Philo Review 2024: The Best Cheap Live TV Streaming Service
Rising prices and subscription fatigue got you down? In our Philo review, our TV experts show why the skinny streamer is for you.
Is Philo worth it?
If you’re into entertainment and reality shows, Philo is as good live TV streaming gets. It offers zero sports or local channels, focusing instead on entertainment (like Comedy Central, Paramount Network, and AMC) and lifestyle (such as A&E, HGTV, and Cooking Channel) networks.
With Philo, you get 70+ channels for a very low price: $28.00/mo. With unlimited cloud DVR space, free access to AMC+, and a free 7-day trial, Philo adds up to more than a “bare-bones” live TV streaming service.
Even so, we thought we’d dislike Philo because of what it lacks. Then we remembered we can easily add local channels (and some live sports) with an antenna for about $40.
You won’t find a better deal on live TV streaming than Philo. Only the most basic Sling TV package comes close—with half the channels at $12 more a month—and you’ll probably still need the antenna for locals. Keep reading our Philo review for more of our TV experts’ thoughts on the service.
Philo deals can include first-month discounts and a free trial
Like other live and on-demand TV streaming services, Philo lets you take it for a spin with a seven-day free trial. You can also find Philo coupon codes for first-month discounts. Try the code “MAYS” for 50% off your first month—and watch our Philo deals page for updates.
Philo plans and prices: Philo Core keeps things simple
| Plan | Price | Live channels | Cloud DVR | Streams | Details |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Philo Core | $28.00/mo. | 70+ | Unlimited (1 yr.) | 3 | View plan |
Data effective as of post date. Offers and availability may vary by location and are subject to change.
To its advantage, Philo has snagged dozens of channels that other live TV streaming services don’t carry, thanks to its four-way ownership made up of AMC Networks, A+E Networks, Discovery Inc., and Viacom.
For Joe and Jane Viewer, the boring biz details mean this: some live TV streaming services, like YouTube TV, don’t carry A+E Networks like Lifetime, HISTORY, or VICE. Also, Hulu + Live TV doesn’t have AMC or A&E. Philo carries them all, and on the cheap.
Alone, Philo is a great value—but, as a supplemental service, it really shines. In several of our live TV streaming reviews, you’ll notice Philo referenced as a low-priced service to combine with others for a fuller array of channels.
What are the downsides of Philo?
Philo’s main downside is its lack of sports and local channels, and having only one news channel (BBC World News, if ya forgot). Sure, the streaming service’s emphasis on entertainment and lifestyle channels keeps your brain busy and Philo’s price low (no broadcast TV fees). But consider what you’re missing out on, like local and national news. I (Randy) like to stay informed, so that was a dealbreaker for me. And sports fans won’t have any live games or sports-talk shows to watch.
We cover some workarounds for Philo’s channel deficiencies in the next section.
Philo TV channels and shows
Live and on-demand shows and movies
Have we mentioned Philo’s lack of sports channels? We just want you to know what you’re getting into—though you can find pro wrestling on AXS TV, as well as one of the most gripping competitions in all of television, Guy’s Grocery Games on Food Network.
Philo’s channels are squarely focused on entertainment, with only BBC World News in its official channel lineup. There is one other news option, however: Cheddar News is one of 82 additional FAST channels Philo includes as a perk. That’s maaaaaybe enough to keep you up on the headlines, but I’d definitely want more TV news sources.
Pro tip: If you’re stoked about Philo’s reality TV content, you can get even more reality TV with a standalone Discovery+ subscription ($4.99–$8.99/mo.).
For well-rounded people who like to watch cooking, home improvement, traveling, cute puppies, and unsolved murders, Philo has Food Network, HGTV, Travel Channel, Animal Planet, and Investigation Discovery to keep you occupied.
The majority of TV shows and movies on Philo’s channels are available on-demand after the first live airing. If you missed an episode of Comedy Central’s Crank Yankers, or the even funnier Lifetime movie Soccer Mom Madam, the title’s menu will display “Playable” (on-demand) or “Upcoming” (available to record upon next showing) status, or both.
How to watch live sports on Philo
Does it bear repeating (again)? It does if you had your heart set on watching live football, soccer, or [insert your favorite sportsball here]. Nope, nada—no sports here. That’s one of the reasons Philo costs so little per month.
Try Fubo (as a Philo alternative) or ESPN+ (as an add-on) for your streaming sports fix. Another way to add live sports is a TV antenna, which we cover next.
How to watch local channels on Philo
Securing local channels across the country is nearly as expensive and logistically tricky as carrying sports—so you’ll get none of those on Philo, either.
Fortunately, over-the-air antennas still work perfectly well for receiving local stations that broadcast ABC, CBS, FOX, NBC, The CW, PBS, and Telemundo (most also feature sports, BTW).
Need an antenna recommendation? Try the Mohu Leaf 50. It’s easy to install, picks up every local broadcast channel and subchannel within a 60-mile radius, and costs $39.99 on Amazon.*
Channel add-ons
In addition to complementary AMC+ , Philo offers only three premium add-on packages—but at least they’re inexpensive (which is totally Philo’s thing).
STARZ ($10 monthly) and MGM+™ ($7 monthly) each include three channels. And the Movies & More multi-channel package gives you Fandor, FMC, HDNet Movies, MOVIES!, REELZ, and Sony Movies. (Note from Randy: Fandor rules if you’re into arthouse and genre films—and it’s usually $4.99 a month on its own.)
You may notice the conspicuous absence of popular premium add-ons like Max™, Paramount+ with SHOWTIME, and CINEMAX. Don’t worry about this ’cause you can always subscribe to them separately. You just won’t be able to access that content within the Philo app.
| Philo add-ons | Price | Contents |
|---|---|---|
| AMC+ | Included | AMC, IFC Films Unlimited, Shudder, Sundance Now, The Walking Dead Channel |
| STARZ | $10.00/mo. | STARZ, STARZENCORE, STARZ Kids & Family |
| MGM+ | $7.00/mo. | MGM+, MGM+ Hits, MGM+ Marquee |
| Movies & More | $3.00/mo. | Fandor, FMC, HDNET Movies, REELZ, Sony Movies |
Data effective as of post date.
What do customers think of Philo?
In our 2023 customer satisfaction survey, we asked customers of seven top live TV streaming services to rate theirs on overall satisfaction, bang for your buck, customer experience, user experience, reliability, and customer loyalty (would they recommend Philo, etc.).
Philo rated fourth on overall satisfaction. The consensus was that Philo customers enjoy the streaming service, but agree it has room to improve. continue to subscribe).
As our Editor’s Choice pick for the cheapest live TV streaming service, Philo rated highly on price. Seventy-five percent of customers (second only to Vidgo) said they’re happy with what they pay, and that the amount meets their expectations. Philo also had top-three ratings for reliability (78% satisfaction), customer experience (~74% averaged over three questions), and loyalty (75% would recommend Philo and continue to subscribe).
It has room for improvement. Local channels would be nice. It would also be nice if it included The Weather Channel.
Philo had middling ratings for user experience (74%, 4th place) and add-ons (4th place). And only 42% (5th place) would increase spending with the service—probably because Philo’s low price is its biggest selling point.
Philo specs and features
Cloud DVR
| Service | Cloud DVR |
|---|---|
| Philo | Unlimited (1 yr.) |
Data effective as of post date.
Philo’s cloud DVR gives you unlimited storage space for shows and movies for a whole year. That’s more than any other streaming services’ cloud DVRs, including YouTube TV, which keeps your recorded content for nine months.
If you somehow just couldn’t get to those saved episodes of MOTORTREND’s Graveyard Carz last year, you’ll still be able to call them up on demand (with commercials). Most Philo channels offer the same capability.
On recorded shows, you can zip past commercials easily thanks to Philo’s sliding preview frame, which works similarly to fast-forwarding on Netflix or Amazon Prime Video.
Philo’s display for recorded content could use some work. It’s not always clear which is the most recent episode of a show, meaning there’ll be some guesswork and extra clicking involved to get to what you want. Also, you can’t record individual episodes, just full series.
Multiple streams
| Service | Streams |
|---|---|
| Philo | 3 |
Data effective as of post date.
Three simultaneous streams are allowed with Philo streaming, which is the average for streaming TV services. ESPN+ and only a handful of others offer up to five, for reference.
Philo app logins are enabled for up to 32 devices—which seems a bit excessive, considering that Philo isn’t compatible with many streaming gadgets.
Speaking of Philo-supported devices, you won’t find the Philo app on gaming platforms and many popular smart TV brands. Tap the dropdown menu below to see which platforms Philo works on.
Compatible devices
Philo supports 11 devices. That’s not the broadest device support we’ve seen from a streaming service, but Philo at least covers the most common ones. Odds are you already have at least two of these. Only those who hoped to watch Philo on a gaming console should be disappointed.
| Device | Philo |
|---|---|
| Amazon Fire Cube, Stick, TV | ✔ |
| Android phones, tablets | ✔ |
| Android TV | ✔ |
| Apple TV (4th gen.) | ✔ |
| Apple TV 4K | ✔ |
| Chromecast, Chromecast with Google TV | ✔ |
| Echo Show | — |
| iPhone, iPad | ✔ |
| LG TVs (select models) | — |
| Nintendo Switch | — |
| NVIDIA SHIELD Pro TV | — |
| PC, Mac web browsers | ✔ |
| PlayStation 4, 5 | — |
| Roku Ultra, Express, Premiere, Stick, TV | ✔ |
| Samsung TVs (select models) | ✔ |
| TiVo Stream | — |
| Vizio TVs (select models) | ✔ |
| Wii | — |
| Xbox One, Xbox Series S, Xbox Series X | — |
| Xfinity X1 | — |
Data effective as of post date.
Is Philo easy to use?
Channel guide and interface
Channels are arranged alphabetically in grid fashion, with shows hover-highlighted as large tiles. On livestreaming devices, Philo’s aesthetic is oddly retro, using a ’60s-tinged muted color palette. If you’re bored with other staid TV grids, it’s a refreshing look.
To a small extent, you can customize Philo’s channel grid to move your most-watched channels nearer to the top by “favoriting” them—but your favorites with still be listed alphabetically. AMC will always come before VH1, no matter how much you love Black Ink Crew.
The Philo channel guide. (Screenshot: CableTV.com)
Video and audio quality
Most of the live TV streaming services we’ve reviewed at CableTV.com stream at 720p (pixels) at 60 fps (frames per second) or higher. Philo streams at 720p at 30 fps, but the HD picture quality difference is only barely discernible. It doesn’t, however, stream anything in 4K.
Philo streams in standard 2.0 stereo audio; Dolby Digital 5.1 surround sound isn’t available. Digable Planets still sound “Cool Like Dat” on MTV Classic, though.
The Philo home page. (Screenshot: CableTV.com)
Philo review FAQ
Can you get local channels with Philo?
Philo doesn’t carry local channels, which means you can’t watch ABC, CBS, FOX, NBC, The CW, PBS, or Telemundo shows on the service. To get local channels, we recommend buying an over-the-air digital antenna, which gives you free access to dozens of area broadcast channels for a one-time purchase.
Does Philo have live TV?
Like cable or satellite, Philo is a live TV service that also streams on-demand content from the 70+ channels in carries.
How much is Philo monthly?
Philo’s subscription rate is $28.00/mo.. For an extra charge, you can add premium channels STARZ ($10 monthly), MGM+ ($7 monthly), or Movies & More ($3 monthly).
How can I get Philo for free?
Philo offers a seven-day free trial period to try out the service, after which you’ll be charged $28.00/mo. unless you cancel before the week is up.
Does Philo have different packages?
Philo offers only a single basic package: Philo Core, which is $28.00/mo. for 70+ live TV channels.
Why you should trust us
For this Philo review, our experts employed hours of hands-on testing and research, rating the streaming service on bang for your buck, reliability, features, and customer satisfaction. Then we matched up Philo with other live TV streaming services head to head to give a clearer picture of its strengths and weaknesses.
For more information on our methodology, check out our How We Rank page.
Disclaimer
Data effective as of post date. Offers and availability may vary by location and are subject to change.
*Amazon.com price as of 6/28/24 2:40 p.m. CT. Product prices and availability are accurate as of the date/time indicated and are subject to change. Any price and availability information displayed on Amazon.com at the time of purchase will apply to the purchase of this product. CableTV.com utilizes paid Amazon links.
Certain content that appears on this site comes from Amazon. This content is provided “as is” and is subject to change or removal at any time.
