With kids back in school and budgets tight, prepaid carriers are often the way to go for anyone with a smartphone. Instead of paying your monthly bill after having used your wireless service, you pay beforehand for a set bucket of data.
There are compromises to be made when signing up for a prepaid carrier, but for the most part, the added flexibility makes it all worth while. Conditions and service plans vary wildly across providers, but we're going to sort through the big ones and hopefully point you in the right direction.
| MetroPCS | AT&T GoPhone | Boost Mobile | T-Mobile Prepaid | Straight Talk | Cricket | Virgin Mobile | Verizon | Republic Wireless | Simple Mobile | GoSmart |
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| Inexpensive tier of T-Mobile service. | Top-tier AT&T service, but you’ll pay a bit extra for it. | A Sprint subsidiary | Solid upper-tier provider. | Cheap plans and a choice of networks, but a finicky system to work with. | Cheapest way to get onto the AT&T network. | Licensed by Sprint and supports PayPal payments. | The biggest network in America offers automatically scaling prepaid data. | An interesting new entrant that leans on Wi-Fi networks for calling and texting. | Affordable T-Mobile data with interesting international add-ons. | Cheap access to T-Mobile network with unlimited Facebook access. |
| $40 1 GB 4G data, unlimited talk and text $50 3 GB 4G data, unlimited talk and text $60 Unlimited data, unlimited talk and text |
$40 500 MB (+$5/100 MB), 500 minutes, unlimited text $60 2.5 GB (+$10/1 GB), unlimited talk and text |
$35 1 GB 4G data, unlimited talk and text $45 5 GB 4G data, unlimited talk and text $55 10 GB 4G data, unlimited talk and text |
$30 5 GB 4G data, 100 minutes talk, unlimited text $45 2 GB 4G data, unlimited talk and text $80 Unlimited talk, text, and data |
$30 1500 minutes, 100 MB, unlimited texting $45 3 GB 4G data, unlimited talk, text $60 3 GB 4G data, unlimited international talk, unlimited text |
$40 1 GB 4G data, unlimited talk and text $50 3 GB 4G data, unlimited talk and text $60 10 GB 4G data, unlimited talk and text |
$35 300 minutes, unlimited data $45 1200 minutes, unlimited data $55 Unlimited minutes, unlimited data |
$45 500 MB (+$5/500 MB, +$10/1 GB, +$20/3 GB), unlimited talk and text | $25 5 GB 3G data, unlimited talk and text $40 5 GB 4G data, unlimited talk and text |
$40 1 GB 4G data, unlimited talk and text $50 3 GB 4G data, unlimited talk and text $60 5 GB 4G data, unlimited talk and text |
$35 500 MB 3G data, unlimited talk and text $40 3 GB 3G data, unlimited talk and text |
| Purchase or BYOD | Purchase or BYOD | Purchase or Sprint devices | Purchase or BYOD | Purchase Verizon or Sprint or BYOD from AT&T or T-Mobile | Purchase or BYOD | Purchase or some Sprint devices | Purchase or old Verizon devices | Purchase | Purchase or T-Mobile devices | Purchase or T-Mobile devices |
| Android, BlackBerry, iPhone, Windows Phone | Android, BlackBerry, iPhone, Windows Phone | Android, BlackBerry, iPhone, Windows Phone | Android, BlackBerry, iPhone, Windows Phone | Android, BlackBerry, iPhone, Windows Phone | Android, BlackBerry, iPhone, Windows Phone | Android, BlackBerry, iPhone, Windows Phone | Android, BlackBerry, iPhone, Windows Phone | Android | Android, BlackBerry, iPhone, Windows Phone | Android, BlackBerry, iPhone, Windows Phone |
| Online, recurring, refill card | Online, recurring, refill card, app | Phone, online, in person | Recurring, refill card, online, phone, app | Online, recurring, refill card, app | Recurring, online, app | Online, refill card, app | Online, refill card, app | Online | Online | Phone, online, in person |
T-Mobile Learn More
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AT&T | Sprint | T-Mobile | AT&T, Verizon, Sprint, T-Mobile | AT&T | Sprint | Verizon | Sprint | T-Mobile | T-Mobile |
Every time "4G" data is mentioned, keep in mind that this involves slowing download speeds from LTE past that point. You won't have to worry about overages in those cases, but you might have to worry about long buffering times on your YouTube videos. Data buckets have a set expiration, and don't typically carry over month to month, so make sure to use as much of it as possible. Many providers will provide SMS alerts if you're approaching your limits.
Talk and text
Talk and text is generally limited to within the U.S. without extra charges or add-ons, but otherwise there are only occasionally caps on talk time, and rarely limits on texting.
Network
Most of these prepaid networks operate under (or are owned by) larger networks built on traditional postpaid business. That means even if you're paying up to one company, your voice and data is actually going through Verizon, AT&T, T-Mobile, or Sprint networks. Sometimes a prepaid carrier will offer service on one of several networks, which is helpful depending on your coverage situation. Make sure you check the coverage map of a prepaid carrier's network to make sure you'll have service where you are, especially if having high-speed LTE access is a priority.
Prepaid carriers may also have tight restrictions on roaming on other networks, and in most cases do not offer international data roaming. Also keep in mind that many prepaid carriers operate on a tier below postpaid customers on the same network. For example, you may experience slower speeds in congested areas as bandwidth is prioritized to postpaid customers.
Device
Network types may also restrict what kinds of phones you're able to use. Many prepaid carriers use "bring your own device" (or BYOD) as a major selling point, but networks that operate primarily on one type of technology won't be compatible with others (CDMA vs. GSM phones, namely). Even if a prepaid carrier is technically compatible with your device, they may still require a device purchase from them to get service.
Be sure to do your research ahead of time so you can be sure that the phone you choose will work properly on the network you're considering.
Reload
Keeping your prepaid account topped up is vital to ensuring continual service, so the convenience with which you can reload is paramount. Automatic recurring credit card payments, online top-ups, refill cards with redemptions codes, and recharging by phone are all common options. Many prepaid carriers offer a discount for setting up automatic payments.
