Sling Orange vs Blue: Channels, Prices and Which to Pick (2026)

Quick Answer: Sling Orange and Sling Blue both start at $45.99 a month, but they carry different channels. Orange has ESPN, ESPN2, Disney Channel and Freeform, and it plays on one screen at a time. Blue has Fox News, MS NOW, FS1, NFL Network, USA, FX and Bravo, and it plays on three screens. Blue also carries local FOX or NBC in 25 cities that Sling names. Sling Orange & Blue together starts at $60.99 a month. Another 26 channels, such as CNN, TNT, HGTV and AMC, are on both lists.

Last checked: October 9, 2026. Prices, screen limits and channel lists come from Sling’s own pages on that day. Sling’s offer details carry the date April 13, 2026. Where a figure comes from news reports and not from Sling, this guide says so.

Which Channels Are Only on Orange, and Which Are Only on Blue?

Most people only need this one table. If the channel you cannot live without is on one side, that side is your plan. If you have a must-have on both sides, you need Sling Orange & Blue.

Only on Sling Orange	Only on Sling Blue
ESPN	Fox News
ESPN2	MS NOW, the new name for MSNBC
ESPN 4K	FS1
Disney Channel	NFL Network
Freeform	USA, FX, Syfy, Bravo, E! and truTV
Discovery Turbo	Discovery Channel, TLC and National Geographic
	Cartoon Network, HLN and MGM+ Drive-In
	Local FOX, NBC or ABC, in some cities only

The split is about sports and news. Orange owns ESPN. Blue owns FS1, NFL Network, Fox News and MS NOW. A fan who needs both ESPN and FS1 has to buy both plans.

Is ESPN on Sling Blue? We treat the answer as no. Sling’s Blue page shows an ESPN logo in its channel picture. But Sling’s own NFL guide, dated September 9, 2026, lists ESPN with Orange, Orange & Blue and Essentials, and leaves Blue out. If ESPN matters to you, look for it in your cart before you pay for Blue. Our guide to where to find ESPN covers the other ways to get it.

How Much Do Sling Orange and Blue Really Cost?

Plan	Sling’s listed price	Screens at once	Built around
Sling Orange	$45.99 a month	1	ESPN, ESPN2, Disney Channel and Freeform. Sling says 30+ channels.
Sling Blue	Starting at $45.99 a month	3	Fox News, MS NOW, FS1, NFL Network, USA and FX. Sling says 40+ channels.
Sling Orange & Blue	Starting at $60.99 a month	4	Everything in both plans. Sling says 50+ channels.
Sling Essentials	$19.99 a month	1	ESPN, ESPN2, Disney Channel, Freeform and eight smaller channels.
Sling Select	Starting at $19.99 a month	3	Fox News, FS1, FX, NFL Network, National Geographic and six smaller channels.

Notice the words “starting at” on Blue. Sling Blue costs more in cities where it carries local stations. Sling does not print the extra amount on the pages we could open. News reports from January 2026 give the figures below. Cord Cutters News listed the new prices on January 22, and Clark.com reported Sling’s notice to customers that Blue would rise by $4 a month on or after February 20, 2026.

Local stations on Sling Blue in your city	Reported Sling Blue price
None of ABC, FOX or NBC	$45.99 a month
One or two of them	About $49.99 a month
All three	About $54.99 a month

The same report put Orange & Blue at $64.99 in cities with local stations. These are reported prices, so trust the price in your own cart after you enter your ZIP code. Sling Orange has no local stations, and its price is $45.99 everywhere.

Now the extras. Sling’s pages show no broadcast TV fee, no regional sports fee and no box rental. They do say that state and local taxes apply. The add-ons most people look at are below.

Add-on	Price
DVR, 50 hours	Free with every plan
Unlimited DVR	$5 a month
Sports Extra with Orange or with Blue	$11 a month
Sports Extra with Orange & Blue	$15 a month
News Extra with Blue or with Orange & Blue	$6 a month

Here is the math that matters. Orange & Blue at $60.99 plus Sports Extra at $15 comes to $75.99, a total Sling prints itself. Add unlimited DVR and you reach $80.99 before taxes. That is $2 less than the $82.99 main plan in our YouTube TV channel lineup. Once your Sling bill gets that high, compare the two channel lists before you choose on price alone.

Note: Sling sells other Extras too, such as Kids and Lifestyle packs. Sling’s own Extras page showed no prices for them when we checked, so this guide does not quote any. Look at the cart for the current price.

How Many Screens Can Watch at Once?

This is the detail that people miss. Sling Orange plays on one screen at a time. If someone is watching ESPN in the living room, nobody else in the house can watch Sling until they stop.

Sling Blue plays on three screens at once. Orange & Blue allows four, but not four of anything. Sling’s fine print gives you one stream for the Orange channels and three for the Blue channels. So two people still cannot watch ESPN at the same time. For one viewer, Orange is fine. For a family, the one-screen limit is a good reason to pick Blue or the combined plan.

Which Cities Get Local FOX and NBC on Sling Blue?

Sling Blue and Orange & Blue carry local FOX and NBC stations in the cities below. The list comes from the market chart on Sling’s college football page, dated August 31, 2026.

Local stations	Cities Sling names
FOX and NBC	Chicago, Dallas, Los Angeles, New York City, Oakland, Philadelphia, San Francisco, San Jose, Washington D.C.
FOX only	Atlanta, Austin, Detroit, Gainesville, Houston, Milwaukee, Minneapolis, Orlando, Phoenix, Seattle, Tacoma, Tampa
NBC only	Boston, Hartford, Miami, San Diego

ABC is harder to pin down. Sling says ABC is available only in some markets, but that chart names no ABC cities. Enter your ZIP code at checkout to see if you get it. CBS is simple. Sling’s own page says CBS is not available with Sling TV.

If your city is not in the table, Sling gives you no local stations at all. An antenna fills that gap for a one-time cost, and our guide to watching live TV for free explains how.

Sling Orange and Sling Blue Channel List

This is every channel Sling names on its Orange, Blue and Orange & Blue pages. Tap a button to see one plan, or type a channel name. The full list stays on the page even if the buttons do not load.

Local and Broadcast

Channel	Plan
FOX, local station in some cities	Blue only
NBC, local station in some cities	Blue only
ABC, local station in some cities	Blue only
MeTV	Both plans
Comet	Both plans
Charge!	Both plans
Local Now	Both plans

Sports

Channel	Plan
ESPN	Orange only
ESPN2	Orange only
ESPN 4K	Orange only
ESPN3	Orange only
FS1	Blue only
FS1 4K	Blue only
NFL Network	Blue only

News

Channel	Plan
CNN	Both plans
Fox News	Blue only
MS NOW, formerly MSNBC	Blue only
HLN	Blue only
Bloomberg TV+	Both plans

Entertainment

Channel	Plan
A&E	Both plans
AMC	Both plans
AXS TV	Both plans
BBC America	Both plans
BET	Both plans
Bravo	Blue only
Comedy Central	Both plans
E!	Blue only
Freeform	Orange only
Fuse	Both plans
FX	Blue only
IFC	Both plans
Lifetime	Both plans
MGM+ Drive-In	Blue only
Syfy	Blue only
TBS	Both plans
TNT	Both plans
truTV	Blue only
USA	Blue only
Vice	Both plans

Kids and Family

Channel	Plan
Disney Channel	Orange only
Cartoon Network and Adult Swim	Blue only
Nick Jr.	Both plans

Home, Food and Learning

Channel	Plan
Discovery Channel	Blue only
Discovery Turbo	Orange only
Food Network	Both plans
HGTV	Both plans
History Channel	Both plans
Investigation Discovery	Both plans
National Geographic	Blue only
TLC	Blue only
Travel Channel	Both plans

Shopping and Other

Channel	Plan
QVC	Both plans
Slingscapes	Both plans

Two small print notes. Sling names ESPN3 and FS1 4K only on its Orange & Blue page, so they are marked here by the plan their parent channel belongs to. And Sling’s channel pictures say MS NOW while its plan cards still say MSNBC. They are the same channel.

Which Sling Plan Should You Pick?

If this sounds like you	Pick	Listed price
You watch ESPN and Disney Channel, and one screen is enough	Sling Orange	$45.99
You want Fox News or MS NOW, FS1, NFL Network, or more than one screen	Sling Blue	Starting at $45.99
You follow sports on both ESPN and FS1	Sling Orange & Blue	Starting at $60.99
You only want ESPN and ESPN2, at the lowest price	Sling Essentials	$19.99
You only want Fox News, FS1, FX and NFL Network	Sling Select	Starting at $19.99

The two $19.99 plans are worth a look before you pay $45.99. Sling Essentials launched on April 9, 2026 with 12 channels. Sling Select has 11. Sling sells the pair together starting at $34.99, which is $11 less than Orange or Blue alone. You give up CNN, TNT, TBS, HGTV, AMC and the rest of the shared list, so check that list above first.

What Changed on Sling in 2026?

Date	What changed	Source
January 22 to February 20, 2026	Sling Blue went up by $4 a month in cities with local stations.	Cord Cutters News, and Clark.com on Sling’s notice
April 9, 2026	Sling Essentials launched at $19.99 a month.	Sling press release
September 2026	Thursday Night Football is no longer shown through NFL Network on Sling Blue.	Sling’s NFL guide, September 9
By October 2026	Day, weekend and week passes ended. Sling’s home page now says its passes are no longer available.	Sling’s home page

If you last looked at Sling a year ago, the passes and the Blue price are the two things most likely to surprise you.

What Does Sling Leave Out?

Sling is cheaper than the big live TV services because it leaves things out. There is no CBS in any city. ABC, FOX and NBC reach only some cities. No single plan has both ESPN and FS1. And Orange stops at one screen.

The fuller services cost more. YouTube TV’s main plan is $82.99 a month. Hulu + Live TV is $99.99 a month, and our Hulu + Live TV channel lineup shows what that buys. To check one channel across services, use our streaming channel finder.

One last tip. Sling bills by the month and has no long-term contract, so you can try a plan and switch colours later. Sling’s terms say it gives no credit or refund for a part month after you cancel. Make any change a day or two before your billing date, not a day or two after.