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By Brad Hill/April 3, 2024 3:15 pm EST
You might have the newest iPhone or Samsung Galaxy, but that’s not going to do as much as you want without a good unlimited plan to go with it. With so many carriers available, it can be a challenge to find the best plan. So, let’s narrow it down and look at the big three carriers: T-Mobile, Verizon, and AT&T.
It can be tricky to find a plan that supports all your needs while sticking to your budget, especially when considering coverage. While the big three phone carriers are typically readily available to consumers no matter where they live, coverage isn’t created equally. That will be important to consider when choosing the best-unlimited phone plan.
Some carriers offer additional perks to sweeten the deal, like restaurant discounts or free subscriptions to Netflix or Hulu. They also offer various discounts for members of the military, student status, and age. That’s why it’s not as cut and dry when picking a cell phone plan as it might be for picking home internet. So, here’s a short list to help you narrow your search.
T-Mobile Essentials Saver
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The Essentials Saver plan is T-Mobile’s cheapest unlimited data plan. It’s only $50 each month, but if you enroll in autopayment, that gets knocked down to $45 a month after the first month, which is a great deal for a plan that includes unlimited talking and texting.
However, a second line bumps that up to $80 per month. The T-Mobile website isn’t clear about whether you can add lines to this plan, as it vanishes as soon as you select two or more lines. Once it’s in your cart, however, you can add extra lines as usual.
While users on this plan won’t receive a free subscription to Netflix or Apple TV+, it does come with a mobile hotspot with 3G speeds with the option to upgrade to higher speeds. It also includes 50GB of premium data, which is a huge step up from the 20GB its old Base Essential plan offered.
T-Mobile Essentials
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As the name implies, the Essentials plan provides the bare essentials for a pleasant smartphone experience. It includes unlimited talk and text, 50GB of premium data, no annual service contract, an unlimited 3G hotspot, 5G network, and Wi-Fi calling. However, T-Mobile states in the fine print that once users exceed their allotted premium data, they will experience slower speeds until their next billing cycle.
The Essentials plan costs $60 per month for one line and jumps to $90 per month for a second line. However, T-Mobile offers a free third-line service for new customers, which is worth considering. Unfortunately, users will need to upgrade if they hope to nab themselves a free subscription to Apple TV+ or Netflix Standard with ads because those aren’t available with the Essentials plan.
Before switching to T-Mobile, there are a few things to know. The video streaming quality is only 480p (DVD quality), and users must pay an additional charge to watch videos in HD. While that might not be a priority for some, it could be a dealbreaker for anyone hoping to consume media without Wi-Fi. And 3G speeds for a hotspot might not be the same as dial-up, so you shouldn’t do anything time-sensitive with it.
Verizon Unlimited Plus plan
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Before you make the leap over to Verizon, you should know that the Unlimited Plus plan isn’t its most affordable. Verizon offers its Unlimited Welcome plan, but that offers little more than 5G coverage. The Unlimited Plus plan nets users a good deal of value for its price. For starters, each line on this plan costs $45. They also receive free subscriptions to Netflix and Max with ads, which add an extra $10 per line, bringing the total to $55 for each line every month.
This plan also gives users access to Verizon’s fastest 5G network, the “Ultra Wideband” network. Furthermore, the Unlimited Plus plan provides a 30GB mobile hotspot. Unfortunately, once the 30GB is used, Verizon will slow down the hotspot’s speed until the next billing cycle. Speeds on the 5G Ultra Wideband network drop to 3 Mbps, while those on the 5G/4G LTE network slow down to 600 Kbps.
AT&T Value Plus VL plan
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Eyeing AT&T, but you aren’t certain about it? Here are a few things you should know before switching to AT&T. For starters, if you have a family of four and want to bring them all over to AT&T, you can do so for $25 per line each month with the Value Plus VL Plan. They all have to be on the same plan to lock in that rate, though.
The drawback with AT&T’s plan is that you’re getting just the essentials. Not only is there no free subscription to a streaming platform included, but there’s also no hotspot data included. What you do get is unlimited talk and text, along with access to AT&T’s 5G network.
If you’re somebody who needs a hotspot, the Unlimited Starter plan is a solid choice. It gets you a 5GB hotspot for each line and only costs an additional $5 per line for each month.
Honorary mentions
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There are many more affordable carriers that provide unlimited plans as well, which shouldn’t be forgotten. Visible offers its Plus plan for $45 each month, which grants users access to Verizon’s 5G Ultra Wideband network since Verizon owns Visible. This plan also gives users 50GB of data before traffic is slowed. Unfortunately, there are no discounts on additional lines.
One of the cheapest unlimited plans on the market is from Mint Mobile, which costs $30 per month. However, there’s a caveat: Users only pay $30 for the first three months unless they commit to a whole year with the carrier. All Mint plans include unlimited text and talk, free calls to Mexico and Canada, and a free mobile hotspot.
Comcast customers might want to look into Xfinity Mobile. Those who have Comcast Internet can bundle their home internet with an unlimited phone plan for $45 per month for a single line. For multiple lines, the cost drops to $30 per line. However, this is only an option if you’re already receiving home internet from Comcast.
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