Best Cell Phone Plans of 2023

Here's the low-down for the best cell phone plans:

• Verizon offers the best network, and Visible gives you access to Verizon's network for a fraction of the price.
• Xfinity Mobile gives you surprisingly good discounts if you bundle your cell phone plan and TV together.
• US Mobile is one of the few smaller carriers that offers family plan discounts, allowing you to get down to $20/mo. for unlimited talk, text, and data.
• Mint Mobile offers one of the cheapest unlimited plans on the market today.
• When it comes to data speeds, T-Mobile reigns supreme.

See? That wasn't so hard. Now you have everything you need to find the best cell phone plan, right? Nope! There's definitely more details to know before committing to any cell phone plan, and we've narrowed down everything you need to know.

Entering into a cell phone plan is a lot like entering into a relationship. The more you know before committing, the better. Here's some quick tips of what to look for in a cell phone plan.

• Know how much data you need: It's essential to know how much data you need as many carriers will base their plans on this figure. Not everyone needs an unlimited data plan, so don't overpay for what you don't need. Read our handy guide to see how much high-speed data you actually need.
• Compare prices: With so many options available, we want to make sure you get the best price for your needs. Use the price-comparison tools, like the charts in this review, to make sure you’re getting the best deal available.
• Watch out for extra fees: Not all cell phone plans are straightforward. Many, especially the cheaper plans, have plenty of devils in the details (like data slowdowns and price increases). We've highlighted some of those details to help you out in your search.
• Make sure your area is covered: Not all mobile providers have stellar service in every part of the US. So to avoid having to sit by the window and wait for bars to appear, check out our coverage maps in this review or read our cell phone coverage guide to see which cell phone service gives you the best coverage.

All right, let’s talk plans, beginning with the most powerful.

Verizon Wireless owns the best network, but they certainly don't offer the most budget-friendly cell phone plans or deals. Enter Visible Wireless: a wireless carrier that uses Verizon's network, but only charges a fraction of the price.

Visible uses Verizon's network to provide coverage for its customers. Think of it like going to Disneyland, but just entering the park through a different entrance (that just so happens to cost half the price you'd normally pay). You basically get access to Verizon's awesome network coverage without having to pay Verizon prices. For example, the basic Verizon unlimited plan will cost you $65/month, whereas the basic Visible unlimited plan will only cost you $30/month. Check out how Verizon and Visible plans compare:

The price doesn't even come close. If you want to get unlimted talk, text, and data on Verizon's network without paying Verizon prices, Visible is the way to go. And if you're looking to save on some sweet mobile deals, Visible can usually deliver.

Fun fact: Verizon actually owns Visible. This is a good thing because you can expect Visible to get preferential treatment over other carriers that piggyback on Verizon's network.

Verizon's network offers objectively excellent coverage. In 2023, Verizon’s network gets you 4G coverage in 70% of the U.S.¹ That’s better than any other carrier. 

This superior coverage won’t matter as much to those who live in major metropolitan areas, where every carrier has good coverage. But those who are outside of major areas will almost certainly want to check out Verizon (there are some places where Verizon is really the only game in town). Likewise, folks who travel around the country often will get the best experience with Verizon. 

Take a look at this coverage map to see just how extensive Verizon's network is.

Both Visible cell phone plans come with unlimited talk, text, data, and hotspot data. It's rare getting hotspot data with a smaller carrier like Visible, let alone unlimited hotspot data.

The catch is that your hotspot data caps at 5 Mbps with Visible. That's enough speed to connect your laptop to the internet and send Slack messages back and forth, but you'll probably have a rough time streaming a Zoom meeting.

Every small wireless carrier has the same downside: deprioritization and data throttling.

It wouldn't make sense if Visible could charge half of what Verizon charges without any downsides at all, right? In this case, the downside is that your data speeds could slow down if Verizon's network becomes overly congested.

As a Visible user, you might find that you can't refresh your Instagram feed at a crowded stadium, or can't stream a podcast during rush hour traffic. When the network gets congested, Verizon will give priority to its own customers. Your mileage may vary on how often you experience this, but know that it's something that can pop up at the most annoying times.

On the plus side, Verizon owns Visible, so its possible that Visible customers will experience less data throttling compared to other smaller carriers on Verizon's network (like US Mobile).

If you already use Spectrum as your internet provider, you can get an affordable cell phone plan with them as well. If you’re not a Spectrum internet user, feel free to scroll on out of here.

Spectrum Mobile’s unlimited plan gets you unlimited everything for $40/month, and uses Verizon’s awesome network to provide coverage. You only get a 30GB data cap every month with this unlimited plan, meaning if you use over 30GB in a month, your data speeds will slow down. As long as you keep below that data cap, Spectrum Mobile offers a nice value unlimited plan for Spectrum customers.

If you’re an existing Comcast Xfinity home internet customer, then Xfinity Mobile is a cell phone service that you need to consider. If you aren't, you might as well skip to the next section because this is an exclusive deal.

We call this a bundle because you cannot get Xfinity Mobile as a standalone service. Even though Xfinity Mobile is sorta exclusive, we like its unlimited plan, and here’s why.

Xfinity Mobile’s price for its unlimited plan is the definition of reasonable. You won't find your wallet catching on fire each month when it's time to pay.

Yes, there are other small carriers with lower prices for an unlimited plan, but Xfinity Mobile is cheaper than all of the Big Three—Verizon, T-Mobile, and AT&T.

Xfinity Mobile provides 5G for all its cell plans—both unlimited and by the gig—at no extra cost.

To get the most out of that, you need to have a 5G smartphone and to live in an area with 5G infrastructure. If you meet that description, then Xfinity Mobile says it can deliver download speeds of around 450 Mbps and upload speeds around 50 Mbps.² Why would ever need to, but that means you can download a movie off Netflix in under a minute! 

Xfinity Mobile subscribers can access millions of Wi-Fi hotspots across the country. Technically this is a good thing, but coming from someone who used Xfinity, these hotspots can sometimes be more of an annoyance. Occasionally I would drive around and notice that I suddenly didn't have a strong enough signal to stream a podcast off Spotify. This happened because my phone would automatically connect to Xfinity hotspots that didn't provide good data speeds. 

If you're ever in a bind and can't get access to the internet, an Xfinity hotspot could make all the difference, but don't be surprised if your speeds feel slow while connected to it.

Xfinity Mobile continues to rank number one on the American Customer Service Index’s list for full-service MVNOs. ACSI also put Xfinity Mobile’s app at the top of their list for customer service apps.

Be sure to read more in the Customer Service section of our full Xfinity Mobile review.

We want you to know everything we do about this plan, so there are a few aspects we don’t like about Xfinity Mobile. They mostly pertain to data limitations for non-5G devices.

For 4G LTE data, Xfinity says it can deliver download speeds around 5–12 Mbps and upload speeds around 2–5 Mbps. There is a soft data cap of 20 GB, after which you will be deprioritized, and Xfinity will cut your download speeds to 1.5 Mbps and upload speeds to 750 Kbps. That’s partly why we say go with 5G if you can.

Video streaming is where you’re most likely to feel the pain of these data limitations. If you’re on Xfinity Mobile’s unlimited plan, the default video streaming quality may disappoint. It will depend largely on whether your device is 5G and if the network you have access to is 4G LTE or 5G.

The default streaming resolution for non-5G devices on Xfinity Mobile’s unlimited data plan is only 480p, which is just standard definition (SD). But if you're on the 5G network, you'll get the best possible video resolution.

That’s basically the difference between Batman Forever and The Dark Knight. Both are Batman movies, but one is clearly more advanced than the other.

Go with 5G. That’s our best advice when it comes to Xfinity Mobile. With a 5G device on a 5G network, you’ll enjoy 4K streaming. Roar!

If you’re still in a 4G LTE situation, don’t despair—you can still buy HD streaming for any line, which gets you 720p resolution for smartphones and 1080p for tablets.

Read Full Xfinity Mobile Review | View Xfinity Mobile Plans

Let’s say you already have Xfinity home internet, and you’re looking for a new cell phone plan. Xfinity Mobile appeals to you, but you aren’t looking for an unlimited data plan. If that’s you, then take a look at Xfinity Mobile’s By the Gig plans.

We already did the math (you're welcome), and it’s pretty straightforward:

If you use more than 3 GB of cellular data per month, then Xfinity Mobile’s unlimited plan is probably a better deal for you.

Here are Xfinity Mobile’s plans so you can compare them for yourself.

Mint offers cell phone plans that are cheap in the good way: it has a super low price tag while still offering all the basics, unlimited talk, text, and data.

Here’s what we love about the budget-friendly Mint Mobile unlimited data plan.

Mint’s $30 unlimited data plan no longer holds the championship belt for cheapest unlimited plan (carriers like Ting and Tello recently undercut Mint's pricing). That being said, Mint Mobile still offers a killer bargain when you consider its network and high data caps.

T-Mobile currently has the largest 5G network and the fastest data speeds. As a Mint Mobile customer, you get access to that 5G network for a fraction of what it should cost.

While Mint users won’t get premium treatment (your speeds will slow down before T-Mobile customers see any changes), you will get full use of T-Mobile’s 4G and 5G networks. That means Mint customers should see better data speeds than many other customers on discount plans.

Mint Mobile gives its user a 35GB data cap, which equates to about 35 hours of streaming content on YouTube or Netflix (on standard definition). Most cheap unlimited plans give you data caps between 15GB and 20GB every month, and throttle your speeds once you past that point. It's nice to see an affordable MVNO that doesn't screw you over with a low data cap.

Obviously, Mint has cut some corners somewhere to get its price down this low. Here’s what we don’t love so much about this unlimited data plan and why you might want to reconsider.

The biggest drawback to going with Mint (or any mobile virtual network operator) is that your data will be deprioritized. That’s just a technical way of saying that when the network is busy, your data speeds will be slowed down (so that the parent network, T-Mobile, can keep its own customers at full speed).

Deprioritization is a wily issue to have. You never know quite how much it will affect your service. You might have super fast data speeds all day, then see them trickle to almost nothing in the evening. Or, you might have slow-ish but manageable speeds (think 5–15 Mbps) all the time. It really depends on where you live and how you use your phone.

Mint’s T-Mobile-run network still has some pretty sizable gaps in 4G and 5G coverage, specifically in rural areas. Check out this coverage map to see where you might experience some issues.

View Mint Mobile Plans |Read Full Mint Mobile Review 

Mint used to be in a category of its own for cheap unlimited data, but some new plans from other carriers give a Mint a run for its money.  Carriers like Boost Mobile and Republic Wireless can now match Mint's price, or even charge a little less. Check out the other cheap unlimited plans out there:

Family plans, like this one from US Mobile, basically always save you money on your cell phone bill. In fact, US Mobile's family plan happens to be the cheapest family unlimited plan available right now. Here's the details.

US Mobile's basic unlimited plan normally costs $35 a month, which is already a good deal for unlimited talk, text, and data. But, for every line you add (up to four), your price-per-line will go down. That means two lines cost $60/month, three lines cost $75/month, and four lines only costs $80/month. That cost for four lines equals out to $20 per person a month for an unlimited data plan.

As it stands right now, no other carrier can beat US Mobile's family plan deals for unlimited data. Here's the proof:

We already talked about how Verizon has the best 4G coverage in the nation. Well, US Mobile uses Verizon’s network. That means you’ll have good service in most of the United States, including many rural areas in the West.

We really only have one complaint about US Mobile: the data speeds aren’t very fast.

US Mobile advertises that its data speeds can get up to 3 Gbps when connected to a 5G network. With these speeds, you can stream in 4K without ever buffering, or hop on a Zoom call without ever worrying about your connection cutting out. While this sounds amazing,  there's one detail to remember: during times of network congestion, your speeds can slow down significantly, making it hard to do much of anything.

But, to be honest, data deprioritization is a problem with every small carrier (and even the cheaper plans from big carriers). So, you’re going to have to deal with it unless you’re willing to shell out a lot more than $20 per line.

Like we said before, the best way to save money on your phone bill is to get a family plan. That’s true for many carriers, so check out our list of all the best family plans around.

Boost Mobile has a little bit of everything, offering affordable limited data plans, impressive unlimited plans, and many cheap talk and text plans.

Most MVNO carriers offer specialized plans, like unlimited data or powerful family plans, but Boost Mobile has cell phone plans for almost everyone's taste. And with Boost's Unlimited plans, we think there's something there for everyone.

Boost offers unlimited talk and text with all its plans, so your only job is to pick how much data you need. For just $10 more than its 5GB plan, you can have unlimited talk, text, and data with Boost's Unlimited $25 plan. The $40 Unlimited plan is also quite affordable, and if you need some hotspot juice every now and then, it'll get you 12 GB. 

And for new customers, Boost Mobile is currently offering an exclusive online deal that cuts your monthly bill practically in half for the first three months. Yes, please!

MVNO carriers are more likely to experience slowed data speeds, but luckily with Boost Mobile, you'll be able to enjoy T-Mobile's 5G coverage on all of its plans. T-Mobile has the widest and fastest 5G network in the country, which will definitely help you avoid slow data speeds.

While T-Mobile's 5G network certainly improves Boost Mobile's data speeds compared to other MVNOs, unfortunately Boost is still subject to data deprioritization.

Data deprioritization happens when a network slows down your data speeds while the network is busy. So if you're trying to stream The Last of Us on a Sunday night, T-Mobile's customers will get better speeds.

View Boost Mobile Plans | Read Full Boost Mobile Review

T-Mobile has, quite simply, jumped ahead of the pack to become the one of the best cell phone providers in the US.

While some of its previous issues persist—specifically poor 4G coverage in rural areas—it has managed to outperform the competition where it matters most: 4G LTE data speeds, data allotments, and 5G coverage. And it has done all of this while still being cheaper, on average, than Verizon and AT&T.

Here’s everything we love about T-Mobile’s premier Magenta MAX plan.

If you want lightning fast speeds for streaming, gaming, scrolling, posting, and everything else, T-Mobile is clearly the best carrier. We collected speed tests results from over 100,000 mobile customers and found that T-Mobile has the fastest 4G speeds. Here's a look at the average download and upload speeds from the major networks:

But 4G is going the way of dial-up internet and VHS tapes (remember those?). 5G is the new technology in town, and T-Mobile is also dominating in the 5G arena.

When it comes to 5G speeds, OpenSignal’s latest report says, “T-Mobile wins the 5G Download Speed award for the fifth time in a row, increasing once again its lead on Verizon and AT&T … this time T-Mobile places at least 93.9 Mbps ahead of its competitors …”³

Here’s a dirty little secret about the mobile industry: unlimited doesn’t really mean unlimited most of the time. Most unlimited plans actually have a data cap, and once you hit that cap your data speeds can (and will) be drastically reduced.

This is one of the biggest reasons that T-Mobile’s Magenta MAX plan stands out. The Magenta MAX plan gives you 100 GB a month of high-speed data before deprioritization. If you want the best speed, here it is.

T-Mobile doesn’t just have the fastest 5G data speeds. It also has the largest 5G network. According to OpenSignal, T-Mobile users in 16 states were connected to 5G networks 35% of the time.

That might not sound like much, but it’s far more than AT&T customers, who were only connected to a 5G network 25% of the time (in just six states) and Verizon users, who were connected just 17% of the time (in just one state).¹

This network makes T-Mobile the most “future-proof” carrier around, since 5G technology will become the new standard for mobile networks in the years to come.

Obviously, we’re pretty impressed with T-Mobile right now. But that doesn’t mean we are blind to its faults. Here are the things we don’t love about the Magenta MAX plan.

T-Mobile is actually the cheapest of the Big Three. Its prices are generally cheaper than comparable plans from AT&T and Verizon. But that doesn’t matter much when you’re talking about an $85 plan like Magenta MAX.

You can get an unlimited plan from a discount carrier, like Visible or Mint, for less than half that price (although the data will be much slower and you’ll have worse perks)!

In short, T-Mobile knows this is the most powerful plan in the industry right now, so they’re not afraid to stick to a high price. And it’s still totally worth it for those who want performance above all else.

We talked about how T-Mobile’s 5G network is the biggest. But that network doesn’t spread into most rural areas of North America, where T-Mobile’s 4G coverage is also spotty. Just look at the holes in this coverage map—it looks like swiss cheese (yum, cheese).

You can see the broad swaths of Nebraska, Utah, Idaho, Arizona, and Nevada where T-Mobile doesn’t have great coverage. So if you live in one of those areas, you might want to go with another carrier (Verizon has the best 4G coverage in rural areas).

View T-Mobile Plans | Read Full T-Mobile Review

If you’re not a big fan of T-Mobile for whatever reason, but you still want a premier, top-shelf, grade-A plan with tons of data and high performance, then check out these plans from AT&T and Verizon.

We’ve already talked about how Mint Mobile is our favorite cheap unlimited data plan. But US Mobile offers an even cheaper set of plans for those who don’t necessarily need unlimited data.

US Mobile offers some pretty mind-boggling deals, like unlimited talk and text, plus 25 GB of data, for just $20 a month. Imagine if paying your phone bill costs less than a Sunday brunch?

It is true that this $20 price tag includes a temporary discount that goes away after six months. But if you’re worried about that, US Mobile has plenty of other data plans that cost less than $20 a month.

If you’re still not convinced, check out how US Mobile compares to other super-cheap data plans.

US Mobile is an MVNO, which means it doesn’t have its own mobile network. Instead it uses both Verizon and T-Mobile to bring service to its customers. Which network you end up on depends on what kind of phone you have (GSM or CDMA).

In terms of data performance and coverage, Verizon and T-Mobile are the two best networks in the game. So, whichever network you end up on you should be pretty happy.

With prices this low, it's natural to look for a gotcha. Here’s what we don’t love so much about the US Mobile unlimited data plan.

Like every small MVNO wireless carrier, US Mobile customers will be subject to data deprioritization. That means you could see your data speeds plummet during times of peak use (usually in the evenings). If you need fast data all the time for work, gaming, or your social media addiction, then you might want to consider another carrier.

You don’t get a $20 cell phone plan without cutting the fat somewhere. In this case, US Mobile has cut pretty much every perk. There’s no free hotspot data, no free subscriptions, and no special phone deals.

View US Mobile Plans | Read Full US Mobile Review 

If you want to keep your costs as low as possible for your prepaid family plan, you can get a multi-line plan from Twigby and customize how much data you want per line. 

Check out this family plan that we built on Twigby that includes four data plans for a total sum of $45/month.

If you want to check out some other incredibly cheap cell phone plans, we suggest checking out Red Pocket and Ting.

We’ve gone over the five best cell phone plans on the market right now. It’s up to you to decide which one fits your lifestyle and budget. Here’s a quick recap to help you make up your mind.

• Best overall coverage: Visible Wireless uses Verizon's awesome network, but charges a fraction of the price for unlimited talk, text, and data plans. 
• Best bundle: If you’re already paying Comcast Xfinity internet, then you should look at Xfinity Mobile. It gets you on Verizon’s 5G network for less than $50 a month.
• Best budget unlimited data plan: Mint Mobile offers a perfectly good unlimited data plan for a ridiculous price. Your data speeds may not be the fastest, but your wallet will thank you.
• Best family plan deal: US Mobile will hook you and your loved ones up with an unlimited plan for as little as $20 per line. Yes, it’s a very good deal.
• Best overall performance: The T-Mobile Magenta MAX plan is simply the most powerful plan on the market, offering truly unlimited data, the fastest speeds, and plenty of cool perks.
• Best under $20: If you’re just looking for the cheapest, most bare-bones plans, then we suggest checking out US Mobile. A crisp twenty will get you up to 25 GB of data.

That’s all we’ve got to say about the best cell phone plans. We hope we’ve been helpful (you can always yell at us in the comments if we haven’t been).

We spent over a week researching, compiling data, and writing this article. Our analysis and suggestions are based on a deep knowledge of the industry (having written in-depth reviews of dozens of cell phone carriers), but that’s not all.

For this article we looked at data from over 100,000 mobile customers to determine mobile data speeds. We used the latest reports from OpenSignal and other groups to understand the status of carriers’ 5G networks. And we used comparison tools from sites like WhistleOut.com to help understand pricing and features.

Most of all, we trust the users. So we’ve also looked at customer reviews from each carrier to better understand what they do right, and where they could improve.

We crammed a lot into this review, but we thought of a few more things we want to talk about. Hopefully, we’ll cover any lingering questions you may have in this section.

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