Boost Mobile unlimited for $25 per month
Best for a single line with unlimited data
Google Fi Wireless Simply Unlimited
Best for a family of four: $80 per month for four lines
With AT&T, T-Mobile and Verizon offering dozens of plans, not to mention the exponentially larger assortment from prepaid and smaller carriers like Mint Mobile, Visible and Google Fi Wireless, it’s not easy choosing the best cellphone plan. 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 and fix that. We’ve been covering the latest in wireless plans across a host of providers and plans — from breaking down how to switch carriers, to the top unlimited and prepaid plans to knowing which network the smaller carriers use. Not to mention T-Mobile and Verizon’s recent plan revamps.
Here’s our guide for sorting through the madness and some of our picks for what we think are the best unlimited and prepaid plans available right now.
What’s the difference between ‘prepaid’ and ‘postpaid’ plans?
When choosing a phone plan, there are generally two main options: a postpaid carrier like AT&T, Verizon and T-Mobile (plus cable options like Spectrum Mobile and Xfinity Mobile) and prepaid providers such as Mint Mobile, Metro by T-Mobile, Google Fi Wireless and Cricket.
Look at a zoomed-out map of the US on the websites for AT&T, T-Mobile or Verizon and you’ll likely see it pretty well colored in by their respective color. Zooming in is where things get a bit more complicated, which is why we can’t offer blanket recommendations for one carrier over another. T-Mobile’s service in New York may be excellent, but if you’re in a rural area in Colorado, Verizon could be more reliable.
If you’re on T-Mobile, all of your plans are unlimited, and Verizon no longer lets new users sign up for a shared data plan. Only AT&T still offers some tiered data plans and… it’s not great.
Best postpaid phone plans
“,”credits”:”Sarah Tew/CNET”,”imageData”:{“id”:”94d348f4-8e01-4c33-8576-46b2fa43bac7″,”title”:”008-t-mobile-network-mobile-carrier-logo-2021″,”filename”:”008-t-mobile-network-mobile-carrier-logo-2021.jpg”,”path”:”https://www.cnet.com/a/img/hub/2021/03/31/94d348f4-8e01-4c33-8576-46b2fa43bac7/008-t-mobile-network-mobile-carrier-logo-2021.jpg”,”caption”:”
“,”size”:17167478,”width”:4000,”height”:2667,”dateCreated”:{“date”:”2021-03-31 23:05:50″,”timezone”:”UTC”,”timezone_type”:3},”dateUpdated”:{“date”:”2022-08-31 12:54:05″,”timezone”:”UTC”,”timezone_type”:3},”needsModeration”:false,”mimeType”:”image/jpeg”,”deleted”:false,”credits”:”Sarah Tew/CNET”,”alt”:”T-Mobile logo on a phone screen”,”restricted”:false,”startDate”:null,”endDate”:null,”preferred”:false,”watermark”:false,”doNotCrop”:false,”doNotResize”:false,”primaryCollection”:null,”vanityUrl”:null,”notes”:null,”crop”:null,”cropGravity”:0,”preservedRegion”:null,”isNew”:false,”keywords”:[],”primeColor”:null,”hasWarning”:false,”typeName”:”content_image”},”uuid”:”94d348f4-8e01-4c33-8576-46b2fa43bac7″,”imageAltText”:”T-Mobile logo on a phone screen”,”imageCaption”:”
“,”imageCredit”:”Sarah Tew/CNET”,”imageDoNotCrop”:false,”imageDoNotResize”:false,”imageWatermark”:false,”imageFilename”:”008-t-mobile-network-mobile-carrier-logo-2021.jpg”,”imageDateCreated”:”2021/03/31″,”imageWidth”:4000,”imageHeight”:2667,”imageParallax”:”http://www.cnet.com/”,”imageCrop”:”http://www.cnet.com/”,”imageEnlarge”:false}’ overridecaption=”
” overridecredit=”Sarah Tew/CNET” usepricing=”true” data-key=”cnetlisticle__f0068b1b-8055-487e-bbd0-49aa705551a6″ position=”NaN” contenttype=”Best List – Precap” pagelayout=”FAQ Markup + BL Precap” showdetails=”true” class=”c-shortcodeListicle g-border-thin-light-top g-inner-spacing-bottom-medium g-inner-spacing-left-large g-inner-spacing-right-large g-inner-spacing-bottom-xlarge g-outer-spacing-bottom-large g-border-thin-light-bottom g-border-thin-light-right g-border-thin-light-left”>
Those looking to save the most on unlimited service from the major carriers may also be best off with T-Mobile’s Essentials Savings. As mentioned above, unlimited talk, text and data are included for all of the carrier’s base unlimited plans, including 5G access.
“,”credits”:”Sarah Tew/CNET”,”imageData”:{“id”:”262e9c0e-046c-4141-9b70-8cd1cfdbfb43″,”title”:”boost-mobile-logo-2022-476″,”filename”:”boost-mobile-logo-2022-476.jpg”,”path”:”https://www.cnet.com/a/img/hub/2022/04/14/262e9c0e-046c-4141-9b70-8cd1cfdbfb43/boost-mobile-logo-2022-476.jpg”,”caption”:”
“,”size”:723827,”width”:4000,”height”:2667,”dateCreated”:{“date”:”2022-04-14 23:50:34″,”timezone”:”UTC”,”timezone_type”:3},”dateUpdated”:{“date”:”2022-05-27 18:14:27″,”timezone”:”UTC”,”timezone_type”:3},”needsModeration”:false,”mimeType”:”image/jpeg”,”deleted”:false,”credits”:”Sarah Tew/CNET”,”alt”:”boost mobile”,”restricted”:false,”startDate”:null,”endDate”:null,”preferred”:false,”watermark”:false,”doNotCrop”:false,”doNotResize”:false,”primaryCollection”:null,”vanityUrl”:null,”notes”:null,”crop”:null,”cropGravity”:0,”preservedRegion”:null,”isNew”:false,”keywords”:[],”primeColor”:null,”hasWarning”:false,”typeName”:”content_image”},”uuid”:”262e9c0e-046c-4141-9b70-8cd1cfdbfb43″,”imageAltText”:”boost mobile”,”imageCaption”:”
“,”imageCredit”:”Sarah Tew/CNET”,”imageDoNotCrop”:false,”imageDoNotResize”:false,”imageWatermark”:false,”imageFilename”:”boost-mobile-logo-2022-476.jpg”,”imageDateCreated”:”2022/04/14″,”imageWidth”:4000,”imageHeight”:2667,”imageParallax”:”http://www.cnet.com/”,”imageCrop”:”http://www.cnet.com/”,”imageEnlarge”:false}’ overridecaption=”
” overridecredit=”Sarah Tew/CNET” usepricing=”true” data-key=”cnetlisticle__c08d7cc4-7256-4ec1-882f-f794bbac8710″ position=”NaN” contenttype=”Best List – Precap” pagelayout=”FAQ Markup + BL Precap” showdetails=”true” class=”c-shortcodeListicle g-border-thin-light-top g-inner-spacing-bottom-medium g-inner-spacing-left-large g-inner-spacing-right-large g-inner-spacing-bottom-xlarge g-outer-spacing-bottom-large g-border-thin-light-bottom g-border-thin-light-right g-border-thin-light-left”>
Boost Mobile has added an unlimited plan that offers unlimited talk, text and data to new users for $25 per month with taxes and fees included. Unlike Mint Mobile’s 12-month plan, our previous pick in this slot, Boost’s plan isn’t tied to 12-month increments. You do, however, need to be a new Boost customer to get this offer.
“,”credits”:”Sarah Tew/CNET”,”imageData”:{“id”:”049c762f-ec03-4797-8c68-aa14c284f165″,”title”:”mint-mobile-phone-wireless-service-2021-cnet-review-11″,”filename”:”mint-mobile-phone-wireless-service-2021-cnet-review-11.jpg”,”path”:”https://www.cnet.com/a/img/hub/2021/07/07/049c762f-ec03-4797-8c68-aa14c284f165/mint-mobile-phone-wireless-service-2021-cnet-review-11.jpg”,”caption”:”
“,”size”:22720725,”width”:5000,”height”:3333,”dateCreated”:{“date”:”2021-07-07 22:45:43″,”timezone”:”UTC”,”timezone_type”:3},”dateUpdated”:{“date”:”2021-07-07 22:55:24″,”timezone”:”UTC”,”timezone_type”:3},”needsModeration”:false,”mimeType”:”image/jpeg”,”deleted”:false,”credits”:”Sarah Tew/CNET”,”alt”:”mint-mobile-phone-wireless-service-2021-cnet-review-11″,”restricted”:false,”startDate”:null,”endDate”:null,”preferred”:false,”watermark”:false,”doNotCrop”:false,”doNotResize”:false,”primaryCollection”:null,”vanityUrl”:null,”notes”:null,”crop”:null,”cropGravity”:0,”preservedRegion”:null,”isNew”:false,”keywords”:[],”primeColor”:null,”hasWarning”:false,”typeName”:”content_image”},”uuid”:”049c762f-ec03-4797-8c68-aa14c284f165″,”imageAltText”:”mint-mobile-phone-wireless-service-2021-cnet-review-11″,”imageCaption”:”
“,”imageCredit”:”Sarah Tew/CNET”,”imageDoNotCrop”:false,”imageDoNotResize”:false,”imageWatermark”:false,”imageFilename”:”mint-mobile-phone-wireless-service-2021-cnet-review-11.jpg”,”imageDateCreated”:”2021/07/07″,”imageWidth”:5000,”imageHeight”:3333,”imageParallax”:”http://www.cnet.com/”,”imageCrop”:”http://www.cnet.com/”,”imageEnlarge”:false}’ overridecaption=”
” overridecredit=”Sarah Tew/CNET” usepricing=”true” data-key=”cnetlisticle__2f536ff0-6b04-495a-ba48-36ba5e1c1ce7″ position=”NaN” contenttype=”Best List – Precap” pagelayout=”FAQ Markup + BL Precap” showdetails=”true” class=”c-shortcodeListicle g-border-thin-light-top g-inner-spacing-bottom-medium g-inner-spacing-left-large g-inner-spacing-right-large g-inner-spacing-bottom-xlarge g-outer-spacing-bottom-large g-border-thin-light-bottom g-border-thin-light-right g-border-thin-light-left”>
When it comes to plans with under 15GB of data, Mint once again has the best value if T-Mobile’s network is solid in your area. Whereas Metro and Cricket charge $40 per month for one line and Boost has a $35 plan for 10GB of data, Mint beats them all on price, and now data too.
