Twigby vs. Verizon Wireless Review

Let’s skip the pleasantries and get to the meat of this article. Which company is better, Twigby or Verizon?

The short answer is: Twigby will appeal to some with its incredibly cheap talk, text, and (limited) data plans. But its data speeds, coverage, and perks can’t hold a candle to Verizon’s. Those who want strong mobile performance should go with the big V.

That was the short answer. For the long answer, read the rest of this article. We’ll go over everything you need to know about Twigby and Verizon.

We like to give a little guidance on how to pick the perfect cell phone plan. If you already know exactly what you want, then go ahead and skip this section to read more about Twigby and Verizon!

• Data: If you don’t have enough data you won’t be able to stream, browse, game, or work on your phone. Be sure to look for data caps, throttling, and deprioritization in the fine print!
• Price: Mobile prices are always fluctuating. The only way to be sure you’re getting the best deal is to compare prices using tools like the WhistleOut charts in this article.
• Coverage: AT&T, T-Mobile, and Verizon all run nationwide 4G LTE and 5G networks. Check out coverage maps to see which one covers your area the best.
• Features: Hotspot data, HD video streaming, in-flight texting, free streaming accounts—the list of perks goes on and on. Get a plan that’s loaded up with the features you want.

Twigby and Verizon are very different cell phone companies. Just look at this chart of the most popular plans from each company to get an idea of what we mean. 

As you can see, Verizon’s most popular offering costs $70 and comes with unlimited data. Meanwhile, Twigby’s comes with 10 GB of data and costs less than $20 (but the price will go up after the first 6 months).

In short: Twigby’s plans are cheap, but Verizon’s offer way more.

We’ll get into all the nitty-gritty details about both carriers now, beginning with Twigby.

Twigby specializes in stripped-down, low-cost, low-data plans. That means you’ll save money, but you won’t see high data performance or a bunch of perks. Here’s a look at all of the plans the company offers.

These plans from Twigby are pretty much a “what you see is what you get” deal. You can use your Twigby data as hotspot data, which is great. But Twigby’s plans won’t get you on 5G networks, and there are a few other drawbacks you should be aware of before signing up, like price changes and deprioritization.

Twigby’s prices might look too good to be true. And they kind of are. The prices that you see in the chart above (and that Twigby often advertises) are promotional only. After your first 6 months of service these prices double. Yep, that $17.50 plan that gives you 10 GB of data will go up to $35.00 a month! Granted, that’s still a pretty decent price.

There’s this little thing called data deprioritization that can have a huge effect on your cell phone plan’s performance. Twigby is what we call a mobile virtual network operator (MVNO), which means that it piggybacks on another company’s network to provide service.

The problem comes when the network gets busy. The parent company can (and often does) slow down data speeds for MVNO customers, who pay less.

That means Twigby customers will often see significantly slower data speeds than customers on, say, T-Mobile or AT&T. If you want reliable high-speed data for working, gaming, or streaming, then Twigby might not be the right carrier for you.

You can get any kind of cell phone plan from Verizon, from a simple talk and text plan to a fully-loaded unlimited data plan. Here’s a look at all the options.

As you can see, Verizon offers a few plans that are not unlimited data plans. Honestly, we’re not going to really focus on those here because they just aren’t a great deal for most customers (if you want a limited-data plan from Verizon, it’s best to check out its prepaid plans, which we’ve reviewed in full here).

That leaves us with the company’s four unlimited data plans. Each of these plans gives you unlimited talk, text, and data. All four plans get you onto Verizon’s rapidly expanding  5G network too. But here’s what makes each plan unique.

• The Start Unlimited Plan is the cheapest and weakest of Verizon’s unlimited plans. You won’t get any hotspot data and your regular data will be subject to deprioritization, so you can’t count on having fast 4G speeds all the time.
• The Do More Unlimited Plan comes with a respectable 50 GB high-speed data cap, but your video streams will be throttled at 480p. This plan gives you 15 GB of mobile hotspot data and cool business perks to help you get more work done, like 600 GB of Verizon Cloud storage.
• The Play More Unlimited Plan is a great plan for streamers. It has a 50 GB high-speed data cap and 15 GB of hotspot data. You’ll also get unlimited HD video streaming and cool free subscriptions to Hulu, ESPN, and Disney+.
• The Get More Unlimited Plan gives you everything you could need in a cell phone plan: a 50 GB data cap, unlimited HD streaming, all the subscriptions listed above, and a boatload (30 GB) of mobile hotspot data.

Basically, if you want performance above all else, then one of the unlimited plans from Verizon is the way to go. Plus, you might be able to score a nifty discount.

It hasn’t been an easy year for many of us, especially frontline workers of all kinds. But Verizon is trying to make things just a bit easier with some steep discounts for first responders, military, nurses, teachers, and students! Check it out.

Twigby’s plans are cheap and have serious limitations when it comes to the amount and speed of its mobile data. Verizon, on the other hand, is pricier but offers lots of full-speed data and tons of perks.

At the end of the day, the best way to save money on your phone bill is to sign up for a  family plan. Many carriers offer unbeatable discounts and cool perks when you add additional lines.

But when it comes to Twigby vs. Verizon, only one carrier really delivers in the family plan department. That carrier is Verizon. It has tons of cool family plans (you can read more about them in our full Verizon review). Meanwhile, Twigby offers no family plan discounts.

To demonstrate how much better Verizon’s family plans are, we made this little chart. It shows two plans, each with four lines. The Verizon plan comes with unlimited data for every line, while Twigby comes with just 40 GB split between four lines.

While it may look like Twigby’s plan is cheaper, the two plans actually have the same monthly price when you take away Twigby’s promotional price. In short, you can pay $140 for 40 GB of slow data with Twigby or $140 for unlimited high-speed data on Verizon. The choice seems obvious.

The verdict here is pretty simple: Verizon has the best coverage in the country. Twigby, on the other hand, primarily uses Sprint’s network to bring service to its customers. You can take a look at how each carrier’s network looks in your area with the maps below.

Twigby does actually use Verizon’s network when users go outside of Sprint’s coverage area. But Twigby customers won’t get the same data speeds on Verizon due to deprioritization.

Never pay full price for a new phone. Instead, wait until you’re signing up for a new plan and take advantage of an amazing deal.

Verizon often runs BOGO deals, discounts, and other promotional deals on flagship devices like the iPhone 12 or Galaxy S21. Meanwhile, Twigby focuses on discount phones, like the iPhone SE (2020). These WhistleOut charts will show you the most popular phone deals from each carrier right now.

That’s all for our in-depth review. Here’s a quick recap to help you figure out which company is best for you.

• Plans: If you don’t need a ton of data and just want the lowest price, then Twigby has tons of low-data plans for under $30 a month. Verizon is the opposite: it offers high-performance, high-data plans that cost a pretty penny.
• Family plans: Twigby technically lets you add extra lines to your phone plan, but you won’t get any discounts for doing so. Verizon, on the other hand, offers significant cost savings when you sign up for a family plan.
• Coverage and performance: There’s little competition when it comes overall performance. Verizon offers faster data, better coverage, and more special features and perks.

If you’re looking to get a cell phone plan that costs less than a movie ticket, Twigby’s the way to go. But if you prize performance—fast data, good coverage, and other perks—then Verizon is the company for you.

We spent two days looking at every scrap of information we could find about Twigby and Verizon, and then writing this article with our analysis.

We looked at every plan offered by both carriers, and evaluated them based on data allotments, data speeds, cost, coverage, and special features. We used our own proprietary data from over 100,000 mobile customers to inform our recommendations about data performance.

Ultimately, our analysis relied on public information, user reviews, our own data, and our own broad experience as cell phone reviewers. If you want to learn more about how we review cell phone plans, you can read this article.