As of October 2026, Sling TV's cheapest plans are Essentials and Select at $19.99 a month each. Orange and Blue start at $45.99 a month, and the Orange & Blue bundle starts at $60.99. If you meant the Sling employee scheduling app, that's an unrelated product: free for up to 30 users, then $2.00 or $4.00 per user a month.
Two products share the name. Most people searching for Sling pricing want Sling TV, the live TV streaming service, so that's what this page covers first. The scheduling app for hourly teams has its own section further down. All prices are in US dollars and come from each company's own pricing page.
Sling TV plans and prices
| Plan | What it's built around | Paid channels | Streams | Price, as of October 2026 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Essentials | ESPN and more | 10+ | 1 | $19.99 a month |
| Select | FOX News and more | 10+ | 3 | From $19.99 a month |
| Essentials & Select | Both, bundled | 15+ | Up to 4 | From $34.99 a month |
| Orange | Sports and family | 30+ | 1 | From $45.99 a month |
| Blue | News and entertainment | 40+ | 3 | From $45.99 a month |
| Orange & Blue | Both, bundled | 50+ | Up to 4 | From $60.99 a month |
Notice the word "from" on most of them. Sling lists Essentials at a flat $19.99, but every other plan is shown as a starting price, so treat those as the lowest figure and check the total at checkout before you subscribe.
The stream count is the catch
Here's the detail most people miss until the family is fighting over the TV. Essentials and Orange allow one stream at a time. Select and Blue allow three. The two bundles go up to four.
So Orange and Blue cost the same, but they suit very different homes. Orange carries the sports-and-family channels on one screen; Blue carries news and entertainment on three. If more than one person in the house watches at the same time, the stream count decides the plan before the channel list does.
What's in each Sling TV plan
Sling's plan cards name the headline channels for each package, as of October 2026:
- Essentials: ESPN, Disney Channel, Freeform and Grit.
- Select: Fox News, NFL Network, FX and National Geographic.
- Orange: ESPN, CNN, TNT, TBS and 30 plus channels.
- Blue: Fox News, MSNBC, USA, Bravo and 40 plus channels.
- Orange & Blue: Fox News, ESPN, MSNBC, CNN and 50 plus channels.
Sling also runs Freestream, which it says gives you 600 plus free channels with no account needed. It's a sensible way to try the apps on your devices before you pick a paid plan.
DVR, contracts and cancelling
Every subscriber gets 50 hours of cloud DVR storage free, and Sling sells an Unlimited DVR add-on for $5 a month. Because the DVR is in the cloud, recordings play on any device you're logged into. Local Now, Pluto and any local channels added with an over-the-air antenna can't be recorded.
There's no contract on monthly plans. Sling says monthly subscribers can cancel any time from their account, keep watching until the end of the period they've paid for, and won't be charged again unless they resubscribe. For the free trial question, see our guide to the Sling TV free trial.
You'll need an internet connection of at least 3 Mbps and a supported device, and Sling recommends 25 Mbps for watching on several devices at once.
Healthcare rotas have extra rules, so our list of nurse scheduling software is worth a look if you manage one.
Which Sling TV plan fits
| If you mainly want | Start with | Why |
|---|---|---|
| ESPN on one screen, cheaply | Essentials | Lowest flat price, one stream |
| Fox News and NFL Network for a household | Select | Three streams from the same starting price |
| Sports, CNN, TNT and TBS | Orange | 30+ channels, but one stream |
| News and entertainment for several viewers | Blue | 40+ channels and three streams |
| The widest lineup | Orange & Blue | 50+ channels and up to four streams |
Comparing live TV services? The Fubo price and Philo price guides break those services down plan by plan in the same way.
Sling the scheduling app: a different product
Sling is also the name of a shift scheduling and team messaging app for hourly teams in restaurants, retail and similar businesses. It has nothing to do with Sling TV, and it's priced per user, as of October 2026:
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| Plan | Billed monthly | Billed annually | What it adds |
|---|---|---|---|
| Free | $0 | $0 | Core shift scheduling, swaps, time off and messaging, for up to 30 users |
| Premium | $2.00 per user per month | $1.70 per user per month | Mobile time tracking, labor cost management and overtime tracking |
| Business | $4.00 per user per month | $3.40 per user per month | Kiosk time clock, hours and wages reports, PTO, no-show and sick call-out tracking |
Annual billing saves 15%, there's a 15-day free trial of the paid plans, and on Premium and Business you only pay for people who use the platform: if someone leaves or is deactivated, Sling prorates the unused spot. It doesn't run payroll itself, so Business's hours and wages reports are there to feed a separate payroll tool.
If you're weighing the app against other rota tools, our list of Sling alternatives compares ten of them.
My verdict
For Sling TV, don't start with the channel list, start with how many people watch at once. One viewer who wants ESPN is well served by Essentials at $19.99; a family that watches on several screens should look at Blue or a bundle, because the one-stream plans will frustrate you within a week. And remember most prices are starting prices. For the scheduling app, the free plan for up to 30 users is a real option for a small team, and Business is the one to pick if you run payroll from timesheets.
Sling is one of many shift tools, and our comparison of on-call scheduling software sets others side by side.
Frequently asked questions
How much is Sling TV a month?
As of October 2026, Essentials is $19.99 a month and Select starts at $19.99. Orange and Blue start at $45.99, Essentials & Select from $34.99, and Orange & Blue from $60.99.
What is the cheapest Sling TV plan?
Essentials and Select, both at $19.99 a month as Sling lists them. Essentials allows one stream and Select allows three.
How many streams do you get on Sling?
Essentials and Orange allow one stream, Select and Blue allow three, and the Essentials & Select and Orange & Blue bundles allow up to four.
Does Sling TV include a DVR?
Yes. Subscribers get 50 hours of cloud DVR storage free, and Unlimited DVR is a $5 a month add-on.
Can you cancel Sling TV any time?
Yes. Monthly subscribers can cancel from their account and keep access until the end of the period they've paid for.
How much does the Sling scheduling app cost?
The Sling scheduling app is free for up to 30 users. Premium is $2.00 per user per month, or $1.70 billed annually, and Business is $4.00, or $3.40 billed annually, as of October 2026.
