Best phone plan deals and cheap phone plans

Cheap phone plan questions, answered

Who has the best cell phone plan deals right now?

Across the 57 live U.S. plans we track from 23 carriers, the lowest verified monthly price is Tello Tello 2GB at $8 per line. Whether it is the best deal for you depends on the coverage network and how much data you need, which is why every plan here shows both next to the price.

What is a good cheap phone plan?

A cheap plan is only good value if it covers you. 16 of the plans we list cost under $25 per line a month and run across 3 different coverage networks, so check the network a plan uses against where you live before price. We also show the one-off activation fee, because a low monthly rate with a high joining cost is not cheap in the first month.

How often do phone plan prices change here?

We re-check every plan against the carrier or retailer feed daily, and each plan shows the date its price was last verified. Promotional rates come and go, so a deal listed today may carry different conditions tomorrow — the conditions shown are the ones stated by the carrier at the time of the last check.

Do cheap phone plans charge an activation fee?

Some do and some do not — 57 of the plans we list have no activation fee at all. Where a fee exists we show the exact amount the carrier states, and the deals table includes a first-month cost so you can compare plans on what you actually pay to start.

Are cheap plans worse for coverage?

Not necessarily. Most low-cost carriers are MVNOs that run on the same networks as the big operators, so we list the underlying network for every plan and show state-level coverage from FCC data on each plan page. A cheap plan on a network that is weak where you live is the one to avoid.

More on how we work in the full FAQ.