IPTV vs NOW TV: Price, Channels, and Quality Compared

NOW TV (rebranded as NOW) has positioned itself as Sky's flexible, contract-free alternative since its launch. The pitch is appealing: get Sky content without a dish, without a long contract, and at a lower price point. For many UK viewers disillusioned with Sky's full-fat pricing, NOW seemed like the perfect middle ground.

But in 2026, that middle ground is looking increasingly cramped. NOW's prices have crept upward year after year. The channel selection, while decent, is a fraction of what is available elsewhere. The streaming quality has limitations that are impossible to ignore on modern televisions. And IPTV has emerged as an alternative that makes NOW look as outdated as the set-top box it was designed to replace.

This comparison breaks down every aspect of NOW TV versus IPTV, from monthly costs to channel counts, picture quality to device compatibility. By the end, the value calculation is not even close.

Price Comparison: What You Actually Pay

NOW offers its content through membership tiers. The Entertainment membership costs approximately £10 per month and gives you access to Sky Atlantic, Sky Max, and other entertainment channels. The Cinema membership is around £10 per month for Sky Cinema channels. The Sports membership is roughly £30 to £35 per month for Sky Sports channels. The Kids membership is around £4 per month.

Here is where the maths gets uncomfortable for NOW subscribers. A viewer who wants entertainment, sport, and cinema is paying approximately £50 to £55 per month. That figure has risen steadily since NOW's launch and shows no sign of stopping. Over twelve months, that is £600 to £660. And remember, this is supposed to be the budget-friendly Sky alternative.

An EdIPTV subscription includes everything NOW offers, plus everything NOW does not offer, at a price that is available on our /pricing page. Every Sky channel, every TNT Sports channel, every international broadcaster, every on-demand title. The annual saving compared to NOW's combined memberships is significant, and the gap in what you receive for that money is enormous.

Channel Count: 50 vs 40,000+

NOW provides access to approximately 50 channels through its combined memberships. This includes Sky Atlantic, Sky Max, Sky Documentaries, Sky Nature, Sky Crime, Comedy Central, MTV, and the Sky Sports channels. It is a curated selection of the Sky ecosystem, and within that ecosystem, the content is good.

EdIPTV provides over 40,000 live channels. This includes every channel NOW offers, plus every other UK channel, plus channels from every European country, plus channels from the Middle East, Asia, Africa, and the Americas. The comparison is not between two roughly equivalent services; it is between a boutique offering and an entire world of television.

Critically, IPTV includes channels that NOW simply does not carry at any price. TNT Sports for Champions League football. Eurosport for tennis and cycling. beIN Sports for international football. DAZN for boxing and European leagues. International news, children's programming, documentary channels, music channels, and specialist content from around the globe. NOW's 50 channels are a subset of what IPTV provides.

Streaming Quality: NOW's Biggest Weakness

This is where NOW has drawn the most criticism since its inception, and rightly so. NOW streams at a maximum of 1080p, and even this requires the Boost add-on at an additional £6 per month. Without Boost, the standard streaming quality is 720p. In 2026, on televisions that routinely measure 55 inches and larger, 720p looks noticeably soft and lacking in detail.

Even with the Boost add-on, NOW does not support 4K or HDR. This is a deliberate limitation designed to differentiate NOW from Sky's premium Sky Q and Sky Glass offerings. Sky wants 4K to be a premium feature that justifies its higher pricing, so NOW is artificially capped at 1080p.

For sports viewing, this limitation is particularly painful. Football on a 65-inch screen at 720p is a genuinely poor experience. The pitch looks muddy, player names are difficult to read, and fast action creates visible compression artefacts. Even at 1080p with Boost, the picture is adequate rather than good.

EdIPTV delivers content in up to 4K Ultra HD with HDR support. Standard channels stream in 1080p Full HD, and premium channels including Sky Sports, Sky Cinema, and entertainment flagships are available in 4K. The visual difference between NOW's 720p and IPTV's 4K on the same television is dramatic. It is not a subtle improvement; it is a generation leap in picture quality.

On-Demand Content: Library Size Matters

NOW's on-demand library is tied to Sky's content deals and includes Sky originals, HBO shows (through Sky's deal with Warner Bros Discovery), selected box sets, and the Sky Cinema library. It is a reasonable selection, particularly for fans of prestige drama and recent cinema releases.

EdIPTV's video-on-demand library contains over 54,000 titles. This includes the latest cinema releases, classic films spanning decades, complete box sets of popular and niche series, international films and dramas, documentaries, kids content, and specialist genres. The library is updated continuously with new titles.

The practical difference is that NOW's library runs out. You watch the handful of shows Sky is promoting, work through the HBO catalogue, and find yourself scrolling through the same titles repeatedly. IPTV's library is so large that you would need years to exhaust it, and new content arrives constantly.

Device Compatibility and Flexibility

NOW is available on a reasonable range of devices: smart TVs from Samsung and LG, Fire TV Stick, PlayStation, Xbox, smartphones, tablets, and computers. The app is generally well-designed and easy to use.

IPTV through EdIPTV works on every device NOW supports and many more. Any Android TV device, any smart TV with app installation capability, any computer, any phone or tablet, Nvidia Shield, MAG boxes, Enigma2 receivers, and virtually any other internet-connected device with a screen. The flexibility is total.

A key difference is simultaneous streams. NOW limits you to one stream at a time on its standard plan, or two with the Boost add-on (at extra cost). EdIPTV supports multiple simultaneous connections, meaning your household can watch different content on different devices without paying extra or conflicting with each other.

Sports: The Decision-Making Category

For many UK viewers, sport is the primary reason they subscribe to any TV service. NOW's Sports membership provides Sky Sports channels only. This covers the Premier League (most matches), EFL, cricket, F1, golf, darts, boxing, and other Sky Sports content. It does not include TNT Sports (Champions League, Europa League), Eurosport, beIN Sports, or any other sports broadcaster.

If you want comprehensive UK sports coverage through NOW, you need to add TNT Sports separately (another £30+ per month through Discovery+) and Eurosport (another subscription). Your sports-only monthly outlay quickly approaches £70 before you have added entertainment or cinema.

IPTV includes every sports channel from every broadcaster in one subscription. Sky Sports, TNT Sports, Eurosport, beIN Sports, DAZN, ESPN, and hundreds of specialist sports channels from across Europe and beyond. Every Premier League match. Every Champions League night. Every Grand Prix. Every test match. Every Wimbledon final. One subscription, one price, no add-ons.

Browse our complete sports channel lineup at /channel-list.

Contract Flexibility

NOW deserves credit for offering month-by-month subscriptions without long-term contracts. You can cancel at any time, and there are no exit fees. This was a genuine differentiator when NOW launched and remains a positive feature.

However, NOW has increasingly pushed annual plans with discounts, and the month-by-month prices have risen to encourage longer commitments. The flexibility is still there, but the financial incentive to lock in for a year somewhat undermines the contract-free selling point.

EdIPTV also operates without contracts. You choose your subscription period, use the service, and renew or stop as you please. There are no cancellation fees, no retention departments, and no price increases during your subscription period. The flexibility is genuine and total.

User Interface and Experience

NOW's app interface is generally well-designed, with clear categories, good search functionality, and a layout that makes browsing content straightforward. Sky has invested significantly in the NOW app's user experience, and it shows.

IPTV's user experience depends on which player app you choose. TiviMate provides a polished, intuitive interface with an excellent EPG that rivals or exceeds NOW's interface quality. IPTV Smarters offers a clean, functional layout. The experience is more customisable than NOW, allowing you to organise channels, create favourites, and configure the EPG to suit your viewing habits.

One area where NOW has a slight edge is content discovery. Sky's recommendation engine and editorial curation make it easy to find new shows and films. IPTV's strength is in live TV and breadth of content rather than curated discovery, although the EPG and search functions in top apps make finding specific content straightforward.

The Annual Cost Breakdown

Let us put the twelve-month costs side by side for a viewer who wants entertainment, sport, and cinema.

NOW Entertainment (£10) + Cinema (£10) + Sports (£34) + Boost for 1080p (£6) = £60 per month, or £720 per year. This gets you approximately 50 channels, a decent on-demand library, 1080p maximum quality with no 4K, and limited simultaneous streams.

Add TNT Sports for Champions League coverage (£31 per month from Discovery+) and the total rises to £91 per month, or £1,092 per year. Still no 4K. Still limited simultaneous streams. Still around 50-60 channels.

EdIPTV: visit /pricing for our current rates. You receive over 40,000 channels, 54,000+ on-demand titles, 4K Ultra HD with HDR, multiple simultaneous connections, no contracts, and 24/7 support. The annual saving compared to the NOW + TNT Sports combination is substantial.

Who Should Stick with NOW TV

In fairness, NOW still has a place for a specific type of viewer. If you only want Sky originals and HBO content, do not watch sport, are happy with 720p quality, and value the simplicity of a single well-designed app, NOW's Entertainment membership at £10 per month is not terrible value.

But the moment you add sport, cinema, or the Boost upgrade, the value proposition collapses. And for viewers who want comprehensive television covering sport, entertainment, films, international content, and on-demand depth, IPTV is objectively the better choice on every metric except perhaps the polish of the recommendation engine.

Making the Switch

Switching from NOW to IPTV is straightforward. Choose your EdIPTV plan at /pricing, install an IPTV app on any device you currently use for NOW (all the same devices are supported), enter your credentials, and start watching. The entire process takes fifteen minutes or less, with full instructions available at /setup-guide.

You do not need to cancel NOW immediately. Run both services for a week to compare them directly on your own screen, with your own internet connection, watching your own favourite content. Once you have seen the difference in channel count, picture quality, and overall value, cancelling NOW becomes an easy decision.

Visit /pricing to explore EdIPTV plans. Check /channel-list to confirm every channel you watch is available. Review /features for technical specifications. And when you are ready, make the switch that hundreds of thousands of UK viewers have already made. More television, better quality, less money. It really is that simple.