The average household spends hundreds of dollars a year on cable — and the bill seems to go up every year. The good news: you can lower that cost a lot, and still watch the shows, movies, and channels you enjoy. Here's an honest, jargon-free guide to "cutting the cord."
First, what does "cutting the cord" really mean?
It simply means replacing your cable service with apps you watch over the internet. Instead of renting a cable box and paying for hundreds of channels you never watch, you choose what you actually want — and a lot of it is free.
What you can watch for free
There are many completely free, legal apps supported by ads — similar to regular TV:
- Free movie and TV apps like Tubi, Pluto TV, and The Roku Channel offer thousands of movies and shows at no cost.
- YouTube for news, how-to videos, music, and more.
- Free news apps from many local and national stations.
What you can choose to pay for
If there's a specific service you love, you can add just that one — and skip the rest:
- Netflix, Disney+, Prime Video, and similar apps each have their own low monthly price.
- The difference from cable is that you only pay for what you want, and you can cancel anytime.
Many people find that one or two chosen subscriptions, plus the free apps, cost far less than their old cable bill.
Don't want to miss live local channels?
A simple over-the-air antenna (a one-time purchase of around $20–$40) can pick up your local broadcast channels — news, weather, and network shows — for free.
How a streaming box makes it easy
To watch all these apps on your TV, you need a device to run them. A streaming TV box — like a vSeeBox — plugs into your TV, connects to your home internet, and puts all your apps in one simple place. It's a one-time purchase with no monthly fee for the device itself, so it pays for itself quickly compared to a cable bill.
If you'd like a simple, no-monthly-fee box that's easy to set up and comes with real support, take a look at our vSeeBox lineup — most people choose the V6 Max.