Why You Can Trust CNET Best Phone Plan Deals: Save on Plans, Trade-In Credits and Get Referral Rewards
If you're considering switching or trying a new phone plan, you might want to check out these deals first.
Having a reliable and affordable cell phone service plan is important. Why drop a ton of cash on a new phone if you aren't going to have a good service plan to go with it? Luckily, there are plenty of deals on phone plans that you can take advantage of depending on your needs. That could include better coverage, extra minutes, perks or a whole bevy of different things.
It often requires a little digging to find the best ways to save on your monthly service bill, but we've done a lot of the legwork to round up the best offers currently available. Some deals will help you score discounts when adding multiple lines of service, while others may offer free subscriptions, gas points, restaurant discounts and even travel rewards with your phone plan. Big rewards are especially common at major carriers like Verizon, AT&T and T-Mobile. And you can often save even more when you're looking at smaller carriers that piggyback on larger networks.
Whether you simply want to decrease your current bill or switch to something new so you can add some more lines, there are various cheap phone plans available, as well as some great offers you should be aware of. Below, we'll show you the best phone plan deals available right now. Act fast, as some of these offers are only available for a limited time.
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Best prepaid phone deals
One of the best deals in wireless service comes from Mint Mobile. You can sign up for service for as little as $15 a month (prepaid in three-, six- or 12-month blocks), which is just a fraction of what the big carriers are charging. Mint Mobile runs on the nationwide T-Mobile network, so you'll have service all over the place, and getting started is as easy as answering a few questions online. You can move your existing number to Mint or get a new one, and use your current phone or a new device -- it's entirely your call. Mint Mobile recently rolled out some new family plan options as well. For a limited time, you can get unlimited 3 months for only $15 per month. The deal must be paid for upfront and will revert back to a full-price plan once it's over.
Verizon is one of the largest carriers in the US. It offers both prepaid and contract plans, but on the prepaid side the company rewards people who keep using the service and paying for it. Verizon offers prepaid customers up to $10 off per month for loyalty discounts. You need to be a prepaid customer for 10 months to see the discount, but for months four to nine you can save $5. Or if you choose, you can save $10 a month by signing up for autopay. However, Verizon no longer allows you to stack these discounts.
You can score one month of unlimited data at Boost Mobile for only $10. For a limited time, the company also has significantly slashed prices on some of its data plans -- all of which include a free SIM card. The 5GB plan is now only $5 per month, down from $15. The Unlimited plan is only $10 per month, down from $25. The caveat is that these deals are only meant for new customers.
Boost is also offering low prices for yearly prepaid service. You can get its 1GB-per-month data plan for $100 per year. If you need more data, the prepaid unlimited data plan costs $300 for the year.
Metro by T-Mobile offers four different prepaid plans, with the top-tier option also including a 1-year subscription to Vix Premium, 25GB of hotspot data and a 100GB Google One membership. With this plan, you can get four lines of service for $150 a month, which is cheaper than the price you'd normally pay to get only three. You can also save $5 a month on all unlimited data plans after your first month if you enroll in autopay.
The MetroFlex Plus plan is $70 and includes Amazon Prime and Amazon Music subscriptions.
Best contract plan deals
Verizon doesn't offer any straightforward monetary discounts on its contract plans, but there are still some savings available. Those on an Unlimited Welcome, Plus or Ultimate plan can add additional services and subscriptions like Hulu, Disney Plus, Apple Arcade, Apple Music, TravelPass and more for a flat rate of just $10 a month. That saves you as much as $35 a month on select subscriptions. You can also pick and choose which ones you want to add to your plan, and swap or cancel them at any time.
T-Mobile has a few different plan options that can save you money, but you have to meet certain requirements for some of them. For example, T-Mobile offers military, veterans and first responders a discount as well as those who are over 55 years old. If you don't qualify for either of those, everyone is eligible to buy two lines, get a third free if you're on an eligible Essentials, Go5G or Go5G Plus plan. Those on a Go5G Next plan will get a discounted third line for just $10 a month. With this offer, you can get three lines for as little as $90 a month. Like Verizon, T-Mobile also offers other bonuses like Netflix and Apple TV Plus subscriptions, Shell Fuel rewards, discounts at restaurants like Little Caesar's and a free one-year AAA membership.
On its Unlimited Premium plan, AT&T offers up 60GB of hotspot data and unlimited talk and text in 20 Latin American countries. These are in addition to the other normal offers, like unlimited talk and text, 5G access, AT&T Active Armor advanced mobile security and more, plus discounts for military, veterans and medical workers. Customers who switch to AT&T can get an unlimited data plan for $25 per month if they bring their own phone. The discount starts after three billing cycles.
There's a lot of offers on phones from Visible. You can get $240 off Google phones in the form of bill credits when you choose a Visible Plus plan. For a limited time, Visible is offering a free 15-day trial of its services. And if you bring in an old phone that isn't compatible with Visible's network (which is built on Verizon's nationwide network), you can get a new phone through its Visible Payback program.
New customers can sign up for an annual plan to unlock bigger savings. The basic annual plan blocks robocalls, provides unlimited use of your phone as a hotspot and free international calls to Mexico and Canada for $275 a year ($25 off). There's another plan with these perks, plus smartwatch service, unlimited data on 5G Ultra Wideband network, international calling to 30 countries and texting to over 200 countries for only $395 a year ($145 off).
Visible is also offering Connection Protection, a program that helps you keep your service for up to 3 months in case of a layoff.
Visible will soon allow current customers with a monthly plan to sign up for annual plans. While this offer hasn't launched yet, you can add your name to an email sign-up list to be notified when you can make the switch.