Sling Orange vs. Sling Blue: What’s the Difference?

Is Sling Orange or Sling Blue better?

How do you choose between Sling TV’s same-priced, color-coded live TV streaming plans? It depends on what you’re looking for: Blue gives you more channels and streams, but Orange carries a handful of gotta-have networks like ESPN and Disney. And neither is great for local programming, FYI.

Thanks to a plethora of add-on packages, you can customize Sling’s TV lineups like an ice cream sundae. Also, Sling Orange and Sling Blue can be swirled into a combo package cleverly named—wait for it—Sling Orange & Blue.

Ultimately, to get the most out of Sling TV, we recommend the Orange & Blue package. But, if we had to choose between the two (which, for the purpose of this review, we do), we’d go with Blue for the channel count and multiple streams.

✓ ESPN channels
✓ Disney and Freeform
✗ Only 1 stream allowed

✓ 10+ more channels than Orange
✓ 3 simultaneous streams
✗ Limited local channels based on location

Jump to:

• Deals and promotions
• Prices and plans
• Fees and extra charges
• Channels and add-ons
• Specs and features

Sling TV free trials and deals

Sling TV is all about them deals, which occasionally include a free trial. Check out our Sling TV deals guide to see the latest Sling deals and promotions.

How are Sling Orange and Sling Blue different?

The differences between Sling Blue and Sling Orange boil down to channels and simultaneous streams. Basically, with Sling Blue, you get more channels and more streams but no ESPN or Disney programming. Pick your poison, readers.

Data effective as of post date. Offers and availability may vary by location and are subject to change.

Apart from channel and stream counts, Sling Orange and Sling Blue are identical, right down to the price. At first glance, Blue looks like the better deal—but don’t sleep on Orange. There’s an argument or two about why it might work for some TV viewers like sports fans.

Not to mention that you can also combine the two plans to get a more complete channel lineup for only $55 per month or pile on custom add-ons for ten or twelve bucks each to get the exact channels you want.

That said, let’s take a closer look at all of Sling’s plans.

Sling TV prices and plans

Data effective as of post date. Offers and availability may vary by location and are subject to change.

Sling Orange and Sling Blue are like “skinny bundle” cable packages—neither probably has everything you want, but either gives you enough channels on the cheap to overlook it.

Sling Orange features fewer channels, but it does have non-Blue networks ESPN, Disney, and Freeform. Also, Orange carries zero local channels and only a couple of cable news channels (the latter of which could be a plus, depending on your taste for politics and talking-head shouting fests).

Sling Blue does slightly better on local channels, offering ABC, NBC, and FOX stations in select areas—but no CBS, The CW, PBS, Telemundo, or Univision. Also, Blue’s array of entertainment, sports, and news channels is beefier, and the package gives you three streams to Orange’s one.

Neither Orange nor Blue alone stacks up against CableTV.com’s live TV streaming favorites, though. For a fuller live TV streaming experience, Sling Orange & Blue is the better contender.

If you’re a sports fan, go for Sling Orange & Blue. The combined package features 10 popular sports channels for under $60, and that can be bumped up to 25 channels with Sling’s Sports Extra add-on for another $15 a month.

Sling Orange vs. Sling Blue fees and extra charges

Sling TV includes 50 hours of cloud DVR storage with plan subscriptions, regardless of which color, or combination of colors, it is. For an extra $5 a month, you can up that to 200 hours.

Sling Orange vs. Sling Blue live channels

Here’s how Sling Orange’s and Sling Blue’s channel selections stack up against Sling Orange & Blue, which is only weird if you think about it too hard.

Jump to: Live sports | Local channels | Premium channels
A | B | C | D | E | F | G | H | I | J | L | M | N | O | P | Q | R | S | T | U | V | W | Y | Z

*In select markets only.

Obviously, the Sling Orange & Blue combo package compares better to other live TV streaming services than Orange or Blue alone, channel-wise.

If you want more channels, go with Blue: the entertainment channel lineup is fuller, as is its corresponding Blue Sports Extra add-on package (yes, Orange and Blue have different Sport Extra lineups—more on that coming up).

Sports channels

Again, if you want just one plan, we suggest Sling Blue because its Sports Extra add-on package includes NFL RedZone, whereas Orange’s doesn’t. Follow us here: Sling’s sports add-on packages differ slightly between Orange and Blue (both $11 a month).

Orange’s Sports Extra package includes ACC Network, ACC Network Extra, beIN SPORTS, ESPNews, ESPNU, Longhorn Network, MLB Network, MLB Network Strike Zone, NBA TV, NHL Network, Pac-12 Network, SEC Network, SEC Network+, and Tennis Channel. Not bad, though a couple of these are filler sports channels.

Meanwhile, Blue’s Sports Extra package gives you beIN SPORTS, Big Ten Network, FS2, Golf Channel, MLB Network, MLB Network Strike Zone, NBA TV, NFL RedZone, NHL Network, Pac-12 Network, and Tennis Channel. That’s a nice variety of sports classes, and NFL RedZone puts it over the top easily.

The combined Orange & Blue Sports Extra package goes for $15 a month, overlapping channels and all. It gives you a near-complete roundup of sports.

Local channels

*In select markets only.

Sling TV keeps costs down by not paying for a lot of local TV channels—you may get ABC, FOX, and NBC stations with the Blue and Orange & Blue plans, but nada with Orange alone.

Unlike other live TV streaming services, Sling is big on pushing over-the-air antennas to give its customers free local station coverage, so neither it nor you have to pay to stream it—a rare instance of a TV provider actively trying to save you money, and we like it.

Premium channels

In addition to seven add-on channel packages, Sling TV also offers a whopping 36 premium channel add-ons, including Paramount+ with SHOWTIME, STARZ, and MGM+ (sorry, no HBO or Max).

Sling Orange vs. Sling Blue specs and features

Fortunately, Sling Orange and Sling Blue look and perform exactly the same. We don’t think we could psychologically take any more glaring discrepancies between the two.

Cloud DVR

For an extra $5 a month, you can upgrade any Sling TV package to 200 hours of cloud DVR space. Quite frankly, if you’re looking for more DVR storage, you’ll wanna go with YouTube TV or Hulu + Live TV, which both include unlimited Cloud DVR storage.

Multiple streams

With Sling Orange, you can stream to only one device at a time, where Sling Blue allows for three streams, another point in the Blue column.

The combined Sling Orange & Blue package gives you four simultaneous streams, which makes more mathematical sense for larger households.

Compatible devices

Data effective as of post date. Offers and availability may vary by location and are subject to change.

Sling TV will work with almost every streaming device and smart TV out there, with the exceptions of PlayStation and Nintendo consoles.

If you want to integrate local over-the-air channels into Sling TV’s lineup, its AirTV devices can feed them seamlessly to the interface (have we mentioned that Sling TV really wants you to get an antenna?).

Video and audio quality

Sling TV streams at 720p HD resolution, the same as satellite, cable, and every other live TV streaming TV service.

For comparison, on-demand services like Netflix and Prime Video can stream at 1080p and up to 4K. Live TV streaming isn’t quite there yet—not that you’ll probably notice the difference between 720p and 1080p when watching Suicide Squad on its fifth TNT airing of the day.

Also, like other live TV streaming services, Sling TV’s audio is standard 2.0 stereo.

Channel guide

Sling TV’s screen interface is an easy-to-navigate mix of horizontal lists and vertical channel guides, nothing drastically different from a cable or satellite setup.

You can also group your go-to channels under the “My TV” tab, which also contains DVR recordings and your designated favorite shows. The pink hearts indicating favorite channels are a nice touch.

Commercials

There’s no getting away from commercials in livestreaming, unfortunately. But Sling TV does allow you to skip ads in 30-second increments on recorded shows or fast-forward through the entire program (complete with a helpful preview frame).

Is Sling Orange or Sling Blue more worth it?

Sling Orange and Sling Blue are both decent live TV streaming packages for the money, but we prefer Blue for its larger channel selection and three simultaneous streams.

Then again, if you’re a single streamer who just wants ESPN and Disney, Orange is the obvious pick.

We really like them together: In CableTV.com’s Best Live TV Streaming Services rundown, Sling Orange & Blue is one of our top picks. With it, you get a wider choice of channels, and its sports add-on package gives you access to all of the athletic activities you can get through streaming.

If you can spring for the extra $15, we definitely recommend Sling Orange & Blue. Otherwise, Sling Blue is a worthwhile budget choice.

Sling Orange vs. Sling Blue FAQ