Independent IPTV testing for US households
Best IPTV with catch-up TV and a working EPG
Catch-up and the electronic programme guide are the two features most often advertised and least often verified. A service can list a seven-day catch-up window and a full EPG while delivering a guide that is blank on half the channels and a catch-up archive that only holds yesterday.
These are also the two features that turn IPTV from a channel list into something that behaves like television. This page ranks on what actually worked.
The ranking
-
TereaTV
Best overall
9.4/10The guide populated correctly on every app we tested it in, and catch-up returned complete programmes rather than truncated recordings. This was the cleanest implementation of the eight.
- From
- $10/mo
- Live channels
- 50,000+
- On demand
- 150,000+
- Connections
- 1-5
- Trial
- 24-hour trial
What works
- Largest live lineup here, and the guide populated correctly in every app
- Held a full stream through peak evening hours in every test window
- Catch-up and EPG populated correctly on all tested apps
What does not
- Three services now beat it on annual price, so it is no longer the value pick
- Apps must be sideloaded on Fire OS rather than installed from a store
-
FreeGoTV
Longest running
9.1/10Reliable guide data and a support team that answered quickly when we asked about the catch-up window — a question most services answer vaguely or not at all.
- From
- $8.33/mo
- Live channels
- 44,000+
- On demand
- 150,000+
- Connections
- 1-6
- Trial
- 24-hour trial
What works
- Running continuously since 2013 - the longest track record on this list
- Support answered inside an hour on every ticket we opened
- Reseller program is the most developed of the services we tested
What does not
- 44,000 live channels is the smallest live lineup of the four leaders
- Interface design feels dated next to newer services
-
VocoTV
Best for large households
9.0/10Guide and catch-up both worked as described, with the added benefit that multiple people can use catch-up simultaneously on the multi-connection plans.
- From
- $12/mo
- Live channels
- 50,000+
- On demand
- 180,000+
- Connections
- 1-6
- Trial
- 24-hour trial
What works
- Five-connection package is priced below what most services charge for three
- Streams stayed independent - one device buffering did not affect the others
- Coupon VOCOTV1 applies on top of the annual rate
What does not
- Newer service, so there is less long-term reliability history to judge
- Channel search inside the app is slow with the full list loaded
-
EarthWebTV
Clearest pricing
8.5/10Catch-up is properly documented alongside the published pricing, which fits its general pattern of stating things plainly rather than implying them.
- From
- $9.17/mo
- Live channels
- 36,000+
- On demand
- 18,000+
- Connections
- 1-5
- Trial
- 24-hour trial
What works
- Every price for every cycle and connection count is published up front
- Second-cheapest annual rate on the list at $110 a year
- Plan tiers stop at five connections, so there is no confusing sixth tier
What does not
- Smallest on-demand library here by a wide margin
- 36,000 channels is below the 50,000 the others claim
-
KroozTV
Best short-term plan
8.7/10Guide data was present and accurate across the channels we sampled, with no notable gaps.
- From
- $13/mo
- Live channels
- 50,000+
- On demand
- 180,000+
- Connections
- 1-6
- Trial
- 24-hour trial
What works
- Three and six-month plans are priced closer to the annual rate than most
- Five-connection special is a single product rather than an upsell chain
- Activation completed in minutes on every order we placed
What does not
- Annual plan is the most expensive of the eight
- No browser player - every device needs an app
At a glance
| Service | Connections | Trial | From | Score |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| TereaTV | 1-5 | 24-hour trial | $10/mo | 9.4 |
| FreeGoTV | 1-6 | 24-hour trial | $8.33/mo | 9.1 |
| VocoTV | 1-6 | 24-hour trial | $12/mo | 9.0 |
| EarthWebTV | 1-5 | 24-hour trial | $9.17/mo | 8.5 |
| KroozTV | 1-6 | 24-hour trial | $13/mo | 8.7 |
How to test the guide in ten minutes
Open the guide and scroll through twenty channels at random, including ones outside the main US networks. Count how many show programme titles rather than a placeholder. A guide that is only populated on popular channels is a partial guide.
Then scroll forward. A guide with today's data and nothing beyond it is not a real EPG, and it will not support any kind of planned viewing.
How to test catch-up
Pick a programme that aired two or three days ago on a channel you care about and try to play it. Confirm it is the full programme rather than a fragment, and that it starts where it should.
Then check how far back the archive actually goes against what the service advertises. Published catch-up windows are frequently longer than the archive you can reach.
Common questions
What is catch-up TV on IPTV?
It lets you play programmes that already aired, within a rolling archive window. The window is typically a few days, though the advertised length and the reachable archive do not always match.
What is an EPG?
The electronic programme guide — the on-screen schedule showing what is playing now and next on each channel.
Which service had the best guide data?
TereaTV. Its guide populated correctly across every app we tested and catch-up returned complete programmes rather than fragments.
Why is my EPG empty on some channels?
Guide data comes from separate feeds and is not always available for every channel, particularly smaller regional ones. Sampling twenty channels during a trial shows you how complete a given service's data is.