Best Unlimited Data Plans for June 2023

T-Mobile Essentials Savings: $50 for 1 line

Best for value for a single line

AT&T Value Plus Plan: $50 for 1 line

Runner-up for value on a single line

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

Best for value (with multiple lines)

Verizon Welcome Unlimited: $65 for 1 line, $120 for 4 lines

Runner-up for value (multiple lines)

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

Best for perks

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 the 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 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,” along with 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 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 on 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. 

If you only need one line, AT&T’s new Value Plus plan could be the way to go. You get unlimited talk, text and data and 5G access. There are no perks like a free streaming service subscription or hotspot data and you will need to stick to one line. 

But if all you need is a simple unlimited plan from your phone, this is $10 less than T-Mobile’s regular Essentials pricing, $15 cheaper than AT&T’s Unlimited Starter (with this plan including 3GB of hotspot data) not to mention $15 cheaper than Verizon’s Welcome Unlimited and $20 cheaper than Verizon’s 5G Start. 

Those looking to save the most on unlimited service from the major carriers may be best with T-Mobile’s Essentials Savings. Unlimited talk, text and data are included for all of the carrier’s base unlimited plans. In this price-focused comparison, T-Mobile’s new “limited time” option comes in at $50 for a single line, $5 a month cheaper than AT&T’s Unlimited Starter and $10 less than Verizon’s 5G Start or T-Mobile’s own regular Essentials pricing. 

In addition to being $5 less than AT&T’s option, T-Mobile’s Essentials includes unlimited mobile hotspot (albeit at slower “3G speeds”), giving you a little more flexibility. All three carriers offer 5G access with their base plans. We should note that Verizon’s 5G Start doesn’t support its fastest forms of 5G.

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 $135 monthly at AT&T or Verizon. The four-line option is $100 at T-Mobile, compared to $140 at the other carriers. 

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

Verizon’s updated plans have replaced the carrier’s previous Welcome Unlimited offer with… one named Unlimited Welcome. While the names are flipped, the core offer is still largely the same: There are no streaming perks like the Disney Bundle with this plan, no hotspot data and you can’t hop on Verizon’s fastest 5G networks (which it calls Ultra Wideband). You do, however, get Verizon’s network for $120 a month for four lines, assuming you have automatic payments set up. 

If you switch to Verizon and bring your own phone the carrier will give you $180 back over 36 months. This amounts to a $5 monthly savings and is why the carrier’s website may show you different pricing. 

Compared with the competition, the Verizon plan is still $15 a month pricier than T-Mobile’s Essentials Savings plan for a single line, but it’s $20 a month cheaper than AT&T’s most affordable Unlimited Starter plan for a family of four. Those looking to save even more can combine the Welcome plan with Verizon’s other discounts for teachers, nurses, military and first responders. 

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’s still 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. 

T-Mobile Magenta & Magenta Max for 1 or 2 lines, Go5G and Go5G Plus for 3+

Runner-up for perks

T-Mobile’s new plans are also a bit complicated. For most people, T-Mobile’s Magenta and Magenta Max options are the better pick when it comes to looking for perks for one or two lines. They are cheaper than the new Go5G options and have most of the same features, except with a cheaper monthly rate ($70 for one line on Magenta, $120 for two lines; $85 for one line on Magenta Max, $140 for two lines). 

You get less hotspot and international data with a Magenta plan compared to a Go5G option, and Magenta Max users also don’t get the same ability to upgrade to a new device after two years while taking advantage of T-Mobile’s “new customer” deals. 

Thanks to T-Mobile offering a free third line on its Go5G options, those plans become cheaper and a better value compared to the Magentas if you need three or more lines.

Among the benefits of Magenta and Go5G ($75 per month for one line, $155 per month for four lines) are unlimited international data (albeit at slow “2G speeds”) when traveling in over 210 countries, an hour of in-flight Wi-Fi on a number of airlines, T-Mobile Tuesdays weekly giveaways, the bundling of Netflix’s Basic plan (which is $10 a month and limited to watching on one screen at a time) and six free months of Apple TV Plus. 

Its pricier Magenta Max and Go5G Plus ($90 a month for one line, $185 a month for four lines) plans bumps the Netflix subscription to the more popular $15.49-a-month Standard plan (which allows for 1080p HD streaming on up to two screens at once), includes a full subscription to Apple TV Plus, ups the hotspot data from 15GB on Go5G to 50GB per month on Go5G Plus, adds 5GB of high-speed international data and gives you unlimited Wi-Fi on a host of flights including those from American, Alaska Airlines, Delta and United. Go5G Plus also has 15GB of high-speed data in Canada and Mexico, compared to 10GB on Go5G. 

Unlike its Essentials plans discussed earlier, T-Mobile also includes taxes and fees with the pricing of both of its Magenta and Go5G plans. 

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. 

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 option isn’t 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. 

The company’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 we mentioned above or T-Mobile’s Base Essentials. Two lines of that T-Mobile plan runs $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. 

For most people, we really do believe unlimited is the best choice when choosing a new plan.

Is unlimited data really unlimited?

It is, but the speeds you get may vary depending on your plan and how much data you use in a given month. Whereas in the past carriers would slow down or “throttle” your speeds if you pass a certain limit (usually over 22GB of data within a month) for the remainder of your billing cycle, today all three major providers say they’ll only do that in special cases. 

To have your data slowed on most of the plans mentioned above, you will need to have: 

1. Used over 50GB of data in a month.

2. Be in an area that is experiencing “congestion,”http://www.cnet.com/”heavy traffic” or if the network is “busy.” Examples of this could be at a sporting event or concert where there are tens of thousands of people in the same area uploading and sharing photos and videos.

All carriers say that in these cases your data should only be slowed “temporarily.” If you have an older unlimited plan, however, your threshold for when your data slows and how long it lasts may be different.

A hotspot, or the ability to share your phone’s connection with other devices, will vary based on the plan you have. Some, like AT&T’s Value Plus and Verizon’s Unlimited Welcome, don’t include it at all while others — such as AT&T’s Unlimited Starter and T-Mobile’s Essentials and Magenta — offer limited amounts of high-speed access before capping your hotspot performance to “3G” or “2G” speeds. 

In short, if hotspot access is important for you, check out a pricier unlimited plan such as T-Mobile’s Magenta Max (40GB of high-speed data) or Go5G Plus (50GB of high-speed data); Verizon’s Unlimited Plus (30 GB of high-speed data); or AT&T’s Unlimited Extra (15GB of high-speed data) or Unlimited Premium (50GB of high-speed data) options.