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Best Cellphone Plans of 2023: Our Top Picks for May

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With AT&T, T-Mobile and Verizon offering dozens of plans, not to mention the exponentially larger assortment from prepaid and smaller carriers like Mint Mobile, Visible and Google Fi Wireless, it’s not easy choosing the best cellphone plan out there. You could end up paying a lot more than you should without doing the right research, and no one wants to lose out on saving money.

Let’s try and fix that. We’ve been covering the latest in wireless plans across a host of providers and plans — from breaking down how to switch carriers, to the top unlimited and prepaid plans to knowing which network the smaller carriers use. Not to mention T-Mobile and Verizon’s recent plan revamps.

Here’s our guide for sorting through the madness and some of our picks for what we think are the best unlimited and prepaid plans available right now.

Three smartphones, each showing the name and logo of either Verizon, T-Mobile or AT&TThree smartphones, each showing the name and logo of either Verizon, T-Mobile or AT&T

Sarah Tew/CNET

What’s the difference between “prepaid” and “postpaid” plans?

When choosing a phone plan, there are generally two main options: a postpaid carrier like AT&T, Verizon and T-Mobile (plus cable options like Spectrum Mobile and Xfinity Mobile) and prepaid providers such as Mint Mobile, Metro by T-Mobile, Google Fi Wireless and Cricket.

The difference boils down to this: With postpaid you are paying for your plan after you’ve used your service, while prepaid lets you buy that allotment in advance.

Prepaid providers are generally cheaper than postpaid options, though they also often (but not always) are more limited when it comes to additional streaming perks, hotspot data or device discounts. To get a several hundred dollar trade-in credit toward a new iPhone, Pixel or Galaxy, you often will need to commit to a postpaid plan from one of the big three carriers and be willing to stay with that provider for 24 to 36 months.

All three of the major wireless carriers also offer a variety of discounts on the plan pricing depending on age, employment, military or veteran status or if you or someone on your family plan is a nurse, teacher or first responder. You can find those details here: AT&T, T-Mobile, Verizon.

What about networks?

Look at a zoomed-out map of the US on the websites for AT&T, T-Mobile or Verizon and you’ll likely see it pretty well colored in by their respective color. Zooming in is where things get a bit more complicated, which is why we can’t offer blanket recommendations for one carrier over another. T-Mobile’s service in New York may be excellent, but if you’re in a rural area in Colorado, Verizon could be more reliable.

All three, however, offer 5G and ever-increasing coverage and data speeds as they all ramp up deployments of the latest wireless flavor. It’s quite possible that a decade ago you left a network complaining about its weak service, but now it’s beefed itself up because of that race to acquire customers.

This is also why we recommend talking to friends, family or colleagues that have a different provider where you live, as locally your mileage may vary. You could also go to a carrier’s store and see if it offers any free ways to try out the service before switching over, such as T-Mobile’s Network Pass. Verizon now offers a similar 30-day program, while the Cricket prepaid service has rolled out its own trial program that lets you sample parent AT&T’s network.

As for the smaller carriers, they often use the networks of the larger providers. This includes the prepaid options owned by the big carriers (AT&T owns Cricket, Verizon owns Tracfone, T-Mobile owns Metro) as well as smaller options like Mint Mobile (which runs on T-Mobile), Google Fi Wireless (which largely runs on T-Mobile) and Boost Mobile (which runs on AT&T, T-Mobile and parent company Dish’s 5G networks). We explain this all in more detail here.

Why get unlimited?

If you’re on T-Mobile, all of your plans are unlimited, and Verizon no longer lets new users sign up for a shared data plan. Only AT&T still offers some tiered data plans and… it’s not great.

It has a 4GB-per-line plan that runs $50 a month for one line ($160 for four lines). Each line here gets 4GB of data, but if you go over that threshold in a month you’re paying $10 for every 2GB. AT&T’s plan also does not include access to its 5G networks.

Although everyone’s wireless needs are different, for most we think unlimited plans make the most sense, especially when it comes to choosing a new plan.

AT&T’s basic unlimited plan, called Unlimited Starter, is $65 a month for one line or $140 for four lines. If you have one or two lines and don’t use a lot of data, you may be fine with one of these plans, though if you have just one line we’d recommend switching over to AT&T’s $50-per-month Value Plus option or T-Mobile’s Essentials Savings. Two lines of that T-Mobile plan run $80 a month, which is $10 cheaper than two lines of AT&T’s 4GB plan and comes without the worry of navigating how much data you use.

Best postpaid phone plans

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Sarah Tew/CNET

T-Mobile Essentials Savings: $50 for 1 line

Best for value for a single line

T-Mobile recently reshuffled its plans, getting rid of what was our previous pick in this spot, the Base Essentials plan that offered a single line for $45 per month. It replaced that option with an Essentials Savings plan, a “limited time” offer of $50 a month for a single line.

The data remains unlimited, and you now get 50GB of high-speed data as opposed to 20GB that Base Essentials offered. T-Mobile hasn’t said how long the Essentials Savings option will hang around, but we break down how it compares to the carrier’s plans here.

As with before, perks like free Netflix or the bundling of taxes and fees into the sticker price aren’t included. You do get unlimited hotspot at “3G speeds,” and unlimited talk, text and 2G data in Mexico and Canada.

At $50 for a single line, the Essentials Savings plan is now the same price for a single line as with AT&T’s Value Plus plan, and both could be solid options for those looking for a single line without frills.

While the prices between AT&T and T-Mobile are now the same, we give T-Mobile the edge here mainly because it includes hotspot access. Even at “3G speeds,” the option could be a useful feature in a pinch.

It also is worth mentioning that T-Mobile allows for multiple lines of this plan, with two lines running $80 a month. (If you need three or more, you may want to look at one of T-Mobile’s other plans, which could be cheaper thanks to various promotions that the carrier regularly runs.)

You may need to click “see more plans” on T-Mobile’s site to get this option to appear.

T-Mobile logo on a phone screenT-Mobile logo on a phone screen

Sarah Tew/CNET

T-Mobile Essentials Savings: $50 for 1 line, $100 for 4 lines

Best for value (with multiple lines)

Those looking to save the most on unlimited service from the major carriers may also be best off with T-Mobile’s Essentials Savings. As mentioned above, unlimited talk, text and data are included for all of the carrier’s base unlimited plans, including 5G access.

You can always reevaluate your options as the three major carriers roll out the latest updates to their respective 5G networks over the next couple of years.

The savings of T-Mobile’s plan also become more pronounced the more lines you add. Two lines of Essentials Savings is $80 a month, while a similar offering from AT&T or Verizon runs $120 a month. Three lines will also run $90 at T-Mobile thanks to a promotion, compared to $120 at Verizon (for Unlimited Welcome) and $135 at AT&T (for Unlimited Starter). The four-line option is $100 at T-Mobile, compared to $120 at Verizon and $140 at AT&T.

These prices do come with a couple of caveats: Unlike T-Mobile’s Go5G or Magenta plans, taxes and fees are not included in any of these Essentials prices, making the final total a little higher. All the deals also require that you set up AutoPay and paperless billing.

And as mentioned, you may need to click “see more plans” on T-Mobile’s site to get this option to appear.

Verizon logo on a phoneVerizon logo on a phone

Sarah Tew/CNET

Verizon Unlimited Welcome: $75 for 1 line, $130 for 4 lines

Best for perks

This is a bit more complicated. Verizon used to be our pick with its Play More plan that bundled in the Disney Bundle (ad-free Disney Plus, ESPN Plus and Hulu with ads) and services like Google Play Pass or Apple Arcade into the plan’s sticker price.

Now the carrier has updated its wireless plans to remove perks like the Disney Bundle or Apple Arcade and Google Play Pass from being automatically included with its service. Even with its new plans it still is our pick for best perks, but this will require a bit more explanation.

Instead of automatically putting services in, it now offers a variety of perks at $10 per month per perk, allowing users to pick and choose what they want. It also now allows its lower-cost plan, known as Unlimited Welcome, to participate.

Unlimited Welcome runs $65 per month for one line or $120 per month for four lines. You get unlimited talk, text and data but you don’t get access to Verizon’s fastest 5G networks (what it calls “5G Ultra Wideband”) or hotspot data. For that, you will need to step up to its pricier Unlimited Plus plan ($80 for one line, $180 for four lines).

Both the Welcome and Plus plans include the ability to add perks at that $10 per month rate. This includes the Disney Bundle (normally $15 per month), Apple One individual (normally around $17 per month), Apple Music Family (which can be shared with five people and normally runs $17 per month) and Walmart Plus (normally $13 per month but also includes Paramount Plus Essential).

There are also other perks including an additional 100GB of hotspot data (normally $45 per month), 2TB of Verizon’s cloud storage (normally $15 per month), three days of international data (what the carrier calls TravelPass, normally $10 per day).

All perks can be turned on or off at will, and you could forgo them entirely. You can even go with multiple perks on a single line if you wanted.

Whether this makes sense for your situation, however, may require some time with a spreadsheet going through what services work for you and what you’re willing to pay for them. The savings could add up if you’re paying for some of these services directly, but it also could be more expensive than your existing plan.

It is also worth mentioning that Verizon allows you to “mix and match” lines, so if not everyone needs the faster 5G connectivity they could be on Unlimited Welcome while the one who does can go on Unlimited Plus.

AT&T allows something similar with its unlimited plans, but at the moment no longer offers any streaming perks. To get T-Mobile’s perks everyone has to be on the same plan.

But if you wanted a cheaper way to save on one or two services like the Disney Bundle, you could have four lines for $120 per month, add the Disney perk for $10 and be paying $130 per month for the whole package.

Oh, and you can also combine these plans with Verizon’s other discounts for teachers, nurses, military and first responders to save a bit more.

Best prepaid phone plans

boost mobileboost mobile

Sarah Tew/CNET

Boost Mobile unlimited for $25 per month

Best for a single line with unlimited data

Boost Mobile has added an unlimited plan that offers unlimited talk, text and data to new users for $25 per month with taxes and fees included. Unlike Mint Mobile’s 12-month plan, our previous pick in this slot, Boost’s plan isn’t tied to 12-month increments. You do, however, need to be a new Boost customer to get this offer.

The plan includes 5G access and 30GB per month of high-speed data (if you blow through that, your data will slow until your next billing month starts). Hotspot is included as well, with that data pulling from your high-speed allotment. One thing worth noting: You need to set up automatic payments to get the $25-per-month rate.

Google Fi logoGoogle Fi logo

Sarah Tew/CNET

Google Fi Wireless Simply Unlimited

Best for a family of four: $80 per month for four lines

When it comes to family plans, Google’s Fi Wireless cell phone service is a solid option. While its $50 pricing for one line is way higher than Mint’s, if you have three lines or more you can save a little.

Called Simply Unlimited, the plan runs roughly $27 per line per month with three lines and drops to $20 per month if you have four or more lines (both options run $80 per month total). It now includes 35GB of high-speed data plus talk, text and data in Canada and Mexico. The plan also now offers 5GB of hotspot data, though that is a “hard” cap where the hotspot feature stops after 5GB is used, as opposed to the data slowing.

Google has also recently added 5G support for iPhones and the ability to add Samsung or Google watches to your plan for free.

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Sarah Tew/CNET

Mint Mobile 15GB Plan

Best for under 10GB of data

When it comes to data under 10GB, Mint once again has the best value if T-Mobile’s network is solid in your area. Whereas Metro and Cricket charge $40 per month for one line and Boost has a $35 plan for 10GB of data, Mint beats them all on price, and now data too.

In April Mint upped its 10GB plan to 15GB of 4G LTE/5G monthly data while keeping the same $20 per month price (when purchased in 12-month increments). After that, you can buy three more months at $35 per month ($105 total), six months at $25 per month ($150 total) or another year at $20 per month ($240 total).

Textnow logo on a phoneTextnow logo on a phone

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TextNow

Cheapest option without data: As low as $0 a month

If you’re looking for service for a backup phone that’s rarely used, TextNow has a free plan. Running on T-Mobile’s network, the service offers free unlimited talk and unlimited texting, though ads are placed in its app which you use to call and text people. There isn’t any data included with this option and removing the ads without adding data would run you $10 a month. If you want to watch YouTube, FaceTime, or surf the web make sure to connect to Wi-Fi.

Text messages are also done through the company’s TextNow app, not through iMessage or WhatsApp which makes sense as those services require data.

Getting 1GB of high-speed mobile data starts at $9 a month, with the company throttling you down to “2G speeds” if you use that up before your billing cycle resets. If you are largely on Wi-Fi, this could be a good option. 2GB runs $16 a month, with the company offering up to 5GB of high-speed data for $28 a month.

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