If you’ve found this page through my e-book, congratulations! Finding the right low-cost plan is an exciting step where you’ll finally see exactly what you could be paying and how much you could save each month.

As I mention in the book, there are over a hundred low-cost carriers in the United States and hundreds of plans to choose from. Here are my curated quick recommendations, which I believe offer high-quality service and a good value to most customers. Below that, I link to some external resources that strive to catalog all possible low-cost plans.

Quick Picks

Disclosure: I don’t earn commissions from the companies and resources mentioned here, and my recommendations are based on my own research. This curated list is designed to give you one or two solid options as a starting point when picking the right plan for you.

Verizon’s Network (CDMA)

Top pick for almost everyone:

US Mobile offers a remarkable variety of plans, including Pooled plans ($9/line + $2/GB of data that can be shared, great for low-data users), 5 GB for $15, 12 GB for $20, Unlimited plans, and build-your-own plans. They have eSIM support, international roaming features, and multi-line discounts. If you have a 5G-capable phone, your data priority is the same as Verizon’s own plans.

Other options for unlimited data users:

If you get Internet service through Xfinity or Spectrum, they have mobile divisions that offer unlimited premium data on Verizon for around $30/month. Otherwise, check out Visible, an MVNO owned by Verizon. Visible offers two plans: a basic unlimited plan (deprioritized) and a more expensive unlimited plan (normal priority and a few extras). They sometimes offer promotions on new phones that don’t require a long commitment – usually three months if you pay in full. And they’re one of the few MVNOs to support Apple Watch.

AT&T’s Network (GSM-A)

Many MVNOs run on AT&T’s network, and most provide data priority on par with the average AT&T in-house plan. Strangely, most of the best deals are annual plans.

Top pick for medium to medium-heavy data users:

AT&T Prepaid has a fantastic $300 annual plan that offers 16 GB of data per month and a slew of other perks. Read my full review here.

For ultralight, light, and heavy data users:

Red Pocket offers annual plans to fit a wide variety of needs. Some deals are available directly on Red Pocket’s website, but others, including the ultralight plans, are sold through eBay (scroll down on the page). Red Pocket also offers monthly plans and plans on other networks.

T-Mobile’s Network (GSM-T)

Top pick for most users:

Mint Mobile offers well-priced plans for several different data allowances. You have to buy at least three months at a time, and you can save more by buying six or twelve month plans. One downside: data is deprioritized, so consider doing their free trial to see if that’s an issue for you.

For light users:

Connect by T-Mobile is part of T-Mobile’s prepaid division. They offer a number of plans with priority data.

Other Resources

Disclosure: I don’t earn commissions from these external resources. Each of these sites will be governed by their own advertising policy.

Want to browse and compare even more phone plans? BestPhonePlans and PrepaidCompare are two options that make it easy to sort and filter plans.