The 6 Best Prepaid Phone Plans in 2022

There are two important varieties of methods to pay for cellphone service: postpaid, the place you pay on the finish of the month, and pay as you go, the place you purchase service earlier than you utilize your cellphone. The commercials you see for AT&T, T-Mobile and Verizon are virtually at all times for postpaid plans, whereas the plans and carriers we’re speaking about listed below are all pay as you go plans. 

You’re shopping for the information and entry prematurely of utilizing it. Prepaid plan suppliers allow you to buy in numerous increments — 30 days, 60 days, 90 days, six months or perhaps a full 12 months — with costs usually various relying on how lengthy you are prepared to decide to. 

In this story, I’m evaluating single-year pay as you go cellular phone plans. 

As I famous when protecting the perfect limitless plans, to get essentially the most out of your deal you must be sure you have the protection you want. This makes it exhausting to present a blanket suggestion of anyone provider: T-Mobile’s service in New York could also be glorious, however when you’re in, say, rural Iowa, Verizon is extra dependable. 

Prepaid suppliers virtually at all times use another person’s service. Before you join one, it is value checking what the underlying community is. Each gives some model of 5G and I’ve damaged this all down right here, however to recap: 

• Boost Mobile makes use of AT&T and T-Mobile for now (it is switching to a mix of AT&T, T-Mobile and mum or dad Dish’s personal community sooner or later)
• Mint makes use of T-Mobile
• Cricket makes use of AT&T
• Google Fi makes use of T-Mobile and US Cellular
• Metro makes use of T-Mobile
• Tracfone makes use of Verizon
• Verizon Prepaid is on Verizon
• Total makes use of Verizon
• AT&T Prepaid is on AT&T

If you have got any mates or household in your space who already use the pay as you go provider you are contemplating, ask about their expertise. You may additionally go to a significant provider’s retailer and see if it gives any free methods to check out the service earlier than switching over, corresponding to T-Mobile’s Network Pass.

As with the principle carriers, there are durations of time when the pay as you go gamers supply offers. Boost Mobile used to run a promo for brand spanking new clients that allow you to get three strains with limitless discuss, textual content and information for $90 per thirty days ($30 per line) after “your first payment of $100.” It has since added a brand new limitless plan that’s $25 per thirty days for brand spanking new customers, although every line must be separate and can’t be grouped collectively on a household plan. 

Some pay as you go suppliers will even give reductions on shopping for a brand new gadget, although in contrast to the principle carriers do not anticipate the identical huge promotions providing a free new iPhone 14 or Galaxy S22. Those offers are sometimes tied to 24- or 36-month installment plans, which pay as you go by its nature does probably not supply. 

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Boost Mobile has added a vast plan for brand spanking new customers that provides limitless discuss, textual content and information for $25 per thirty days with taxes and costs included. Unlike Mint Mobile’s 12-month plan, our earlier decide on this slot, Boost’s plan is not tied to 12-month increments. You do, nonetheless, have to be a brand new Boost buyer to get the supply. 

The plan contains 5G entry and 30GB per thirty days of high-speed information (when you blow via that your information will sluggish till your subsequent billing month begins). Hotspot is included as nicely, with that information pulling out of your high-speed allotment. One factor value noting: You do must arrange computerized funds to get the $25-per-month price. 

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Ryan Reynolds’ cellphone firm has made a reputation for itself with its quirky promoting, nevertheless it additionally has one of many higher gives for limitless information that we have seen. For 12 months, you will get limitless discuss, textual content and information for $30 per thirty days per line. Running on T-Mobile’s networks, you get 35GB of high-speed information on 5G and 4G LTE per thirty days, although when you do blow via that earlier than your 30-day interval resets, your speeds will sluggish to “3G speeds.”

There’s additionally 5GB of high-speed hotspot information and free worldwide calls to Mexico and Canada. 

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As with all plans, the worth will change relying in your particular wants and if that exact community works nicely in your space. Google has up to date the limitless plans on its Fi cellular phone service that not solely lowers the month-to-month worth, but in addition provides in just a few helpful options. While its $50 pricing for one line is approach greater than Mint’s, if in case you have three strains or extra it can save you a bit. 

Called Simply Unlimited, the plan runs $25 per line per thirty days with three strains and drops to $20 per thirty days if in case you have 4 or extra strains. It now contains 35GB of high-speed information plus discuss, textual content and information in Canada and Mexico. The plan additionally now gives 5GB of hotspot information, although that could be a “hard” cap the place the hotspot function stops after 5GB is used, versus the information slowing. 

One factor to notice: Google Fi nonetheless doesn’t supply 5G connectivity for iPhones. 

Other choices: Metro and Cricket every supply an identical possibility that is $30 per line if in case you have three strains, however if in case you have 4 or 5 strains the value per line would drop to $25 per line per thirty days ($100 a month for 4 strains, $125 for 5 strains). Both are nonetheless pricier than Fi’s up to date providing and neither supply cell hotspot information with these plans. 

Cricket says it “may temporarily slow data speeds if the network is busy,” whereas Google says it should sluggish information when you exceed 35GB in a month. Metro speeds will equally sluggish when you use over 35GB in a month, and T-Mobile will prioritize its personal customers over these on Metro plans. 

Tracfone doesn’t supply a standard limitless information plan. Verizon and AT&T’s pay as you go choices begin at $50 a month with computerized funds ($65 with out). 

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Cricket and Metro additionally supply perks with their prime limitless plans — within the case of Cricket you get a subscription to HBO Max with advertisements, whereas Metro gives a subscription to Amazon Prime, one 12 months of ViX Plus and 100GB of Google One storage. But these costs are greater per line when you have been solely searching for one, two or three strains. 

If you are searching for 4 or extra strains, the highest Metro limitless plan might be value contemplating. A promotion has that all the way down to $30 a month per line, so if that is your finances you might need to take a look at that deal, as for a similar worth per line you might as nicely get the perks like Amazon Prime and Google One alongside the service. 

Verizon’s new Total by Verizon service contains Disney Plus with its prime plan, however at $60 per thirty days for a single line and $165 per thirty days for 4 strains it is in all probability not value it. 

If worth is the largest issue for you, take a look at Google Fi’s Simply Unlimited plan we talked about above. 

Anything lower than 4 strains, nonetheless, and Metro is so much pricier than Mint. One cellphone line with this prime limitless plan runs $60 a month, two strains are $90 a month and three strains are $120.

It is value mentioning that Metro — like AT&T, Verizon and Boost — works with the federal government’s Affordable Connectivity Program. If you qualify for that program, Metro’s $40 per thirty days limitless plan might be had for $10 per thirty days (and the one with perks might be $30 per thirty days as a substitute of its common $60 month-to-month). 

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When it involves information below 10GB, Mint as soon as once more has the perfect worth if T-Mobile’s community is stable in your space. Whereas Metro and Cricket cost $40 per thirty days for one line and Boost has a $35 plan for 10GB of information, Mint beats all of them on worth. 

Getting 10GB of 4G LTE/5G month-to-month information is $20 per thirty days at Mint when bought in 12-month increments for brand spanking new customers. After that, you should buy three extra months at $35 per thirty days ($105 complete), six months at $25 per thirty days ($150 complete) or one other 12 months at $20 per thirty days ($240 complete). 

Other choices: Google Fi has a “bill protection” function designed to refund you for information you do not use, however with a most month-to-month cost of $80 per thirty days for one line and 6GB of information and limitless discuss/textual content, I feel you are higher off wanting elsewhere as a substitute of getting to calculate how a lot information you are utilizing. 

AT&T has a web-based supply of 16GB per thirty days plan when you prepay the $300 for a full 12 months (equating to $25 per thirty days). 

Tracfone would not have a 10GB plan however has two different choices instantly above and beneath it. The first is an 8GB-per-month plan that runs $35 per thirty days when you allow auto-refill, or $40 per thirty days repeatedly. The supplier does have a 24GB plan for one 12 months that runs $199, although that 24GB is all the information you get for the 12 months. 

The perk with the AT&T and Tracfone plans is that any unused information carries over to the following month. For the latter, when you’re searching for a pay as you go supplier on Verizon it is exhausting to prime what quantities to a month-to-month price of $16.58.

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Boost Mobile has just a few attractive plans at 5GB or much less, significantly when you’re a brand new buyer. The provider gives a $14 per thirty days plan that provides 5GB of high-speed information per thirty days with the power to make use of that allotment for cell hotspot. You’ll must prepay for 12 months of service to get this supply ($168), nevertheless it’s higher bang on your buck than the $15 per thirty days for 4GB of information Mint Mobile gives new clients who prepay for a 12 months. 

Metro, Total by Verizon and Cricket every cost $30 per thirty days for 5GB of information and Tracfone has a 4GB information plan however that runs $25 when on auto-refill ($30 with out). 

Boost, nonetheless, has a $100 deal that provides 1GB of information per thirty days for a full 12 months for brand spanking new clients. That breaks all the way down to $8.33 per thirty days. If you do not have Boost, end up largely on Wi-Fi and worth is the largest driver for you, that is the go-to decide if searching for a brand new service.

T-Mobile has just a few T-Mobile Connect offers together with a $25 per thirty days possibility with limitless discuss/textual content and 6GB of information (with an additional 500MB of information added to your plan yearly). The provider additionally has a $10 per thirty days Connect possibility that features 1,000 home minutes for discuss, 1,000 home and 1GB of information. 

As we mentioned on the prime, the perfect deal is the one which works greatest for you.