Since internet video hit the mainstream in the mid-to-late 2000s with YouTube and Netflix’s streaming service, it has long been predicted that the days of the typical cable TV subscription were numbered, soon to be replaced by online video streams of live and on-demand programming.

While it hasn’t been an overnight switch to internet TV, and traditional cable subscriptions might hang along by the millions for years, the age of cutting cable for live, online streaming services has arrived.

According to one estimate by research firm GfK last summer, a quarter of American households now go without a traditional pay-TV subscription, a number that will only go up because of the demographic trend of millennials being the most likely group by far to "cut the cord."

But when cable subscribers, regardless of age, elect to go internet streaming-only, they have an increasing number of options – some provided by the same companies as the traditional cable subscriptions.

Perhaps the most common alternatives to pay-TV for cord cutters are streaming services that have been around for several years, such as Netflix, Hulu or Amazon Prime Video. However, these are often used by cable-subscribing households as supplements to pay-TV. The same GfK study that found a quarter of U.S. households had cut the cord also found that a third of American homes subscribe to one or more streaming services.

The real sea change currently underway, however, is in the offerings available to consumers to watch live programming typically associated with cable on a broadband internet connection, at a lower monthly price than a typical pay-TV arrangement, and without the equipment or contracts normally associated with cable.

Right now, there are three main options for cord-cutters who want live, cable-associated programming over the internet.

Dish Network’s Sling TV, which debuted in early 2015 at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas, was the first over-the-top (OTT) streaming service that offered a comparable channel lineup to a common cable subscription.

Sling offers three main entry-level packages, one featuring ESPN- and Disney-owned channels at $20 per month, one with NBC and FOX networks for $25 per month and one with both for $40. Specialty add-on packages, like sports, HBO and Spanish-language programming, are also available for between $5 and $15.

Playstation Vue was the second major arrival on the OTT cable replacement scene, debuting in select markets in March 2015 before a nationwide rollout a year later.

It offers packages similar to cable tiers, ranging from a basic $40 per month basic package to a $75 per month "Ultra" package including all premium channels, with two options in between. While the entry-level price is double that of Sling’s, Vue is the only one of the three OTT services that comes with cloud DVR functionality for everyone. In late 2016, Sling introduced DVR in beta for customers who stream through Roku.

DirecTV Now, the newest of the three and AT&T’s entrant to the OTT market after its 2015 acquisition of DirecTV, offers four tiers of channels, ranging from $35 to $70, with $5 add-on options for HBO and Cinemax available. Its 100-channel “Go Big” tier, one of its two most comprehensive, was initially available for $35 as a promotional offer when DirecTV Now launched last November, but is now $60.

While DirecTV Now is the newest of the three, and its launch has been fraught with glitches, it still registered an impressive 200,000 subscribers in its first month, outpacing Wall Street estimates. AT&T’s existing wireless phone subscribers and its existing DirecTV satellite and Uverse pay-TV customers give it millions of potential customers who already do business with the telecom giant.

It’s also worth noting that while each OTT service’s most complete package is comparable to the price of a "traditional" cable subscription based on quoted prices from Time Warner or Comcast, the average monthly cable bill rose above $100 for the first time in 2016 thanks to various taxes, add-ons, fees and equipment charges.

Somehow, it’s not 100 percent bad news for cable at the moment, as Comcast has swam against the cord-cutting current to add its most subscribers in a decade in the final quarter of 2016. However, even that growth has been attributed to Comcast’s incorporation of non-traditional cable features in its X1 DVR box that includes Netflix integration.

Nevertheless, there can be no mistake about which way traditional pay-TV is trending. The offerings from Sling, Sony’s Playstation Vue and AT&T’s DirecTV Now are making a future without old-school cable more feasible than it was just 24 months ago.