The best cheap cell phone plans in 2024

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The best cheap cell phone plans offer all the following criteria without compromise: dependable coverage, fast service speeds, and as much data as you need at affordable prices. Affordable plans typically come from budget-friendly carriers called mobile virtual network operators (or MVNOs), and choosing the plan for you will depend on your budget and priorities.

Among the best cheap cell phone plans, and from extensive testing, our top pick for most people is Mint Mobile's introductory three-month plans. This new customer promotion discounts each of our favorite MVNO's three-month prepaid options, offering a 5GB plan for $10/month and up to an "unlimited" plan (40GB/month) for $15/month. If you want to extend your savings further, we recommend Tello Mobile's Build Your Own plan, which can cost as low as $5/month. 

Our top picks for the best cheap cell phone plans

Best overall: Mint Mobile (Any 3-Month Plan) - See at Mint Mobile

Best overall alternative: US Mobile (Unlimited Starter plan) - See at US Mobile

Best true budget plan: Tello Mobile (Build Your Own plan) - See at Tello

Best unlimited plan: Visible Wireless (Visible Plus plan) - See at Visible

Best international plan: US Mobile (Unlimited Premium plan) - See at US Mobile

Best overall

Mint Mobile's prepaid plans for three, six, or 12 months offer affordable options for high-speed data on T-Mobile's network and streamlined plan management, like adjusting data allotments per line at any time. The MVNO's plan variety, flexibility, and overall value make it our first recommendation for a budget carrier. 

Your best entry point into the Mint Mobile landscape is its new customer promotion, which sets each three-month prepaid plan at a low, entry-level price. You can get 5GB for $10/month or 15GB, 20GB, or "unlimited" (40GB) monthly data for $15/month. Those transferring from Verizon or AT&T can even add a second line for free to the promotion.

T-Mobile owns Mint Mobile, and the MVNO's plans include high-speed data on T-Mobile's 4G/LTE and 5G networks (subject to deprioritization in congested areas), with slower 3G speeds once you've reached your data cap.

After your promotional three months are up, any of Mint's 12-month plans will provide the most savings, as the monthly price and data remain the same as the three-month plans. All are great deals; in particular, the 5GB ($15/month) and 15GB ($20/month) plans are well-priced considering the MVNO competition and the monthly options from Mint's parent company and other major carriers, as we note in our guides to Mint Mobile vs. T-Mobile and Mint Mobile vs. Verizon.

The overall customer experience makes Mint Mobile stand out in the MVNO market and relative to larger carriers. Its user-friendly setup and app experience, readily accessible support and FAQs, and easy-to-understand language, in addition to its price point, make it an easy recommendation.

Consider your data usage patterns before signing up, but you can change your plan at any time with no added cost through Mint's excellent app or website.

Read our full Mint Mobile review.

Best overall alternative

US Mobile's Unlimited Starter plan for $25/month is a remarkable option among MVNO and budget-friendly plans. It easily meets and exceeds expectations as a value-forward plan with superior and unique features that directly benefit you, the customer.

Like many budget-friendly carriers, US Mobile operates on major carrier networks. However, in this regard, US Mobile is unique. Where you typically only have access to one major carrier's network, US Mobile offers the choice between Verizon's, AT&T's, or T-Mobile's full network, including their fast high-band 5G networks. You can even switch networks as often as you want for a small fee, so you can try which works best for you for everyday use, whether for coverage, data speeds, or for a particular scenario, like traveling. 

US Mobile's names for Verizon's, T-Mobile's, and AT&T's networks are "Warp," "Light Speed," and "Dark Star," respectively. Only the Warp network comes with premium prioritized data (labeled "QCI 8") for 5G phones, whereas the base Light Speed and Dark Star networks include deprioritized data. (The Dark Star network offers prioritized data for an additional premium.)

In our testing of the Light Speed (T-Mobile-backed) network, we can't say we've felt much of an impact from chance deprioritization, nor can we directly tell, as there's no indication or notification specifying as much. Whichever network you pick, US Mobile's Unlimited Starter monthly plan price stays the same even if you "teleport," or switch, between networks, which the MNVO allows you to do twice without an additional fee (and for only $2/teleport afterward).

The Unlimited Starter plan's 35GB of high-speed data should be more than enough for the vast majority of users. If you do end up using more than 35GB, US Mobile reduces your data speeds to 1Mbps until the end of the billing cycle. 1Mbps is significantly faster and more usable than the reduced speeds on other carriers, which vary between dubiously slow 40 and 256Kbps speeds. 

To be sure, some carriers like Visible don't include any data caps for speed. Instead, they offer deprioritized data that can potentially slow down without warning when the host network is experiencing congestion. That's a great proposition, but US Mobile's option to switch between networks at any time, along with the other benefits listed here for the Unlimited Starter plan, makes it more valuable overall.

US Mobile also offers multi-line discounts, unique among budget-friendly carriers and ideal for families or groups. You get even more value with the annual payment option, which reduces US Mobile's Unlimited Starter monthly price to $22.50/month ($270 for the year). And to top it all off, taxes and fees are included, so the price you see advertised is the price you pay. 

Read our full US Mobile review. 

Best true budget plan

The varied plans from Tello Mobile are the cheapest options 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 kids, grandparents, students, or anyone who uses a minimum amount of data or is simply on a budget.

Like an even less expensive (and comparatively bare bones) version of Mint Mobile, Tello is an MVNO that runs on T-Mobile's network. Its data speeds are likewise universally subject to deprioritization at any time behind the major carrier's higher-paying customers. For a comparative analysis of the two budget carriers, see our Mint Mobile vs. Tello guide. 

As you build a plan on Tello, you choose your monthly data amount (from no data to 1GB, 2GB, 5GB, 10GB, 15GB, or unlimited) and your monthly minutes (none, 100, 300, 500, or unlimited), the combination of which adds up to $5/month at the cheapest and $25/month at the most expensive. 

The Build Your Own plan is particularly enticing if you want to specify a data allotment on a per-line basis, such as setting data limits for kids who just got their first phone while allowing them unlimited minutes. 

Read our full Tello Mobile review.

Best unlimited plan

For truly unlimited data and extensive coverage, Verizon's budget-friendly carrier, Visible Wireless, offers an excellent option with its Visible Plus plan. While it typically costs $45/month, the Visible Plus plan has a current promotion for a discounted monthly rate of $30/month for up to 25 months of service.

Even with the discount, the Visible Plus plan has the highest monthly price point of all the MVNOs we've included in this guide, but it provides by far the most high-speed monthly data and the closest approximation to an "unlimited" plan. It guarantees 50GB of premium prioritized data while your phone is connected to Verizon's basic 5G and LTE networks before you experience any form of artificial data deprioritization. The Visible Plus plan also offers unlimited premium prioritized data while your phone is connected to Verizon's fast high-band 5G "Ultra Wideband" network. 

Though Visible Plus deprioritizes data after you've used up 50GB of monthly data, you shouldn't notice a difference in data speeds or usability unless you're in an area experiencing heavy network traffic at the specific time you're using your phone. Even if your data is actively being deprioritized, you may not even notice.

For those who use a lot of data and warrant a truly unlimited plan, that's an enticing proposition, as some MVNOs and budget-friendly carriers dramatically reduce speeds to frankly unusable speeds until the next billing cycle if you exceed your plan's allotted data. 

The Visible Plus 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, check Visible's coverage map to ensure you're covered. If you aren't covered well by Verizon and don't mind the occasional data lag from deprioritization, you might be better served by the comparatively inexpensive, T-Mobile-backed unlimited plans from Mint Mobile or Tello. See our guides to Mint Mobile vs. Visible and Tello vs. Visible for comparative breakdowns of the MVNOs.

This year, Visible updated its plans with an annual payment option (versus the standard monthly payment option) that reduces the Visible Plus plan's price to $33/month (totaling $395/year), which is incredible value and should be considered if making an annual payment is an option. 

Read our full Visible Wireless review.

Best international plan

It's surprising that so many budget-oriented carriers and plans have international features, and some have pretty decent ones. However, none are as comprehensive as US Mobile's Unlimited Premium plan.

Just make sure to pick or switch to US Mobile's T-Mobile-backed "Light Speed" or AT&T-backed "Dark Star" networks before you set off, as the Verizon-backed "Warp" network doesn't include nearly as many international features. Notably, the Unlimited Premium plan allows you to "teleport" or switch between networks an unlimited number of times each month. In contrast, all other US Mobile plans are limited to two monthly teleports without additional fees. 

In addition to the US Mobile Unlimited Premium plan's expansive domestic offering of 100GB of monthly data and 50GB of hotspot data, the plan offers unlimited calling and texting from the US to more than 200 countries. If you're traveling abroad to one of the more than 180 supported countries, you get up to 10GB of data and 500 or 1,000 minutes and texts, depending on the country.

No doubt, at $44/month, US Mobile's Unlimited Premium plan is on the pricier side when thinking about "cheap" cell phone plans, but keep in mind that US Mobile offers an annual option that reduces the price to $32.50/month (totaling $390/year).

If the premium price tag is out of reach, US Mobile's Unlimited Starter plan offers a minimalist international data package with 1GB of monthly data through its annual payment option. 

Alternatively, if you don't need as much domestic data as the Unlimited Premium plan offers in a typical month, you can sign up for US Mobile's Unlimited Starter plan on a monthly basis, so you pay less when you're at home and only upgrade to the Unlimited Premium plan for the times you're traveling. 

Read our full US Mobile review. 

How we test cheap cell phone plans

As with our testing for the best cell phone plans overall, we spend at least a week with a specific plan from a budget phone carrier, often longer, and primarily assess the quality of the plan and carrier by the following criteria:

• Plan offerings and flexibility: We consider the pricing and features included in a carrier's range of plans and assess its flexibility in allowing you to switch out of or between 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 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 aren't in the market for plans from major carriers, you have no shortage of options for spending less on a phone plan, 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 the plans listed above cost no more than $50/month and, as with most MVNO plans, do not require a contract.

Before 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.

Best overall

Mint Mobile's prepaid plans for three, six, or 12 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. 

Your best point of entry into the Mint Mobile landscape is its current new customer promotion that sets its three-month plans at the following reduced rates: $15/month for 5GB, $20/month for 15GB, $25/month for 20GB, and $30/month for "unlimited" data, which includes 40GB of high-speed data (subject to deprioritization in congested areas), with slower speeds once you've hit that cap.

The overall experience as a customer is what makes Mint Mobile stand out among the competition. Its user-friendly setup and app experience, readily accessible support and FAQs, and easy-to-understand language make it an easy recommendation in addition to the price point.

However, after your promotional three months are up, any of Mint's 12-month plans will provide the most savings, as the monthly price and data remain the same as the three-month plans. All are great deals; in particular, the 5GB ($15/month) and 15GB ($20/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 with Mint's excellent app or website.

Read our full Mint Mobile review. 

Best true budget plan

The varied plans from Tello Mobile are the cheapest options 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 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/month at the cheapest and $29/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. 

Read our full Tello Mobile review.

Best unlimited plan

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, available (until February 14) at a promotional rate of $35/month for up to two years — a $10 monthly discount from its typical $45/month rate.

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/month) — offer data 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, check Visible's coverage map to ensure you're covered.  

Read our full Visible Wireless review.

Best international plan

Google Fi Wireless has three plans at different pay tiers, each offering access to coverage provided by T-Mobile and basic benefits like VPN usage and select smartwatch compatibility. 

The low-tier Flexible plan allows for pay-what-you-use monthly data at $10/GB plus a base monthly rate of $20 per phone line. That's expensive compared to other MNVOs on this list, and Google Fi doesn't come especially recommended if you don't need international features.  

If you need international features, though, Google Fi's Flexible plan includes international roaming for the same price as domestic data usage at $10/GB, so you won't have to worry about being charged an exorbitant price while using your phone internationally. Even if you use more 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 excessive fees from overages. 

Google Fi also offers free texting from the US to over 200 destinations and while traveling internationally.

Given that you have a "Designed for Fi" device (like a Google Pixel phone or a range of other Android phones featured in their list of compatible devices), you might be a great match for Google Fi, particularly if you frequently travel overseas.

Read our full Google Fi Wireless review. 

How we test cell phone plans

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 consider the pricing and features included in a carrier's range of plans and assess its flexibility in allowing you to switch out of or between 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 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 aren't in the market for the best cell phone plans from major carriers, you have no shortage of options for spending less monthly on a phone plan, 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 the plans listed above cost less than $50/month and, as with most MVNO plans, do not require a contract.

Before 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.