The average cable bill in the US has crossed $100 a month — and for many households with premium packages, sports add-ons, and equipment rental fees, it’s closer to $150-200.
That’s $1,200-2,400 a year for television.
The case for cutting the cord has never been stronger. Streaming has matured to the point where the content gap between cable and alternatives is effectively closed for most viewers. Live TV streaming services cover sports and news. Free over-the-air channels cover local content. On-demand streaming covers everything else.
And the total cost of a well-assembled streaming setup is typically $30-60 a month — less than half what most cable subscribers pay, often a quarter.
This guide covers exactly how to cut the cord in 2027, what you actually need, and how to build a streaming setup that covers everything you currently watch at a fraction of the price.
This fits directly into the broader bill-cutting strategies from our how to cut your monthly bills guide and the subscription audit approach — cable is the biggest single subscription most households have, and cutting it produces the most immediate saving of any subscription change.
Step 1: Audit What You Actually Watch
Before cancelling anything, spend one week paying attention to what you actually watch on cable — not what you theoretically might watch, but what you actually turn on.
Most cable subscribers watch a handful of channels consistently and pay for 200+ channels they never touch. Knowing which channels and content types you actually use tells you exactly what you need to replace.
Ask yourself:
- Which specific channels do I watch regularly?
- Do I watch live sports? Which sports, which leagues?
- Do I watch local news and network TV?
- What shows am I currently following?
- Does anyone in my household have specific content requirements?
Be honest. Most households discover their actual viewing is concentrated in 5-10 channels — and most of those are available through streaming at far lower cost.
Step 2: Get a Digital Antenna for Free Local TV
This is the most underused cord-cutting tool and the first thing to set up.
A digital antenna receives free over-the-air (OTA) broadcasts — the same local channels that cable carries as part of your package (ABC, NBC, CBS, FOX, PBS, and local affiliates) but completely free, forever, with no subscription required.
What you get for free:
- Local news
- Network shows (the major broadcast networks)
- Sports broadcast on network TV (NFL games on FOX/CBS/NBC, major college games, some NBA)
- PBS programming
- Local weather
Antenna cost: $20-50 one-time. A flat indoor antenna works for most urban and suburban locations. Rural areas may need an amplified or outdoor antenna.
How to set it up: Plug the antenna into the coaxial input on your TV, run a channel scan in your TV’s settings, and you’re done. In most metropolitan areas you’ll receive 20-40 channels immediately.
Check antennaweb.org or rabbitears.info to see which channels are available from your address before buying.
THRIFTY HABIT #74 Buy an antenna and set it up before cancelling cable. Confirming that local channels come in clearly — and that the picture quality is actually better than cable (OTA is uncompressed HD, cable compresses the signal) — removes any hesitation about losing access to local content.
Step 3: Understand Your Streaming Options
The streaming landscape in 2026 falls into four categories. Understanding each helps you build the right combination for your household.
Category 1: On-Demand Subscription Services
These are the familiar streaming services — you pay monthly and watch their library on demand.
| Service | Monthly Cost | Best For |
|---|---|---|
| Netflix | $7 – $23 (ad-supported to premium) | Largest library, original content |
| Hulu | $8 – $18 (ad-supported to ad-free) | Current season TV, good originals |
| Disney+ | $8 – $14 | Disney, Marvel, Star Wars, Pixar, NatGeo |
| HBO Max (Max) | $10 – $16 | Premium HBO content, Warner Bros films |
| Apple TV+ | $10 | High quality originals, smaller library |
| Peacock | $6 – $14 | NBC content, some live sports |
| Paramount+ | $6 – $13 | CBS content, NFL, some originals |
| Amazon Prime Video | Included with Prime | Large library, originals |
The cord-cutting approach: Don’t subscribe to all of these simultaneously. Use the rotation strategy from our subscription audit guide — subscribe to one or two, watch through your queue, cancel, switch to the next. You access all the content over time at the cost of one or two services at any given moment.
Category 2: Free Ad-Supported Streaming (FAST)
These services are completely free — supported by ads, like traditional TV.
| Service | What It Offers |
|---|---|
| Tubi | Huge library of movies and TV, completely free |
| Pluto TV | Live channels + on-demand, completely free |
| Peacock (free tier) | Limited content, NBC shows |
| Crackle | Movies and originals, free |
| The Roku Channel | Movies, TV, live channels, free |
| Plex | Movies, TV, news, free with sign-up |
These services are genuinely underused by cord-cutters. Tubi alone has thousands of movies and TV shows — more than most people can watch — at zero cost. Adding two or three FAST services to your setup provides significant content depth without any subscription cost.
Category 3: Live TV Streaming Services
These replace the live TV component of cable — they stream live channels over the internet, including sports, news, and network TV, without a cable or satellite contract.
| Service | Monthly Cost | Channels | Best For |
|---|---|---|---|
| YouTube TV | $73 | 100+ | Best overall, unlimited DVR |
| Hulu + Live TV | $83 | 95+ | Bundled with Disney+ and ESPN+ |
| DirecTV Stream | $65 – $155 | 75 – 150+ | Regional sports networks |
| FuboTV | $80 – $100 | 185+ | Sports-focused households |
| Sling TV | $40 – $55 | 30 – 50 | Budget live TV, flexible packages |
| Philo | $28 | 70+ | Entertainment only, no sports/news |
Important note: Live TV streaming services cost $40-83+ per month. For households who primarily want on-demand content, these aren’t necessary. For households who need live sports or live news beyond what the antenna provides, one of these replaces cable’s core function at a lower price.
Category 4: Sports-Specific Streaming
Sports is the most common reason people hesitate to cut the cord. Here’s what’s available:
| League/Sport | Streaming Option | Cost |
|---|---|---|
| NFL | NFL+ (mobile), games on network TV (free via antenna), YouTube TV/Hulu Live | $7/mo or via antenna |
| NBA | NBA League Pass | $15 – $30/mo |
| MLB | MLB.TV | $25/mo in season |
| NHL | ESPN+, Hulu | Included in ESPN+ bundle |
| College sports | ESPN+, Peacock | $11/mo |
| Soccer/International | Peacock, Paramount+, Apple TV+ (MLS) | Varies |
For many sports fans, a combination of an antenna (free network sports) plus one sports-specific service covers most of their viewing at a fraction of cable’s sports package cost.
Step 4: Build Your Cord-Cutting Setup
Based on your viewing audit from Step 1, here’s how to build the right combination:
For the Casual Viewer (Mostly On-Demand, No Live Sports)
- Digital antenna → free
- One rotating subscription (Netflix → Hulu → etc.) → $8-16/month
- Tubi + Pluto TV (free) → free
- Total: $8-16/month vs $100-150 for cable
For the Entertainment Household (On-Demand + Some Live TV)
- Digital antenna → free
- Sling TV (basic live TV) → $40/month
- One on-demand subscription → $8-16/month
- Total: $48-56/month vs $100-150 for cable
For the Sports Household
- Digital antenna (network sports free) → free
- YouTube TV (live sports + channels) → $73/month
- One on-demand subscription → $8-16/month
- Total: $81-89/month vs $150-200 for cable with sports packages
For the Budget-Focused Household
- Digital antenna → free
- Tubi + Pluto TV + Plex (all free) → free
- Rotate one paid subscription every 2-3 months → $8-16/month averaged
- Total: $8-16/month — near-total cable replacement for almost nothing
THRIFTY HABIT #75 Start your cord-cutting with the free options — antenna plus FAST services — for one month before adding any paid subscriptions. Most households discover they have plenty to watch for free and can keep their paid subscription spending much lower than they expected.
Step 5: The Equipment You Need
A Smart TV or Streaming Device
Most modern TVs are smart TVs with streaming apps built in. If yours is, you may already have everything you need.
If your TV isn’t smart or you want a better streaming experience, a dedicated streaming device is inexpensive and significantly better than most built-in smart TV interfaces:
| Device | Cost | Best For |
|---|---|---|
| Roku Express | $30 | Budget pick, simple interface, all major apps |
| Amazon Fire TV Stick | $30 – $50 | Amazon ecosystem users |
| Apple TV 4K | $130 | Apple ecosystem, best picture quality |
| Google Chromecast with Google TV | $50 | Google ecosystem, good interface |
| Roku Streaming Stick+ | $50 | Best mid-range Roku, 4K HDR |
For most cord-cutters, a $30-50 Roku or Fire Stick is all that’s needed. Buy one, plug it into any HDMI port, and every streaming service is available immediately.
A Digital Antenna
As covered in Step 2 — $20-50 one-time, placed near a window for best reception.
Sufficient Internet Speed
Streaming requires adequate internet bandwidth. General guidelines:
- SD streaming: 3 Mbps per stream
- HD streaming: 5-8 Mbps per stream
- 4K streaming: 25 Mbps per stream
For a household streaming on two screens simultaneously in HD, 25-30 Mbps is sufficient. Most home internet plans comfortably exceed this — though if you’re currently bundled with cable internet, cancelling cable may require renegotiating your standalone internet rate.
THRIFTY HABIT #76 When cancelling cable, negotiate your standalone internet rate at the same time. Carriers often raise internet prices for customers who drop the bundle. Call the retention department (as covered in our negotiate your phone bill guide — same approach applies here) and ask for their best standalone internet rate before accepting whatever they quote you first.
How to Actually Cancel Cable
If You Own Your Equipment
Call your provider, tell them you want to cancel cable service, and return any rented equipment (cable boxes, remotes) to avoid continued rental charges. Keep your internet service if you’re happy with the provider and rate.
If You’re Under Contract
Check your contract for early termination fees (ETFs). Calculate whether the remaining ETF cost is less than the savings from cutting the cord for the remaining contract period. If you have three months left at a $150 ETF, but cutting cable saves $80/month, the math is roughly neutral — but you start saving $80/month from month four onward.
The Retention Call
Expect a retention attempt when you call to cancel. The cable company will offer discounts, promotional rates, and package changes to keep you.
Evaluate these honestly: if they offer cable for $40/month for 12 months, that’s competitive with a live TV streaming service. The questions are whether the promotional rate will skyrocket at month 13 (it will) and whether you’re willing to go through this process again in a year (probably not).
If you’re genuinely cutting the cord, be firm. “I’m moving to streaming — I’d like to cancel cable service and keep internet only.” Don’t be swayed by a promotional offer that just delays the decision.
What You Might Miss (And How to Handle It)
Local Sports Blackouts
Some local sports games are blacked out on streaming services due to regional broadcasting agreements. A digital antenna often solves this — many locally blacked-out games are broadcast on local network affiliates that the antenna picks up for free.
DVR Functionality
YouTube TV includes unlimited cloud DVR at no extra cost — one of its strongest features. Other live TV services include DVR with storage limits. For on-demand services, this isn’t relevant since you watch when you want.
Specific Cable Channels
Some niche cable channels aren’t available on streaming — home shopping networks, some regional news channels, very specialized content. For most viewers these aren’t missed. If there’s a specific channel you need, check whether it’s available on any streaming service before cancelling.
Ease of One Bill
Cable bundles everything into one bill. Streaming means managing multiple services. The subscription audit system and a simple tracking list handle this without much effort.
The Real Numbers
| Setup | Monthly Cost | Annual Cost | vs Cable ($130/mo) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Antenna only | $0 + $30-50 one-time | $0 | Save $1,560/year |
| Antenna + free streaming | $0 + $30-50 one-time | $0 | Save $1,560/year |
| Antenna + one paid service | $8 – $16 | $96 – $192 | Save $1,368-1,464/year |
| Antenna + Sling + one paid | $48 – $56 | $576 – $672 | Save $888-984/year |
| Antenna + YouTube TV + one paid | $81 – $89 | $972 – $1,068 | Save $492-588/year |
Even the most expensive cord-cutting setup — YouTube TV plus a paid subscription — saves $40-50 a month compared to a typical cable bill. The minimal setup saves over $1,500 a year.
Combined with the phone bill negotiation from our negotiate your phone bill guide, the subscription management from our subscription audit article, and the broader bill-cutting approach from cut your monthly bills, eliminating cable is one of the most impactful single financial decisions a household can make.
Getting Started This Weekend
- Buy a digital antenna ($20-50) and set it up — confirm what you get for free
- Sign up for Tubi and Pluto TV — free, takes five minutes, see how much content is already available at zero cost
- Call your cable provider and ask for their best retention offer — you might be surprised what they’ll do to keep you before you commit to leaving
- Cancel cable if the numbers make sense — keep internet only
- Add one paid subscription if needed based on what your antenna and free services don’t cover
The whole transition takes a weekend. The saving starts immediately on your next bill.
Have you already cut the cord — and what streaming setup are you running? Or are you still on the fence? Drop it in the comments!
