Best Basic Cell Phone Plans 2021

Sometimes you just want to go back to basics, even with your cell phone. That's where the basic cell phone plan comes in.
These plans come with minutes and texts but no data, so they're not for smartphones. And they're almost always prepaid, since none of the major cell phone carriers offers traditional basic plans.
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Best basic cell phone plans: unlimited minutes
Republic Wireless and Google's Project Fi give you unlimited minutes and messages for rock-bottom prices. Both carriers employ a Wi-Fi-first approach, so calls and texts route through Wi-Fi networks whenever possible, using cellular service only as a backup.
Republic Wireless
Price: $15 per month
At a glance: Unlimited minutes and texts; not available on iPhones
Project Fi, Fi Basics
Price: $20 per month
At a glance: Unlimited minutes and texts
THINGS TO KNOW
Best basic cell phone plans: limited minutes
No sense paying for unlimited minutes when you really just need a few. With Tracfone, unused airtime rolls over each month, as long as you top up your balance. Prefer a more traditional monthly plan? Consumer Cellular offers a flexible, no-frills plan and boasts stellar customer service ratings.
Tracfone 30 minute airtime card
Price: $9.99 per month
At a glance: Any combination of 30 minutes or texts (sent or received) or megabytes of data
Consumer Cellular Talk Plan
Price: $15 per month
At a glance: 250 minutes; text messaging packages available
THINGS TO KNOW
Best build-your-own basic cell phone plan
Customize your own plan to fit your needs. Ting and US Mobile both charge a set monthly service fee each month, but usage is billed in tiers. If you use a lot of texts one month but none the next, your bill will reflect that. The same goes for minutes and data.
Ting
Price: Base price is $6 per month, with minutes, data and texts billed separately
At a glance: Usage is divided into levels, and you pay only for the level you reach
US Mobile
Price: Base price is $2 per month, plus selected tier of minutes, data and/or texts messages
At a glance: Usage is divided into levels, and you select the number of minutes, texts and data you want
THINGS TO KNOW
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METHODOLOGY
We evaluated more than 200 cell phone plans offered by the following carriers: AT&T, Boost Mobile, Consumer Cellular, Cricket, GreatCall, Google’s Project Fi, MetroPCS, Net10, Republic Wireless, Sprint, Straight Talk, T-Mobile, Ting, Tracfone, Verizon Wireless and Virgin Mobile.