Why You Can Trust CNET Best Cellphone Plans of 2024: Our Top Picks for January
Looking for a reliable phone plan? Here are our top picks for the best ones on the market in 2024.
With AT&T, T-Mobile and Verizon offering dozens of plans, not to mention the exponentially larger assortment from prepaid and smaller carriers like Mint Mobile, Visible and Google Fi Wireless, it's not easy choosing the best cellphone plan. Without doing the right research, you could end up paying a lot more than you should, and no one wants to lose out on saving money.
We're going to try to fix that. We've been covering the latest in wireless plans -- from breaking down how to switch carriers, to picking the top unlimited and prepaid plans, to explaining which network the smaller carriers use, as well as T-Mobile's and Verizon's recent plan revamps.
After covering the wireless industry for over a decade, here's CNET's guide for sorting through the madness along with some of our picks for what we think are the best unlimited and prepaid plans available right now.
Factors to consider: Know your area
As we covered in our other wireless guides, to get the best deal you need to make sure you have the coverage that you need. This makes it hard to give a blanket recommendation of any one carrier. T-Mobile's service in New York may be excellent, but if you're in rural Iowa, Verizon is more reliable.
While your mileage may vary, the good news is that these networks are growing and improving all the time, particularly as the three major players race to blanket the US with 5G. It's quite possible that you left a network complaining about its sparse service a decade ago, but now it's beefed itself up because of that race to acquire customers.
If you know any friends or family in your area that already use the carrier you're considering, ask about their experience. You could also go to a carrier's store and see if they offer any free ways to try out the service before switching over, such as T-Mobile's Network Pass. Verizon offers a similar 30-day "Test Drive" program, while the Cricket prepaid service has its own trial program that lets you sample parent AT&T's network.
Best phone plans of 2024
Postpaid phone plans
Prepaid phone plans
Additional details:
Phone plan FAQs
What's the difference between 'prepaid' and 'postpaid' plans?
When choosing a phone plan, there are generally two main options: a postpaid carrier like AT&T, Verizon and T-Mobile (plus cable options like Spectrum Mobile and Xfinity Mobile) and prepaid providers such as Mint Mobile, Metro by T-Mobile, Google Fi Wireless and Cricket.
What about networks?
Look at a zoomed-out map of the US on the websites for AT&T, T-Mobile or Verizon and you'll likely see it pretty well colored in by their respective color. Zooming in is where things get a bit more complicated, which is why we can't offer blanket recommendations for one carrier over another. T-Mobile's service in New York may be excellent, but if you're in a rural area in Colorado, Verizon could be more reliable.
Why get unlimited?
If you're on T-Mobile, all of your plans are unlimited, and Verizon no longer lets new users sign up for a shared data plan. Only AT&T still offers some tiered data plans and... it's not great.
How we test
Picking a wireless plan and carrier is an individualized process. What works for you and your family's needs may be vastly different from your friends or neighbors. Even geographically, some areas have better AT&T coverage while others work best on Verizon or T-Mobile (and vice versa). The picks we make are based on over a decade of covering and evaluating the wireless carriers, their offerings and their performance.
Since choosing a provider is unique, we focus on larger plans and the value they provide; as well as calling out ways you can test the different networks in your area for yourself so you can make the best pick.
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