If you have Xfinity TV in your area, you may need to take another look at how you’re watching live TV. Depending on the type of live TV streaming service you watch, cord-cutting may not save you as much money as you think. Before last year, consumers could save a lot of money cutting the cord, mainly due to savings on cable box fees. Xfinity changed that in 2022 by allowing their cable subscribers to stream every live broadcast channel and cable channel on their cable package with the Xfinity Stream app. Xfinity TV customers can simply download the Xfinity Stream app to their Fire TV, Roku, Apple TV, or Chromecast device and watch TV without renting a single cable box. In this article, I’ll cover how that impacts cord-cutters based on different TV-viewing habits and the best way to save money on live TV if you live in an area with Xfinity services.
The True Cost of Xfinity TV and Internet
Before we can figure out if a live TV service will save you money, we need to see what the true cost of Xfinity will be. We all know the games cable TV companies play with contracts and discounts to deliver that shocking bill once you get a few years into your contract. I’ve researched and laid out all these tricks and gimmicks in the tables below.
Xfinity Popular TV and Fast Internet
The base price of Xfinity’s middle-tier TV service (called “Popular” ) is $70 per month, while Xfinity’s 400 Mbps internet service (Called Xfinity Fast) has a base price of $102. If you bundle them, they will discount your monthly service by $52 for two years. They will also give you a $20 multiple products discount and a $10 discount for paperless billing. However, my area has a $21.70 broadcast fee and a $12.45 regional sports fee. (These fee values may vary slightly from region to region). All this locks you into a 24-month contract with the price jump coming in year 3. You can see in the table below that your monthly cost of $124.15 (plus sales tax) jumps to $176.15 in your 3rd year. These numbers account for all hidden fees. The only difference will be your local sales tax on the service.
| Years 1 and 2 | Year 3+ | |
|---|---|---|
| Popular TV Base Price | $70.00 | $70.00 |
| Broadcast Fee | $21.70 | $21.70 |
| RSN Fee | $12.45 | $12.45 |
| Internet 400 Base Price | $102.00 | $102.00 |
| Term Discount | -$52.00 | $0.00 |
| MultiProd Discount | -$20.00 | -$20.00 |
| Paperless | -$10.00 | -$10.00 |
| COST PER MONTH | $124.15 | $176.15 |
What Does Internet Only Cost
There are a few TV Streaming services on the market. However, before we can use one, we will need internet access. Many cord-cutters will still need Xfinity for internet access since they are the only game in town in a large portion of their service areas. Some will have other options, and this factor will influence your money-saving possibilities. First, look at the cost of Xfinity 400 Mbps “Fast” service.
Xfinity Fast Internet Service
The contract terms for just purchasing Internet from Xfinity still lock you into a 2-year contract, but they only provide a $62.00 contract discount for the first year, causing a big jump in price in year two and beyond. The table below shows the numbers.
| Year 1 | Year 2+ | |
|---|---|---|
| Internet 400 Base Price | $102.00 | $102.00 |
| Term Discount | -$62.00 | $0.00 |
| Paperless | -$10.00 | -$10.00 |
| COST PER MONTH | $30.00 | $92.00 |
How This Affects Your TV Streaming Service Savings
To figure out how much we save with different streaming services, we need to consider the difference between bundling Xfinity TV with Internet and subscribing to an Internet-only plan. This will give you an idea of what you can spend on a live TV service and still save money. Be warned; the numbers aren’t great.
| Year | Xfinity TV+Internet | Just Xfinity Internet | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Year 1 | $124.15 | $30.00 | $94.15 |
| Year 2 | $124.15 | $92.00 | $32.15 |
| Year 3+ | $176.15 | $92.00 | $84.15 |
When we crunch the numbers, we see that in year 1, we have $94 to spend on a streaming service, which provides us with many money-savings options like DIRECTV STREAM, Hulu Live TV, FuboTV, YouTube TV, and Sling TV. However, we are locked into a two-year contract, and in year 2, we only realize a savings of just over $32 in year 2. Once the TV+Internet contract discount expires in year 3, our internet-only savings jumps up to $84.15.
Keep in mind, these numbers are if Xfinity is your only option for internet access. In a sizeable portion of Xfinity’s market. Verizon offers Fios internet plans that don’t expire the promotional price to create this shocking bill. Instead, they offer a price guarantee for a set number of years, but once the time expires, you only get a price increase if the price for new customers is higher than you are currently paying. Right now, you can get a 300 Mbps internet plan for around $50 per month with no surprises. You can check here for availability in your area.
If you have alternatives to Xfinity Internet, like Fios, in your area, this greatly increases your savings opportunities when moving to live TV services, as shown in the table below.
| Year | Xfinity TV+Internet | Fios Internet | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Year 1 | $124.15 | $50.00 | $74.15 |
| Year 2 | $124.15 | $50.00 | $74.15 |
| Year 3+ | $176.15 | $50.00 | $126.15 |
While you save a little less at $74.15 in year 1, that is also the savings in year 2. That is double what you would save if Xfinity was your only option. Furthermore, you realize large monthly savings of $126.15 in year 3 and beyond. Now let’s look at how all these numbers factor into your decision on cutting the cord.
Xfinity Vs. Live TV Streaming Services
Now we will take this data and compare it to reasonable solutions for replacing Xfinity. I’ll look at both situations where Xfinity is your only option for internet access and those where people have more options.
When Xfinity Internet is Your Only Option
Unfortunately, having only 1 option for the internet is going to also limit your potential savings from cutting the cord. If you refer to Table 3 above, you see that breaking the bundle and just subscribing to Xfinity Internet saves you $94.15 in year 1, $32.15 in year 2, and $84.15 in year 3 and beyond. We can ignore inflation since it affects both TV and Internet plans, thus canceling itself out.
If we take these numbers, in the first 3 years, we will only have an average of $70.15 per month to spend on a live TV service. The average slightly increases the longer you keep internet only, but your savings are capped. For example, if you kept Xfinity Internet for 20 years, the average savings over that time vs having TV+internet would be $82.05 per month.
This leaves little in way of savings when we still need to pick up a live-streaming service. I would rule our fuboTV because the meager savings isn’t going to outway FuboTV’s channel deficit compared to Xfinity’s “Popular” lineup. I’d rule of Vidgo for the same reason. I’ll cover the pros and cons of various Xfinity streaming alternatives in a bit, but I don’t see many opportunities for savings outside of using a TV antenna and getting a service like Philo or Sling TV.
I can see a case of going with Hulu Live TV due to the service including Disney+, ESPN+ and Hulu’s Streaming Library, but you won’t be saving that much. You could save a little money with YouTube TV, and there may be a few reasons to use DIRECTV STREAM. I’ll cover all this in a bit. First, let’s look at what you can save when you have a few options for Internet Access.
When You Have More Than One Option For Internet
If you have an alternative Internet Provider in your area like Fios (check here for availability), your ability to save money with live TV streaming services increases. By using a provider like Fios that doesn’t play the promo pricing game, or by just switching services to get the best price, you should be able to keep your internet costs down to about $50 a month. This will provide an average monthly saving of $91.48 over your first 3 years compared to Xfinity’s TV and Internet Bundle. Furthermore, your savings creep up a few dollars every year. After 10 years, you’re averaging a monthly savings of over $115 with this internet-only strategy. This will allow you to choose just about any live-streaming service and still save money. With that said let’s dig into the pros and cons of each service.
Hulu Live TV Vs. Xfinity TV
If you are forced to use Xfinity Internet, then you won’t save that much with Hulu Live TV. Hulu Live TV starts at $69.99 so you’re only saving a few pennies in the first three years, with savings increasing gradually every year to where you are saving an average of $10 per month if you stick with this setup for 10 years. Now if you have another affordable option for an Internet provider, you can save over $50 per month by going with Hulu Live TV. However, regardless of the savings, I think there are a lot of value reasons to choose Hulu Live TV over Xfinity
Reasons To Pick Hulu Live TV
- On-Demand – That $69.99 per month price provides you with Hulu’s vast on-demand libraries of Network shows and Hulu originals. It also provides you with a subscription to Disney+ and ESPN+. This reason alone is enough for me to choose Hulu Live TV.
- Cloud DVR – Hulu provides Unlimited cloud DVR storage. Xfinity Stream’s cloud DVR only comes with 20 hours. If you want more storage, you have to pay an extra $10 per month for 150 hours and an extra $20 per month for 300 hours
Reasons To Pick Xfinity TV
- More Streams – Xfinity Stream allows you to stream on 5 devices at once in the home, and 3 outside. Hulu Live TV only allows 2 streams at once. Hulu will allow you to upgrade to unlimited screens at an additional cost of $14.99 per month.
- Regional Sports – This depends on where you live. Hulu Live TV only carries NBC Sports Bay Area, NBC Sports Boston, NBC Sports California, NBC Sports Chicago, NBC Sports Northwest, NBC Sports Philadelphia, NBC Sports Washington, and SportsNet NY. Xfinity carries all the major regional sports networks.
You can sign up for Hulu Live TV on Hulu’s Website. See our review of Hulu Live TV for full details.
DIRECTV STREAM vs. Xfinity TV
The monthly price of DIRECTV STREAM starts at $74.99 per month, which means you would need to stick with Xfinity Internet and DIRECTV STREAM for 5 years before you start to see any savings at all. However, if you so have an affordable internet provider, then you can save over $30 per month with DIRECTV Stream.
The channel offerings of both services are very similar. You can even pick up nearly all the Regional Sports Networks on Xfinity TV by upgrading the DIRECTV STREAM “Choice” plan for $99.99 per month. But if you do that, you are taking a big chunk of the money you save by going with DIRECTV STREAM. That said, there are a few reasons to go with DIRECTV STREAM
Reasons to Choose DIRECTV STREAM
- Cloud DVR – DIRECTV STREAM provides Unlimited cloud DVR storage. Xfinity Stream’s cloud DVR only comes with 20 hours. If you want more storage, you have to pay an extra $10 per month for 150 hours and an extra $20 per month for 300 hours
- Unlimited Streams – DIRECTV STREAM allows unlimited you to stream to unlimited devices simultaneously inside the home and up to 3 outside the home. Xfinity Stream allows you to stream on 5 devices simultaneously in the home and 3 outside.
Reasons To Pick Xfinity TV
- Lack of Internet Options – You can’t realize enough savings with DIRECTV STREAM if you can’t find more affordable internet access than Xfinity offers
You can check out DIRECTV STREAM with this 5-day free trial or read about it in our DIRECTV STREAM review.
YouTube TV vs. Xfinity TV
Below is a brief summary of this comparison. See our full comparison of YouTube TV and Xfinity TV for a more in-depth analysis.
YouTube TV provides a very good option for saving money with it costing $72.99 per month. This allows you to save around $15 per month if you have Xfinity Internet and around $55 per month if you can find a more affordable internet provider. The comparison is similar to Hulu Live TV, but you are trading Hulu’s on-demand for a little extra savings each month.
Reasons to Pick YouTube TV
- Cloud DVR – YouTube TV provides Unlimited cloud DVR storage. Xfinity Stream’s cloud DVR only comes with 20 hours. If you want more storage, you have to pay an extra $10 per month for 150 hours and an extra $20 per month for 300 hours
Reasons To Pick Xfinity TV
- More Streams – Xfinity Stream allows you to stream on 5 devices at once in the home and 3 outside. YouTube only allows 3 streams at once. YouTube will allow you to upgrade to unlimited screens at an additional cost of $19.99 per month with the YouTube TV 4K upgrade.
- Regional Sports – This depends on where you live. YouTube TV only carries NBC Sports Bay Area, NBC Sports Boston, NBC Sports California, NBC Sports Chicago, NBC Sports Northwest, NBC Sports Philadelphia, NBC Sports Washington, and SportsNet NY. Xfinity carries all the major regional sports networks.
YouTube TV offers a 1-week free trial. See our review of YouTube TV for more details.
How To Save The Most With Live TV Streaming Services
The way to realize the most savings is to get yourself a TV antenna to watch local broadcast networks. To see if a TV antenna will work for you. Follow these steps:
- Use the digital TV reception page at the FCC (here is the link)
- Type in your zip code, and they will show a list of Networks in your area.
- If the essential TV networks are in Green or Yellow, then pick up one of these flat antennas for around $20. If it doesn’t work, Amazon let you send it back for a full refund
For a deeper dive, take a look at our guide to digital TV over the air. Now you don’t need to worry about streaming your local channels and subscribe to a more affordable live streaming service to get some other cable TV channels like Philo or Sling TV.
Philo TV only costs $25 per month and offers around 60 channels found on cable. They offer a free trial and there is no long-term contract. Check out these resources on Philo for more information on their service:
Sling TV costs $40 per month and offers a more robust channel package than Philo. They also offer a free trial. Check out these resources for more information on Sling TV:
- our comprehensive guide on Sling TV
- Sling offers numerous channel plans, and we dig into them in Sling TV channels explained
With pricing this low, you can save a decent amount of money even with Xfinity Internet. Using a TV antenna, and grabbing a more affordable live TV service is how you save the most money cutting the cord.
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