COMPARISON · MONEY · TV
A typical $115/month all-in cable bill (package + box rentals + broadcast and sports fees) against a three-service ad-supported streaming stack at $27.97/month means streaming wins by $87.03 a month — $1,044.36 a year. But swap in a $82.99 live-TV streamer and the win shrinks to $32.01/month. Enter your own bill and your actual stack below.
The cable side adds up everything on the bill — package, equipment, and the fees. The streaming side adds up every subscription you actually pay for. The verdict names the winner, the monthly and yearly dollar gap, and how many months of your streaming stack one month of cable buys.
Monthly gap = cable bill − total streaming cost. Yearly gap = monthly gap × 12. Break-even = cable bill ÷ streaming total (how many months of your streaming stack one month of cable buys). At the defaults: $115.00 − ($7.99 + $9.99 + $9.99) = $115.00 − $27.97 = $87.03/month; yearly = $87.03 × 12 = $1,044.36; break-even = $115 ÷ $27.97 = 4.11 — one month of cable buys more than four months of this streaming stack. Internet (~$70/mo) is excluded from BOTH sides — you need it either way.
Setup: a $115/month all-in cable bill (package + box rentals + broadcast and sports fees + tax) vs a three-service ad-supported stack: Netflix (Standard with ads) $7.99 + Disney+ (Basic with ads) $9.99 + Max (With Ads) $9.99, no extra services.
Step 1 — the streaming total. $7.99 + $9.99 + $9.99 = $27.97/month. Typical late-2026 ad-supported tier prices — the cheapest way to watch all three.
Step 2 — the monthly gap. $115.00 − $27.97 = $87.03/month for streaming. This is the headline number — the cable bill is more than four times the stack.
Step 3 — the yearly gap. $87.03 × 12 = $1,044.36/year. Over five years that’s $5,221.80 — real money, roughly a vacation a year, funded by watching the same shows with ads.
Step 4 — the break-even. $115.00 ÷ $27.97 = 4.11 — one month of cable costs as much as 4.11 months of this streaming stack.
Branch — live-TV streamer (YouTube TV $82.99): streaming total = $82.99; gap = $115.00 − $82.99 = $32.01/month for streaming; yearly = $384.12; break-even = 1.39. Still a win — but the slimmest one. Add one or two extra services on top and you’re flirting with a tie.
Branch — skinny 2-service stack (~$16): Peacock (Premium) $7.99 + one extra service at $7.99 = $15.98; gap = $99.02/month; yearly = $1,188.24; break-even = 7.20. This is the maximum-savings play — one month of cable buys more than seven months of streaming.
Branch — premium no-ad stack (~$65): $17.99 + $15.99 + $16.99 + two add-ons ($14.00) = $64.97; gap = $50.03/month; yearly = $600.36; break-even = 1.77. No ads costs you roughly half the win — convenience priced at about $444/year vs the ad-supported default.
Branch — the honest one: live TV + a full stack. YouTube TV at $82.99 plus six services at ~$14 each ($84.00) = $166.99/month. Against the $115 cable default, cable wins by $51.99/month — and even against the ~$147 national average cable bill, the stack costs more. This is how cord-cutting becomes cord-stacking: once a live-TV plan joins five or six subscriptions, streaming lands at $165–$185/month — at or above cable. If this is your setup, run it honestly in the calculator above.
Branch — “cable already cut” reminder: both sides need broadband — typically ~$70/month — so it’s excluded from both totals. The comparison is TV-only: what you pay to watch, not to connect.
| Output | Formula | What it means |
|---|---|---|
| Streaming monthly total | service 1 + 2 + 3 + extras | $27.97 at the defaults — everything you pay to stream, in one number. |
| Monthly gap | cable bill − streaming total | $87.03 at the defaults — positive means streaming wins; the number to decide on. |
| Yearly gap | monthly gap × 12 | $1,044.36 at the defaults — what the win is actually worth per year. |
| Break-even | cable bill ÷ streaming total | 4.11 at the defaults — months of streaming that one cable month buys. |
| Verdict | sign of the monthly gap | Streaming wins by $87.03/mo at the defaults — with the live-TV, skinny, and premium branches for context. |
The service prices used are typical late-2026 ad-supported tier prices (Netflix tiers run $7.99–$24.99/mo, Disney+ $11.99–$18.99/mo) — and streamflation is real: services raise prices most falls (see the price-hike FAQ), so verify your actual tier and type it in. The calculator compares TV cost only: broadband (~$70/mo) is excluded from both sides since you need it either way. It does not count one-time costs (a streaming stick, an antenna), promotional cable rates that expire after 12 months, or the value of channels you’d lose. “Winning” assumes you’ll actually watch what you pay for — eight idle subscriptions are the streaming equivalent of the 200-channel cable bundle nobody watched.
Bright Side Kit. "Streaming vs Cable in 2026: The Honest Cost Verdict." https://brightoolbox.com/streaming-vs-cable/ Accessed October 23, 2026.Data sourcesFees. The advertised package price is only the start: the broadcast TV fee ($15–25/mo on many providers), the regional sports fee ($8–15/mo whether you watch sports or not), equipment rentals ($10–15 per box per month), plus taxes. Together the hidden fees run $40–$65/month, pushing the national average cable bill to about $147/month. They rise every year while the “package” stays put — which is why the calculator asks for the all-in bill, not the sticker price.
Yes — and you need it either way. Streaming is delivered over broadband, so the ~$70/month internet bill stays. That’s why the calculator excludes internet from both sides: it’s not a saving, it’s a constant. Anyone quoting cord-cutting savings that subtract the internet bill from the cable side only is double-counting.
Sports are the one thing that shrinks the win. Most league games now sit behind a live-TV streamer (~$82.99/mo) or league-specific packages. Run the live-TV preset: the win drops to $32.01/month — still positive, but no longer a blowout. If you follow one team, check whether their games air on a cheaper service or over-the-air before assuming you need the full live bundle.
The average household now carries about 4 paid subscriptions — 4.0 in Deloitte’s 2026 survey, 4.7 in J.D. Power’s — spending roughly $55–$80/month on them. The math turns when your stack approaches the cable bill — at 10 services (the calculator’s cap) most stacks cost more than cable. Audit yearly: cancel anything you haven’t opened in 30 days, rotate services by season instead of stacking them year-round. You’re not alone in this — 43% of Americans say they plan to cancel a streaming service within the next 3 months, and 25% are “churn and return” viewers who resubscribe for a season and leave.
Price hikes cluster in late summer and fall — services announce increases ahead of the holiday viewing season, then again around new-year plan resets. Ad-supported tiers have risen fastest as services push viewers toward ads (higher ad revenue per user). The industry even has a word for it now: streamflation. Check your email for the “we’re updating our prices” notice before each renewal and re-run your numbers.
The big three: broadcast TV fee (pays for local channels you could get free with an antenna), regional sports fee (charged even to non-sports households in many markets), and equipment rental (per-box, per-month, forever). Together they routinely add $30–50/month to the advertised package — a $65 “deal” becomes a $115 bill. Always read the total, never the headline.
For local channels, yes — free. A one-time $25–60 indoor antenna pulls in ABC, CBS, NBC, FOX, and PBS in most metro areas in HD, with no monthly fee. Pair it with a cheap ad-supported stack and you cover locals + on-demand for under $30/month total. Rural areas get fewer channels — check a reception map for your address first.