Best phone carriers of 2024

The best phone carrier delivers reliable service at an affordable cost while responding quickly whenever you've got a question about your service or your device. And if they can include some perks that deliver a little extra to your plan, even better.

That's the criteria I use when singling out the best phone carriers to Tom's Guide readers. As I've been looking into the cost of the best cell phone plans for just about a decade, I'm extremely familiar with what different carriers charge for different plans and how much data you get in exchange for your monthly rate. More importantly, I'm constantly checking those prices to see what's changed. And I take note if the plans with any added perks like complementary streaming services, overseas coverage and more.

Coverage in specific areas is harder to pin down, but I do track overall coverage, especially how third-party testing firms rank the performance of different networks. And I'm following how the major carriers are improving their 5G reach and speeds as well.

Based on all of that, I pick Verizon as the best phone carrier for its flexible plans and extensive reach. (In fact, I use Verizon in my daily life, so I'm pretty confident in that pick.) Of course, if you live somewhere where other wireless networks are stronger, T-Mobile's range of unlimited plans makes it the best alternative among the major players. But don't be afraid to consider smaller carriers like MVNOs that rely on the towers of bigger providers for their service. Trying a smaller carrier like Visible or Mint is a great way to wind up with a lower monthly bill — and some very dependable wireless service to boot.

Finding the best phone carrier takes on particular importance at the end of the year when many of the best phone deals that wireless providers offer around the holidays require you to sign up for a specific phone plan. If you know the strengths and weakness of each carrier, you can better determine if that deal really is worth tying yourself to a specific wireless service for a lower-priced phone.

Best phone carriers: The quick list

Philip Michaels

My name is Philip Michaels, and I'm the managing editor for mobile devices at Tom's Guide. In addition to overseeing our smartphone coverage, I'm also in charge of keeping track of phone carriers in the U.S. I've been writing about cell phone plans for nearly a decade now, and I've overseen a couple rounds of cellular network testing for Tom's Guide. When the first U.S. 5G network went live in Chicago in 2019, I was there to test how well it worked. (It's gotten much better since then.) If there's a phone carrier, I probably have an opinion about it, no matter how obscure that carrier may seem.

Best phone carrier overall

Verizon leads our best phone carrier rankings thanks to some flexible unlimited plans and a 5G network that's rising rapidly in the rankings. Focusing on the latter, Verizon offers faster Ultra Wideband 5G coverage to around 250 million people. When we've tested LTE speeds, Verizon has come out on top, though the most recent Rootmetrics report covering the first half of 2024 continues to put AT&T in the lead for overall speed. Still, that same report puts Verizon in first place overall, and a separate report on 5G speed ranks Verizon as the top carrier.

Verizon's plans remain pricey relative to other carriers such as T-Mobile, but the offering of unlimited options has gotten much simpler. A $65/month Unlimited Welcome plan offers nationwide 5G coverage and little else. For $80/month, you get faster Ultra Wideband 5G coverage plus 30GB of hotspot data with the Unlimited Plus plan. There's also the Unlimited Ultimate plan ($90/month) which doubles hotspot data to 60GB and adds high-speed data when you travel to other countries.

Once you have a plan in place, you can pick add-ons — get Disney's streaming bundle or three days of TravelPass benefits for overseas trips, all for $10/month per bundle. (Verizon's Disney bundle saves you $12 off the cost of buying that package separately.) Those extras can add up quickly, but you're able to add and drop them as needed on a monthly basis. At the moment, for example, I don't have any add-ons linked to my personal Verizon plan, though the next time I head to Europe, I would activate the TravelPass add-on ahead of time.

Verizon's prepaid offerings are tops among the major carriers, with an autopay discount dropping the cost of the carrier's 15GB prepaid plan to $35 a month — enough data for most people. Prepaid plans with unlimited data start at $50. You can now add multiple prepaid lines and even get discounts on unlimited data plans.

Verizon also makes it easier to experience 5G by accepting any phone you trade-in — even broken ones — to reduce the cost of upgrading to a 5G phone. The carrier has moved to 36-month agreements, increasing how long you need to tie yourself to Verizon if you buy your phone in installments or get some of the best Verizon phone deals.

Verizon has fared well when we've tested customer service for phone carriers, and it continues to offer an extensive selection of phones, including Ultra Wideband versions of some phones designed specifically for Verizon's network. If you don't mind paying a little more on your monthly bill, Verizon provides the performance and service to rank as the best phone carrier overall.

Best alternative choice

Verizon may be our top-ranked wireless provider, but T-Mobile is close behind, thanks to some terrific plans and extensive 5G coverage. T-Mobile plans cost a little bit less than Verizon's, which makes the Uncarrier an attractive alternative as the best phone carrier, particularly if you live in an area where T-Mobile has a strong network.

Let's talk about those data plans for a moment. T-Mobile has the best unlimited data plan in the business, in the form of the $75/month Go5G offering. A frequent promotion aimed at new customers waives the cost of a third Go5G line, giving T-Mobile the best family cell phone plan, too. As for anyone 55 years or older, T-Mobile has the best cell phone plans for seniors, with coverage starting at $60/month for two lines of unlimited data. T-Mobile's senior plans are open to anyone living in the U.S. who's 55 years or older, a contrast to Verizon and AT&T which restrict their senior-friendly offerings to Florida residents aged 55 years and up.

If you need more perks, consider Go5G Plus, which offers better travel and streaming service benefits than Go5G. With the Go5G Plus plan you get an Apple TV Plus subscription. T-Mobile's Go5G Next Plan is its most expensive option at $100/month for one line, but you're able to upgrade to a new phone every year. Go5G Next also includes free subscriptions to multiple streaming services, including Apple TV Plus, Netflix and Hulu.

If you don't need unlimited data, T-Mobile's Connect plans offer 5GB, 8GB and 12GB data allotments with low prices to match. The 5GB plan is particularly attractive since it costs just $15/month — exactly what Mint charges for its 5GB plan without requiring you to pay for a full year of service to get that rate. The downside to T-Mobile's approach is that once you use up all that data for the month, you're out of data for the rest of the billing cycle unless you buy more. In contrast, many other prepaid carriers just slow down your data speeds when you hit your limit.

As for network performance, testing by Ookla through the second quarter of 2024 has T-Mobile posting the best speeds of any U.S. phone carrier. Rootmetrics says T-Mobile has the best 5G availability, though it says Verizon's service is now faster. OpenSignal's July 2024 report had T-Mobile sweeping the overall experience awards for speed, video and gaming; T-Mobile also claims the fastest 5G download speeds in OpenSignal's testing.

T-Mobile's 5G service now reaches more than 330 million people across the country. Of that total, 300 million can access its faster Ultra Capacity 5G service. T-Mobile teamed up with SpaceX to launch a satellite as the start of an initiative to extends cellular coverage to remote areas where it's harder to get a signal.

The perks T-Mobile customers receive continue to set this service apart from rivals. Weekly T-Mobile Tuesday giveaways include prizes and benefits, and a new Magenta Status program for subscribers delivers other perks. Several years ago, T-Mobile launched a Team of Experts program to improve customer service to subscribers.

Best phone carrier for low-cost unlimited data

Unlimited data is cheaper than ever at Visible, a Verizon-owned discount carrier. The entry-level Visible plan starts at $25 per month, with taxes and fees included. It's a bare-bones offering, but the $45/month Visible Plus plan isn't that much more expensive, and it offers more perks, especially after some recent additions to that plan.

Visible Plus is an even better deal at the moment, thanks to a promotion that lowers the cost of the plan for the next 25 months. Sign up with code 'SWITCH25' to knock the monthly cost of Visible Plus down to $30. That same code lowers the standard Visible plan's cost to $20/month.

Visible Plus subscribers get 50GB of premium data before they see any slowdowns. Visible Plus adds other perks like international calling to more than 30 countries, data roaming when traveling in Mexico and Canada and one Global Pass per month for using your plan when you travel overseas. Visible Plus customers also get faster mobile hotspot data and can connect a smartwatch to their plan at no extra cost. The biggest perk, though, remains access to Verizon's Ultra Wideband 5G network. (The standardmonthly plan uses Verizon's slower nationwide 5G for coverage.)

Visible now follows the lead of other low-cost carriers like Mint Mobile by letting you pay for a full year of coverage in advance to get a lower monthly rate. A year of the standard Visible plan costs $275, saving you $25 overall. The savings are bigger with a full-year of prepaid Visible Plus service — paying $395 saves you $145 off the regular cost. Existing customers now have the option of switching to annual rates, too.

Visible got its start as an iPhone-only carrier, though it subsequently added Android phones to the mix, from flagships like the Samsung Galaxy S24 to budget offerings like the Galaxy A35. An early upgrade program lets you switch to a new device after you've paid off 50% of your phone. You can also bring your own device to Visible. If you've got a Samsung Galaxy or Google Pixel phone that supports eSIM, you can try out Visible for free for 15 days — a perk that iPhone users have long enjoyed with the carrier.

I've used Visible's service in the past and found it pretty comparable to my experience as a Verizon customer in terms of network performance. The company has an online-only approach to customer service, which worked well enough for me at the time, though I have heard from some customers who found support wanting.

Best way to save

Mint Mobile offers some of the lowest rates around, provided you're willing to pay for coverage up front. Pricing currently starts at $10/month for the first three months of the carrier's 5GB data plan. For the other three plans, you'll pay $15/month at the start.

After those first three months are up, you've got a decision to make. If you want Mint's lowest monthly rate, you need to prepay for a full year of service. In the case of the 5GB plan that's a $15 monthly rate, which brings your upfront payment to $180. The best rate on the unlimited data plan at Mint is $30/month, so you'd pay $360 if you opt for that plan. We've got a look at the pros and cons of paying for a year of cellular service in advance.

Mint offers family plans, though without the escalating discounts you get as you add more lines. (Parent company T-Mobile does this, for example.) Instead, every plan on the plan is subject to Mint's discounted rate for prepaying for service in advance. You're able to mix and match different plans for each line of data you have — something T-Mobile doesn't offer its family plan customers.

Mint's betting that you'll want to stick with its service, not just for the lower monthly cost, but also because Mint wireless coverage is available via T-Mobile's network. So you should expect fast performance if T-Mobile's coverage is strong in your area. Mint says you'll get 5G or 4G coverage depending on which signal is stronger — assuming you've got a 5G-compatible phone, of course.

Speaking of devices, Mint sells both iPhones and Android handsets, at a wide range of prices. You can also bring your current phone to Mint if you prefer.

Best range of plans

AT&T may be one of the Big Three carriers, but it's somewhat easy to overlook this wireless provider, given the size of Verizon's network and the headline-grabbing announcements that come out of T-Mobile. Dig beneath the surface, though, and there's a lot more to AT&T than meets the eye.

Take AT&T's plans, which seem somewhat pricey if you focus on the $86/month Unlimited Premium option. That particular plan has no cap on data consumption, and you can use talk, text and data for free when traveling in 20 Latin American countries. The $76/month Unlimited Extra and $66/month Unlimited Starter plan round out the main offerings, with fewer perks than what Premium users enjoy.

But if you just need one line of data, it's hard to beat the $51/month Value Plus plan. It's free of perks beyond 5G access and the ability to use your plan in Mexico and Canada, but you get unlimited data and 5G coverage for much less than AT&T's other offerings. (Previously, you couldn't add multiple lines of Value Plus at a discount, but now AT&T's website indicates that discounts apply once you add a third line of data.)

AT&T also has some pretty attractive prepaid options, including a deal that gives you unlimited data, with a sizable 16GB cap until your speeds are slowed. To get this plan, you have to pay $300 upfront, but that works out to a rate of $25/month — not bad for that much data. If you don't want to pay upfront, there is a $45/month unlimited data option for prepaid users with a 30GB cap on high speed data.

It should be said that AT&T typically fares well in performance testing. Rootmetrics' rankings for the first half of 2024 put AT&T in first place for fastest coverage and highest call quality. That said, AT&T did slip to second overall in the rankings after sharing first place with Verizon for the latter half of 2023. In addition to low-band 5G spectrum covering 295 million people, 230 million people now have access to AT&T's faster mid-band 5G coverage.

Best carrier for travelers

The name has changed to Google Fi Wireless, but the service is essentially the same. And whatever you call it, Google Fi remains the carrier to go to if you buy one of Google's phones, whether that's the Pixel 8a or any of the Pixel 9 models now available from Google.

Pixel devices are optimized for Google's wireless network, allowing them to seamlessly switch between the carrier providing Google Fi's coverage — T-Mobile, plus an extended network tapping into other carriers — and secure Wi-Fi networks. Google also sells compatible third-party devices including the Galaxy S24, Galaxy Z Fold 6 and Galaxy Z Flip 6 foldables and several Motorola handsets. You're not necessarily limited to those phones — iPhones work on Google Fi, too — though those devices won't enjoy optimized coverage.

Google Fi's by-the-gig pricing is appealing if you don't use a lot of data. Google charges you $20 for unlimited talk and text and then just $10 for each gigabyte of data you use. But that's adjusted to the precise amount of data you consume — if you use 2.5GB, say, you'll pay $25 instead of Google rounding up to $30.

Unlimited data plans are more compelling, with Unlimited Plus costing $65 a month and featuring the ability to use your data overseas in more than 200 countries at no extra cost; we think it's one of the best international phone plans (though T-Mobile has the best travel perks among the major carriers). Unlimited Plus also gives you a year's subscription to YouTube Premium. If you don't do that kind of traveling, the Simply Unlimited plan costs $50 a month for one line of data, which is more than what Visible and Mint charge for their unlimited options.

You can add select devices like the Samsung Galaxy Watch 7 or Pixel Watch 3 to any Google Fi plan with no extra connection fee — a rarity among wireless carriers.

Best cable service carrier

If you already get your internet service from Comcast — and since it's the nation's biggest internet service provider, there's a good chance you do — Xfinity Mobile offers you the opportunity to save money on your monthly phone bill, particularly if you need multiple lines of data. The Comcast-backed phone carrier uses a combination of Verizon's cellular towers and Xfinity hotspots to offer nationwide phone coverage.

Xfinity's best plan for individuals now starts at $40/month. That's not as cheap as what discount carriers like Visible and Mint charge, but Xfinity's per-line rate drops as you add more lines. Two lines of unlimited data will cost you $30 per line, while a family of four would pay $25 per line (or $100 total each month). An Unlimited Plus plan is $50/month for one line and includes perks like HD video streaming, 15GB of hotspot data at 5G speeds a bigger cap on data usage before your speeds are slowed (50GB instead of 30GB). Families can mix and match Xfinity's plans.

If unlimited data is too much for your needs, Xfinity also offers by-the-gig pricing, which is now $20 per gigabyte. That's pretty pricey when compared to Google Fi's $10/gigabyte rate, though Google's service charges another $20 for unlimited talk and text. That's included in the Xfinity by-the-gig option.

You'll find a good selection of phones at Xfinity, including the latest iPhone and Android flagships, such as the iPhone 16 and Galaxy S24. These days, Xfinity offers better support for bringing your own device beyond just the iPhone; recent Samsung Galaxy and Google Pixel devices are supported, too, if you already own those phones.

A prepaid carrier with perks

Our best phone carriers guide highlights alternative carriers for T-Mobile (Mint) and Verizon (Visible). But where do you turn to if you want coverage on AT&T's network without paying AT&T prices? We'd recommend Cricket Wireless, which is owned and operated by AT&T but gives you additional options for wireless coverage. For the most part, they'll cost you less than what you'd pay at AT&T.

Cricket has two unlimited plans, and the best of the bunch is the $60/month Unlimited + 15GB Hotspot plan. One of the perks of this offering is right there in the name — the hotspot data — but you also get 150GB of cloud storage and a subscription to the ad-supported tier of the Max streaming service. That's something AT&T customers don't event get to enjoy. Four lines of that unlimited plan drops the per-line cost to $32.50 each month.

Cricket also features a multi-month unlimited plan that matches AT&T's prepaid option in which you pay $300 in advance for a year's worth of service. That works out to $25/month for unlimited data, You don't get the Max subscription here, and your data can slow down if AT&T's network is busy.

If unlimited data is too much for your needs, you can find two tiered plans at Cricket — a 5GB option for $30 and double the data (10GB) for just $10 more each month.

Cricket offers a wide range of phones, including particularly attractive deals if you don't mind buying a device that's a little older than the latest hardware. A 14-day free trial lets you try out Cricket's service in advance to make sure the carrier's coverage meets your needs.

Best carrier for seniors

Consumer Cellular is a good option for your cell phone service if you don't want to pay a lot for a big pool of data, now that the discount carrier has streamlined its plans. Four options remain, and the best one is the 10GB plan — a lot of data for just $35/month.

We wish Consumer Cellular still offered attractively priced plans for people who don't need a lot of data. But the 1GB plan now costs $20/month — a price that T-Mobile, Mint and others easily beat. The $50 unlimited plan is more than what Visible and Mint charge for their coverage.

Because Consumer Cellular offers an additional 5% discount on monthly rates to AARP members, it's become a hit with seniors. The carrier uses both AT&T and T-Mobile for its coverage, so it's likely you'll get good network performance no matter where you are. (And if you buy a recent iPhone or 5G-ready Android phone through the carrier, you can enjoy 5G coverage.) Consumer Cellular does take some criticism for customer service, but it's generally regarded as any easy service for managing your plan and keeping your cell phone costs low.

Best phone carrier plans compared

What to look for when choosing a phone carrier

The first thing to consider when determining the best phone carrier for your needs is to figure out who has the best coverage in your area. Concentrate on the places where you spend a lot of time and need cell phone service, such as your home, office and frequent hangouts. Our network performance testing looks at download speeds in select cities, and third-party testing can give you an idea of how networks perform on average. But to truly get a picture of local network coverage, you'll need to ask friends and family about their experience.

If you're comfortable looking beyond one of the major cell phone providers, you can always try a discount carrier. These MVNOs turn to the larger networks to provide cellular service, so be sure to find out which network a discount carrier uses to make sure it's one that provides good service to where you live and work.

Once you've figured out which phone carriers offer the best coverage in your areas, look at plans and pricing. You'll need to figure out how much data you need — whether an unlimited plan is required or if you can opt for a cheaper plan with tiered data. We've analyzed the best cell phone plans overall to help you find one that fits your needs.

One other thing to consider when picking carriers is perks that come included with a monthly streaming service subscription. You'll find more of these with larger carriers, while discount carriers and prepaid cellular service tends to skimp on the extras. Besides streaming services, Popular perks include high-speed hotspot data and the ability to use your plan while traveling overseas.

How we test phone carriers

We've previously tested network performance by heading out to eight US cities and running Ookla's Speedtest app to measure download speeds. For real-world testing, we download a sizable app off of Google Play and time how fast it takes to get the app on a smartphone. The coronavirus pandemic impacted our ability to travel in recent years, so we've placed a great weight on network performance reports from third-party firms including RootMetrics, Opensignal and Ookla.

Below, you'll see a round-up of the most recent data from each third-party testing firm, with the median download speed recorded for each of the three major carriers. (MVNO customers can expect speeds similar to that of their parent network, with the caveat that an MVNO's speeds might be slowed down if a network is congested.)

We continuously review cell phone plans to compare how much data each carrier offers and how unlimited plans vary at each provider. We also look at the best prepaid phone plans, including extras you have to give up for the lower price to evaluate whether those are good deals or not.

We've done customer support testing in the past where we contact carriers incognito to ask them questions both about their service as well as phones they offer. We conduct this undercover testing both over the phone and through social media support accounts on Twitter and Facebook.

Finally, we make a note of the different perks that are available through each carrier, whether it's plan add-ons like streaming services and hotspot data, regular giveaways or the ability to use data when traveling in other countries.