A Sky Stream Puck plus a full Sky Sports and Sky Cinema bundle clears £75 a month on an 18-month contract, while a NOW membership stacking the same two passes lands closer to £55 with no commitment whatsoever. That £20 monthly gap, multiplied across a year and a half, is the single most useful number when comparing the two services. NOW is the rolling, no-strings sibling of Sky Stream, and Sky knows it: both products live under the same Comcast roof, both stream over your broadband, and both carry the same library of original drama. The differences only matter once you map them against how a household actually watches television. This guide does that mapping with real prices, real channel lineups, and a clear pick for four common UK buyer profiles by the time you reach the verdict.
What each service actually delivers in 2026 #
Sky Stream is the pucked-up, dish-free version of Sky. You plug a small black puck into your TV, sign an 18-month contract for the Sky Entertainment base, then pile on Sky Sports, Sky Cinema, Netflix or whatever else you fancy as add-ons. Channels behave like channels: Sky Atlantic, Sky Max, Sky Showcase and the rest sit in a numbered EPG. Recordings work via a cloud Playlist that mimics a Sky Q planner. 4K HDR is included where the underlying broadcast supports it, and the Puck supports Dolby Atmos through HDMI passthrough.
NOW is Sky's pay-monthly streaming brand. Instead of channels and a contract, you buy memberships: Entertainment, Cinema, Sports, Hayu, plus a Kids tier. Each is billed monthly with no minimum term, so you can drop Sports the day after the Premier League final and pick it back up when the Ashes start. The catch is the picture: NOW caps streams at 720p with ads on the cheapest tier and reaches 1080p plus 5.1 audio only when you bolt on the Boost upgrade. There is no native 4K. Channels are simulcast as on-demand collections rather than a true linear EPG, which feels noticeably different on a sofa.
Pricing — the like-for-like maths #
Indicative prices, subject to change at sky.com and nowtv.com. Sky Stream's Entertainment & Netflix base sits around £29 a month on an 18-month deal, with Ultimate TV (adds the Netflix Standard tier) closer to £36. Layer Sky Sports for roughly £30 and Sky Cinema for about £13 and you reach the £75 figure mentioned at the top. NOW Entertainment is around £10 a month, NOW Cinema £10 and NOW Sports £35 for the monthly pass or £15 a month if you commit to a six-month annual plan. Boost adds about £6.
Like-for-like, NOW is materially cheaper if you skip Boost and tolerate ads. Match the picture quality and remove ads via Boost and the gap narrows to roughly £10 to £15 a month, which compounds because there is no early-termination fee on NOW. A household that only watches sport from August to May saves the entire summer because they simply pause the membership. Sky Stream offers no equivalent flexibility: cancelling a Sports add-on inside the contract usually triggers a fee or an extension.
Channels and content — what's on each #
Both services carry the same Sky originals: White Lotus, House of the Dragon, The Last of Us, Gangs of London, Brassic and the rest land on Sky Atlantic via Sky Stream and inside the Entertainment membership on NOW, usually on the same day. Sky Max, Sky Witness, Sky Comedy, Sky Documentaries and Sky Nature also appear in both. The big NOW exception is Sky Showcase, the curated promo channel — it doesn't sit cleanly inside NOW because the membership shows content as on-demand collections rather than a marketing channel.
Sky Sports has all eight channels (Premier League, Football, Cricket, Golf, F1, Action, Main Event, Mix) on Sky Stream. NOW Sports carries the same eight, but in 1080p with Boost rather than 4K. Sky Cinema's eleven channels are present on both, with the Sky Cinema Premiere window holding for both. TNT Sports is an add-on through Discovery+ on Sky Stream and a separate subscription entirely on NOW — it is not bundled into either base price.
Picture quality — 4K, HDR, Boost, ads #
Sky Stream wins the spec sheet outright. 4K is included on Premier League matches, F1 races, Sky Cinema premieres, and most Sky originals at no extra cost beyond the relevant add-on. HDR is supported (HDR10 and Dolby Vision on compatible content), and a 5.1 to Atmos audio chain works through the Puck if your soundbar handles it.
NOW is the more compromised picture. The base streams are 720p with adverts running before and during shows, including pauses on certain titles. Boost lifts streams to 1080p, removes ads on most content, and unlocks 5.1 audio. There is still no 4K and no HDR. On a 55-inch TV at typical viewing distance the difference between 1080p Boost and 4K Sky Stream is visible on Premier League football and modern Sky originals; on older catalogue titles the gap shrinks. If your set is 65 inches or above, the case for Sky Stream's 4K hardens fast.
Contract terms — 18-month vs no commitment #
Sky Stream pulls you onto an 18-month contract on the base, and any sports or cinema add-ons inherit the minimum term unless added later as a rolling extra. The early-termination fee is calculated by the months remaining and can run into hundreds of pounds. Price rises during the contract are anchored to a published RPI-plus-3.5% formula, applied each April.
NOW has no contract. Each membership renews monthly. You can cancel any membership before the next billing date and keep using it until that date passes. There is no installation fee, no router involvement, and no minimum spend. The flip side is that your monthly price is not locked: NOW can raise prices on any membership with thirty days' notice, and historically has done so once or twice a year on the popular tiers.
Recording, catch-up and on-demand #
Sky Stream's Playlist works like a cloud DVR without the megabyte arithmetic. You add shows, films or whole seasons to your Playlist and they appear as if recorded — many for around 30 days, longer for box sets. There is no physical storage, so you can't pause-and-rewind a live broadcast in the same way a Sky Q box did, but the catch-up window is generous and the experience is closer to a mature streaming app than a tape recorder.
NOW has no Playlist or DVR equivalent. Everything is on-demand, with content appearing in the relevant membership for between 7 and 30 days after first broadcast, longer for box sets and Sky originals. You can't queue future episodes, but you can resume across devices. For most modern viewing habits this is enough; for households that record and binge an entire week's soaps on a Saturday, the absence will feel real.
Devices and ease of setup #
Sky Stream needs the Puck — there is no app-only version on a third-party smart TV. The Puck arrives in the post, plugs into HDMI, connects to your home Wi-Fi (Ethernet is supported), and signs you in with a short code. Setup takes under ten minutes. The Sky Stream app exists on iOS, Android and tablets for second-screen viewing, but the living-room experience is Puck-first.
NOW is the opposite: it lives inside an app on virtually every device sold this decade. Smart TVs from LG, Samsung, Sony, Hisense and TCL all carry the NOW app. So do Roku, Fire TV, Apple TV, Chromecast with Google TV, Now Stick (their own dongle), PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, iOS and Android. You can sign in on up to six devices and stream concurrently on up to three. For households with one big telly and several iPads, NOW often fits the lifestyle better.
Sky Stream vs NOW for sport specifically #
If your sport-watching peaks at the Premier League and the F1 season, NOW Sports does the job at a lower headline price, particularly on the six-month plan. Boost is essentially mandatory — 720p on a fast-cut football camera angle is not a pleasant watch — which pushes the real number to about £41 a month. You still skip the contract.
For households that watch cricket, golf, tennis and Sky Sports F1 routinely, Sky Stream's 4K coverage of marquee fixtures is the deciding factor. Premier League matches in 4K HDR on a Sky Stream Puck look measurably sharper than the same fixture on NOW Sports with Boost. If you sit close to a 65-inch screen, that gap is the difference between forgetting the resolution and actively noticing it. Add the Multiview feature, which lets you split the screen across up to four sports streams, and Sky Stream is the cleaner choice for the dedicated fan.
Sky Stream vs NOW for film fans #
Sky Cinema content is identical on both platforms, but the picture is not. Sky Stream presents premieres in 4K Dolby Vision with Atmos audio where the master supports it; NOW Cinema serves the same titles in 1080p SDR with stereo or 5.1 only on Boost. For a Friday-night blockbuster on a decent television, that difference is exactly where 4K shows its hand: lit interiors, dark scenes, fine fabric textures and CGI explosions all gain.
Where NOW Cinema wins is the dip-in habit. £10 a month, no minimum term, gives you the entire Sky Cinema library and the rolling premieres. Cancel after a quiet stretch, restart when something you actually want lands. Sky Cinema as a Sky Stream add-on doesn't allow that rhythm without contract penalties, which makes NOW Cinema the better fit for the casual watcher who only wants three or four titles a year.
Verdict by buyer profile #
The occasional viewer who wants White Lotus and a couple of Friday-night films a year: NOW Entertainment plus a month of NOW Cinema as needed. Annual cost lands well under £200 and you have nothing to cancel afterwards.
The full-time Sky replacement household, watching every night across kids, sport, film and drama: Sky Stream wins. The 4K, the Playlist, the multi-room story (you can buy a second Puck) and the Multiview feature all matter once television is your main entertainment. The contract is the price.
The sports-first household: NOW Sports with Boost on the six-month plan if Premier League and F1 are the main interest. Sky Stream with Sports if you watch cricket, golf and tennis as well, or if 4K football matters more than £15 a month.
The film fan who watches three or four big titles a year: NOW Cinema, used in bursts, beats Sky Cinema on Sky Stream by a wide margin. Save Sky Stream Cinema for the household that watches a Sky premiere most weekends.
Frequently Asked Questions #
Is NOW just a cheaper Sky Stream? #
Not quite. The content overlaps almost entirely on Entertainment and Cinema, and NOW Sports carries the same eight Sky Sports channels. The structural differences are real: NOW caps at 1080p with Boost and adverts on the lowest tier, has no 4K, no Playlist DVR equivalent, and no Multiview. It is cheaper because the picture is lower, the experience is app-only, and the trade-off works for households that don't push a big screen hard.
Can I get Sky Sports without a Sky Stream contract? #
Yes. NOW Sports is the contract-free route. The monthly pass costs roughly £35, the six-month annual plan brings the effective price to around £15 a month with a six-month commitment, and Boost adds about £6 to lift the picture to 1080p with 5.1 audio. There is no Sky Sports option on Sky Stream that comes without a minimum term, so NOW Sports is the only way to watch Premier League and F1 on Sky's networks without signing anything long.
Does NOW have 4K with Boost? #
No. Boost lifts NOW streams from 720p to 1080p, removes most adverts, and enables 5.1 surround on supported content, but it does not unlock 4K or HDR. There is currently no 4K tier on NOW. If you want 4K from Sky's networks you need Sky Stream with the relevant add-on, or a Sky Glass television.
Which has more channels? #
Sky Stream, by a clear margin. The full Sky channel lineup, including Sky Showcase, Sky Crime, Sky History, Sky Arts and the Pick channels, sits in the EPG. NOW exposes the Entertainment, Cinema and Sports content as on-demand and live collections rather than a numbered EPG, and several niche Sky channels are surfaced as on-demand only. For news, free-to-air entertainment and documentary range, Sky Stream gives more buttons to press.
Can I switch from NOW to Sky Stream easily? #
Yes, and Sky periodically offers transfer deals that wave the upfront Puck cost. You keep your Sky ID, so your Playlist preferences and recommendations carry over to a degree. The friction is the contract: Sky Stream's 18-month minimum applies the moment the Puck is activated, so the move is rarely worth it for under twelve months of viewing. Households that have used NOW for two seasons of football and decided they want the full Sky experience are the natural converts.
Disclosure: this article is editorially independent. Prices and pack details were correct at time of writing and are subject to change at sky.com and nowtv.com. We may earn a commission on some links at no extra cost to you.