The best TV antennas of 2023: Tested and rated

The best TV antennas let you watch local news and sports without paying for a cable subscription, or they can supplement services like Sling TV with content from stations like FOX, CBS, NBC, ABC and more. If you're a cord-cutter or a cord-never, that means you can keep the entertainment flowing without hurting your bank account.

So how do we know which ones are the best? Our TV antenna reviews combine careful testing and hands-on evaluation to find the best TV antennas available, from basic indoor antennas to amplified models and larger outdoor antennas. We're continuously testing new models, too, to make sure there's nothing newer that's surpassed any of the older antennas on this list.

We consider performance, the number of channels pulled in and whether those channels are watchable, plus the equipment that’s included and the ease of setup and use. Looking for top tips on how to get the best reception whichever TV antenna you have or not sure how to position your antenna? Keep reading to the bottom for our advice and download the free Antenna Point app from Mohu and Antennas Direct for the locations of your nearest broadcasters.

Our pick of the best TV antennas, based on our testing, is the Mohu Leaf Supreme Pro. While it's not immune to stutter in inclement weather, most channels come through crystal clear just a few miles outside of town. It's worth noting that you should make sure broadcasters are within range of your home and you have a spot in a nearby window in which you can place the antenna. If you're out of range of a broadcaster or don't have a nearby window, consider our favorite outdoor antenna, the Winegard Elite 7550 Outdoor HDTV Antenna. With a 70-mile range, it's perfect for pulling in channels that are harder to get with smaller indoor antennas.

Need something cheaper? Our budget pick is the 1byone Amplified HDTV Antenna. At just $12, it's a great option for folks who don't need a lot of range and the low price is great - though, there are also plenty of great reviews for the U MUST HAVE Amplified HD Digital TV Antenna, which is often available for under $30.

Written by

Written by

Nick Pino

My name's Nick and I look after our guides to the best TVs, best OLED TVs and best 4K TVs. Most of my day is spent watching and evaluating new screens from LG, Samsung, Sony, Hisense, TCL and Vizio. I have 10 years of experience in AV, and before I joined Tom's Guide I was formerly the Senior Editor, TV and AV at TechRadar. I love helping people find the perfect TV, so please feel free to reach out over email or tag me on Twitter and I can help you out.

The quick list

The full list: Best TV antennas in detail

For the best overall TV antenna, it's hard to beat the capable Mohu Leaf Supreme Pro. The wide design goes big to pull in more stations. With a bigger and thicker design than most flat antennas, this chunky antenna boasts a built-in amplifier with an integrated signal-strength meter, helping you find the optimal spot for pulling in channels.

And pull in channels it does, leveraging it's wide surface area to nab more than 40 watchable stations, outperforming some of our favorite indoor antennas. The antenna has a unique detachable coax cable and includes a 3-foot USB power cable for powering the amplifier, but it comes rolled up in the box, and does need to spend some time unfurled before it will lay flat. But all of the quirks are worth it for the solid reception it offers, and the Mohu Leaf Supreme Pro is an excellent indoor antenna for suburban areas that may need a boost to get the most channels.

Read our full Mohu Leaf Supreme Pro HDTV Antenna review. 

The best outdoor antenna

Sometimes an indoor antenna just won't cut it. When you need an outdoor antenna with excellent reception, the Winegard Elite 7550 is the smart option, and the best TV antenna for outdoor installation. It may cost a little more, but the Winegard Elite 7550 pays dividends, delivering a whopping 73 channels in our tests. Whether you're in a crowded city or a rural community, this outdoor HDTV should get the job done, pulling in more channels with better signal than any indoor model can offer.

If you're having difficulty getting local stations you want — or you just want better, more consistent reception — the Winegard Elite 7550's $120 price tag is worth every penny, pulling in dozens of free channels for less than a month's cable subscription.

Read our full Winegard Elite 7550 Outdoor HDTV Antenna review.
  

The best budget antenna

For a simple indoor antenna that offers everything you need to cut the cord, the 1byone Amplified Indoor HDTV Antenna offers a 50-mile range and included amplifier, all for a fairly reasonable price. With slick packaging and a basic black design, it's not only an Amazon best-seller, but it's also one of the best TV antennas we've reviewed.

Measuring just 13.3 x 9.3 inches, the antenna includes everything you need to connect to the TV, with a 10-foot coaxial cable and included adhesive patches for mounting. The simple design and included amplifier delivered dozens of watchable channels and can plug into any wall outlet or USB port. There's a good reason the 1byone is a top Amazon seller: It performs well and doesn't cost a lot.

Read our full 1byone Amplified Indoor HDTV Antenna review.
  

The best indoor/outdoor antenna

Made for use inside and out, the Antop AT-800SBS HD Smart Panel offers some of the best performance we've seen, easily topping many of the indoor/outdoor models we've reviewed. And with an adjustable amplifier, included mounting hardware and optional FM connection for radio, it's a versatile best HD antenna option for anyone who's serious about cord-cutting.

The Antop AT-800SBS also has a table-top stand for indoor use, but this 85-mile antenna was at its best out in the elements, where it pulled in 68 watchable stations. A 40-foot cable is included for easy installation, and the adjustable amplifier lets you dial in the right amount of power boost to help you grab the stations you want. It's the best indoor/outdoor antenna we've tested, and well worth the premium price.

Read our full Antop AT-800SBS HD Smart Panel Antenna review. 

The budget indoor/outdoor antenna

While its aesthetics may leave something to be desired, the ClearStream MAX-V is a very capable antenna that delivers more stations than even competing amplified antennas, even models costing much more. If you want to improve over-the-air TV reception, it's one of the best TV antennas we've reviewed.

Rated to capture stations as far away as 60 miles, the ClearStream MAX-V from Antennas Direct will work indoors or out and is competitively priced. Not only did it do better than many of our favorite indoor antennas, it also matched some of the best outdoor antennas, making it a great choice for mounting on a roof, hanging in an attic or just tucking it out of sight – which may be difficult given the bulky figure-8 design.

Read our full ClearStream MAX-V HDTV Antenna review. 

The biggest indoor antenna

With a 17-inch wide side-by-side design, the Antop SBS-301 is essentially twice the size of typical flat indoor HDTV antennas. But it also does more than most TV antennas, doubling as an FM radio antenna, complete with a second output to connect to your sound system. With a simple two-sided design that's white on one side and black on the other, you should be able to set it up easily without disrupting your home decor much.

The indoor antenna includes a snap-on stand for tabletop, as well as pins and Velcro patches for hanging it on a wall, sticking it behind your TV, or even more permanent mounting with included drywall anchor screws. Antop beefs up the SBS-301 with the Smart Boost adjustable amplifier, which lets you dial in the right power boost to pull in the channels you want to watch – depending upon the amplifier setting, we pulled in between 23 and 33 channels during testing.

Read our full Antop HD Smart Antenna SBS-301 review. 

How to choose the best antenna for you

How to choose the best TV antenna for you

If you're shopping for a TV antenna, you're in luck, because there's no better option for getting live TV for the lowest price possible: Free! But before you pick up the first TV antenna you see at the store, you want to make sure that you're getting one that will work for you.

Location and range: If you're in or near a city, there's a good chance you can make do with a small indoor antenna, since you'll have several stations within a 10 or 20 mile radius that can be pulled in without a big aerial or powered amplifier. If you're more than 30 miles from your local broadcast tower, you'll want to step up to an amplified model. Any antenna that's rated for 50 miles or more will either be a large outdoor unit, or come with an amplifier to boost the signal it gets, if not both.

Indoor or outdoor: Whether or not to get an outdoor antenna will largely depend upon the building you're in and the surrounding environment, since obstacles like house walls and even trees can prevent signal from getting through to an indoor antenna. Outdoor antennas are larger, and work better when positioned as high up as you can get it – a rooftop mast being the ideal installation.

Non-amplified or amplified: An amplified antenna uses an additional signal strength booster that can help weak signals come in clearly with a little extra juice. But that also means having another device to plug in, and another power outlet to give up. It also means a slightly higher price.

Non-amplified indoor antennas generally sell for between $20 to $40, but there are plenty of cheap TV antennas that sell for less than $20 that offer acceptable performance. An amplified antenna offers better performance, and will cost between $30 and $100. For the best performance, consider an outdoor antenna, which costs $100 or more.

Getting an antenna is the first step toward cutting the cord or pulling in free local channels. You don't need to spend a lot of money – the best cheap TV antennas do a great job, and even a $12 set of bunny ears might do the trick – and you don't even need a TV. (Check out I just discovered a new way to cut the cord — and there’s no subscription fee to learn about USB tuners that don't need a TV.)

But simply having an antenna won't automatically solve all of your over-the-air TV woes. Better antennas and optional amplifiers will go a long way toward bringing in more channels, but that's only part of the equation. 

We recommend researching beforehand to determine what range of antenna you need, and whether you want an indoor model or an antenna made for outdoor installation. The best place to start is AntennaWeb.org, which lets you enter your address or ZIP code and see what stations are broadcasting in your area, as well as how far away the broadcast towers are.

Worried about future proofing for ATSC 3.0 as it rolls out to new cities? The good news is that your existing antenna will work, and may even pull in more channels under the new standard. The bad news is that you'll need to buy a new tuner or an ATSC 3.0-equipped TV, and these are only now coming to market.

And check out our other advice for TV antennas to help you get yourself properly equipped and set up for the best reception:

• Top cheap TV antennas (under $20) ranked best to worst
• How to get better reception with your TV antenna
• Help Me, Tom's Guide: Is my antenna cable causing signal loss?

Using a TV antenna with smart TVs and streaming devices

While streaming services like Netflix and HBO Max may be taking a more prominent place in the living room, there's still room for over-the-air (OTA) broadcast TV. Whether you want free access to local news or just want to get more sports without shelling out for another subscription service, an HDTV antenna can still provide plenty of great stuff to watch, and having a smart TV or one of the best streaming devices doesn't prevent using an antenna.

All of the best smart TVs for streaming also have built-in tuners for pulling in broadcast channels, and getting your TV channels programmed is an automatic process, with the TV scanning for stations and putting together a browsable channel guide in just a few minutes.

And several streaming devices are built with OTA content in mind. The Amazon Fire TV Cube, for example, can switch over to your TV's built-in tuner seamlessly, without having to swap TV inputs or juggle extra remote controls. You can even get something like the Amazon Fire TV Recast, a DVR that lets you record OTA content, and enjoy it all using the same Fire TV interface your TV might already be using.

How we test the best TV antennas

All of the TV antennas we review are tested in the same location. Each antenna is connected to the same TV, so the TV tuner remains consistent, and each one is placed in the same position to generate comparable results.

We're located just a few miles outside of a major metropolitan area, a location that provides an excellent testing location for antenna reception of any range, with more sensitive, long-range antennas pulling in a higher number of channels. It also gives us a chance to determine the quality of that reception, by seeing whether or not those channels are clear and watchable. The best antennas will pull in more channels, with a higher number of watchable results.

Your experience may differ from our test results. Depending upon how many stations broadcast in you area, and unique geographical impediments to over the air signal – such as buildings, trees and mountains – your own channel selection will vary considerably.

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