T-Mobile Essentials savings: $100 for 4 lines
Best value for money (with multiple lines)
Unlimited Boost Mobile for $25 per month
Ideal for a single line with unlimited data
Simply Unlimited Wireless Google Fi
Ideal for a family of four: $80 per month for four lines
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With AT&T, T-Mobile, and Verizon offering dozens of plans, not to mention the exponentially wider assortment of prepaid and smaller carriers like Mint Mobile, Visible, and Google Fi Wireless, it’s not easy to choose the best one. mobile phone plan. Without doing the right research, you could end up paying way more than you should, and no one wants to lose money.
We’ll try to fix that. We cover the latest wireless plans from a host of carriers and plans – from blackout how to change operatorto the top unlimited And prepaid plans know what network small carriers use. Not to mention recent plan overhauls from T-Mobile and Verizon.
Here’s our guide to sorting out the madness and some of our picks for what we think are the best unlimited and prepaid plans available right now.
What is the difference between “prepaid” and “postpaid” plans?
When choosing a phone plan, there are usually two main options: postpaid carrier like AT&T, Verizon, and T-Mobile (plus cable options like Spectrum Mobile and Xfinity Mobile) and prepaid carriers like Mint Mobile, Metro by T-Mobile, Google Fi Wireless and Cricket.
Look at an enlarged map of the United States on the AT&T, T-Mobile, or Verizon websites and you’ll probably see it pretty much colored by their respective color. Zooming in is where things get a little trickier, which is why we can’t offer overall recommendations for one carrier over another. T-Mobile’s service in New York may be excellent, but if you’re in rural Colorado, Verizon might be more reliable.
If you’re on T-Mobile, all of your plans are unlimited, and Verizon no longer allows new users to sign up for a shared data plan. Only AT&T still offers tiered data plans and… it’s not great.
Best Postpaid Phone Plans
T-Mobile recently revamped its plans, getting rid of what was our previous pick here, the Base Essentials plan which offered a single line for $45 a month. It replaced that option with an Essentials Savings plan, a “limited time” offer of $50 per month for a single line.
Those looking to save the most on unlimited service from major carriers may also be better off with T-Mobile’s Essential Savings. As mentioned above, unlimited calls, texts and data are included for all basic operator unlimited plans, including 5G access.
It’s a bit more complicated. Verizon was our pick with its Play More plan included in the Disney bundle (Disney Plus ad-free, ESPN Plus and Hulu with ads) and services like Google Play Pass or Apple Arcade in the bundle’s sticker price.
The best prepaid phone plans
Boost Mobile has added an unlimited plan that offers unlimited calls, texts and data to new users for $25 per month including taxes and fees. Unlike Mint Mobile’s 12-month plan, our previous pick in this slot, Boost’s plan isn’t tied to 12-month increments. However, you must be a new Boost customer to qualify for this offer.
When it comes to family plans, Google’s Fi Wireless mobile phone service is a solid option. Although its price of $50 for one line is much higher than Mint’s, if you have three or more lines you can save quite a bit.
When it comes to plans with less than 15GB of data, Mint again has the best value if T-Mobile’s network is strong in your area. While Metro and Cricket charge $40 a month for a line and Boost has a $35 plan for 10GB of data, Mint beats them all on price, and now also on data.
If you’re looking for a service for a rarely used backup phone, TextNow offers a free plan. Running on T-Mobile’s network, the service offers free unlimited talk and unlimited texting, although ads are placed in its app which you use to call and text. No data is included with this option and removing ads without adding data would cost you $10 per month. If you want to watch YouTube, FaceTime, or surf the web, be sure to connect to Wi-Fi.
