The best prepaid phone plans in 2024
The best prepaid phone plans put a hard cap on your monthly cell phone bill so that you always know what the cost will be. With a prepaid plan, you pay in advance — sometimes up to a year in advance in exchange for a lower rate — removing any chance of overage charges when your bill arrives. Even better, prepaid plans usually cost less than postpaid plans from big-name phone carriers.
The trick to finding a top prepaid plan is to broaden your search. Yes, AT&T, T-Mobile and Verizon have prepaid plans of their own — some of them are quite good — but you can find additional savings if you consider mobile virtual network operators (also known as MVNOs). These services use other carriers' networks and cut back on perks to offer lower-priced plans, as you can see with our pick for the best prepaid plan overall at Mint Mobile.
A prepaid plan doesn't necessarily mean settling for limits on how much data you get each month. The best cheap phone plans do include some options aimed at low-data users, but our picks for the best prepaid phone plans also include unlimited data for a lot less than what you'd pay elsewhere.
When we research the best cell phone plans overall, we're also looking at prepaid plans from carriers big and small. That means considering price and data as well as whether your data might be slowed if there's a lot of traffic. We also look at what happens to your service when you use up all your data in a given month. Using that criteria, here are our picks for the best prepaid phone plans.
The quick list
Best overall
1. Mint Mobile
15GB for $20 at Mint Mobile
Anyone of Mint's four prepaid phone plans would be an excellent choice depending on your needs, but 15GB is plenty for most people. After three months at $20, you pay for a full year to keep that low rate.
Best value
Unlimited for $25 at AT&T
AT&T's plan features unlimited data, letting you use a generous 16GB of high-speed data before slowing down your speeds. But the low month rate of $25 requires you to pay for a full year of service upfront. If you can afford to spend $300 all at once, you get a big pile of data to use on a very good network.
Best big carrier plan
3. Verizon
15GB for $35 at Verizon
Verizon's best prepaid plan offers the most data of any big carrier for a reasonable monthly price. Sign up for autopay, and your monthly bill drops $10 to $35, and you'll get 15GB as part of the deal. 5G coverage is included.
Best unlimited plan
4. Visible
Unlimited data for $45 at Visible
Of Visible's two unlimited data plans, the $45/month Unlimited Plus option is the best (especially when you can get it at a discounted rate). With Unlimited Plus, you get faster 5G coverage on Verizon's network and the ability to make overseas calls. Taxes and fees are included.
Best low cost plan
5. T-Mobile
5GB for $15 at T-Mobile
It's hard to find a deal much cheaper than the Connect by T-Mobile offering, which has grown to include 5GB of data. Access to T-Mobile's 5G network comes with this plan.
Best variety of plans
5GB for $14 at Tello
We're focusing on the 5GB plan at Tello, as that's a decent amount of data, but the low-cost carrier has a whole range of offerings whether you need just 1GB or unlimited data. Tello uses T-Mobile's network for its service.
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Best for families
7. Cricket Wireless
Unlimited data (four lines) for $130 at Cricket
Escalating discounts as you add lines keep the cost of unlimited data relatively low for a family of four. And Cricket's best unlimited data plan includes options you won't find at other prepaid carriers.
Best free plan
8. TextNow
0GB for free at TextNow
Ad-supported TextNow doesn't actually charge for its phone service, letting you call and text on T-Mobile's network for free. The plan now includes data for specific apps to check e-mail, look up directions and access ride-sharing services.
Best low-data plan
9. Ultra Mobile
$15 fro 250MB at Ultra Mobile
If you need a little data, but not a lot, turn to Ultra Mobile, which has a cheap talk and text plan for $15/month. You also get 250MB of 5G and LTE data on T-Mobile's network for when you need data.
The best prepaid phone plan overall
Best prepaid plan value
The best prepaid plan from a big carrier
The best prepaid unlimited data plan
Best low-cost prepaid plan
The best range of prepaid phone plans
The best prepaid plan for families
The best free phone plan
Best low-data prepaid plan
What is a prepaid phone plan
There are two kinds of cell phone plans — prepaid and postpaid. With a prepaid plan, you pay for data at the beginning of the month; that way, you know your precise costs for budgeting purposes. (Prepaid plans also don't require credit checks, so it's easier to get service if you've got a low credit score.)
Should you use up your allotted data for a month, many carriers will just slow down your data speeds for the rest of the billing cycle. In some cases, you'll need to top off your plan with data. That's why it's important to pick a prepaid phone plan with the right amount of data for your needs.
Many phone carriers prioritize traffic from postpaid customers, so it's possible that data rates can be slowed if you're using a prepaid plan. That's especially true when you use a mobile virtual network operator, or MVNO, such as Mint, Metro or Cricket, where your phone service is piggy-backing on another carrier's network.
Best prepaid phone plans: What you should consider
When shopping for a prepaid phone plan, price is paramount. That’s because prepaid plans don’t often come with the kind of benefits postpaid cell phone plans offer. That said, some carriers — notably, Metro By T-Mobile — do work in a few perks, so be aware of those when picking your plans.
You'll also want to pay attention to discounts and special offers. Often, larger carriers like AT&T and Verizon will adjust the size of their autopay discount, which can make a pricier plan more attractive. Metro by T-Mobile has been known to increase discounts for each line of data you add, too, making it a good choice for families.
Besides price, one of the most important things to consider is what carrier offers the best coverage around your home and workplace. That’s true even if you look beyond the Big Three carriers for service. MVNOs use the cellular networks of AT&T, T-Mobile or Verizon for their coverage. So if Verizon’s network is particularly strong where you are, for example, MVNOs that use Verizon’s network for coverage will perform well, too. As we mentioned above, MVNOs can see their traffic slowed if a carrier’s network gets too crowded.
5G coverage is included with most MVNO service by now. Metro subscribers can access T-Mobile's 5G with an eligible phone, as can Mint Mobile customers. Visible has added 5G access on Verizon's network to select phones, and Cricket customers can now use AT&T's 5G connectivity with any of that MVNO's plans.
For more on MVNOs, read our guides to AT&T MVNOs, T-Mobile MVNOs and Verizon MVNOs — we'll tell you which discount carriers use which parent networks.
The best prepaid phone plans and free trials
Some prepaid carriers offer free trials, in which you can test out their service on your current phone without having to switch carriers first. It's a convenient way of seeing if a prepaid carrier's coverage is strong in your area.
Mint Mobile's free trial lets you sample the service for seven days. You're given 250MB of data, 250 minutes of talk time and 250 texts to see what Mint's service is all about.
The free trial at Cricket, which AT&T owns and operates, runs for 14 days and lets you use up to 3GB of data.
Visible's free trial runs the longest at 15 days. In addition to iPhones, it's now open to Samsung and Google Pixel devices that can support eSIM.
How we pick the best prepaid phone plans
Finding the best prepaid phone plans means widening our search beyond the major carriers, though AT&T, T-Mobile and Verizon all have prepaid offerings. We also research plans from smaller carriers who use the Big Three's cellular towers to provide their coverage. As smaller carriers usually offer their service at a discount, they make up a majority of the candidates that we consider for best prepaid phone plans.
When we pick the best plans, we put a premium on the monthly price, though we also pay attention to how much data comes with that plan. After all, a carrier may not charge you a lot for data, but it also may not provide enough data for your needs. We're picking plans that offer the best mix of cost and data. We also consider a wide variety of data allotments, since some people can get by very happily using just a couple gigabytes of data each month, while others need an unlimited plan.
As noted previously, prepaid plans don't offer much in the way of perks. That said, we do take note of any special add-ons included with the best prepaid plans, as those can add value to a plan above and beyond its monthly cost.
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