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There are a variety of cheap cell phone plans that may be worth your while.
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The best cheap cell phone plans offer dependable coverage and service speeds at a range of affordable prices. Choosing the right mobile virtual network operator (or MVNO) for you, though, will come down to your budget, your location, and your priorities.
Overall, it's hard to beat our top pick, Mint Mobile's promotion for its three-month prepaid plans, as it offers 5GB, 15GB, 20GB, or "unlimited" data (40GB) to new customers for discounted rates, starting at just $15 per month. If you're looking to extend your savings further, we recommend Tello Mobile's Build Your Own plan, which can cost as low as $5 per month.
Our top picks for the best cheap phone plans
Best overall plan: Mint Mobile (Any 3-month plan) - See at Mint Mobile
All of Mint Mobile's three-month plans are currently discounted for new customers, so you can get anywhere from 5GB to "unlimited" data (40GB) from our favorite MVNO at low prepaid costs.
Best true budget plan: Tello Mobile (Build Your Own plan) - See at Tello
Tello's unique Build Your Own plan allows you to customize your data and minutes to your specific needs, and offers a low base price of $5 per month.
Best unlimited plan: Visible Wireless (Visible+ plan) - See at Visible
If you're looking for a large amount of monthly data at a reasonable price, the Visible+ plan from Visible Wireless stands alone in offering up to 50GB of guaranteed high-speed data for just $35 per month with a current promotion.
Best international plan: Google Fi Wireless (Flexible plan) - See at Google
The Flexible plan at Google Fi Wireless includes international data for the same price as domestic data, along with free international texting and international calling at an affordable rate.
Best overall plan: Mint Mobile (Any 3-month plan)
Mint Mobile is our favorite budget carrier across the board, and its three-month plans are a stellar deal for new customers.
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Pros: Easy plan management, reliable coverage on T-Mobile's network, exceptional customer support
Cons: No discounts for multiple lines
Mint Mobile's prepaid plans for three, six, or twelve months offer affordable options for customers to easily manage all lines on their plan in one place and adjust their data allotments at any time.
The overall experience as a customer is what makes Mint Mobile stand out among its competitors — its user-friendly setup and app experience, with readily accessible support and FAQs, make it an easy choice in addition to its inviting pricing.
Your best point of entry into the Mint Mobile landscape is the MVNO's current new customer promotion that sets each of its three-month prepaid plans at discounted rates. The promotion starts at just $15 per month for 5GB of data and goes up to $30 per month for the "unlimited" plan, which offers 40GB of monthly data (subject to deprioritization in congested areas), with slower speeds once you've hit that cap.
After your promotional three months are up, however, the plans reset to their standard rates, and any of Mint's 12-month plans will provide the most savings in the long run. All are great deals, and in particular, the 5GB ($15 per month) and 15GB ($20 per month) plans are well-priced considering the competition.
Consider your data usage patterns before signing up, but know that you can change your plan at any time with no added cost, and make sure to keep tabs on the best Mint Mobile plans and deals if you plan to stick around.
Best true budget plan: Tello Mobile (Build Your Own plan)
Tello's Build Your Own plan could be your most affordable option, depending on how you structure it.
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Pros: Data and minutes customization per line, free hotspot tethering
Cons: No discounts for multiple lines, no international roaming options, not ideal for high data users
Tello Mobile's plans are the cheapest we can recommend, and they offer the most customization.
With Tello's Build Your Own plan in particular, you can adjust the minutes and data allotment for each line on your account, making it a great choice to cover the basics for a teen, grandparent, student, or anyone who uses a minimum amount of data or is simply on a budget.
As you build your own plan, you choose your monthly data amount (from no data to 500MB, 1GB, 2GB, 5GB, 10GB, or unlimited) and your monthly minutes (none, 100, 300, 500, or unlimited), the combination of which adds up to $5 per month at the cheapest and $29 per month at the most expensive.
The Build Your Own plan is particularly nice if you want to specify a data allotment per line — for example, setting data limits for a teen who just got their first phone while allowing them unlimited minutes.
Best unlimited plan: Visible Wireless (Visible+ plan)
The Visible+ plan on Visible Wireless is your best bet for an affordable "unlimited" experience.
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Pros: Dependable coverage on Verizon's network, 50GB of guaranteed high-speed monthly data, unlimited hotspot data
Cons: No discounts for multiple lines
For high-speed data and extensive coverage, Verizon has your back with Visible Wireless. Our top pick for a budget unlimited plan is Visible's upgraded Visible+ plan, which is currently available at a promotional rate of $35 per month for six months — a $10 discount from its typical rate of $45 per month, and one of the best Visible deals we've seen.
While the Visible+ plan has the highest price point of all the MVNOs we've included in this list, even with its current promotion, it also provides by far the most high-speed monthly data and the closest approximation to "unlimited" data, as it guarantees 50GB of high-speed data before you experience any form of deprioritization.
Most of the nominally "unlimited" plans from MVNOs — including Visible's base unlimited plan ($25 per month) — offer data that is subject to deprioritization at any time behind the higher-paying customers of the MVNO's backing network. If you're in an area with a lot of network congestion, you could encounter deprioritized speeds at any time on such an "unlimited" plan, but you won't see any deprioritization within your monthly allotment of 50GB of high-speed data on the Visible+ plan.
The Visible+ plan also provides extended coverage with 5G "Ultra Wideband" areas, though Verizon's standard coverage (and the Visible base plan's coverage) is already very good. Before signing up, make sure to check Visible's coverage map to ensure you're covered.
Best international plan: Google Fi Wireless (Flexible plan)
Google Fi Wireless' Flexible plan offers the best international options on a budget.
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Pros: International data roaming, low-cost international calling and texting, additional coverage for "Designed for Fi" devices
Cons: Data prices can rack up quickly, less coverage and support for iPhones
Google Fi Wireless has three plans at different pay tiers, each offering access to coverage by T-Mobile and benefits like VPN usage and select smartwatch compatibility — with enhanced coverage and support for a list of Android phones that Google has deemed "Designed for Fi."
Google Fi Wireless' lowest-tier Flexible plan allows for pay-what-you-use data at $10 per GB per month, plus the base price of $20 per phone line, and it's the best international budget plan for those traveling or staying abroad from the US.
The Flexible plan offers international roaming for the same price as domestic data usage at $10 per GB, so you won't have to worry about being charged more while using your phone internationally. Even if you end up using a lot of data while you're away, a feature called Bill Protection, unique to the Flexible plan, caps your monthly cost at $80 for a single line to prevent exorbitant fees from overages.
Texting is free internationally in more than 200 countries on the Flexible plan, and international calls are available at the low rate of $0.20 per minute.
In our testing, we spend at least a week with a specific plan from a phone carrier, often longer, and primarily assess the quality of the plan and carrier by the following criteria:
Plan offerings and flexibility: We take into account the pricing and features included in a carrier's range of plans, and assess how flexible the carrier is in allowing you to switch out of or between its plans.
Coverage area: For MVNOs, we note the approximate coverage area provided by the network or networks backing a budget carrier, and evaluate whether particular locations consistently match up with their purported coverage type (e.g., 5G or 4G/LTE).
Service reliability and speeds: In consistent testing locations, we assess the reliability of phone and video calls, note how fast videos and apps load over cellular data, and with MVNOs, mark any apparent effects of deprioritization on service speeds.
Customer support: We make a holistic assessment of a carrier's customer support system and online (or in-person) user experience for setup, use, and troubleshooting.
We also take into account secondary considerations such as ongoing discounts and any other notable perks or outstanding features.
What to look for in a cheap cell phone plan
If you're looking to spend less money each month on a cell phone plan, you have no shortage of options, as affordable carriers have proliferated in recent years.
The best cheap cell phone plan for you will primarily reflect your needs for monthly data and minutes, the constraints of your budget, and the coverage of your local area by the network or networks backing a particular plan.
We set a few baseline criteria in choosing plans for this guide, in that all of the plans listed above cost less than $50 per month and, as with most MVNO plans, do not require a contract.
Prior to signing up for a service, take a granular look at the coverage map that an MVNO should make readily accessible on their website — marking the US network range of its backing carrier — and appraise the coverage of your location to ensure dependable service.
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