If you’re looking for a new prepaid phone carrier or want to buy a monthly refill for your current plan, Wal-Mart provides the pieces to put it together. It carries prepaid phones, SIM cards and refill cards for about a dozen no-contract carriers.
You usually won’t save any money by buying these plans from Wal-Mart, but it’s convenient to essentially pay your cell phone bill when you do your shopping.
Keep reading for the best cell phone plans available at Wal-Mart. Since some plans aren’t available online at Wal-Mart, the links below will take you directly to the carrier to get started.
Best prepaid Wal-Mart cell phone plans
- Plan name: Virgin Mobile Unlimited Plan
- Price (monthly): $50.
- At a glance: Unlimited talk, text and high-speed data.
- Why we like it: You can pay just $1 per month for the first six months if you bring or buy a qualifying iPhone.
- Plan name: Cricket Wireless Basic
- Price (monthly): $40; $35 with autopay discount.
- At a glance: Unlimited talk and text with 5GB of data.
- Why we like it: Hits the sweet spot on monthly data for most users.
Things to Know
- Virgin Mobile: Virgin runs on Sprint’s network. You can only use an iPhone and must sign up for automatic payments.
- Cricket: The carrier operates on AT&T’s network. New customers might pay a $25 in-store activation fee. Cricket allows customers to bring their own phone, if it’s compatible.
How OTHER PLANS Compare
 | 6GB for $45; $40 with autopay discount |
 | 3GB for $35 |
 | 7GB for $50 |
Best pay-as-you-go Wal-Mart cell phone plans
- Plan name: T-Mobile Pay As You Go Plan
- Price (monthly): $3.
- At a glance: Includes any combination of 30 minutes or texts; 10 cents per minute or message over the limit.
- Why we like it: Bare-bones plan with a price to match.
- Plan name: AT&T GoPhone Daily Plan
- Price: $2 per day of use; data costs 1 cent for every 5 kilobytes.
- At a glance: Unlimited minutes and text messages for $2 per day of use.
- Why we like it: You pay nothing on days you don’t use your phone.
things to know
- T-Mobile: The $3 fee gets you any combination of 30 minutes and texts per month. So if you send 20 texts, you’ll have 10 minutes left in that month before you go over. Each minute and text beyond the allotted 30 costs 10 cents. The plan doesn’t include data.
- AT&T: You pay the $2 fee only when you use your phone. If your phone sits in the junk drawer for three months, you pay nothing for that time. Checking your voicemail counts as using your phone for that day.
How other PLANs Compare
 | Talk plan: $15 per month for 250 minutes, no texts or data included |
 | $15 per month for unlimited minutes and texts |
 | $9.99 per month for 30 minutes/texts |
Best family Wal-Mart cell phone plan
- Plan name: AT&T Unlimited Choice
- Price (monthly, four lines): $165; $155 with $10 autopay discount
- Plan at a glance: Unlimited data, minutes and text messages
- Why we like it: It’s an affordable, entry-level unlimited plan on a top-notch network
- Plan name: Cricket Wireless Basic with Group Save discount
- Price (monthly, four lines): $110.
- At a glance: Unlimited talk and text, 5GB of data per line.
- Why we like it: Cricket’s Group Save discount makes for four inexpensive lines with just the right amount of data.
Things to know
- Cricket: The carrier operates on AT&T’s network. New customers might pay a $25 in-store activation fee. Cricket allows customers to bring their own phone, if it’s compatible.
- AT&T: Video streams in standard definition. You can save $10 per month if you opt for automatic payments.
How other plans compare
| Unlimited for $180; $160 with autopay discount |
| Unlimited for $180; $175 with autopay discount |
| Unlimited for $140 |
Wal-Mart cell phone plans: summary
| Carrier | Plan | Best For | Cost per month, unless otherwise stated | Get started |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Virgin Mobile Unlimited Plan | Overall | $50 | |
| Cricket Wireless Basic (5GB) | Overall | $40; $35 with autopay discount. | |
| T-Mobile Prepaid Pay As You Go Plan | People who want a pay-as-you-go option | $3 | |
| AT&T GoPhone Daily Plan | People who want a pay-as-you-go option | $2 per day of use; data costs 1 cent per 5KB | |
| Cricket Wireless Basic | Families | $110 for four lines | |
| AT&T Unlimited Choice | Families | $165 for four lines; $155 with $10 autopay discount |
