Families are stronger together, and so are the best family cell phone plans in my experience. The plans that I find the most appealing are the ones that add significant discounts as you add more lines — and those discounts keep scaling up as your family plan grows.
The end result of this approach? You're paying less per line each month than you would with a single line of the best cell phone plan overall. And that helps keep your monthly wireless bill manageable.
There's something else to keep in mind when looking for the best family cell phone plans: unlimited data is the way to go more often than not. That way, you don't have to worry about running out of data when you're all sharing one big pool. Instead, everyone covered by the plan gets the data they need each month.
My picks below reflect those two main criteria. But a decade of looking after cell phone plan prices for Tom's Guide has taught me a few other factors to take into consideration. It's always good when carriers let you mix and match different types of plan, as that can keep costs down as well. And I look for perks, too, particularly ones that will benefit the whole family like subscriptions to the best streaming services that come with your plan.
For this picks, we're going to look at plans that cover families of four, though below, you'll also find what two lines on a plan will cost you each month. Families of four can expect to pay between $120 to $220 a month for four lines from the major wireless carriers. Certain promotions can drive that cost down, particularly when carriers waive the cost of an extra line. Plans on the lower end of that range tend to have fewer perks — hotspot data, complementary streaming services, and more — so take that into consideration when making your choice.
Right now, I think T-Mobile has the best mix of perks and price for its family plan, but if you want a more budget-friendly option, Mint Mobile. Xfinity and Total Wireless also have plans with significant discounts for families of four.
The quick list
Unlimited data for $155 at T-Mobile
T-Mobile's Go5G is the best option with hotspot, data, travel perks and streaming benefits included in the plan. (Taxes and fees are covered, too.) This price reflects the fact that T-Mobile is currently waiving the cost of a 3rd line of data.
Unlimited data for $180 at Verizon
Verizon's Unlimited Plus plan costs $180 per month for four lines and features hotspot data and fast 5G coverage. You can pick and choose additional benefits for extra and mix and match with the cheaper Unlimited Welcome plan.
5GB for $60 at Mint
Mint doesn't add discounts as you add lines, but every line in a plan is subject to the same low rate when you sign up for a year of service. That means four lines of Mint's 5GB plan can cost as little as $60 per month when you pay up front.
Unlimited data for $100 at Comcast
Comcast lowers the per line cost of unlimited data as you add more lines. That means a family of four will pay $100 each month for Xfinity Mobile's service, which relies on Verizon's network for coverage.
Unlimited data for $164 at AT&T
The best option for families at AT&T is the carrier's Unlimited Extra plan. Four lines cost $164 per month, and you get hotspot data along with coverage when traveling in Mexico and Canada.
Unlimited data for $110 at Total
Formerly Total by Verizon, the rebranded Total Wireless has a much more attractive unlimited data plan that waives the cost of a fourth line. As a result, you're paying less for faster 5G coverage.
As the managing editor of mobile at Tom's Guide, I oversee our coverage on phones and wireless networks. That includes keeping track of all the different cell phone plans out there, which I've been handling for a decade now. With two other people in my immediate family, I have more than a passing interesting in staying up-to-date on what carriers are charging for multiple lines of their wireless service.
The best family cell phone plan overall
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The most flexible family cell phone plan
Best family cell phone plan value
Best family cell phone plan for Comcast customers
Best family cell phone plan at AT&T
Best prepaid family plan
Best family cell phone plans compared
Here are all the best family cell phone plans we've recommended shown side by side so you can better see how the prices compare. We've included the prices for two lines of data as well as for families of four to illustrate how adding additional lines reduces the per line cost.
As a reminder, you don't get per-line discounts with Mint's plans, but all lines in a family plan qualify for the same discount when you pay for a year of service upfront.
| Phone carrier plan | Data amount | Monthly cost per line (2 lines) | Monthly cost per line (4 lines) |
| T-Mobile Go5G | Unlimited | $65 | $38.75 |
| Verizon Unlimited Plus | Unlimited | $70 | $45 |
| Mint 5GB plan | 5GB per line | $15 (with $360 annual payment) | $15 (with $720 annual payment) |
| Xfinity Mobile Unlimited | Unlimited | $30 | $25 |
| AT&T Unlimited Extra EL | Unlimited | $65.99 | $40.99 |
| Total Wireless Total 5G Unlimited | Unlimited | $42.50 | $27.50 |
How to pick the best family cell phone plans
For families, picking the right cell phone plan comes down to balancing the costs of multiple lines of data with the perks each carrier offers. If you do a lot of video streaming, for example, you’ll want to pick a plan that not only throws in a streaming service as a perk (Netflix with T-Mobile, multiple streaming services with Verizon) but also doesn’t slow your data if you consume a lot of data in a given month. Getting a plan with HD streaming can also be a good idea if you plan to stream on a screen larger than your smartphone's display.
As we've noted, many family plans also feature the best unlimited data plans at each carrier. But unlimited data still comes with some limits on just how much data you can use before your speed can slow down. AT&T's Unlimited Extra customers will enjoy a 50GB cap, while Unlimited Elite subscribers face no cap at all. Verizon can slow data for Unlimited Plus customers once they use more than 30GB of data, while Welcome Unlimited customers can see data speeds slowed down whenever there's too much traffic on Verizon's network. T-Mobile Magenta and Go5G customers can see data slowed when they use more than 100GB during a billing cycle; there's no throttling for Magenta Max and Go5G Plus customers.
Use an MVNO like Mint or Cricket, and you can see your data speeds deprioritized in favor of other customers on the parent company's network (T-Mobile and AT&T, respectively).
