Comcast Xfinity TV vs. YouTube TV Review

YouTube TV keeps it simple with one plan and one price—$73 per month.

Xfinity TV gives you three choices to fit your budget and your watching needs.

Comcast Xfinity has the best prices compared to our other favorite cable TV providers, but when compared to YouTube TV, the cable fees make a big difference. (Scroll down a little for more details.)

Xfinity TV offers more channels than YouTube TV, so you’ll get to enjoy more entertainment and variety.

YouTube TV has only 85 channels in its lineup, but if you scroll down to the channels section, you might realize that’s all you need.

Neither Xfinity or YouTube TV require you to sign a contract. Phew.

Xfinity TV has four fees, while YouTube TV has zero.

Here's an idea of how much you’ll need to budget for Xfinity fees:

You’ll likely need a TV box for the living room ($9/month), an additional TV box for your bedroom ($9/month), 150-hour DVR storage ($10/month), news channels ($26/month), and sports channels ($11/month).

We’re aiming high for the news and sports channels just in case, but you could be looking at paying up to $73 more per month. So we encourage you to double-check how much you’ll be paying in fees based on your location.

While Xfinity could learn a thing or two from good ol’ YouTube, these fees aren’t necessarily outrageous in the cable TV world (as we've said before, Xfinity is still one of the best cable TV providers).

YouTube TV doesn’t have any fees, which is unique in the TV world. It’s a well-rounded service that doesn’t need a DVR or simultaneous streams added on like Sling TV or Hulu + Live TV.

And if you want to take a break without losing all of your Schitt’s Creek recordings, you can pause your YouTube TV membership for up to six months and come back to watch the sibling rivalry between David and Alexis.

If you like the idea of paying one bill for your internet, TV, and phone service, Xfinity has some affordable bundles to choose from ranging from $30–$150 per month.

Xfinity TV easily wins first prize when it comes to channels.

This cable TV provider nets you 125–185+ channels, so it’s a given that you’re going to find more of your favorite channels with Xfinity. 

Since YouTube TV only has 85 channels in its lineup, you won’t find channels like DIY Network or Tennis Channel (but maybe you're not a DIY or Rafael Nadal fan).

If you need more information, check out Xfinity’s and YouTube TV’s websites to see which channel lineup and price works best for you.

PS: We assure you that both TV providers have your local channels, and if you scroll down a little, you’ll see the sports channels you’ll get front row seats to.

We like how Xfinity’s $50 package has most of the popular channels you love and want (or need).

We do recommend upgrading to the Ultimate TV package if you’re a fan of the most popular sports (NFL Network, MLB Network, and NBA TV), your spouse loves movie channels (FX Movie Channel), and your kids love cartoons (Nick Jr.).

Xfinity TV also has your local channels (ABC, CBS, FOX, and NBC) in all of its packages, as does YouTube TV.

It’s somewhat rare for a TV service to offer all of the premium channels, yet both Xfinity TV and YouTube TV do!

Most of the prices are the same, but YouTube TV charges a little less for Paramount+ with SHOWTIME® and CINEMAX. YouTube TV also has a Max, Paramount+ with SHOWTIME®, and STARZ bundle that will save you money if you enjoy Made for Love, Billions, and Black Sails.

If you’re a fanatic of the NBA, NFL, MLB, and NHL, you’re going to like Xfinity's Ultimate TV plan. But the diehard NFL fans will want YouTube TV.

With YouTube TV, you get 13 sports channels among the 85 total channels and it's the only live TV streaming service that gives you ESPN, the NFL Network and NBA TV for the price of $73.

Also, YouTube TV is the newest home to NFL SUNDAY TICKET.

Xfinity’s Popular plan gives you only nine sports channels, but if you upgrade to Ultimate, you'll get 22! You'll get channels YouTube TV doesn't have, like the Tennis Channel, MLB Network, NHL Network, and PAC-12 Network.

Xfinity TV’s Popular TV plan has the following sports channels:

Xfinity TV’s Ultimate TV plan has all of the sports channels above and the following:

YouTube TV has the following sports channels:

YouTube TV wins in the DVR department as it has the most storage space with unlimited.

Record every NBA game this season, every episode of Storage Wars, and every Anderson Cooper 360 episode if you'd like. And if you do, you’ll still have plenty of room to spare.

With any cable TV provider, you have to expect to pay DVR service fees.

Xfinity TV charges $7.50 per month for each set-top box and $0–$20 per month for the DVR service depending on how much storage you'd like.

Although Xfinity’s X1 DVR only holds 150 HD hours, one upside to Xfinity’s DVR is that it stores your recordings indefinitely. Unlike with YouTube TV, you won’t have to worry about your recordings erasing after nine months.

You probably want to watch Murder Chose Me to kill time (pun intended) waiting in line at the drive-through car wash. Or maybe you’ll find yourself needing to distract the little ones with Bluey while you’re grocery shopping.

Either way, you’ll need to know which devices are compatible with the Xfinity Stream and YouTube TV apps.

You can stream Xfinity TV on these streaming devices:

• Amazon Fire TVs
• Roku TVs
• Roku Ultra, Roku Express, Roku Premiere
• Roku 2, 3, and 4
• Roku Smart Soundbar
• Samsung smart TVs
• LG smart TVs

Stream YouTube TV all day long on these streaming devices:

You can stream on five separate devices at once with Xfinity TV, and you can stream on three different devices simultaneously with YouTube TV.

• Pricing: YouTube TV has one straightforward price at $73 per month. Xfinity TV has three plans to choose from— Choice TV for your local channels at $20 per month (or $10 a month in central areas), Popular TV is $50 per month for 125 channels, and Ultimate TV costs $68.50 per month for 185.
• Contracts and fees: A contract and fees are non-existent with YouTube TV and Xfinity TV. As for fees, Xfinity has four of them. You could potentially spend $73 per month on these extra costs, but it depends on your location. We strongly recommend that you double-check during your checkout process or chat with an Xfinity Advisor.
• Channels: This one is a tie because this will depend on what your personal preferences are. Xfinity TV has channel lineups complete with most of the popular channels in its total of 125–185. So if you want the most channels, Xfinity is for you. If you’re looking for a consistent price, want a good amount of popular channels in a $73 per month plan, and you like what you see in YouTube TV’s channel lineup, YouTube TV will be a great choice.
• DVR: YouTube TV’s DVR has unlimited storage space that saves your recordings for nine months. Xfinity TV’s X1 DVR gives you 150 HD/300 SD storage hours and keeps your recordings indefinitely. You’ll just have to budget for those extra DVR service fees with cable TV providers.

Check out our full reviews on Xfinity TV and YouTube TV if you're still on the fence. We go more in-depth on which Xfinity TV plan or bundle is best for you, and we’ll explain why we like YouTube TV’s user interface.