You want to switch cell phone plans, but you're not sure which one to choose. A lot of the time, wireless carriers offer the best deals when you sign up to switch online. In this article, I'll tell you about the best cell phone plans of December 2024.
If you'd rather watch than read, check out our new video on the best cell phone plans of 2022!
Best Phone Plans December 2024
| Plan | Data | Minutes & Messages | Starting Price |
|---|---|---|---|
| The Visible Wireless Plan | Unlimited | Unlimited | $40 / month |
| Mint Mobile Prepaid | 10 GB | Unlimited | $30 / month |
| Verizon Prepaid | 5 GB | Unlimited | $25 / month |
| AT&T Prepaid | 8 GB | Unlimited | $25 / month |
| T-Mobile Magenta Max | Unlimited | Unlimited | $85 / month |
| Ting Mobile Flex Plan | $5 per GB | Unlimited | $10 / month |
| Tello Mobile Economy | 1 GB | Unlimited | $10 / month |
Best Unlimited Plan: Visible Wireless Plan
Visible offers one of the best deals on unlimited data available today. With unlimited minutes, messages, mobile hotspot, and high-speed data including 5G, a single-line Visible plan starts at $40 / month. The real savings start to kick in when you begin adding people to your Party.
With Party Pay, you'll save $5 per person in your Party, for a maximum of $15 / month in savings. So, if you have four people in your Party, each person only pays $25 / month for their Visible plan. Unlike other multi-line plans, each person in the Party is responsible for paying their own plan. No more needing to pay your friends over Venmo or PayPal!
Best Prepaid Plan: Mint Mobile 10 GB
Mint Mobile's 10 GB Prepaid plan includes 10 GB of high-speed data (4G LTE or 5G), unlimited minutes, and unlimited messages. Mobile hotspot, Wi-Fi calling, and calling to Canada and Mexico are also included with this plan.
This plan has an intro offer that starts at $20 / month for three month for a total of $60 upfront. After the initial three months are over, you can lock in the $20 / month rate by renewing for a full year. The monthly cost of the plan increases if you only renew for 3–6 months.
We recommend testing out Mint Mobile with the intro offer. If you like their service, renew for the full year!
Best Verizon Plan: 5 GB Prepaid
The Verizon Prepaid Plan with 5 GB of high-speed data is our favorite Verizon plan. Along with 5 GB of cellular data, this plan includes unlimited minutes and messages. You can also use your monthly data allotment for mobile hotspot. Any unused cellular data rolls over to the next month.
Even if you exceed your monthly data allotment, you can continue using cellular data at slower speeds. This means you'll never be charged overages!
Best AT&T Plan: 8 GB Prepaid
AT&T's 8 GB online exclusive offer is their best plan — with one catch. It includes unlimited minutes, unlimited messages, and 8 GB of high-speed data that can also be used for mobile hotspot. You can continue using unlimited low-speed data if you exceed the 8 GB cap.
Here's the catch — to get this plan for $25 / month, you have to pay for a full year up front. It's also an online exclusive offer, so you can't walk into an AT&T store and get this plan. However, if you can afford to pay the $300 upfront, this is a great deal!
Best T-Mobile Plan: Magenta Max
If you're interested in a T-Mobile plan, we recommend paying all the way up for Magenta Max, especially if you're interested in a multi-line plan. Magenta Max is T-Mobile's top-of-the-line plan, starting at $85 / month. However, the price drops to just $43 / month per line when you add four lines.
There's a reason this plan is so expensive. It includes unlimited high-speed data with no cap, a Netflix subscription, unlimited mobile hotspot (40 GB of high-speed data, then 3G), tons of international features, access to T-Mobile Tuesdays, and more!
The Problem With T-Mobile Connect Plans
While we believe prepaid plans are generally the best option for most consumers, we don't recommend subscribing to a T-Mobile Connect plan. Unlike other prepaid plans, T-Mobile Connect plans have a hard data cap, meaning you won't be able to use any cellular data if you exceed your monthly data allotment. For the same price, you can get a plan from a different carrier with just as much data without a data cap.
Best No Data Plan: Ting Mobile Flex
Ting Mobile's Flex Plan is a great, affordable option for people who need no or only a little cellular data every month. This plan includes unlimited minutes and messages with the option to add cellular data for $5 per gigabyte (GB).
We like this plan because it gives you the flexibility to use cellular data if you need it. However, you need to be careful. This plan can get expensive very quickly. If you find yourself using more than one GB of data every month, you'll save money by going with the next plan in this article.
Best Budget Plan: Tello Mobile Economy
If you're on a tight budget, Tello Mobile's Economy Plan is a great option. For just $10 / month, you get unlimited minutes, unlimited messages, 1 GB of high-speed data, and access to mobile hotspot. You can continue using cellular data at throttled speeds after you've used that 1 GB of high-speed data. One other great perk of this plan is free calling to more than 60 countries!
Do I Need A Plan With 5G Data?
5G infrastructure is still in its infancy. Many of the plans we recommend don't include high-band 5G coverage because it's not widely available and its range is poor.
T-Mobile is currently the leader in 5G, but all three major carriers are still working to build out their mid-band and low-band networks. Check out our article on the truth about 5G coverage to learn more.
Learn More About These Plans
To get more information about these plans, click the links in the table above or check out our video detailing the best cell phone plans of the month!
Check Our Coverage Maps
Before switching to a new wireless carrier, it's a good idea to make sure that carrier has service where you live. Check out our maps to compare which carriers have the best coverage in your area!
Switch Online, Save Money
There are a lot of reasons why it's better to buy a cell phone plan online than in a store. Most carriers offer online exclusive deals on plans and phones. You'll save a lot of money when you switch online. Some carriers will also waive activation fees when you sign up online. You don't have to break the bank to get a great cell phone plan either!
Check out our video to learn about the best cell phone plans under $25 / month. Check out our other article or watch our video to learn more reasons why you should switch plans online!
About Pay-As-You-Go Plans
A pay-as-you-go plan is a plan in which you pay your carrier for every minute, messages, and gigabyte of data you use over the course of the plan term. While this sounds like a pretty simple system, there's one important thing you should know before signing up for one of these plans — the amount you'll pay is almost always more than you would with a regular prepaid or postpaid plan.
One example is the H2O Wireless Pay-As-You-Go Plan. H2O Wireless has many excellent cell phone plans, but this isn't one of them. Like most cell phone plans, the H2O Wireless Pay-As-You-Go plan doesn't have annual contracts or hidden fees.
One variation of this plan is the $10 / 90-day model. There is a 5-cent charge per minute of calling or per text sent or received, as well as a 10-cent charge per megabyte for data.
Based on these rates, visiting ESPN's website once and not clicking on any links or articles will use six megabytes of data, costing you 60 cents. That's ridiculous! And, since loading images and streaming video uses up a lot of data, you might run out of your $10 allotment on this particular plan after just 10 minutes of scrolling through Facebook.
Instead of signing up for a pay-as-you-go plan, choose one of the plans we recommended above. You'll save a lot of money when you do!
Switch And Save!
You've found a great new cell phone plan! We hope you'll share this article on social media to teach your family, friends, and followers how they can save money by switching to one of the best cell phone plans in December 2024. Leave us a comment down below if you need more help choosing a cell phone plan.
