Best Cell Phone Plans

Choosing a cell phone plan has never been harder: There are just too many great options.

Between the major cellular networks and the plethora of prepaid carriers like Visible, Mint Mobile, and US Mobile, there are over 200 cell phone packages available in the United States—many of which offer excellent pricing, generous data allotments, and 5G coverage.

Here is a quick breakdown of the plans we highlight on this page:

1. Best overall cell phone plan: The $25 Visible Plan doesn’t cost much but still delivers reliable 4G LTE and 5G coverage via Verizon’s networks. You also get unlimited hotspot data, albeit at maximum speeds of 5Mbps.
2. Best unlimited cell phone plan: T-Mobile’s Go5G Plus plan gives you everything you could need in a phone plan and more: Unlimited high-speed data, 50GB of monthly hotspot data, international data and texting, a yearlong AAA membership, and subscriptions to Netflix and Apple TV+.
3. Best prepaid cell phone plan: Mint Mobile charges only $30 per month for the first three months of service for unlimited talk, text, and data (with a 35GB priority data cap).
4. Best senior cell phone plan: US Mobile’s Light plan is perfect for seniors and digital minimalists who want a bit of data and unlimited talk and text. You can also switch between T-Mobile, Verizon, and AT&T towers.
5. Best family or multi-line cell phone plan: The AT&T Unlimited Starter^® SL plan comes with ActiveArmor security, a nice chunk of hotspot data, and discounts on additional lines.

T-Mobile gets the fastest data speeds on average, according to Opensignal. The analytics company rates speed through the Download Speed Experience metric, which measures users’ everyday experiences with 4G and 5G wireless networks—and T-Mobile blows the competition out of the water.

Faster internet speeds mean you can download and upload files faster and watch YouTube videos without buffering. But fast speeds also make it possible to do more things on one device. For example, fast speeds mean you can download an app in a shorter time while also getting up-to-date traffic info on your GPS app in between streaming YouTube videos.