Visible: Are the wireless carrier's low-cost unlimited plans too good to be true?

Why pay $65 to $90 a month for unlimited data when you need only part with as little as $25 to get that same big bucket of data on the same cellular network? That's the argument that Visible makes.

Owned by Verizon, Visible uses its parent company's cellular towers to deliver the same extensive reach without the same pricey monthly bill. The service won't be for people who like having a brick-and-mortar store to turn to for support, but Visible does compare well other low-cost services that dispense with the frills to just provide lots of data for a little bit of dough.

Visible has evolved a lot since its 2018 debut, with some of the more onerous restrictions like speed caps on data long since eliminated. While expanding into new areas like 5G coverage and international calling, Visible has kept prices low to remain a compelling alternative to traditional phone service.

When we tested the service a few years ago for our Visible review, we found a phone carrier that delivers lots of data for a relatively low cost. That's continued in the ensuing years, as Visible has improved its service since our original testing.

We've updated this review to reflect the carrier's latest pricing and features, but as we first observed in our initial round of tests, Visible is a great option for bargain hunters who don't mind making a few compromises if it means a lower bill at the end of the month.

Visible review: What the phone service costs

When it first got started, Visible offered just one plan — a $40/month unlimited offer with taxes and fees included. Seven years later, you now have three options — both offering unlimited data with talk and text as part of the package. And yes, the price still includes taxes and fees on all three plans, meaning your bill stays the same from month to month.

These days, Visible plans start at $25 for a bare-bones unlimited data plan. Your only perks with that plan include unlimited mobile hotspot data along with unlimited talk and text to Canada and Mexico. This is one of the lowest prices you'll pay for unlimited data, outside of an AT&T plan that works out to $20/month after you pay a single $240 amount up front for a year's of service. The $30/monthly plan at Mint Mobile requires a year-long commitment, too.

Really, if you want to go month-to-month on service, only Boost Mobile and Tello can match Visible's $25 price, and those plans are pretty stingy with perks in their own right.

Still, if I were looking for one of the best cheap phone plans for unlimited data, I'd turn my attention to Visible Plus, which costs $35/month. It provides faster 5G service than what you get with the basic plan, and you get up to 50GB of high-speed data — the standard Visible plan can experience slowdowns at any time if Verizon's network gets crowded.

Besides the faster 5G, Visible Plus has the same hotspot and international calling perks as the regular plan, but includes a Global Pass for one day of using your phone plan overseas. You accumulate one pass each month, and you can bank up to 12.

Some of the more attractive perks from Visible Plus got shuffled over to Visible Plus Pro when that $45/month plan debuted. Visible Plus Pro subscribers can add their cellular-capable smartwatch to a plan at no cost. (Otherwise, tack on $10 to your bill for smartwatch connectivity.) You get two Global Passes, and you can make calls to 85-plus countries.

Recommend Visible to a friend, and you can knock $20 off next month's bill. Visible promo codes also offer you a way to save, and the best Visible deals provide discounts on new phones available through the carrier. Visible also runs frequent promotions to lure in new customers so if you're considering switching phone carriers, check to see if there any discounted rates available at Visible.

Visible review: Does Visible offer family plans

Back in the day, Visible added substantial discounts as you added lines of data to a plan, but it did away with that approach when it split its offerings into multiple plans. Discounted pricing on multiple lines has returned, though it's not as generous as it was previously.

Specifically, Visible bills its family offerings as Visible Inner Circle. Anyone joining an Inner Circle plan can knock $5 off the cost of a Visible Plus or Visible Plus Pro plan.

That's not a huge discount, especially when you look at the escalating discounts for additional lines at Total Wireless, another Verizon-owned budget carrier. But the difference with Visible is that everyone in the Inner Circle manages their own payment. That makes it easier for roommates, friends and any other than a relative living under the same roof to enjoy at least some sort of family plan discount.

Visible review: How prices compare to other carriers

Visible offers an insanely good price relative to other carriers, even if you look beyond the bare-bones basic unlimited data plan.

Verizon's cheapest unlimited option — Unlimited Welcome — costs $65 a month, and it comes with few perks. To get Ultra Wideband 5G speeds, you'd need to upgrade to Unlimited Plus at Verizon, which starts at $80 for a single line.

In other words, you're saving anywhere from $30 and $55 a month by turning to Visible, depending on whether you go with the Visible or Visible Plus plan. Savings are less substantial with Visible Plus Pro, but the perks are more like what you'd get from a bigger-name carrier

Visible's pricing is also generous compared to that of other low-cost carriers. Besides Mint's $30 unlimited plan, you can turn to options like Metro by T-Mobile, where unlimited plans start at $40/month, or Google Fi, which has a basic unlimited data plan for $35, though you'd have to pay $65 for the premium plan that offers international data coverage.

As noted, Tello and Boost are the biggest-named carriers who can match the price of Visible's cheapest plan. Tello relies on T-Mobile's network for its coverage, while Boost has built out its own network, including 5G service. Boost also guarantees the rate on its $25 unlimited data plan for as long as you remain an active customer.

Visible has followed the lead of Mint by letting your pay annually for your phone service to get a discounted monthly rate. Paying for a year in advance at Visible saves you $25 annually on the standard plan; Visible Plus customers save a total of $45 for their $420 annual payment, while the Visible Plus Pro plan costs $90 less by paying in advance

Visible review: Restrictions and limitations

Visible does feature some other restrictions you should be aware of. (What — you didn't think there was a catch to that low monthly rate?) Visible reserves the right to slow down your data speed when Verizon's network is congested. (The Visible Plus plan does guarantee 50GB of "premium data" that won't be slowed; there are no slowdowns with Visible Plus Pro.)

Video speeds are capped depending on what plan you have, with the basic plan topping out at 480p resolution. Visible Plus subscribers can stream at up to 1080p while 4K resolution is possible for Visible Plus Pro.

Visible review: Supported phones

When Visible first launched, it was an iPhone-only affair — and you had to bring your own iPhone at that. Since then, Visible has since added support for Android phones, with the mix of models constantly changing.

You'll usually find the latest flagships from Samsung, Google and Motorola alongside the latest iPhone 17 models. Visible's prices are pretty consistent with what you'd pay for phones elsewhere, but keep an eye out for deals that might lower the cost of your phone.

It's not just flagships available at Visible. You can also find lower-cost models like the Galaxy A16, the Moto G (2025) and TCL 50 XL Nxtpaper — all phones that cost less than $200.

Should you still want to bring your own phone, you can confirm that your iPhone or Android device works by entering its IMEI (International Mobile Equipment Identity) number into the compatibility checker on Visible's website.

Visible lets you keep your phone number when you sign up for the company's service (though you'll need to have some information handy from your previous phone service provider). You can also opt for a new number if you prefer.

Visible review: Performance

It's been a while since I've personally tested Visible's service, though I would expect speeds have improved over the years. My first Visible test happened when the service capped data speeds at 5 Mbps, but that's long since been lifted.

These days, all the improvements to Verizon's network have trickled down to Visible. And that's good news if you go by Rootmetrics' testing, as that firm rated Verizon's 5G service as the best for the first half of 2025. It should be noted that more recent reports from Opensignal and Ookla favor T-Mobile.

Once Visible ditched its speed cap, my colleagues who have used Visible saw much faster speeds more in line with what Verizon's customers might expect. In our old office in New York City, near Bryant Park, we pulled down 47.5 Mbps in Ookla's Speedtest app. In Southampton, PA, we recorded a top speed of 105 Mbps. And again, those results are from a few years ago, so we'd likely see even better numbers now.

That said, Visible users are still subject to deprioritization during times of congestion, especially if you opt for the cheapest plan. Testing an older iPhone on Visible against a OnePlus handset on Verizon, a former colleague of mine spotted throttled speeds on his Visible phone — 37.5 Mbps compared to 112 Mbps for the Verizon handset.

We should point out that deprioritization is a common practice among big carriers and not unique to the Verizon-Visible relationship. But the occasionally slowed speeds are a trade-off you make for the lower monthly rate.

Besides, those same older tests produced instances where Visible's speeds equaled Verizon's. And deprioritization doesn't necessarily mean that Visible's service is significantly inferior in a practical sense. For instance, it took me 56 seconds to download the Discord app on Visible's network, and that was when the 5 Mbps cap was in place. My iPhone SE took just 39 seconds through Verizon.

I also failed to notice much of a difference in video-streaming quality on Visible's network. Sure, my stream of Blue Planet II on Netflix was limited to 480p — wireless providers call this "DVD quality" — but the video looked good enough to my eyes most of the time. I could make out different shades of ocean blue and spot distinct fronds of gorgonian corals. Only occasionally did the picture look less than sharp, usually right at the start of a streaming session. I could also stream music from the Spotify app over LTE with no noticeable dip in quality.

Visible review: What about 5G?

Our original Visible review dates back to before 5G service launched, but Visible and Verizon have made great strides since then. Verizon's 5G service launched in 2020 and since then it's rolled out C-Band 5G, boosting its speeds.

Visible customers are reaping the rewards of those efforts, as they get 5G coverage through Verizon's network. Just make sure you have one of the best 5G phones.

As noted above, the standard Visible plan can count on 5G coverage, but only Visible Plus and Visible Plus Pro can access Verizon's ultra-fast Ultra Wideband 5G. That's a consideration if you live in an area where Ultra Wideband coverage is particularly strong, as the pricier plans should give you a better experience.

Visible review: Customer service

Your primary interaction with Visible will be through the carrier's app on your smartphone. That's where you'll pay your bill, manage your account and deal with customer service questions. For that reason, you have to keep the Visible app installed on your phone.

When I used the app for my original Visible review, I found it spartan but easy to navigate; I didn't like that it required me to log in if I hadn't used the app in a few days. Fortunately, iOS updates have long since added secure password saving features, so signing back in shouldn't be a hassle for most users.

The best feature on Visible's app is live chat with customer support, which is now available 24 hours a day seven days a week, according to Visible. When I tested customer support, I found the chat feature responsive to my questions, though at times, the chat will label itself as busy when there's a backlog of Visible users seeking answers.

I was less impressed by an FAQ feature on the mobile app, which never seemed to load for me; instead, I had better luck perusing the FAQ on Visible's website, where you can also pay your bill. In a nod to younger users, the site lets you use Venmo or PayPal, in addition to a credit card, to pay your monthly bill.

Visible review: Who should use this service?

As attractively priced as Visible's unlimited plans are, they're not a good value if you don't use a lot of data in a given month. If you use 5GB of data or less regularly, you're probably better off turning elsewhere, because plenty of MVNOs offer attractively priced tiered-data plans as you can see in our look at the best prepaid phone plans. A 5GB plan at Mint costs you $15 each month; T-Mobile also offers 5GB for that same amount. Even Verizon's own 15GB prepaid plan drops to $35/month after you enroll in autopay.

Visible's service is best for users who consume a lot of data in a given month, by posting on social networks, streaming media and playing games. Users counting on fast data speeds may bristle at Verizon occasionally slowing Visible traffic, though I imagine the low monthly rate more than makes up for that.

Because Visible uses Verizon's network, you'll want to use the service only if Verizon's signal is strong where you live. Fortunately, Verizon's expansive network is far-reaching, but if you live in one of the areas Big Red can't quite reach, you'll be better off considering another carrier.

Visible review: Verdict

Visible's an intriguing wireless option if you've got a taste for lots of data but you lack the budget for a higher-priced unlimited plan. Visible provides you with all the data you could want for a reasonable $25 to $45 monthly fee, and though you'll have to make trade-offs, they won't hamper your phone usage very much. 5G coverage via Verizon's network makes Visible even more compelling.

For anyone living in an area that's well-served by Verizon's extensive network coverage, especially Ultra Wideband 5G, Visible's a great way to save money on your monthly cellular service. Smartphone users who are outside of Verizon's reach will want to look elsewhere for their wireless needs.