Best Military and Veteran Cell Phone Plans

All three major carriers–T-Mobile, AT&T, and Verizon–offer discounted unlimited plans for eligible military members and their families. Verizon offers the greatest discount and coverage, while T-Mobile has the fastest and most extensive 5G network, and AT&T provides the most robust security protections.

Each major carrier plan, running from $55 to $75 per month, includes generous hotspot data and unlimited texting from the US to over 200 countries, allowing you to stay connected to your loved ones when you’re deployed without racking up roaming fees. But you can get an even lower price by choosing a prepaid carrier like Mint Mobile, Visible, or Boost Mobile.

Whether you decide to go with a military discount from a major carrier or a steeper, available-to-everyone discount from a prepaid carrier, you can find everything you need to know in this guide.

Quick guide to this article:

• How we picked the best plans
• Verizon: Biggest discount for military vets
• T-Mobile: Best 5G coverage
• AT&T: Best built-in security features
• Recap

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

Verizon Unlimited Ultimate gives you unlimited data, excellent coverage, 60GB of mobile hotspot data, plus discounts on subscription services like Disney+ and Hulu. Regularly priced at $90 a month for one line, Verizon’s military discounts bring your monthly cost down to as low as $50 per line with four lines.

Military discounts: $10 off with one line ($80 per month), $12.50 off with two lines ($67.50 per month), $8.33 off with three lines ($56.67 per month), and $5 off with four lines ($50 per month).

T-Mobile’s Go5G Plus plan is one of its flagship packages. Regularly priced at $90 a month for one line, it offers unlimited high-speed data and 50GB of mobile hotspot on T-Mobile’s huge 5G network. You also get international data while traveling, along with free international calling to landlines in 70+ countries. Last but not least, you get a Netflix standard account and an Apple TV+ subscription for free.

Military discount: $15 a month (totals $75 per month).

Along with unlimited talk, text, and data, AT&T’s $85.99 Unlimited Premium plan comes with 60GB of mobile hotspot plus built-in security features that can block harmful websites and protect your identity.

Military discount: $21.50 off with one line ($64.49 per month), $19 off two lines ($56.99 per month), $15.25 off with three lines ($45.74 per month), and $12.75 off with four lines ($38.24 per month).

Did you know that you can get the exact same coverage on T-Mobile, Verizon, or AT&T for a much cheaper price? MVNO (mobile virtual network operator) carriers use the same network towers as the big providers but charge much less for access.

If the military-discounted plans still feel out of your price range, try these prepaid carriers instead. While these prepaid carriers are not limited to military and veterans, their prices are often lower than plans from major carriers, including discounted ones. We recommend two MVNO carriers as alternatives::

1. Best family deal: Mint Mobile. If you bundle two or more lines together under Mint Mobile, the price per unlimited plan only costs $15 a month.
2. Best coverage deal: Visible. Visible uses Verizon’s top network, but doesnt charge Verizon prices. You can get an unlimited plan for $25 a month.

Reviews.org uses price comparison tools to evaluate every cell phone plan, but price isn’t everything. In this case, we looked at the military phone plans offered from T-Mobile, AT&T, and T-Mobile, and considered factors like price, data caps, and coverage. We also compared the military plans from the big three carriers against the unlimited plans you can get from prepaid carriers like Visible or Mint Mobile.

After getting a comprehensive view of the military discounts from the major carriers and the discounted rates from prepaid carriers, we leverage our hands-on experience and extensive research to pick the best cell phone plans for military members and their families.

Reviews.org makes money when readers click our sponsored links, but this piece was researched and written independently. Our brand partners do not read our pieces or preapprove our pieces before they are published.

In terms of sheer savings, Verizon gives the best discount for military members and their families. The Verizon Unlimited Ultimate plan usually costs $90 per month, but the price goes down to $60 per month with the military discount. As you’d expect, a cell phone plan that’s supposed to cost $90 a month comes with a ton of features. For starters, you get unlimited data (with no caps) on Verizon’s 4G and 5G Ultra Wideband networks. That means excellent coverage and fast speeds.

You also get a whopping 60GB of high-speed hotspot data every month and discounts on a bunch of third-party services, including the Disney Bundle and AppleOne.

If you want to stick with Verizon’s excellent network but don’t want to pay $60 per month for your cell phone plan, you can get an even cheaper unlimited plan with a prepaid carrier. Our top recommended Verizon MVNO is Visible, which just so happens to be owned by Verizon.

Visible’s unlimited plan costs only $25 per month—a whole $35 cheaper than the premium Verizon plan with the military discount. You get basically the same experience as a Verizon unlimited plan, with the caveat that your data speeds can slow down from time to time. Verizon gives priority to its own customers if the network gets congested, but it’s something you shouldn’t encounter often.

The Go5G Plus Military plan comes with a bunch of awesome features. Along with unlimited high-speed data, you get 50GB of mobile hotspot data and the fastest 4G and 5G speeds of any network. The plan normally costs $95 a month, but military members and their families can get Go5G Plus for just $75 a month.

A free Netflix subscription sweetens the pot, and regular travelers can also take advantage of the high-speed international data that you get in over 215 countries automatically—meaning you can hail an Uber right after your international flight without issue.

Despite all the sweet perks, the biggest callout for T-Mobile is its 5G network. Users can expect faster speeds on average with T-Mobile than any other carrier.

You can get an even cheaper cell phone plan that uses T-Mobile’s network by opting for a prepaid carrier like Mint Mobile. Accounting for the military member discount, Mint Mobile’s unlimited plan costs come in at half the price of T-Mobile’s Go5G Plus. And you still get high-speed 4G LTE and 5G data and plenty of premium hotspot data too.

You can add unlimited phone lines on a Mint Mobile family plan for an extra $15 per month. At that point, you get an absolute steal for an unlimited plan on T-Mobile’s network. To lock in the price, you need to pay in advance for three months of service—you need to continue to pay in three-month installments for continued service at the discount price.

AT&T’s Unlimited Premium PL plan comes with totally unlimited premium data and an impressive 60GB of high-speed hotspot data. Even better, the plan comes with the ActiveArmor app that helps keep your personal data safe. Normally this pairing would set you back $85.99 a month, but military members and their families get a $20 monthly discount.

This is a particularly useful plan for security- and privacy-conscious phone users. Some of ActiveArmor’s notable features include spam risk call blocking, harmful website blocking, and most importantly, public Wi-Fi protection. The ActiveArmor app encrypts your online activity when you connect to a public Wi-Fi, which means you can access your bank account and other sensitive information.

• Best plan overall: Military members, veterans, and their families all get a $30 per month discount on the Verizon Unlimited Ultimate plan, which is the biggest discount on the most robust cell phone plan.
• Best 5G coverage: Military members, veterans, and their families get $15 per month off the T-Mobile Go5G Plus plan, which offers the most 5G coverage. 
• Best security features: AT&T’s Unlimited Premium comes with built-in security features that help protect your identity and sensitive information. Military members and their families get about a $20 monthly discount on this plan.
• Best family deal: Mint Mobile uses T-Mobile’s network. You can add more unlimited lines for just $15 per month. 
• Best coverage deal: Visible operates on Verizon’s awesome coverage network but charges literally half the price for unlimited data.