One thing we can all agree on is that cell phone plans are subjective. While some people cannot use any plan other than an unlimited everything plan, many other others would rather have a prepaid phone plan no matter the situation. Thankfully, all cell phone carriers now provide a variety of phone plans that suit everybody regardless of their budget or social class.
If you are not a heavy smartphone user and are looking for the cheapest prepaid phone plans, either for yourself or a family member, here are the perfect plans for you.
Why check the carrier’s coverage
First, before choosing a mobile provider, especially for a prepaid plan, one essential thing to do is to check if that carrier has coverage around your area. Cell phone carriers are very area-dependent. This means that while Verizon might have the best coverage and data speeds for your buddy across the city, it might be the carrier with the worst coverage and speeds in your part of the city.
Secondly, it’s important to make sure that you have good coverage before committing to a carrier because it’s a hassle to get a refund due to poor coverage on prepaid plans. AT&T will straight-up not refund any prepaid plans even if there’s no coverage available within your area.
Check mobile coverage
Checking the mobile cell phone provider’s coverage shouldn’t be that difficult or take you a long time. Here’s the coverage map for each major cell phone provider. All you have to do is enter your address for more accurate coverage data:
Prepaid phone plans cheapest on:
Verizon: 5GB $40/month
Currently, Verizon’s cheapest prepaid plan is its $40/month plan. As you can guess, this plan doesn’t offer the most data, it only offers 5GB of data per month. This plan runs on Verizon’s regular 5G network, its 5G Nationwide network. The plan also includes Mobile Hotspot, which counts toward your monthly data allowance.
For texting and calling you do not have to worry, as the plan includes unlimited talk and international text. As for streaming videos, something I doubt you will do on a 5GB/month plan, the quality will be capped at 480p.
Additionally, as for the pricing, an uncommon perk this plan has is that your monthly payments will get reduced as you stay with Verizon.
When you reach your first three months with the plan, your bill will be gradually reduced by 5 dollars until your tenth month. In your 10th month with the plan, your plan will be reduced to $25/month.
AT&T: 16GB 12-month
On AT&T, the cheapest prepaid phone plan you’ll find is the 16GB 12-month. With this plan, unlike Verizon’s 5GB prepaid plan, you will receive 16GB of high-speed data per month. The plan also includes unlimited talk and text within Mexico and Canada without extra charge. You’ll also get unlimited international texting at no additional charge.
A huge advantage this plan offers is that it has Rollover Data, meaning your unused data from this month’s allowance will be accumulated with your next month’s allowance. The personal hotspot feature is not disabled with this plan, so you won’t have any issue sharing your phone’s internet with another device.
As for video streaming, this plan is not capped at 480p (SD quality) like Verizon. The plan allows video streaming at up to 1080p.
Unfortunately, while this cheap prepaid plan is way better than Verizon’s cheapest prepaid plan, AT&T requires you to pay 12 months in advance. This means that you’ll have to shell out $300 upfront instead of paying $25 on a monthly basis.
T-Mobile: 10GB $40/month plan
As for T-Mobile, the cheapest prepaid plan this carrier carries is a 10GB plan for $40/month. The plan offers unlimited talk and text and allows you to enable Personal Hotspot. If you constantly stream music from a music streaming app, this data will not count towards your 10GB.
The cheapest prepaid plan
Overall, the cheapest prepaid phone plan is the AT&T 16GB 12-month plan. This plan does not only cost the same as Verizon’s 5GB plan, but it also has more advantages and additional features. If paying $300 in advance is not for you, then Verizon 5GB for $40/month would be your second best option.