So which one should I get?

Reuters/Kevork Djansezian

With Sony hiking the price of PlayStation Vue in most markets, YouTube TV expanding to more regions, and the continued improvements to Hulu and DirecTV Now, saying which live-TV service is "best" has become a bit more complicated.

The truth is there's no obvious winner — you have to assess the info, use those free trials, and see which one best fits your needs and price range.

• Still, in a vacuum, we think PlayStation Vue remains the most fully formed cable replacement. It has streamed smoothly in our testing. It's simple enough to navigate. It has no issues with device support. It lets you stream to the most devices at once — making it good for families — and you can use its login to sign into several outside streaming apps. Its channel lineup, while not flawless, compares favorably with its peers, and it supports the most local networks overall. Its DVR is relatively generous, too, and it's not terribly restrictive about letting you pause and rewind live TV.

But there's no denying that $40 a month isn't very cheap. The limitations Vue still puts on some networks when you're on the go are a pain, too.

• If you're in one of the markets where YouTube TV is available, it might be your best bet instead. Its nine-month DVR is the most spacious you can buy, it has the big four networks in all but one market, and it streams smoothly. If it could integrate with YouTube proper in any meaningful way, it could be something special.

Its ad-skipping annoyances are nearly as frustrating as Hulu's, though, and it still omits channels that some people may need. Worse, it makes you use a Chromecast or AirPlay just to watch things on a TV. But if YouTube can expand its device support and make its way to more markets, it has a shot of cutting out any advantage Vue has.