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Philo Logo
Live TV & on-demand with unlimited recording.
8 / 10  Review Rating

In a market full of exciting skinny bundle options, Philo stands out for being just a little different from the others. Philo is a live TV streaming service, but it’s a bit different from competitors like Sling TV and DIRECTV. It deliberately excludes most cable news networks, local TV stations, and sports channels from its channel lineup. That's because those particular channels account for a disproportionately large part of a typical pay-TV bill. Since Philo is skipping the pricier channels, it can offer the channels it does have for a whole lot less than the competition charges. Philo has carved out a niche for itself in the budget streaming space, and it's certainly worth looking at if you're interested in an affordable live TV solution. Below, we'll lay out everything that you need to know about Philo, including how to get a Philo free trial, what channels Philo has, how to cancel Philo, and more.

How Much Does Philo Cost?

Philo's claim to fame is its low price. Skinny bundles always aim to undercut cable and satellite packages, but Philo takes things a step further by actually undercutting other skinny bundles, too. No other skinny bundle can compete with Philo's price: It's just $25 per month. Philo’s pricing is one of the things that impressed us the most in our Philo review.

Philo offers a few add-ons. The most notable ones are MGM Plus for $6 a month or STARZ for $9 per month.

The reason that Philo's pricing is lower than YouTube TV's pricing or Hulu Plus Live TV's pricing is that Philo's channel selection excludes certain channels — namely, most news channels, local networks, and sports channels.

What Channels Are on Philo?

Philo's low price is due to the channels that it doesn't have: local stations, cable news networks, and sports channels. That's a significant thing. Most options on the skinny bundle market offer ESPN, ESPN2, FS1, FS2, NBCSN, and even regional sports networks. Most offer at least a few of the major networks (ABC, CBS, Fox, and NBC), with live local feeds in select areas. And most offer CNN and, sometimes, other cable news networks. Philo, by contrast, has none of these.

But that's the whole point of Philo! Philo is designed to target the folks who don't care about these omissions. It's supposed to provide that non-news, non-sports network TV goodness: reality shows, sitcoms, dramas, movies, and more. So if you're going to subscribe to Philo, the question to ask isn't what Philo doesn't have — it's what channels does Philo have?

Philo Channel Guide
Philo’s TV guide menu as seen in the service’s web app.

Aside from the aforementioned exceptions, Philo's channel selection is pretty comprehensive. From history to sitcoms to dramas, you'll have a lot to choose from. Though ESPN is nowhere to be found, other skinny bundle staples — like AMC and HGTV — are present and accounted for. Here's the full list:

Channels Philo (base package) Movies & More Epix STARZ
A&E
AccuWeather
AMC
American Heroes Channel
Animal Planet
Aspire
AXS tv
BBC America
BBC World News
BET
BET Her
CLEO TV
CMT
Comedy Central
Cooking Channel
Crime + Investigation
Destination America
Discovery
Discovery Family
Discovery Life
FIY Network
Food Network
fyi
GAC Family
Game Show Network (GSN)
get TV
Hallmark Channel
Hallmark Drama
Hallmark Movies & Mysteries
HGTV
History
IFC
insp
Investigation Discovery
Law & Crime
Lifetime
LMN
Logo
MotorTrend
MTV
MTV Classic
MTV Live
MTV2
Nick Jr.
Nickelodeon
NickToons
OWN
Paramount Network
People TV
Revolt
SCI (Science)
Sundance TV
Tastemade
TeenNick
TLC
Trvl (Travel Channel)
TV Land
TV One
UPtv
VH1
Vice
WE tv
STARZ
STARZ Encore
STARZ Kids & Family
Epix
Epix Hits
Epix2
Cinémoi
HDNet Movies
MGM
Reelz
Sony Movies
Bloomberg Television
Cheddar News
Crackle
gustotv
PlayersTV
pocket.watch
revry
Ryan and Friends

What Devices Can I Use to Watch Philo?

Streaming live TV is great, but nobody wants to use a streaming service that doesn't let them watch their content on their television and their other favorite streaming platforms and devices. Here are the devices that you can use to stream Philo today.

Streaming Platforms and Devices

  • Android TV
  • Apple TV
  • Chromecast
  • Fire TV
  • Roku

Mobile Devices

  • iOS
  • Android

Other

  • In-browser app (Mac and Windows)
Using Philo on a Fire TV Stick
Philo running on an Amazon Fire TV Stick.

Deals on Philo

Philo is already a pretty great deal, but that doesn't mean that we're not always on the lookout for ways to save you even more money. Keep us bookmarked to find out the latest deals and promotions on Philo.

One Philo promotion that's always active is the service's free trial offer – so let's talk about that next!

Philo Homescreen
Philo’s web app.

Getting a Philo Free Trial

One way to save money on Philo is always available. It’s the free trial offer, which is as good as the ones offered by Philo's many competitors. Philo will let you test-drive its live TV streaming service for a week, risk-free. If you decide it isn't for you, no problem: Just cancel before your free trial period is up, and you won't pay a dime.

Sign up for Philo's free trial offer here.

Philo Contracts

Contracts? With a skinny bundle? No way. Philo is strictly a month-to-month commitment; you can cancel at any time and have your subscription wrap up at the end of your current billing period. If you don't cancel, Philo will simply auto-renew your current subscription. You'll be billed for the upcoming month (that's your “billing period”), and the cycle will continue — until you cancel, of course.

This means that if you cancel right after you're billed, you have Philo service for the rest of the month (but won't get your money for this month back). You'll never be billed again after you cancel. If you cancel during the free trial period you will, of course, not be charged at all.

Skipping restrictive contracts is one of the best reasons to watch TV without cable.

How to Cancel Philo

Philo is a great choice for lots of people, but it's not for everyone. If you're ready to part ways with the service, you're going to want to know how to cancel Philo. Here's how to go about it.

There's nothing too tricky going on here. Just head to Philo's website and sign in. Head to the Account page and scroll down. You should spot a “Cancel my account” button at the bottom of the page. Click that and then confirm your decision.