The answer, in one paragraph
A streaming stick and an antenna. That is the cord-cutting setup for most households, it costs under 100 dollars once, and it covers both halves of what cable was doing: the apps and the live local channels. Add an over-the-air DVR if you record things. Replace the rented router if your bill has an equipment line on it. Everything else being sold as essential to cord-cutting is optional, and quite a lot of it is a monthly fee wearing a different hat.
The reason to think of it as four parts rather than as a shopping list is that each part replaces a specific thing the cable box used to do. Work out which of those things you actually care about and the decision stops being complicated.
Part 1: the streaming stick — replaces the box and the apps
This is the only part nearly everyone needs, and it is the cheapest. A streaming stick plugs into an HDMI port, takes power from a USB lead, and puts every streaming app on the television — including the free ad-supported ones, which need no subscription at all.
No streaming device charges a monthly fee.There is no Roku subscription and no Fire TV subscription; you buy the hardware once. We would start with the Roku Streaming Stick 4K because its home screen is a neutral grid of apps rather than a storefront for one company’s video catalog, which is what you want when you are juggling a few services and trying not to add more. If the television is older and only does 1080p, a cheaper stick is the correct purchase rather than a compromise — see best cheap streaming sticks.
If your television is a recent smart TV, you may not need this part at all: the apps are already built in. The reason people buy a stick anyway is that built-in app platforms age badly and get slow, while a 50-dollar stick refreshes the whole interface. If you want to spend nothing here, try what you have first.
Part 2: the antenna — replaces local channels, free, forever
This is the part people skip and then regret. Your local ABC, CBS, NBC, FOX and PBS stations are broadcast over the air right now, free, with no account and no monthly cost. They are the channels cord-cutters miss first: the news, the network sport, the thing that is just on. And they are the channels that live TV streaming services charge you every month to get back.
An antenna also has two properties no stream has. It uses no internet data, so it does not compete with anyone else in the house, and it keeps working when the connection goes down.
Check your address before you buy.The FCC publishes a free address-level reception tool that tells you which stations are predicted at your location and how strong each is. That result decides whether you need a 30-dollar indoor panel or a roof antenna, and it takes two minutes — our walkthrough of reading itcovers what the numbers mean. The FCC’s own consumer guidance also notes that outdoor antennas generally receive better than indoor ones and are strongly recommended for the most reliable reception, which is worth knowing if your result looks marginal. If you are new to this entirely, how to choose a TV antennais the beginner’s version.
We have put the Mohu Leaf Amplified in the kit below because its amplifier can be switched off, which matters more than it sounds: an amplifier left on near a strong transmitter makes reception worse, and it is the most common and least understood indoor antenna failure.
Part 3: the DVR — only if you record
If nobody in the house records anything, skip this and save the money. If you do, an over-the-air DVR connects to the antenna and records broadcast television to a drive.
The thing to check is the program guide.Several OTA DVRs charge a monthly fee for guide data — which quietly reintroduces the bill you canceled. The Tablo 4th Gen models state “No Subscriptions” on the listing for both recording and guide, and include a starter antenna in the box. Two tuners means two things at once; the four-tuner version is a small step up in price and the right call for a family where several people watch different live things. Our OTA DVR without a subscription page says exactly where the fee hides on the models that have one, and recording to watch on a streaming box covers the setup where the recordings play back through the stick you bought in part one.
Part 4: the router — the part that saves money every month
Look at your internet bill for an equipment rental line. Many providers charge one every month for a gateway, and the fee is usually enough that a router you own pays for itself inside a year. Canceling cable while continuing to rent the box is leaving money behind.
The TP-Link Archer AX21 is the obvious candidate: entry Wi-Fi 6, more capacity than a cord-cut household’s streaming load ever asks for, and two cables plus a phone app to install. There is a second benefit beyond the money — a router you own takes firmware updates from its maker on its maker’s schedule, rather than from the provider on theirs.
One caution: a single router does not fix a large or long house. If your problem is that the television at the far end buffers, that is a coverage problem rather than a router problem, and mesh or an extender is the answer. For the television itself, the cheapest fix is often a wire: a streaming box with an Ethernet port removes Wi-Fi from the equation entirely.
What this costs, and what it does not
Live prices for all four parts are below, each stamped with the date it was pulled. The shape of the decision is this: the stick and the antenna together are the cheap pair that covers most of what cable did. The DVR is a want, not a need. The router is an investment that pays itself back out of the bill.
What none of it does is buy you content. Streaming services are separate and billed by whoever provides them — and the honest finding is that a household which adds four of them has rebuilt a cable bill out of apps. Our guide to live TV streaming services compares the routes without publishing prices we cannot keep current, because those tariffs change several times a year.
Do it in this order
1. Check your address on the FCC reception tool. Free, two minutes, and it decides which antenna you need.
2. Buy the stick and the antenna. Live with it for a month. This is the cheap experiment that tells you what you genuinely miss, rather than what you assumed you would.
3. Add a DVR only if you reached for one. Most households do not.
4. Deal with the rented router whenever convenient. It saves money every month either way, so there is no wrong time.
5. Then cancel — and read how to cut the cord before you call, because the equipment-return step on that page is the one that costs people real money.