Tello vs. Boost Infinite

Tello offers lots of cheaper, limited- data plans, whereas Boost Infinite only offers three unlimited plans to choose from. Take a look at how the price compares for Tello plans with at least 5 GB of data and Boost Infinite’s unlimited plans:

Tello has Boost Infinite beat when it comes to non-unlimited data plans, but it has a slight edge on Tello with its unlimited plan options. Tello's $25 unlimited plan is among the best deals right now in the wireless world, giving you 35 GB of high-speed data compared to Boost's 30 GB. If you know you’re looking for an unlimited plan, Tello's $25 unlimited plan is an easy recommendation. But if you're looking for more perks like hotspot data or unlimited calling to and from Mexico, we recommend you check out Boost. 

Another big thing Boost Infinite’s unlimited plans have going for them is a higher-than-usual data cap for a prepaid carrier. Every Boost Infinite plan (even the cheapest one) gives you 30 GB of high-speed data every month. Once you pass that 30 GB of data, your wireless data speeds will slow down an absolute crawl. If you regularly use over 30 GB of data every month, you’ll be better off with Tello's 35 GB cap or a truly unlimited carrier, like AT&T or Verizon. Most folks won’t come close to using more than 30 GB in a given month, so you’ll likely be just fine with Boost’s data caps.

Tello comes just ahead of Boost with its data cap, maxing out at 35 GB of high-speed data every month. It’s only a 5 GB difference between the two caps, but it’s always nice to have more.

Tello doesn’t offer many perks, but you do get free international calling to landlines in over 60 countries, including Canada and Mexico. Boost’s base unlimited plan also includes free calling to landlines in Mexico and Canada, but to get more coverage than that, you’ll need to pay for one of the more expensive Boost Infinite plans. Got loved ones to regularly call overseas? Go with Tello for your cell phone plan.

Unfortunately, neither Tello or Boost Infinite currently have family plans. Check out our roundup of the best family plan discounts if you want to bundle some lines together and get a deal.

Prepaid carriers like Tello and Boost don’t operate on their own wireless networks, they actually pay for coverage space from one of the big carriers (like T-Mobile or Verizon). Tello uses the T-Mobile 5G network to provide coverage for its customers, and Boost rents space from both T-Mobile and AT&T. Depending upon which network provides better coverage where you live, Boost can hook you up with T-Mobile or AT&T’s networks.

Take a look at the coverage map below to get an idea of what networks work best for your neck of the woods. Enter your ZIP code and check the checkboxes of different networks to get a good idea of what to expect.

Based on our experience, T-Mobile’s 5G network provides the fastest data speeds (54.1Mbps) over any other network, which is a plus for both Tello and Boost. AT&T data speeds aren’t quite as fast at T-Mobile’s on average, but if you get on AT&T’s network as a Boost customer, you should still get plenty enough speeds to stream YouTube or play some online games while you’re out and about.

There’s a catch with every budget-friendly prepaid carrier: Here, it’s occasional slowdowns during peak-usage times. If you use a smaller carrier like Boost or Tello, you might find your download speeds dramatically slow down during certain times of the day.

For example, in the early evenings, right after you get back from work, your wireless speeds might slow down to the point where you can’t refresh Instagram or scroll through TikTok. This happens because the parent network gives priority to its own customers over us prepaid plebeians.

If you live outside of a major city, this data throttling shouldn’t happen too often, but it can certainly happen for folks living in bigger, more populated cities.

Choosing between Tello and Infinite really comes down to whether you want unlimited data for your cell phone plan or not. You can get a cheaper cell phone plan with Tello if you can live without unlimited data. If you want an unlimited data plan, Boost Infinite currently offers one of the best cell phone deals on the market today.

• Data plans: Tello offers a variety of cell phone plans ranging from a single gigabit of data to unlimited data, all of which are pretty solid deals. The only exception is Tello’s unlimited plan, which costs the same as Boost’s base unlimited plan and has a lower data cap.
• Coverage: Tello uses T-Mobile’s network, and Boost Infinite uses both T-Mobile and AT&T’s networks to provide wireless coverage. It’s certainly nice to have the power of two networks with Boost, but you'll likely have a similar coverage experience with either carrier.
• Performance: Both Tello and Boost customers will likely experience similar performance and data speeds. But also both carriers are subject to data throttling during peak-usage periods when networks get congested.

This review focuses on the plans, pricing, and performance of Tello and Boost Infinite. We analyzed the most up-to-date plan details from both Tello and Boost, performed hands-on testing, read through customer feedback on social media websites like Reddit,  and  used our database, which includes data from over 100,000 customers, to measure expected performance from each carrier.