What Carriers Use AT&T’s Network?

Which carriers use AT&T’s towers for their MVNOs? There are quite a few. We’ve put our favorite AT&T MVNOs in the table below.

Other carriers that use the AT&T network include:

• Boost Mobile
• Consumer Cellular
• FreedomPop
• FreeUP Mobile
• Good2Go Mobile
• PureTalk
• TracFone
• Wing

US Mobile is one of our top AT&T MVNO recommendations. While single-line plans are available, the service really shines with its multi-line and family plans. It's practically unheard of to get any perks from a prepaid carrier. But adding more lines to your US Mobile account unlocks streaming, music, and TV subscription perks. For instance, with three lines, you can add a free audio or video streaming service worth around $15. (US Mobile has a list of approved services for you to choose from, including Pandora and Disney+.)

US Mobile certainly has its drawbacks (single-person phone lines aren’t eligible for the perks, for instance). But overall, it’s an affordable and flexible service that’s perfect for families or a group of single friends that want to go in on cell service together. And if you don’t like it, you can always cancel during the 30-day trial period. Talk about flexible!

For those who want a single-person line, the Unlimited Starter Plan is a good option. It comes with unlimited data, including 35GB of premium data each month, and unlimited talk and text. You can also get a multiline Unlimited Starter Plan with three, four, or more lines.

US Mobile also now offers plans on its Dark Star network—a network with no premium data caps, no data throttling, and unlimited talk and text. And if you choose to enroll in the MultiNetwork Add-On where you can have dual eSIMs. In other words, with Dark Star, you get access to the AT&T network and a second network, increasing your coverage and decreasing your chances of losing service.

These days, phone companies are all about unlimited data plans. But there’s a case to be made for cheaper, lower-data plans. Red Pocket’s plans, starting at $10 a month for 1GB of data, are great for budgeters or families who need phones for practical use, not scrolling through TikTok all day. These limited data plans let you both spend less and eliminate the constant distraction of high-data phone use.

With Red Pocket, you can get all of the necessary basics and 1GB of data starting at just $10 a month.

If 1GB isn’t going to cut it for you, it’s not your only option with Red Pocket. Red Pocket has several other plans, all for $30 a month or less. You can even get unlimited data (at 4G/5G LTE speeds) for $30!

If you’re looking for a solid, all-around unlimited data plan on AT&T’s network, then Cricket Wireless should be your first stop. It’s one of the OG prepaid carriers on the market, and while it might not have the lowest prices, it does offer a ton of bang for your buck.

Cricket offers a wide selection of plans, including 5GB, 8GB, and 15GB data plans. But you can find the best deals with Cricket’s unlimited data plans. There are several different unlimited options to consider.

As you can see, the cheapest way to get on Cricket is to sign up for the standard Unlimited Plan. If you pay up front, the price is just $25 a month. That’s an incredible price, but it only lasts for the first three months. After that, it goes up to the standard $55.

We don’t actually recommend this plan for most people. It comes with unlimited data, but that data is always subject to deprioritization and throttling. But if you pay just $5 a month more, you can update to the Unlimited+ plan and get better performance and perks.

With the Cricket Wireless Unlimited+ plan you get unlimited talk, text, and data on AT&T’s 4G LTE/5G networks, including 15GB of hotspot data, 150GB of free cloud storage, and unlimited talk/text/data in Mexico and Canada. Because Cricket is an MVNO, data speeds can be slower than the highest-paying AT&T customers but above other MVNO users.

One Cricket customer, Stondsebass, wrote on Reddit: “[I’ve] been a Cricket customer for years. My family and I have the family plan with Cricket Unlimited+ and never really notice any deprioritization, even some of us who use heavy data haven’t really noticed the service slowing down.”

In terms of data performance, the Cricket Unlimited+ plan is comparable to AT&T’s own Unlimited Starter^® SL plan, which costs $65.99 a month. Not only does AT&T’s Unlimited Starter^® SL plan cost more, but it also has fewer perks. You only get 5GB of hotspot data, and your video streams max out at 1.5Mbps speeds.

Cricket Wireless offers some great introductory phone deals for new customers, like a Motorola razr 2023 for $99.99. Its customer service is also rated relatively well by customers.

In short: If you’re looking for a company that does pretty much everything AT&T does but cheaper, then Cricket is the way to go.

If you’re looking for a cheap AT&T alternative that still allows you to scroll, swipe, stream, game, and browse all day long, then check out Straight Talk.

Straight Talk offers a variety of affordable prepaid plans with unlimited talk, text, and data. Each plan comes with different set of features, but they all share one thing: 60GB of high-speed unthrottled data. That’s a lot more than nearly any other MVNO offers.

Straight Talk’s cheapest Silver Unlimited Data Plan is the way to go for most customers. It’s just $42.50 a month, and you get unlimited talk, text, and data—plus 10GB of mobile hotspot data. You can pay more for Gold or Platinum plans, but all that really changes is the amount of hotspot data.

In terms of perks and special deals, Straight Talk doesn’t have anything too flashy. You can snag a Samsung A14 5G phone for just $79.99, but offers like the free phones that AT&T offers new customers are nowhere to be seen.

When you sign up for a family plan with H20 Wireless, you can get on AT&T’s network with unlimited everything for just $25 a month!

Of course, the service is about as basic as it gets. H20’s unlimited data plan has no frills—just unlimited text, talk, and data with 40GB of high-speed data and 2GB to 5GB of hotspot data. Here’s a closer look.

H20 might not be ideal for those who travel internationally frequently or use their phone as a hotspot to work on the road. But if you just want to get the whole family on a cheap unlimited plan for under $100 a month, then look no further.

Carriers that use the AT&T network have access to all of AT&T’s coverage—theoretically.

If you’re on a data plan with an MVNO, the Big Three networks generally prioritize data from their direct customers and deprioritize your data speeds. This can make it hard to do bandwidth-demanding activities, like streaming video in HD. It also means that an AT&T customer may get great reception in one area while MVNO customers’ reception may suffer. But deprioritization isn’t always a given, and most of the time, you should be able to get the speed and data you need.

MVNO phone plans used to have issues with phone compatibility. You had to worry about whether you were coming from a CDMA or GSM network. But with most modern AT&T prepaid cell phone plans, you don’t have to worry about that.

Most new phones are AT&T compatible, unless they are specifically locked to another carrier. However, you should always double check with your carrier before you sign up.

That wraps up our review of the best AT&T MVNOs. Here are some bullet points to help you remember what makes each of these carriers a great pick.

• Top option: US Mobile offers flexible plans at multiple price points. It also provides sweet perks for multiple lines—perfect for families or roommates who want to go in on a phone plan.
• Best budget option: Red Pocket offers low-cost plans that focus on the basics, starting at just $10 a month. Talk about a deal!
• Best value: Cricket Wireless offers the perfect all-around AT&T alternative. Its affordable Unlimited+ plan has no data caps, 15GB of hotspot data, free international perks, and even free cloud storage.
• Best for data hogs: Straight Talk's unlimited data plans have a 60GB cap on full-speed data. That’s a lot more than other MVNOs, meaning you can stream, post, scroll, and game till the cows come home.
• Best family plans: Get plans for the whole family without breaking the bank. You can get up for four lines of unlimited data for just $25 a pop with H20 Wireless.

AT&T is one of the Big Three wireless carriers. The other two are T-Mobile and Verizon. All three have great nationwide coverage, fast 4G and 5G networks, and good reliability. But, in certain areas, AT&T is the clear best.

Rather than operating their own networks, MVNOs lease network bandwidth from bigger companies, like AT&T. They can be significantly cheaper than going straight to the company that runs the network.

That’s the main benefit for most people. Though some MVNOs also offer nice perks for new customers, like cheap phones and prepaid cards. Often, when people talk about AT&T no-contract plans or AT&T pay-as-you-go plans, they’re talking about using an MVNO carrier or AT&T’s own prepaid service.

The biggest drawback is that MVNOs tend to have suboptimal performance.  However, AT&T is known to have decent data speeds in many areas, so the network shouldn’t be too overtaxed most of the time. This is especially true for those who live close to AT&T towers. 

As one customer on an AT&T MVNO put it in a Reddit post: “AT&T as a network is on another level in terms of latency, and even if you are deprioritized, it isn't the same caliber of utterly unusable, frustratingly slow data speeds, versus Verizon. Simply put, I've had better data speeds on deprioritized AT&T than Verizon postpaid with priority in crowded areas.”

Every article we write begins with a lengthy and in-depth research process. For this review of the best AT&T MVNOs, we began by looking at every single carrier that uses the network. We looked at third-party data, customer reviews, and all available information about carrier plans and policies. We narrowed down our top picks based on the following criteria:

1. Price
2. Data allotment and performance
3. Policies, fees, and perks

We hope that we’ve helped you find your next cell phone plan. If we missed anything, please let us know by clicking on the Contact Us link below!