6 Best Streaming Cloud DVRs

A good streaming cloud DVR is pretty much a must have if you stream live TV. I mean, if you're a functional adult, you can't be glued to your couch and catch every game, every episode, every live musical special, whatever it is that you're into.

The streaming cloud DVR is vital since it lets you record all that stuff for later, and even fast-forward through the commercials sometimes. And that's the thing, not all streaming cloud DVRs are created equal. If a good streaming cloud DVR is important to you, which live TV streaming service is the one you should go with?

We're taking six of the best streaming services and ranking them strictly by the quality of their streaming cloud DVR. I'm sure this won't be controversial at all.

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In our six best streaming cloud DVR ranking today, we have six streaming services:

• Sling TV
• DIRECTV
• YouTube TV
• Hulu with live TV
• Philo
• fuboTV

We're mostly going to talk about the differences between streaming services and how that makes them rank the way that they do. But there are some common characteristics among all of them. They all include some version of a free DVR.

Sometimes a free streaming DVR is included in the price. With some of the other services there's a premium version that you have to pay extra for. Generally speaking, all the streaming services let you watch on the go.

If you record it on your TV, you can watch it on your tablet or wherever you have the streaming cloud DVR app downloaded. Storage is shared across profiles on a single account. If you get a certain amount of storage allowed that's not per profile, it’s per account.

And finally, something that you run into often with a lot of these streaming services. Not all channels and not all shows are available to record as the streaming services are constantly cutting deals with different channels and different programs. This one is a little bit tough to track, so I did not factor this one in. But let's get to what I was able to factor in.

Let's get to the ranking of the top six streaming cloud DVRs.

Yes, it is at the bottom of the list here. Now the good news is, there's no time limit on how long you can keep your streaming cloud DVR recordings.

You can keep cloud DVR recordings indefinitely as long as you're subscribed to the service. And although they do charge extra for their premium streaming cloud DVR, it's only a $5 charge.

But that being said, it's kind of a get what you pay for scenario. The included streaming cloud DVR only lets you record 10 hours, and the premium version only gives you 50 hours. I'm sorry, but that's just not enough. Although it is enough to earn the bottom spot.

Hulu Live is another pay for premium service. So you can get the free version, and that will let you record it 50 hours, or you can pay an extra $10 a month to get up to 200 hours.

As we move up the rankings, it's gonna become clear that 200 hours still isn't much, at least comparatively speaking. And on top of all that, if you don't pay for the premium version, you can't skip the commercials. Yikes. The increased storage capacity does put Hulu ahead of Sling but only just barely.

Number four is DIRECTV's streaming service. I'm kind of lumping both of these together because the streaming cloud DVR works the same either way. The good news is that from here on out on the list, the streaming cloud DVR is included in the price of the service and that goes for DIRECTV's streaming service. 

Also nice is that our storage capacity with DIRECTV's streaming service is unlimited. Okay, so now we're getting into territory where you might be able to have more than one profile, saving a decent amount of stuff. 

If Philo is your jam, you can watch my full review of Philo here. The good news is that Philo is only $28 a month. And I'm not talking about just the streaming cloud DVR either.

The entire service is only $28 a month, and the streaming cloud DVR is included in that price. Not bad. On top of that, there is no storage cap.

That's right, unlimited streaming cloud DVR recording on Philo. The bad news here is that you can only keep those streaming could DVR recordings for 30 days. So if you do record it, you'd better watch it quickly.

While that is a downside, I'm genuinely impressed with Philo's streaming cloud DVR, and it almost made my number two slot.

fuboTV is more of a full service live streamer. You're gonna have to pay more for fuboTV than Philo. But the streaming cloud DVR is also included in the bundles you pay for. Any fuboTV package gets you unlimited hours of recording.

You get to keep those recordings as long as you are subscribed. No 30-day time limit here, and that's what bumped fuboTV up to my number two spot.

And finally, number one, YouTube TV. And frankly, it's not really that close. If there's a downside to YouTube TV's streaming cloud DVR, it's that you can only keep recordings for nine months.

So yes, there is a limit, but that limit is long enough that in my experience, it caused a little to no problem. And on the upside, well, the streaming cloud DVR is included in the price of the service.

There's no limit to the amount that you can record, and because of that, you can maintain separate DVR libraries for up to six different profiles on your account.

So, yeah, like I said, it wasn't that close, but I wanna know what you think of my ranking. Obviously my number one is unassailable. But let's argue about the rest of the list. Like I said, I almost had Philo a little higher, and Hulu a little lower.

So tell me if you think I went in the right direction. And on your way to abuse me in the comments be sure to like this video and subscribe. Check out the merch store, and if you wanna support the channel, share these videos. I would appreciate that, it goes a long way.

All right, thanks everyone, and I will see you next time.