When you’re looking over your monthly budget and looking for ways to save money, a good one to pick is your cell phone.
After all, who wants to pay a ton of money for their cell phone plan when you can get it cheaper somewhere else?
There are a few main providers in the United States, but that doesn’t mean that these are the best for you. Let’s look at the best alternative to Verizon.
These are really helpful if you are budgeting and want to cut your costs.
In this article, we will look at the best cheap cell phone plans and how to choose a cell phone plan.
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Why Should You Consider Cheap Cell Phone Plans?
You may be wondering why you should consider cheap cell phone plans – maybe you have never thought about switching before.
The thing is, there’s no point in paying a lot of money for something that you can get the exact same thing for, for much less.
Additionally, you may find that you are paying too much for a service that you aren’t using.
The 10 Best Cheap Cell Phone Plans
1. Tello Mobile
Have you heard of Tello Mobile before? It’s definitely not as well known as the main brands, but we think it’s great. There are also great Tello reviews for the best cell phone deals no contract.
There’s no contract and no fees. We don’t know about you, but we are always keen to avoid a contract.
They have a wide range of cell phone plans available, which start at $5 and go up to $39.
As an example, on their website currently, they are showing a cell phone plan for 2GB, unlimited minutes, and unlimited text for $14 per month.
Tello offers nationwide 4G LTE coverage, no contract, no activation, and no early termination fees.
They also have a referral program where you can share your link with a friend and both get $10 upon their order.
2. Mint Mobile
Something that you may love about the plan that Mint Mobile offers, is that you can get a $5 one week trial. If you sign up after the trial, you’ll get $5 taken off.
The best plans that they do include the $25 plan and the $40 unlimited plan. The $25 plan starts at $15 for the first 3 months, and the $40 plan starts at $30 for the first 3 months.
If you want to stick to the lower prices and not just have them for 3 months, you can get them for the full 12 months if you pay upfront. There is also the option to buy 6 and 12-month packages.
The Mint Mobile network runs on T-Mobile, so make sure that your phone is compatible before signing up.
3. US Mobile
US Mobile operates on the T-Mobile network, with GSM SIM cards. Make sure your phone is compatible before joining.
The average payment for US Mobile is around $15 per month. If you want to add a line to your plan it will cost $4 per month. For an extra $3 a month you can add up to 100 minutes.
There are no contracts, and you are able to use the phone that you currently have.
4. Cricket Wireless
Cricket Wireless is owned by AT&T that was founded in 1999 by Leap Wireless International.
They have decent packages available, with the price generally going down with the more lines that you add – they have some of the best cell phone family plans.
For one line per month, you can get 2GB of high-speed data, unlimited talk, text, and picture messages within the U.S. for $30 per month. This could be one of the cheapest phone plans for one person.
5. Boost Mobile
Boost Mobile is a company that is used by 2 companies in both the U.S. and Australia.
The great thing about Boost Mobile is if you need to get a new phone, they have a lot of great deals on where you can get hundreds off.
If you are bringing your current phone to the network then you can get a free SIM card. You can also get 2x data on the $10 and $15 plan when you buy a SIM for $9.99.
They often have an offer/deal to buy 1 phone, get 1 free as well!
The longer you stay with Boost Mobile, the less you will have to pay – that’s the way that they set up their plans.
6. T-Mobile
T-Mobile has recently merged with Sprint, and they are working on creating the best 5G network out there.
They often offer deals, such as at the moment, if you switch to T-Mobile and activate a new line and bring your number, you will get a virtual prepaid $100 MasterCard.
Other offers that are available tend to be things such as buy one get one free when you purchase an eligible new phone, which is a great money-saving tip.
The prepaid phone plans can offer the best pricing, with 10GB for 1 line (plus taxes and fees) being $40.
There is another awesome way of saving money with T-Mobile – by using their plan with Ultra Mobile.
This is a PayGo service for $3 a month. You can get 100 minutes, 100 texts, and 100MB 4G LTE data included, with the data being able to be used for Mobile Hotspot.
A great thing that T-Mobile offers is discounts for military veterans.
7. Visible
Visible often run promotional deals – at the moment their offer is if you bring your number to the $40 plan, then you will be eligible for receiving up to $200 to spend online.
For $40 a month you will get access to their unlimited plan, which includes unlimited data, minutes, and messages. One of the best cheapest phone plans with unlimited everything.
You can bring your number with you to Visible and cancel at any time if you are not happy.
8. Republic Wireless
Republic Wireless has a good range of cheap phone plans for you to choose from.
The basic plan is $15 per month, which includes unlimited talk and text. You can also add cell data for $5/GB.
They also have packages for $20 and $25, and then a DIY package which varies in cost.
Republic Wireless supports certain Android phones – it’s worth double-checking if your phone will work with them.
9. Google Fi
Google FI is a good choice for people who are looking for a plan with a bit more flexibility.
The fees vary depending on how many lines you want and how much data you are going to be using. They offer 2 line phone plans.
For one person it’s $20 per month plus $10/GB for data. You only pay for the data that you use each month.
If you are a frequent traveler then Google Fi will probably appeal to you. That’s because there is free travel, which means that you don’t have to pay a daily overseas fee.
For the unlimited plans, they are more pricey, starting at $70 for one line. If you have 4 or more lines, this cost goes down to $45.
10. Consumer Cellular
Consumer Cellular is a mobile virtual network operator that was founded in 1995. They focus on users who are 50+.
The cheapest plan that you can get is for $18.33 per month for 3 lines with 500MB shared data.
For plans which are talk only, you can get a plan for $15 a month with 250 minutes included, or $20 for unlimited minutes.
This is a good option for people over 50 who may be on a tight budget.
What To Look For In A Cheap Cell Phone Plan
There are some certain things that you are going to want to look out for when choosing your cheap cell phone plan.
One of the most important things is making sure that your phone will work on the network that the company is with.
Some of the websites have coverage maps where you can check this out.
The next thing is how much you actually need from your phone. Sure, it may be tempting to go for the biggest package, but do you really need it?
Look at what you are currently using, and whether that is enough or too much.
When Is A Cheap Cell Phone Plan NOT A Good Idea?
Going cheaper doesn’t always mean better. We are huge fans of getting a good deal, but not if it’s going to be bad in some way.
There are some phone plans which aren’t as good as the others:
Metro
Metro is owned by T-Mobile, and they offer plans of $30/2GB, $40/10GB, and two unlimited tiers.
The thing to note with Metro is that they try hard to get you to sign up for the unlimited tiers, but the difference between these and the regular ones is minimal.
Straight Talk
Straight Talk is through Walmart and TracPhone and is therefore only available at Walmart.
It uses a lot of cellular networks, which is a plus point. The plan is $35 a month for 5GB of data, but after that, it goes down to 2GB which is very slow.
Xfinity
Amongst all of the other good deals that we have listed, this one isn’t that great compared.
They offer a plan with 1GB of data for $15 and another plan with 3GB of data for $30 a month.
It’s really important to check all of the features that you get, before signing up for one of these cheap cell phone plans.
You may find that the plan you are currently on works out well for what you use it for.
With a company like Google Fi, please note that there are only certain phones which are compatible with it – and it’s a shortlist.
Final Thoughts On Cheap Cell Phone Plans
Getting a cheap cell phone plan has never been easier. There are lots of companies out there which offer really good deals on their plans.
As good as the deals are, it’s important to check that your phone is compatible, and if there are any hidden charges.
Many of the plans that we have looked at in this article are great deals – it’s now time to pick which one will work best for you!
