The Best Cheap Cell Phone Plans (Under $40 per Month) (2024)

You don't have to spend more than $40 each month for wireless phone service, and the best cheap cell phone plans prove it. I know because I spend a lot of time researching phone plan costs, so I know exactly what each carrier charges for service.

I do this research for our guide to the best cell phone plans, which I've overseen for just about a decade now. And if there's one thing I've learned in that time it's 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. (That said, if you need even less data, you can save even more on yur monthly bill by opting for a tiered data plan.)

IThe picks below include several different options, so that you can find one that uses the phone 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 , 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 picks, I've also highlighted what a variety of different wireless carriers offer for less than $40 per month. That way, you can get a true comparison of what the best cheap cell phone plan really is.

The quick list

Philip Michaels

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Philip Michaels, our managing editor for mobile devices, has been writing about tech since 1999, with a focus on smartphones since the first iPhone debuted back in 2007. He joined Tom's Guide in 2014 and has been following wireless carriers ever since. In addition to keeping tabs on the big three carriers, he's also studied plans for smaller mobile virtual network operators, so he's well versed on what different wireless providers charge for monthly coverage. He spends far too much time looking at his 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 as that's Mint's lowest-priced offering, and it includes a decent amount of data alongside unlimited talk and text. You'll get that rate for three months, but to keep it, you'll need to pay for a full year of service upfront. (That's $180 for the 5GB plan.) If you can swing the upfront payment, Mint Mobile's low monthly rate delivers good value, especially since you'll get coverage from T-Mobile's network. That includes the carrier's far-reaching 5G service.

As of this writing, Mint continues to run a promotion that cuts the prices of all its plans to $15/month for the first three months of service. It's a great way to get unlimited data (normally $30 at Mint) for half the usual cost.Just be aware that after those three months are up, you go back to paying $30 for unlimited data, provided you prepay for a year of service to keep that $30 monthly rate.

See Mint Mobile's 5GB plan.

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 — Visible charges on a month-to-month basis with taxes and fees baked into its $25 rate. Customers can now save more by choosing to pay for service annually, which turns out to be $275 for the entire year. By paying annually, it makes the $25/month rate turn out to be $23/month.

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.

If you're a T-Mobile customer contemplating a switch to a new carrier, Visible has an offer that lets you save even more on its best cheap cell phone plan. Use code 'BYEBYETMO' when you sign up at Visible, and you can lower the cost of the entry-level unlimited data plan by $10/month for the next five years.

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.

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. 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 of that high-speed data, for just $25/month. To get that low monthly rate, you've got to pay for a full-year in advance. 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 while your data slows down to 1.5 Mbps speeds after you use 16GB, 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 plan under $20

Tello is an MVNO 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 the 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.

• Boost Mobile: Boost's most intriguing plan is a $25/month offering that gets you unlimited data on the cheap. (Your speeds can be slowed if you use more than 30GB of data in a month.) The best part of this plan is a lifetime price-lock guarantee that keeps your rate at $25 so long as you stay enrolled in autopay at Boost.
• 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.
• 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.

Best cheap plans compared

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