The best cheap cell phone plans out there can give you as much data as you need, while keeping your monthly wireless costs under $40. That may sound too good to be true, but I've tracked down a half-dozen or so cell phone plans that deliver exactly that.
Each month, I update our guide to the best cell phone plans, which means checking to see what each phone carrier charges for different amounts of data. And after nearly a decade of checking up on cell phone plan prices, I've learned that you don't have to pay big bucks for a lot of data. You can get unlimited data — in some cases by signing up for the best unlimited data plans — without spending more than $40. And if you don't need unlimited data, you can save even more cash, as tiered data plans usually can be found for a lot less.
The picks below include several different options, so that you can find one that uses the wireless network best serving your area. According to my research, Mint Mobile and Visible have the best low-cost options, but I'm spotlighting the cheap phone plans at AT&T, T-Mobile and Verizon for people who are more comfortable getting their service from big-name providers. Of the Big Three, Verizon's prepaid data plan offers the right mix of data and price.
In addition to our top seven picks, I've also listed what you can find at a variety of different carriers with a hard cap of $40 each month. That way, you can get a true comparison of what the best cheap cell phone plan really is.
The quick list
5GB for $15 at Mint
Mint plans start at $15/month for 5GB of data, though after the first three months, you have to pay for a full year of service in advance to get the best monthly rate. Still, it's wroth it for the discount.
Unlimited data for $25 at Visible
Visible's entry-level plan offers unlimited data for $25 a month — and you don't have to pay for a year in advance to get that low rate. Even better: Visible relies on Verizon's network, including 5G.
15GB for $35 at Verizon
Verizon's cheapest prepaid plan is $35/month, which gets you 15GB of data after an autopay discount. Your plan includes 5G coverage, too.
5GB for $15 at T-Mobile
T-Mobile's $15 monthly plan features more data than ever — it's grown to 5GB after yearly allotment bumps — with 5G coverage included as part of your plan. Hit that 5G cap, though, and you're out of data until the next billing cycle.
Unlimited for $25 at AT&T
AT&T requires a big upfront payment for this prepaid unlimited plan — $300 — but that works out to to $25/month for unlimited data. Your speeds are slowed if you use more than 16GB, but that's a hard monthly price to beat.
Unlimited data for $25 at Boost
Boost's lowest-priced plan matches what a lot of other carriers on this list charge. The difference is Boost is willing to lock in this rate for as long as you're an active customer with its service.
Load the last cheap cell phone plan...
10GB for $19 at Tello
Not everyone needs unlimited data, and Tello provides more than enough data for most people without charging more than $20. Need more or less than 10GB? Tello has a wide range of plans, with nothing costing more than $29.
I'm the managing editor for mobile devices at Tom's Guide, and I've been covering personal technology since 1999, with a focus on smartphones since the first iPhone debuted back in 2007. I joined Tom's Guide in 2014 when I started following wireless carriers. In addition to keeping tabs on the big three carriers, I've also studied plans for smaller mobile virtual network operators, so I'm well versed on what different wireless providers charge for monthly coverage. I spend far too much time looking at my phone screen.
The best cheap cell phone plan overall
Mint Mobile has a whole host of cheap cell phone plans, with four different options costing less $30 or less. We're recommending the 5GB plan since that's Mint's lowest-priced offering, and it includes a decent amount of data alongside unlimited talk and text. To get the best, you need to pay for a full year of service upfront — $180 for Mint's 5GB plan. That works out to a $15 monthly rate. Only T-Mobile (Mint's parent company) offers that kind of data for that low a price.
New customers can take advantage of an attractive offer from Mint — the first three months of any plan will cost you $15/month no matter which data tier you try. In other words, you can enjoy three months of unlimited data just by paying $45. After that initial three-month trial is up, rates return to their normal level, so you'd have to pay $360 to get the lowest monthly rate ($30) for unlimited. You could also switch over to a cheaper plan like the 5GB option.
With coverage using T-Mobile's towers, including fast 5G service, anyone living in an area with a strong T-Mobile signal should enjoy solid coverage from Mint. The biggest obstacle, then, is that big upfront payment to get Mint's best rate. If you can swing that one-time annual cost, though, you can get plenty of value from Mint in return.
The best cheap unlimited data plan
Visible joins Mint Mobile in offering an unlimited data plan for less than $40, but Visible's option is cheaper. And unlike Mint, you don't have to pay for a year up front.
Instead, Visible charges on a month-to-month basis for its plans with taxes and fees baked into the rate. That means the entry-level Visible plan is ideal for unlimited data under $40 as it costs you just $25/month.
If you do want to pay annual, you can lower the cost somewhat, though not as much as you would at Mint. Paying $275 for a year of service works out to $23/month — a savings of around $24 for the whole year.
There's one other way to save, though it's a limited time option. This month, when you sign up for Mint's service using the 'SAVE24' promo code, you can lower your monthly payment to $20 on the Visible plan for 24 months. Under this promotion, the Visible Plus rate drops by $10 to $35 a month over 24 months for even better coverage.
The cheaper of Visible's two unlimited data plans comes with some trade-offs: your data speeds can be slowed whenever parent network Verizon is experiencing lots of traffic, and you won't get faster Ultra Wideband 5G. Visible Plus benefits from Ultra Wideband 5G, and there are travel perks as well.
See Visible's unlimited data plan.
Best cheap Verizon plan
The best prepaid phone plan at Verizon also happens to be one of the best cheap cell phone plans under $40, provided that you enroll in autopay. That saves you $10 a month on your bill, bringing the cost of this 15GB down from $45 to $35 per month. In exchange, you get a large pool of data — 15GB to be exact — which you can also draw on for hotspot data.
You're able to use talk, text and data while traveling in Canada and Mexico so long as it only accounts for 50% of your usage over 60 days. You also get 5G service, though it isn't through Verizon's fastest Ultra Wideband network, which requires a more expensive Verizon plan.
The advantage to Verizon's plan is that you're not paying for unlimited data you don't use, since the majority of cell phone users use 6GB or less each month. Even so, Verizon's tiered data plan is more expensive than unlimited data at Mint and Visible even after the prepay enrollment discount. So you'll have to figure out just how much turning to an established name like Verizon is worth to you, compared to more obscure services such as Mint and Visible.
See Verizon's 15GB prepaid plan.
Best cheap T-Mobile plan
T-Mobile Connect offers the cheapest way to get T-Mobile's service with a $15 plan that's grown to 5GB thanks to annual data boosts from T-Mobile. (Those increases are supposed to come to an end next year.)
Opt for the Simple Connect plan — one of the best T-Mobile cell phone plans — only if you know you can stick to your data allotment each month, because once you hit that cap, you've either got to refill your account by paying for more data or wait for the next billing cycle to begin; T-Mobile doesn't just slow your speeds like other carriers. (For example, Mint slows down your data when you've gone over your cap.) Still, with 5G coverage included, Simple Connect is a cheap way to get fast speeds on a great network.
See T-Mobile's 5GB Simple Connect plan.
Best cheap AT&T plan
AT&T's prepaid plan features unlimited data, with 16GB coming in the form of high-speed data, for just $25/month. To get that low monthly rate, you've got to pay for a full-year in advance, as you would at Mint. But if you can swing the one-time $300 payment, you've locked in a low rate for the year that matches what Visible charges and beats Mint's $30 month rate. With AT&T's plan, your data slows down to 1.5 Mbps speeds should you use 16GB, though most people won't approach that limit.
To put AT&T's monthly rate in context, the carrier also has a $40/month prepaid plan with unlimited data. By paying in advance, then, you're saving $15 each month, or $180 over the course of a year.
Perks on the prepaid unlimited plan at AT&T include 10GB of hotspot data, 5G coverage where available, unlimited texting to 230 countries and calls to Canada and Mexico from the U.S. But again, the real lure here is a $25 monthly rate for a very large pool of data on AT&T's network.
See AT&T's unlimited prepaid plan.
Best cheap cell phone plan with a locked-in rate
Boost Mobile is now a nationwide carrier with its own network, competing with the likes of AT&T, T-Mobile and Verizon. To take on those more established brands, Boost has a few bold offers, and the best one if you want a cheap cell phone plan under $40 is the Boost Unlimited option. This plan costs $25/month — a rate that will stay there so long as you remain a customer with Boost. That's a longer guarantee than what Visible offers for its identically priced plan.
New customers currently get half off their first month of service at Boost, so you'll pay $12.50 initially before the $25 rate kicks in.
There aren't many perks with this plan, and it's the only unlimited offering at the carrier where your taxes aren't baked into the rate. You also should check to see that Boost's network provides dependable coverage in your area. That said, this bare-bones plan from Boost does guarantee you 30GB of high-speed data each month, and your speeds will only slow down if you go past that limit.
See Boost's $25 unlimited data plan.
Best cheap plan under $20
Tello is an MVNO — that's mobile virtual network operator, if you're unfamiliar wit the term — with a wide range of plans staring at $9 for 1GB and going all the way up to $29 for unlimited data. For most people, the 10GB plan should hit the sweet spot, as it delivers more than enough data for most people. Also, it comes in at just under $20/month.
Perks are few with Tello, though you can make calls to 60-plus countries with your plan. You coverage comes via T-Mobile's network, including that carrier's 5G service. Should you hit the 10GB cap, you'll either need to refill your plan or purchase add-on data, though Tello lets you upgrade or downgrade your line whenever you need to.
Perhaps Tello's biggest appeal is that it's a true month-to-month plan, without requiring the big upfront payment that a service like Mint does for its cheapest rate. With Tello, what you see is what you get.
See Tello's 10GB plan.
Other cheap cell phone plans to consider
Our research has turned up a few other cheap cell phone plans under $40 that deserve some attention, even if they didn't make the cut for our top picks. We're including them here so that you can see what they cost compared to our favorite cheap cell phone plans and what you get in return.
- Consumer Cellular: For $35/month, you can get 10GB of data on the networks of AT&T or T-Mobile. AARP members get a 5% discount, making this a top choice for seniors.
- Cricket: Enroll in autopay and you can reduce the cost of a 10GB plan to $35/month on this AT&T-owned prepaid carrier. Like AT&T, Cricket lets you pay in advance for an unlimited data plan, where your one-time payment works out to $25/month — nice if you can afford that $300 upfront.
- Google Fi: Google charges a lot for wireless coverage — $20 for talk and text, plus $10 for each GB of data you use. But you get the best international coverage with the Flexible plan.
- Metro by T-Mobile: Metro's plan scrapes under our $40 limit after you enroll in auto pay, but you get 10GB per month, plus the ability ot upgrade your phone after a year.
- Now Mobile: This low-cost service from Comcast provides an unlimited data plan for $25/month, with taxes and fees included in that rate. You will need to get your broadband service from either Xfinity or Now to sign up for Now mobile coverage.
- TextNow: Pay nothing for talk and text at TextNow and use Wi-Fi for your data connection. Need cellular data? Prices range from 99 cents for a day pass to $40 for a month of unlimited data, though TextNow's free plan now includes some data for essential tasks like checking email and accessing ride-sharing apps.
- Total Wireless: Verizon's renamed prepaid service has a Base 5G Unlimited plan that hits our $40/month limit for cheap phone plans. You get some pretty good perks like 5GB of hotspot data and a $200 credit on a 5G phone purchase after 12 months of service.
- Ultra Mobile: We like the low-cost options available at this T-Mobile-owned carrier, where you can pay $15/month for talk and text plus a mere 250MB of data. There are more data-packed plans available at Ultra, and you can pay in advance to lower your monthly rate further.
- US Mobile: The best cheap plan at US Mobile is a $25 Unlimited Starter plan, where you get 35GB of high-speed data and 10GB of hotspot data, with taxes and fees included in the rate. You pick the network you want your service on, and you're able to jump to other networks — US Mobile calls this a "teleport" — twice for free. After that, teleports cost $2 each.
Best cheap plans compared
Here's what each of our top picks for best cheap data plan charge and how much data you get in return. We've also listed what happens if you use all your data, whether in a tiered data plan or you hit the high-speed data cap on an unlimited offering.
| Row 0 - Cell 0 | Cost | Data | Data cap reached |
| Mint Mobile | $15/month | 5GB | Data slowed to 128 Kbps |
| Visible | $25/month | Unlimited | Speeds can be slowed whenever Verizon's network is congested |
| T-Mobile | $15/month | 5GB | Data refill required |
| Verizon | $35/month | 15GB | Data slowed to 128 Kbps |
| AT&T | $25/month | Unlimited | After 16GB, data slowed to 1.5 Mbps |
| Boost Mobile | $25/month | Unlimited | Speeds slow to 512 kbps if you use more than 30GB in a month |
| Tello | $19/month | 10GB | Data refill required |
Frequently asked questions
What is a prepaid data plan?
You may have noticed that most of the plans included in our best cheap cell phone plan round-up are prepaid options. These are plans where you pay up front at the start of a month, and the amount of data you've bought is the amount you get. (Some carriers will simply slow down your data if you hit your cap, while others require you to buy more data, which is why we specify that information in the chart above.)
Prepaid plans are the opposite of postpaid plans, as those latter options will charge you at the end of the month for the data and services you've used. Postpaid plans offer more flexibility, but they almost always require a credit check. Prepaid plans don't since you're paying in advance; they also tend to be cheaper with fewer perks than postpaid options. But since you're on the lookout for the best cheap cell phone plans, that's a feature, not a flaw.
What should I consider when looking for the best cheap cell phone plan?
Overall price is going to be your biggest consideration. That's why we imposed a limit of $40 a month to make sure we're evaluating plans that will fit in many budgets.
But price isn’t the only criteria to look at. You'll want to concentrate your search on who provides the best cell phone coverage in your area and whether the discount carrier you're considering uses that carrier's network. With the exception of AT&T, T-Mobile and Verizon, none of the discount carriers we've mentioned here operate their own network. Rather, as mobile virtual network operators, or MVNOs, they piggyback on the cellular networks built by one or more of the major carriers. Some carriers, such as Republic Wireless and Google Fi, also offload calls and texts to Wi-Fi when available, as part of their efforts to keep monthly costs low.
You'll want to look at the variety of plans each carrier offers and whether you could move to a different plan if your talk, text and data needs change.
What about family plans?
We've focused on plans for individuals in this guide, but if you're searching for the best family cell phone plan, look into whether a carrier offers discounts on multiple lines. While perks generally aren't included with cheap cell phone plans, look to see if there are some added benefits such as hotspot data.
Our pick for the best prepaid family plan coms from Total Wireless, which charges a total of $110/month for four lines of its unlimited data plan. That works out to $27.50/line if you're still trying to keep those per-line costs under $40. Total, which uses Verizon's network, includes 5G Ultra Wideband coverage, 15GB of hotspot data, and six months of Disney Plus with this plan.
As an alternative, consider Cricket Wireless' Unlimited + 15 GB Mobile Hotspot option on AT&T's network. It costs $130/month for four lines — $32.50 for each line — and its included perks include the aforementioned hotspot data and a subscription to the ad-supported tier of Max.
How do you pick the best cheap cell phone plans?
We are constantly looking at what phone carriers offer, as part of our research into the best cell phone plans. That includes looking at what's available from the major carriers — AT&T, T-Mobile and Verizon — as well as from discount carriers. We check prices monthly, comparing what different services have to offer.
For our best cheap cell phone plans guide, we set a limit of $40 per month, only looking at plans that fall under this threshold. Price is paramount in our rankings, though we do make note of how much data each plan provides as well as any perks to keep in mind. That can help distinguish two equally priced plans — or even make a slightly more expensive plan a better value overall.
Because cell phone coverage can differ from area to area, we try to include a wide variety of cell phone plans priced at $40 or less, so that you can find the best rate for the wireless service with the strongest coverage in your area.
