Sling Orange vs. Sling Blue

We went through each and every channel from Sling TV’s Orange and Blue plans to find out what makes them different. Turns out, now that the price for each plan is $25 a month, the main difference is the channels.

Sling Orange boasts family favorites ESPN and Disney Channel, while Sling Blue hooks you up with FS1, FX, and Bravo. If you have a hard time deciding, take a look at the Orange + Blue plan, which rings up at $40 a month and is a value-packed combo of the Sling Orange and Blue plans.

Winner: It’s a draw

Sling Orange vs. Sling Blue

Both Sling Orange and Sling Blue have exclusive channels.

Sling Orange feels a little gimped to us, given that, at $25 a month, it costs the same as Sling Blue but offers fewer channels and only one simultaneous stream (Sling Blue offers three). So what gives?

Disney Channel and ESPN are only on Sling Orange

For us, the main draw to Sling Orange over Sling Blue isn’t the number of channels, but which channels are included. If you’re a sports fan, Sling Orange is made for you with not just ESPN, but ESPN2 and ESPN3 as well. And if your kiddos are all about everything Disney, they’ll love singing along with their favorite characters on the Disney Channel.

We think that’s strange because every other TV service (cable, satellite, etc.), will include the same channels from a less expensive plan when you opt for a more expensive plan—you pay for the “premier” plan, you get all the channels in the “basic” plan too. We’re also not sure why Disney doesn’t play nice with Sling Blue (Disney owns ESPN and Freeform).

NBC and FOX are only on Sling Blue

You’d think channels like NBC and FOX would be in Sling Orange. After all, they’re national broadcast channels (broadcast over the air for free), and other TV services include them in the most basic (cheap) TV plans, but for some reason NBC and FOX are available only in Sling Blue. 

If your must-watch shows include Brooklyn Nine Nine (Fox) or This Is Us (NBC), you’ll want to go with Sling Blue over Sling Orange. 

Plus you’ll get a handful more, like NFL Network, USA Network, and the National Geographic Channel.

Sling Orange vs. Sling Blue—channel lineup

See every channel in Sling Orange and Sling Blue.

Besides Disney, ESPN, FOX, and NBC, there are a handful of other channel peculiarities in Sling Orange’s and Sling Blue’s plans. So to make sense of each plan’s channels, we’ve listed them in their respective plans.

We mentioned FOX and NBC already, but we didn’t discuss their respective regional sports network (RSN) channels. If you’re into sports, you’ll take the RSN channels into consideration. But if you’re having a tough time deciding between Sling Orange and Sling Blue, you do have another option.

The third option: Sling Orange and Sling Blue together

Sling’s Orange + Blue plan is just what it sounds like (Orange and Blue together).

Maybe all the exclusive channels in Sling Orange and Sling Blue are there to convince you to get Sling TV’s Orange + Blue plan. It’s not a bad deal—$40 a month for 48 channels—but it all comes down to what’s right for you. Some of us just want a way to watch ESPN wherever we go (Sling Orange), and some of us want something to replace cable altogether (Orange + Blue).

Summary—Sling Orange vs. Sling Blue

Sling Orange and Sling Blue both have exclusive channels, so it comes down to what you prefer. But if you can’t decide and don’t mind the price, just go with Sling TV’s Orange + Blue plan to get it all.

• Sling Orange: It has ESPN, ESPN2, ESPN3, and Disney, and only one person can watch at a time.
• Sling Blue: It has FOX, NBC, and about twenty more channels than Sling Orange. Also, three people can watch it at the same time.
• Sling Orange + Blue: It’s got the best of both worlds for a feasible price.
• Sling TV Review: You can read our full-length review of Sling TV here.

If there’s something we missed or you still have questions, let us know.