Cutting the cable, lets talk options and media setups

This is a long thread, I'm sure this has been covered before in the 60+ pages. But What is the difference in the Regular ESPN App and the ESPN Plus app?
I know to use the regular ESPN app you have to be logged into you provider. If you get the ESPN + does that eliminate the need for that? Does ESPN+ have the same content or is it just an extension of the regular app, meaning to Watch games that are played on ESPN, having only ESPN + doesn't help if you don't have the regular ESPN app (still provider enabled)?