Best Prepaid Cell Phone Plans 2020

Lower costs. More flexibility. No credit check. No contract. There are many reasons to consider a prepaid phone plan and there are many options to consider.
We evaluated the prepaid plans offered by more than a dozen wireless carriers to find the best ones, based on price and features, among other important factors.
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Best prepaid plans: data
These plans offer the best value for smartphone users looking for a prepaid plan.
Boost Mobile
Plan name: Boost Unlimited
Price (monthly): $50 (includes taxes and fees)
Plan at a glance: Unlimited minutes, texts and data
Why we like it: Boost’s plan includes more high-speed mobile hot spot data (12GB) than similarly priced plans offered by its competitors.
T-Mobile
Plan name: T-Mobile Simply Prepaid 10GB plan
Price (monthly): $40
Plan at a glance: 10GB of data, plus unlimited talk and text
Why we like it: Mobile hot spot access and unlimited music streaming make this prepaid plan a great value, plus 10GB is more than enough data for most cell phone users.
THINGS TO KNOW
Best prepaid plans: families
Want a family plan without the multiyear commitment? These prepaid plans offer just that.
Boost Mobile
Plan name: Boost Mobile Unlimited
Price (monthly, four lines): $140 (includes taxes and fees)
Plan at a glance: Unlimited talk, text and data, plus 12GB of mobile hot spot and unlimited music streaming
Why we like it: The plan includes unlimited talk, text, data and partner music streaming, plus ample high-speed mobile hot spot data for a reasonable price.
Cricket
Plan name: Cricket Core Unlimited
Price (monthly, four lines): $100 (includes taxes)
At a glance: Unlimited talk, text and data
Why we like it: An excellent deal for a family of four that includes texting from the U.S. to nearly 40 other countries.
Things to know:
Best prepaid plans: no data
You don’t want data, but you don’t want to be limited to a 30-minute phone call each month, either. These plans are for you.
Republic Wireless
Plan name: My Choice Talk & Text
Price (monthly): $15
At a glance: Unlimited minutes and text messages; not available on iPhones
Why we like it: Just minutes and messages for a very low cost, plus data access via Wi-Fi
Ting
Plan name: Ting Single Line (no data)
Price (monthly): $12 per month
At a glance: 100 minutes, 100 text messages
Why we like it: A basic plan tailored to your usage
THINGS TO KNOW:
Best prepaid plans: pay as you go
These two pay-as-you-go plans are simple and have price points to match.
T-Mobile
Plan name: T-Mobile (via Ultra Mobile) PayGo
Price (monthly): $3
At a glance: Includes 100 minutes, 100 texts and 100MB 4G LTE data; three cents per minute or MB and one cent per message over the limit
Why we like it: It's a bare-bones plan with a price to match.
AT&T
Plan name: AT&T Daily Plan
Price: $2 per day of use
At a glance: Unlimited minutes and text messages. You pay nothing if you don't use your phone that day.
Why we like it: You pay nothing on days you don't use your phone
things to know:
Best prepaid plans: summary
Details |
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Plan: Boost Unlimited Best overall Monthly cost: $50 |
Plan: T-Mobile Simply Prepaid - 10GB Best overall Monthly cost: $40 |
Plan: Boost Unlimited Best for: families Monthly cost: $140 (four lines) |
Plan: Cricket Core Unlimited Best for: families Monthly cost: $100 (4 lines) |
Plan: My Choice Talk & Text Best for: People who don't want data Monthly cost: $15 |
Plan: Ting Single Line Best for: People who don't want data Monthly cost: $12 |
Plan: T-Mobile PayGo (via Ultra Mobile) Best for: People who want a pay-as-you-go option Monthly cost: $3 |
Plan: AT&T Daily Plan Best for: People who want a pay-as-you-go option Cost: $2 per day of use |
What to know about prepaid plans
Prepaid phone plans are starting to mimic the traditional plans offered by major carriers such as T-Mobile, Verizon and AT&T, minus the contract, credit check and expensive plan. Many prepaid providers are owned by those big-name carriers, which also offer their own prepaid plans.
There are some trade-offs with prepaid service, though. You typically pay full price for a new phone, rather than spreading the payments out over 24 months, but almost all prepaid providers have the inexpensive phones — as low as $1 in some cases. Some prepaid carriers let you bring your own phone.
Before choosing a prepaid plan — or any cell phone plan, really — take stock of how you use your phone. If you regularly check email and Instagram, a pay-as-you-go plan is not for you. If you go days or weeks without using your phone, though, pay-as-you-go is a great option.
METHODOLOGY
To determine the best plans, we looked at the monthly plan price before taxes and fees; high-speed data allotment; when applicable, the price per gigabyte; and features such as unlimited music streaming. We considered only national carriers, which ruled out regional providers like U.S. Cellular.