The channel lineups differ slight, but not drastically enough to matter for me. But all good things must come to an end. Hulu equaled YouTube’s $65/month offering shortly thereafter.

Beyond that, there are a few other options out there left to exhaust. By all accounts, AT&T TV Now and FuboTV are in the same ballpark as the likes of YouTube TV and Hulu. I still prefer YouTube TV’s listings to Hulu’s, but neither are great options at $65

Plan C – Sling TV for $30/month

After trying Hulu for a month, I still didn’t want to pony up more than $50/month on cable. I managed another month or so in the cable-less abyss, but more familiar programming returned to the airwaves and it became time to find another alternative. Sling TV is easily the most affordable option for a sports-inclined viewer (the Orange package), though their channel listings are far from extensive. For my purposes, it will sufficed. One issue, though, is the lack of local over-the-air broadcast networks, the familiar ABC, NBC, CBS, FOX quartet among them. This, too, has jumped in price, though only to $35/month.

You kind of get what you pay for with Sling. Their streams tend to inexplicably stop at inopportune times, and the streaming quality is the worst that I’ve experienced. Still, they have those 4-5 channels that are essential to my cable viewing habits.

Plan D – Locast $5.50/month

There are reasonably priced antenna options available on Amazon, but I was delighted to learn of Locast.org, which is available in 22 markets and fits my new Chromecasting lifestyle. For a $5.50 monthly donation, you get access to The Big Four in addition to PBS and a bunch of fairly worthless channels. The donation is essentially required, unless you enjoy frequent interruptions to your programming, nagging you to make said donations. In theory, it’s possible to watch for free, but the donation will be worth your while.

You can combine this with Sling or another service that does not include your local over-the-air programming. Or just buy an antenna.

Plans E-Z – Any better options?

It’s still a brave new world for me as a late entry into the cord cutter club. Though it’s far from perfect, it’s liberating to be free from Big Cable as a new entrant to the streaming society. This freedom comes with one major caveat. The internet I’m streaming on is provided by the very same Big Cable company whose services I’ve reduced. There’s simply no escape.

Have any of you recently cut the cord? If I’m missing an alternative solution (other than to stop watching TV entirely), I’m all ears. In between options, I’ve exhausted free trials at all the above services with various email addresses to buy myself some time. Not a long-term solution, but a nice way to nickel and dime the nickelodeons.

In any case, safe channel surfing to all!