Cell phone plans comparison

Explore our affordable 1-line, 2-line, and family phone plans packed with more benefits, including plans with streaming entertainment on us, without paying extra. All with no annual contracts.

The quick list 2. The best plan overall 3. Best cheap unlimited plan 4. Best prepaid plan 5. Best unlimited data plan 6. Best bulk data plan 7.

Cell phone plans comparison

Looking for a reliable phone plan? Here are our top picks for the best ones on the market in Updated Feb. Read how we test products and services. Without doing the right research, you could end up paying a lot more than you should, and no one wants to lose out on saving money. We're going to try to fix that. We've been covering the latest in wireless plans, from breaking down how to switch carriers , to picking the top unlimited and prepaid plans. After covering the wireless industry for over a decade, here's CNET's guide for sorting through the madness along with some of our picks for what we think are the best unlimited and prepaid plans available right now. As we covered in our other wireless guides, to get the best deal you need to make sure you have the coverage that you need. This makes it hard to give a blanket recommendation of any one carrier. T-Mobile's service in New York may be excellent, but if you're in rural Iowa, Verizon is more reliable. While your mileage may vary, the good news is that these networks are growing and improving all the time, particularly as the three major players race to blanket the US with 5G. It's quite possible that you left a network complaining about its sparse service a decade ago, but now it's beefed itself up because of that race to acquire customers. If you know any friends or family in your area that already use the carrier you're considering, ask about their experience. You could also go to a carrier's store and see if they offer any free ways to try out the service before switching over, such as T-Mobile's Network Pass.

While you do get unlimited calls and texts, some will find that data cap quite limited so this really is just for those after the lowest monthly cost.

Many or all of the products featured here are from our partners who compensate us. This influences which products we write about and where and how the product appears on a page. However, this does not influence our evaluations. Our opinions are our own. Here is a list of our partners and here's how we make money.

In recent years prices have come down and data allocations have gone up, especially among the dozens of smaller carriers reselling services from the big three. But as always, most deals come with a catch. We also have picks for people with more specific needs. We limited this guide to the most widely used national options—starting with the three biggest nationwide carriers and their prepaid services and subsidiaries, and then adding services that have ranked high in surveys conducted by sites and organizations such as PCMag , the American Customer Satisfaction Index , and J. We excluded contenders available only in parts of the US, including the regional carrier U. Cellular and the resold services of cable firms such as Comcast and Spectrum, which require subscriptions to their residential broadband to get their advertised pricing or to sign up at all.

Cell phone plans comparison

By Allison Johnson , a reviewer with 10 years of experience writing about consumer tech. She has a special interest in mobile photography and telecom. Previously, she worked at DPReview. If you buy something from a Verge link, Vox Media may earn a commission. See our ethics statement. Some of us get excited about shopping for a new phone New technology! Fancy screen!

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MVNOs are a slightly strange concept but they do offer an excellent way to get a cell phone plan on a budget. Details on Sprint heritage plans are available here. Best unlimited data plan 6. Are taxes and fees covered by Price Lock? Bring your own device for an additional monthly discount for each phone you have. Price Free. That is, the possibility that the network owner may reduce data speeds for prepaid plan users during times of congestion think a crowded sporting event or popular vacation spot during peak season. There are dozens of phone plan options out there, and after covering the wireless industry for over a decade, I've listed a few for you to consider, as well as some other ways to save on your bill. Excellent perks and discount options. It has also improved from its January launch of faster C-band service in only eight markets PDF , which as of August covers million people. The competition. We can also help you find the best plans with unlimited data. Pros Runs on T-Mobile's network Free talk and text.

Many or all of the products featured here are from our partners who compensate us. This influences which products we write about and where and how the product appears on a page.

Email Twitter icon A stylized bird with an open mouth, tweeting. After that, it's a question of your monthly budget. You will find yourself limited at 1GB of data in this plan. We hesitate to use the word "budget" here, as this plan could also apply to people who simply don't use their phones away from a WiFi connection very often and don't need to spend much on a plan that offers more data. Share Facebook Icon The letter F. Am I required to use AutoPay? There's no data included, but ask yourself if you really need it. The best plan overall 3. Last, we cut prepaid services that required separate purchases of data, texts, or voice minutes to meet any of our monthly usage quotas. After carefully researching and considering the best cell phone plans from major carriers and budget providers, we've concluded that Verizon's Unlimited Plus plan is the best overall, as it offers the most data with the best overall coverage at an unmatched value. MVNOs Mobile Virtual Network Operators , on the other hand, don't own and operate their own technology and instead piggyback off of the services of one of the above brands.