Best cheap cell phone plans: TLDR
If you want the best cheap cell phone and don't mind paying for a full year of service, Mint Mobile has the most attractive plans. But if you'd prefer unlimited data and the flexibility of monthly payments, I'd recommend Visible's Visible Plus plan.
Prices for everything seem to be higher, but your wireless service doesn't have to cost more if you opt for one of the best cheap cell phone plans. For less than $40 each month, you can find a plan that offers lots of data and extensive coverage. Just look beyond the big-name phone carriers and give a lesser-known service a try.
1. Best overall: Mint Mobile
2. Best unlimited plan: Visible
3. Best tiered data: Verizon
4. Best rate guarantee: Boost Mobile
5. Best annual plan: AT&T
6. Most flexible rates: Tello
After a a decade at Tom's Guide researching the best cell phone plans. I've learned that low-cost carriers are your best bet for getting a cheap rate without having to sacrifice on data. Having tested a few of these services, I can tell you there's very little difference in performance whether you're a customer of Verizon or getting your cell phone coverage through Visible, which relies on Verizon's network for coverage.
Visible and Verizon are both among my best cheap cell phone plan picks — Visible for its unlimited data options and Verizon for providing the best low-cost plan among big name carriers. But my top pick overall is Mint Mobile for offering very low rates to anyone who's willing to pay for a year of service in advance.
I look at price to make these picks, but I also consider who provides the wireless coverage for each plan, since many of the featured carriers don't have have cellular towers of their own. And while low-cost plans usually mean giving up perks, I look at the extras that do come with each plan besides talk, text and data. Read on, as we explore my choices for the best cheap cell phone plans under $40.
I'm the managing editor for mobile devices at Tom's Guide, and I've been covering personal technology since 1999, with a focus on smartphones since the first iPhone debuted back in 2007. I joined Tom's Guide in 2015 when I started following wireless carriers. In addition to keeping tabs on the big three carriers, I've also studied plans for smaller mobile virtual network operators, so I'm well versed on what different wireless providers charge for monthly coverage. I spend far too much time looking at my phone screen.
The best cheap cell phone plan overall
The best cheap unlimited data plan
Best tiered data plan
Best guaranteed rate
Best annual plan savings
Best cheap plan under $20
Best cheap plans compared
Here's what each of our top picks for best cheap data plan charge and how much data you get in return. We've also listed what happens if you use all your data, whether in a tiered data plan or you hit the high-speed data cap on an unlimited offering.
| Row 0 - Cell 0 | Cost | Data | Data cap reached |
Mint Mobile | $15/month (requires $180 upfront payment) | 5GB | Data slowed to 128 Kbps |
Visible | $35/month | Unlimited | Speeds can be slowed after 50GB |
Verizon | $35/month | 15GB | Data slowed to 128 Kbps |
Boost Mobile | $25/month | Unlimited | Data slowed down to 512 Kbps |
AT&T | $20/month (requires $240 upfront payment) | Unlimited | Data slowed to 1.5 Mbps after 16GB |
Tello | $19/month | 10GB | Data refill required |
Cheap cell phone plans from the big carriers
I think smaller carriers provide the best value when you're looking for a cheap cell phone plan. But I recognize that some people prefer service from established providers. I can recommend options from Verizon and AT&T, but I also wanted to highlight T-Mobile's best cheap plan if that carrier's coverage is particularly strong where you live and work.
T-Mobile offers low-cost wireless coverage through its Connect by T-Mobile plan, where you get 5GB of data every month for a very low $15/month. Coverage comes through T-Mobile's extensive network and includes 5G coverage — that's important since T-Mobile's 5G is the fastest in the U.S. according to third-party test firms.
Since introducing this low-cost option, T-Mobile has expanded the amount of data in its plan annually while keeping the price at $15, though we've likely seen the end of those data increases. If the current 5GB limit is too low for you, you can opt for 8GB and 12GB plans instead — at $25 and $35, respectively, they're still under our $40 limit.
The trouble with Connect by T-Mobile is that when you use up all your data in a given month, you've either got to pay for more data or go without until the end of the billing cycle. That's different from other plans like Mint's, where your data speeds are merely slowed when you hit your cap.
Other cheap cell phone plans to consider
Our research has turned up a few other cheap cell phone plans under $40 that deserve some attention, even if they didn't make the cut for our top picks. We're including them here so that you can see what they cost compared to our favorite cheap cell phone plans and what you get in return.
- Consumer Cellular: For $35/month, you can get 10GB of data on the networks of AT&T or T-Mobile. AARP members get a 5% discount, making this a top choice for seniors.
- Cricket: A 10GB plan costs $30/month on this AT&T-owned prepaid carrier. (That rate includes an autopay discount; you'll pay $35 for your first month.) Like AT&T, Cricket lets you pay in advance for an unlimited data plan, where your one-time payment works out to $25/month — nice if you can afford that $300 upfront.
- Google Fi: Google starts off its trio of unlimited data options with an Unlimited Essentials plan that costs just $35/month with 30GB of high-speed data. However, the Essentials plan misses out on the overseas travel benefits that makes Google Fi's $65 Premium plan so appealing.
- Metro by T-Mobile: Metro's Starter Plus plan promises unlimited data for $40/month with a 5-year price lock. That plan is only available online, though you can bring your own number or get a new one from Metro.
- Now Mobile: This low-cost service from Comcast provides an unlimited data plan for $25/month, with taxes and fees included in that rate. You will need to get your broadband service from either Xfinity or Now to sign up for Now mobile coverage.
- TextNow: Pay nothing for talk and text at TextNow and use Wi-Fi for your data connection. Need cellular data? Prices range from 99 cents for an hour of data to $40 for a month of unlimited data, though TextNow's free plan includes some data for essential tasks like checking email and accessing ride-sharing apps. I've used TextNow to set up a mobile phone for my elderly mother, who doesn't need very much data for her phone usage.
- Total Wireless: Verizon's renamed prepaid service has a Base 5G Unlimited plan that hits our $40/month limit for cheap phone plans. You get some pretty good perks like 5GB of hotspot data and a $200 credit on a 5G phone purchase after 12 months of service.
- Twigby Mobile: I reviewed Twigby, a carrier that uses Verizon's network while charging much less for data. Plans range from $15/month for 2GB of data to $35/month for an unlimited data plan. Speeds were comparable to Verizon's in my testing, but you get very few perks.
- Ultra Mobile: If you haven't checked out Ultra Mobile lately, it may pay to do so, as the carrier has boosted the amount of data you can get for a low monthly rate. Plans start at $19/month for 4GB of data and you can get up to 24GB of data while staying under our $40 spending cap. You can lower your rate even further by paying for 3-, 6- and 12-month blocks of service in advance. Like Mint, Ultra is owned by T-Mobile.
Frequently asked questions
What is a prepaid data plan?
You may have noticed that most of the plans included in our best cheap cell phone plan round-up are prepaid options. These are plans where you pay up front at the start of a month, and the amount of data you've bought is the amount you get. (Some carriers will simply slow down your data if you hit your cap, while others require you to buy more data, which is why we specify that information in the chart above.)
Prepaid plans are the opposite of postpaid plans, as those latter options will charge you at the end of the month for the data and services you've used. Postpaid plans offer more flexibility, but they almost always require a credit check. Prepaid plans don't since you're paying in advance; they also tend to be cheaper with fewer perks than postpaid options. But since you're on the lookout for the best cheap cell phone plans, that's a feature, not a flaw.
What should I consider when looking for the best cheap cell phone plan?
Overall price is going to be your biggest consideration. That's why we imposed a limit of $40 a month to make sure we're evaluating plans that will fit in many budgets.
But price isn’t the only criteria to look at. You'll want to concentrate your search on who provides the best cell phone coverage in your area and whether the discount carrier you're considering uses that carrier's network. With the exception of AT&T, T-Mobile and Verizon, none of the discount carriers we've mentioned here operate their own network. Rather, as mobile virtual network operators, or MVNOs, they piggyback on the cellular networks built by one or more of the major carriers.
You'll want to look at the variety of plans each carrier offers and whether you could move to a different plan if your talk, text and data needs change.
What about family plans?
We've focused on plans for individuals in this guide, but if you're searching for the best family cell phone plan, look into whether a carrier offers discounts on multiple lines. While perks generally aren't included with cheap cell phone plans, look to see if there are some added benefits such as hotspot data.
Our pick for the best prepaid family plan comes from Total Wireless, which charges a total of $110/month for four lines of its unlimited data plan. That works out to $27.50/line if you're still trying to keep those per-line costs under $40. Total, which uses Verizon's network, includes 5G Ultra Wideband coverage, 15GB of hotspot data, and six months of Disney Plus with this plan.
As an alternative, consider Cricket Wireless' Unlimited + 15 GB Mobile Hotspot option on AT&T's network. It costs $130/month for four lines — $32.50 for each line — and its included perks include the aforementioned hotspot data and a subscription to the ad-supported tier of Max.
How do you pick the best cheap cell phone plans?
We are constantly looking at what phone carriers offer, as part of our research into the best cell phone plans. That includes looking at what's available from the major carriers — AT&T, T-Mobile and Verizon — as well as from discount carriers. We check prices monthly, comparing what different services have to offer.
For our best cheap cell phone plans guide, we set a limit of $40 per month, only looking at plans that fall under this threshold. Price is paramount in our rankings, though we do make note of how much data each plan provides as well as any perks to keep in mind. That can help distinguish two equally priced plans — or even make a slightly more expensive plan a better value overall.
Because cell phone coverage can differ from area to area, we try to include a wide variety of cell phone plans priced at $40 or less, so that you can find the best rate for the wireless service with the strongest coverage in your area.
