- [Stetson] In this video,
I'm covering the best cell phone plans on Verizon, AT&T,
and T-Mobile that will work with your current phone,
and save you money on your cell phone bill.
Hi, I'm Stetson,
and I've been reviewing cell phone plans since 2014.
I got into this because I was a high school student
looking for a cheap cell phone plan for myself,
and now my goal is to help people like you find great,
affordable plans that meet their needs.
That's also why I designed and built BestPhonePlans.net,
its a website to help you compare cell phone plans
from all the different providers.
And if you're new to cell phone plans, don't worry.
I'm covering everything you need to know in this video,
including the four steps
to picking a perfect cell phone plan,
the thirteen best cell phone plans for individuals,
and the six best plans for families.
Timestamps are in the video description,
and let's jump into it.
First, how to pick a cell phone plan.
The four steps to picking a perfect cell phone plan
are actually answering four simple questions:
One, how much data do you need?
Two, what features do you need?
Three, what network do you want for coverage?
And four, how many lines do you have?
If you haven't answered these questions,
watch my video "How To Choose A Cell Phone Plan".
It'll walk you through the full process
of answering these questions,
and you'll get the information you need
to picking a perfect plan for you.
For this video, here's what you need to know.
One, most people on average
use about 14.6GB of data per month.
Two, I made a free worksheet to help you identify
which features you want
and which ones you actually need.
You can find this worksheet linked in the video description.
Three: If you're happy with your current coverage,
you can keep using the same network and simply switch
to a more affordable cell phone plan.
If you're unhappy with your coverage,
you switch to a new network
and hopefully get a more affordable cell phone plan as well.
To figure out which network provides
the best coverage in your area,
I recommend you use the website Coverage Critic.
It was built by my friend Chris,
and all you do is literally enter your ZIP code
and it'll tell you which network is best in your area.
And four: You should know how many lines you have.
If you have one or two lines,
you should put each person on a single-line plan.
However, if you have three or four lines,
you should probably get a family plan.
Again timestamps are linked in the video description.
With all that said,
let's dive into the 13 best cell phone plans for 2022.
First up are the three best plans under $20 per month.
Here I recommend US Mobile, Boost Mobile,
and Mint Mobile.
US Mobile is my top pick on the Verizon network.
Their $15 plan includes unlimited minutes, unlimited texts,
and 5 gigs of high speed data,
hotspot is also available for a $5 add on.
What's really nice about US Mobile
is that if you activate a 5G phone on Verizon,
you actually get premium data.
This gives you the exact same quality of service
as going with Verizon postpaid directly.
US Mobile also supports plenty of features
like Wi-Fi calling, eSIM activations, 5G access,
and international eSIM for staying connected
when you travel abroad.
If you're looking for AT&T coverage,
then Boost Mobile is a great option to consider.
Their $14 annual plan includes unlimited minutes
and texts with 5GB of high-speed data.
Hotspot is included here for free, along with 5G access.
Additionally, there's also an option
to add roaming data in Mexico.
And on the T-Mobile network, I recommend Mint Mobile.
Mint's $15 plan includes unlimited minutes, unlimited texts,
and 4GB of high-speed data
before unlimited data at 2G speeds.
Mint also has excellent feature support.
You get mobile hotspot, voice over LTE, Wi-Fi calling, eSIM,
and 5G access on T-Mobile's 5G network.
Add-ons are available
for international calling, or data roaming if you need them.
Okay, next on to the best plans for $30 or less.
Here I'm recommending Visible, Boost Mobile,
and Mint Mobile.
Visible's unlimited plans
is one of the best value plans out there.
It comes in at just $25 per month
with Visible's Party Pay discount,
which anyone can easily take advantage of.
Watch my video here to learn more.
On Visible you get truly unlimited data
on the Verizon network
with truly unlimited hotspot data.
Hotspot speeds are limited to 5 megabits per second,
though I was getting about 9 to 10 megabits per second
on my tests.
Visible also supports features like voice over LTE,
Wi-Fi calling, eSIM activations,
and free international calling to Canada, Mexico,
the US Virgin Islands, and Puerto Rico.
5G is also included here,
but 5G speeds are capped at 200 megabits per second.
Boost Mobile is my next recommendation here.
Their $25 annual plan gets you 35GB
of high-speed data on the AT&T network,
which is a fantastic value.
You also get 12GB of mobile hotspot data,
and all of the same great features as before.
On the T-Mobile network,
I'm recommending Mint Mobile's $30 annual plan.
This gets you 35GB of high-speed data, 5GB of hotspot data,
and unlimited talk and text.
You continue to get Mint's great feature selection here,
including 5G access, support for eSIM activations,
and add-ons for international calling
and international data roaming.
Next, on to the best cheap unlimited data plans.
Here I'm recommending plans from US Mobile,
Xfinity Mobile, Cricket, and Walmart Family Mobile.
On the Verizon network,
US Mobile and Xfinity Mobile both earn my recommendation.
US Mobile's Unlimited Premium plan is $45 per month
and includes 100GB of data and 50GB of hotspot data.
You'll notice this isn't truly unlimited,
and it's also more expensive
than Visible's $25 unlimited plan.
But US Mobile's plan is here for multiple reasons.
First, it's got priority data if you activate
with a 5G device.
This means you're getting faster data
speeds anytime the Verizon network is busy
and it can make a difference.
Second, US Mobile includes free international data roaming
with this plan via their international eSIM plans.
And third, US Mobile has a beautiful
online account dashboard,
and an excellent data usage analytics tool
allowing you to visualize and track your data usage.
Next is the Xfinity Mobile plan.
This is $45 unlimited plan
and it includes 20GB of high-speed data
before unlimited data at 1.5 megabits per second.
It also has excellent feature support,
including add-ons for both international calling
and data roaming.
The reasons to consider Xfinity are 1:
you get a discount on your Xfinity internet service,
which can really add up the savings over time,
2: they typically offer great discounts on phones,
such as up to $400 off a new Samsung Galaxy phone or iPhone,
and 3: they also include premium data,
so you're getting the same great experience
as you would get by going with Verizon directly.
On the AT&T network,
I'm recommending Cricket's $50 unlimited core plan.
This includes truly unlimited data,
video streaming at 480p, free usage in Canada and Mexico
and international texting.
If you did want more features,
you could upgrade to Cricket's unlimited more plan
for $5 extra and this gives you unlimited premium data
that won't slow down based on your usage 15 gigabytes
of high speed hotspot data, 150 gigs of cloud storage,
and an HBO Max subscription with ads.
The last plan in this category
is the Walmart Family Mobile plan.
I recently discovered this plan, and wow is it a good value.
For $50 per month, you're getting truly unlimited data,
30GB of high speed hotspot data,
and support for core features,
along with 5G access.
It's one of the best,
low-cost unlimited plans you can get on T-Mobile
for a single line.
Okay, next, let's cover the best premium unlimited plans
from the major carriers directly.
Here I'm recommending Verizon 5G Play More,
AT&T Unlimited Extra, and T-Mobile Magenta.
I'll just do a side-by-side comparison here.
Prices range from $80 per month for Verizon plan
and drop down to $70 per month for T-Mobile's plan.
The biggest differences here
are in the amount of premium data,
the amount of hotspot data,
and video streaming quality
that each of these plans include.
Verizon's plan includes 50GB of premium data,
25GB of hotspot, and 720p video streaming.
AT&T's plan includes the same 50GB of premium data,
only 15GB of hotspot data,
and unfortunately only 480p video streaming.
And T-Mobile's plan doubles the premium data to a 100GB,
allows just 5GB of high speed hotspot data,
and includes 720p video streaming.
The rest of the plan features are basically the same here
the carriers support all of them.
Though it is worth noting that Verizon is plan
includes a free Disney+, Hulu, ESPN+ subscription.
AT&T includes unlimited high speed data roaming
in Canada and Mexico,
and T-Mobile includes free international data roaming
at 2G speeds of 128 kilobits per second.
For more detailed comparison,
check out my video here comparing all the unlimited plans
from Verizon AT&T, and T-Mobile.
Now let's move on to the best family plans.
And I've gone ahead and consolidated this down
to just this six best options.
that I think are available today.
First up are the best value family plans.
Here I'm recommending US Mobile, Cricket,
and Metro by T-Mobile.
Unfortunately, there's no hotspot data,
millimeter wave 5G access,
or international data roaming with this plan.
It's just your basic plan at a great price.
If you do need hotspot data,
you could always upgrade to the unlimited premium plan.
It upgrades your plan to 100 gigs of data,
gives you 50 gigs of hotspot data.
And as a bonus, US Mobile will even reimburse you
for two streaming services of your choice.
Next up, I'm recommending the Cricket Core plan
on AT&T we talked about this earlier.
This time you're getting unlimited data
for just $25 per line,
all taxes and fees are included.
You also get great feature support here,
including 5G access on AT&T's 5G network,
international texting and data roaming in Canada and Mexico.
Some of you will notice this plan is de-prioritized,
so you'd expect a little bit slower speeds
anytime the AT&T network is busy,
but thankfully AT&T has excellent network capacity,
so you're not likely to notice slower speeds on this plan.
I don't think it's worth worrying about getting a plan
with premium data.
That said, you could always upgrade
to the Cricket more plan which is $33 per line,
and it includes those same features
from before including unlimited premium data,
15 gigs of hotspot data, the cloud storage perk,
and your free HBO Max subscription with ads.
And rounding off this section is a plan
from Metro by T-Mobile.
This is a touch more expensive
than the other plans coming in at $30 per line,
but it has some great perks.
You get truly unlimited data on the T-Mobile network,
15 gigs of high speed hotspot data,
100 gigabytes of Google One Storage,
and a free Amazon Prime membership.
This is all included with your service,
plus all taxes and fees are also included,
so it is $30 flat per line.
It's a great value if you're looking for unlimited data
on T-Mobile.
Next up are the last three plans for this video,
the best premium family plans.
And here I'm recommending the same plans as before:
Verizon 5G play more, AT&T unlimited extra
and T-Mobile Magenta.
With their respective multi line discounts,
these plans dropped to just $45 a line, $40 a line,
and $35 a line respectively,
and they include the exact same features as before.
Now, some of you may be wondering
why I'm not recommending the ultra premium plans,
like Verizon 5G Get More, AT&T Unlimited Elite,
or Magenta Max.
And it's simply because I'm a big believer
in only paying for what you truly need.
In my opinion, Verizon Play More, AT&T Unlimited Extra,
and T-Mobile Magenta are the best overall value plans
that the major carriers offer.
They still give you a premium experience
and at a better price point.
If for whatever reason,
you do need more hotspot data, or more premium data,
or more streaming services bundled
into your cell phone plan,
then by all means upgrade to their top tier options.
But I think for most people the sweet spot in terms of value
and performance are Verizon 5G Play More,
AT&T Unlimited Extra, and T-Mobile Magenta.
That's where it's at.
Share this video with one friend if you found it helpful,
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I'm Stetson, and I'll see you in the next video.