Best phone carriers in 2025

Phones get all the attention for their flashy hardware and features, but a phone is only useful if it has the right network behind it. If you’re looking for better service or a plan that’s a bit cheaper, the first thing to consider is coverage.

Coverage and signal quality will vary for just about everyone depending on many different factors, so don’t assume you’ll have strong coverage on a carrier just because someone else does. The Big Three carriers each offer nationwide 5G, with LTE filling in the gaps between upgraded cities and towns. Rural customers need to be more careful and double-check the coverage map before signing up.

The next consideration is getting a plan with the right amount of data and features for you. The big carriers focus mainly on offering premium unlimited data with features like hotspot, video streaming quality, international features, and bundled perks to set them apart. Prepaid carriers typically compete more on price with more basic plans and discounts to help customers save. Some prepaid carriers even offer truly unlimited data with fast 5G support.

These are the best phone carriers

T-Mobile took an early lead with its 5G network coverage, first offering slower low-band 5G, followed by mid-band 5G it got thanks to its purchase of Sprint. T-Mobile has since built its network into the fastest available and maintains its lead in overall 5G coverage over AT&T and Verizon. T-Mobile has the largest 5G network with the fastest average speeds. If you have one of the best Android phones and want it to run as fast as possible, T-Mobile should be first on your list.

Regarding plans, T-Mobile has several unlimited plans starting with Go5G Plus. This plan packs a serious punch with unlimited premium data, 50GB of mobile hotspot data, and a device upgrade in two years. This plan also includes Apple TV+, Netflix, and 4K streaming quality to make the most of it. Go5G Plus starts at a steep $90 per month for a single line, with discounts for bringing multiple lines.

If upgrading your phone every two years is too long for you, T-Mobile’s Go5G Next plan offers you an upgrade yearly instead. Starting at $100 per month for a single line, this plan is identical to Go5G Plus in every other way.

Go5G is the middle plan with 100GB of premium data, 15GB of mobile hotspot data, and 720p streaming. The perks take a hit with Apple TV+ reduced to just six months and no Netflix. Both Go5G and Go5G Plus have taxes and fees included in the plan price, so you know what you’re paying before your bill is delivered, and you don’t have to worry about sneaky fee increases.

Finally, Essentials is an unlimited plan with just the basics included. There’s only 50GB of premium data, but that’s plenty for many people. Taxes and fees are extra with this plan and streaming video is down to 480p, but this plan could be the perfect fit for a lighter user. If you’ve only got three lines or fewer, the Essentials Saver version of this plan is cheaper.

T-Mobile has some other plans with small differences, such as their older Magenta plans. Most plans have discounted 55+, military and veteran, and first responder versions. There’s also a promotion to get your third line free, so if you’re bringing the family along, you can save some cash. For travelers, T-Mobile also has international usage options, such as 5GB of data on Go5G Plus and Wi-Fi on multiple airlines.

Verizon’s network has earned it a strong reputation with some of the best coverage in the country, including in rural areas. Verizon has also been working fast to expand its fast 5G coverage with mid-band spectrum. Verizon splits its 5G access into 5G Nationwide and 5G Ultra Wideband categories; the latter includes the faster C-band and mmWave coverage, while the former only uses much slower low-band 5G. While it still doesn’t match T-Mobile’s mid-band footprint, you can get Ultra Wideband in many places across the country.

Verizon has simplified its postpaid unlimited plan selection to three starter options. At $65 for one line, Unlimited Welcome is Verizon’s cheapest plan. This plan targets the basics with unlimited nationwide 5G data and SD-quality video streaming. Unlimited Plus starts at $80 for one line and upgrades that plan with premium data, 30GB of high-speed hotspot data, and 50% off a connected device plan. This plan is also eligible for savings when purchasing a new device.

Unlimited Ultimate costs $90 for a single line and comes with some big upgrades over Unlimited Plus. Premium data is still unlimited, but high-speed hotspot data has been increased to 60GB. For customers who travel a lot, international talk, text, and data are included in 210 countries. Streaming video quality gets an upgrade to 1080p from 720p on LTE or nationwide 5G and customers can get 50% off on two connected data plans. For business people who find themselves overseas a lot or those who need plenty of data on the road, this plan could be worth the upgrade.

These plans are built around the idea that customers will also choose some add-ons, called perks, that cost $10 each. These perks can be a good choice, with the Disney+, Hulu, and ESPN+ perks coming in at $5 less than buying them directly from Disney. There’s also 100GB of mobile hotspot data, Apple One, Walmart+, a smartwatch data and safety plan, a 3-day TravelPass each month, and 2TB of cloud storage. If your favorite streaming perk wasn’t listed, you can add a wide range with a +play credit that gives you $15 of credit towards a subscription for $10.

All these plans support multi-line family discounts, so you can save per line up to four lines, with additional savings if you bring your own phones and port in your numbers. Remember that taxes and fees are extra and excluded from price guarantees. You’ll also need to enable auto-pay to get these prices; otherwise, the plans are $10 more. On a more positive note, all three plans offer Verizon Home Internet discounts, though Unlimited Plus and Unlimited Ultimate get the biggest discounts.

AT&T’s network isn’t taking home too many awards for speed these days, but it still has vast nationwide coverage with rural coverage rivaling and sometimes beating Verizon. AT&T hasn’t been as gung ho as Verizon regarding 5G rollout, but its mid-band coverage has steadily made its way out of major cities and into the suburbs. AT&T also has a dedicated low-band 5G spectrum plus some shared spectrum that it uses to build a nationwide 5G network. Finally, mmWave 5G has been deployed in many airports and stadiums nationwide.

AT&T’s plans, thankfully, are rather straightforward, with four unlimited plans and a limited data plan. Starting with the cheapest, the aptly titled 4GB Plan has unlimited talk and text with 4GB of data. This plan starts at $50 for a single line and comes down to $40 with four lines. This plan is really only valuable to those looking for the absolute cheapest postpaid plan they can get with their $10 Signature program member discount. However, there are multiple cheaper prepaid options available. If you don’t get that discount, AT&T Value Plus VL for a dollar more gets you unlimited data and 5G access.

The cheapest of AT&T’s three main plans, Unlimited Starter SL, has unlimited data, 5GB of hotspot data, and 480p streaming. At $65.99 for one line and $35.99 for four, this is a good pick for a family looking to save. Upgrading to Unlimited Extra EL adds 75GB of premium data and 30GB of mobile hotspot data. This plan also only gets 480p streaming. Finally, the Unlimited Premium PL Plan has unlimited premium data, 60GB of hotspot usage, unlimited usage with high-speed data in 20 Latin American countries, and 4K streaming.

If you’re looking to buy a new phone, AT&T is unique because you don’t need to sign up for a specific plan to get the carrier’s best deals. Contrast this with Verizon, which gives its best deals on new phones to those getting one of its more premium plans. AT&T also allows you to mix and match plans, so if you want to bring multiple lines with different plans, you still get multi-line savings.

Visible is a Verizon-owned prepaid carrier offering two unlimited plans on Verizon’s network. With the Visible+ plan, which is required for Ultra Wideband access, Visible customers can access Verizon’s full LTE and nationwide 5G network. Comparing Visible to Verizon, coverage should be nearly identical, though Visible’s speeds may be slightly lower due to network prioritization.

Visible’s cheapest plan is simply called Visible, and it comes with unlimited data, unlimited hotspot usage at 5Mbps, and unlimited talk and text. This plan has no premium data, so in a congested area, Visible’s speeds can fall much lower than Verizon’s. Even so, in most places, Visible will still be plenty usable, and the data speeds will only really be noticeable when sending or receiving large files. This base Visible plan costs just $25 per month, with taxes and fees included.

Visible+ builds upon Visible with 50GB of premium data to keep speeds higher in congested areas. Visible+ also gets access to Verizon’s Ultra Wideband 5G network for even faster speeds in cities with coverage. Compared to the base plan, hotspot speeds are doubled to 10Mbps. This plan also features international upgrades, including unlimited roaming in Mexico and Canada. International calling to 30+ countries and texting to 200+ countries are also bundled in, plus you get one Global Pass per month for international roaming. A smartwatch plan is also included for Apple Watches. This plan comes in at $45 with taxes and fees included, which makes it one of the best truly unlimited plan values you can get.

Visible’s pricing is as simple as it comes with taxes and fees included in the price. That means that what you see is what you get, so there are no surprises on your bill. If you want to save more, you can pay annually with savings for either plan. Annually, Visible comes in at $275 while Visible+ is $395. Customers can also save on Verizon Home Internet with $10 off for Visible+ and $5 off for Visible. Keep in mind that there are no multi-line discounts or auto-pay requirements to worry about. You can get Visible’s best prices, even with a single line.

The AT&T-owned Cricket Wireless isn’t the most exciting prepaid carrier, but it’s managed to keep up with stiff competition. Thanks to solid discounts on its unlimited plan, for both single-line and multi-line accounts, Cricket is worth a second look. Cricket even includes taxes and fees in its plan prices.

Cricket Wireless uses the AT&T network for all of its coverage, meaning strong nationwide coverage with a vast LTE network and a 5G footprint that’s steadily expanding. Cricket’s 5GB and 10GB fixed data plans aren’t exactly the best values you’ll find, with carriers like Mint Mobile and US Mobile offering better deals for lighter users. The 10GB plan qualifies for multi-line discounts, though for most people, this plan isn’t the best deal with this much data.

Cricket’s base unlimited plan, sometimes referred to as Unlimited Core, is the best bet for most families, with unlimited data usage on your phone and 5G access on AT&T. Cricket Unlimited qualifies for multi-line discounts with four lines, bringing the price to just $25 per line. If you’re on your own, you can pay for a full year upfront for $25 per month.

Cricket’s top plan, Unlimited + 15GB Mobile Hotspot, also called Cricket More, is more than a hotspot add-on with higher priority data, Max with Ads video streaming, and 150GB of cloud storage. All but Cricket’s smallest 5GB plan gets usage in Mexico and Canada as well. The price is steep for a single line, but if you bring four lines, this plan comes down to $130 per month or just over $32 per line.

US Mobile is a prepaid carrier that offers service on all the Big Three networks: AT&T, T-Mobile, and Verizon. With all three networks, customers can pick the network that gives them the best coverage, and on AT&T, the QCI (priority level) can even be upgraded if your speeds aren’t holding up in congested areas.

US Mobile has three unlimited plans and a shared data plan with taxes and fees included on all of them. Shared data plans are a good fit for light users with as little as 2GB of data, scaling up as needed. If you have a lot of people to get connected, this plan can be a solid value, but heavier users should step up to an unlimited plan.

Unlimited Starter, like most prepaid unlimited plans, isn’t all that unlimited at all. You get 35GB of high-speed data, access to 5G, unlimited talk and text, and not much more. For many people, that’s all they really need and, at $29 per line for the first line, this plan can be a good way to save with access to either the T-Mobile or Verizon 5G network. With three or more lines, this plan comes down to $25 per month, and if you pay annually, you can get a single line for just $23 per month. Remember that after you use your high-speed data allotment, your data speeds will be reduced to 1Mbps until the end of the billing period, whether you’re using the Warp 5G or GSM 5G SIM.

Unlimited Premium upgrades the high-speed data to 100GB with a 50GB hotspot. This plan also includes up to 10GB of international travel data with an eSIM. Like the basic plan, there are multi-line discounts with one line starting at $45 and four bringing that down to $30 per line. Unlike the basic plan, accounts that bring three lines get to choose a free perk, and accounts with four lines get to choose two. Some examples include a Disney streaming package, Spotify Family, or even PlayStation Plus.

Finally, if you just need a basic plan with enough data for messaging, email, and occasionally social media, the 10GB Unlimited Flex plan could be the perfect fit. This plan is only available with annual payments, which works out to $180 per year, or $15 per month. It would be nice if this plan was available monthly, especially since MobileX is also offering a 10GB unlimited plan for $15 per month, with no annual requirement.

Mint Mobile is a prepaid carrier owned by T-Mobile that offers four fairly basic plans with multi-month savings on each one. Mint Mobile’s plans offer high-speed data on T-Mobile’s LTE and 5G networks with full access to all of T-Mobile’s available 5G speeds. That also means that Mint Mobile will activate with just about any unlocked phone. For those that don’t need a ton of data, Visible and Mint Mobile aren’t that far apart regarding value.

Mint’s plans are available for three, six, or 12 months at once, with the best rates for those willing to pay for the whole year at once. For example, the cheapest 5GB plan costs $25 per month when you buy three months, $20 with six months, and $15 with 12 months. Data comes in at 5GB, 15GB, 20GB, or Unlimited. The three smaller plans can use all of their data in a hotspot, while the unlimited plan gets truly unlimited data and 10GB of high-speed hotspot data.

With Mint Mobile, you pick the plan that best fits your needs and sign up for as long as you can afford to get the best rate. You get Mint’s best pricing for your first three months as a customer, so you can get a good idea of how much data you’re actually using and adjust your plan before renewing to make sure you’re not wasting money. If you need more than you thought, you can upgrade mid-cycle to a bigger plan by paying the difference.

However, if you’re bringing multiple lines with you, Mint starts to feel expensive with its lump sum payments. Luckily, Mint Family gives you the carrier’s best monthly rates, which are renewed three months at a time when you bring two or more lines. If you’re willing to go along with Mint’s multi-month requirements, you can get a great price on data on T-Mobile’s network.

Google Fi has been a favorite among Android users for years with features like a free VPN and automatic network switching making it a great pick for travelers. Google Fi mostly uses T-Mobile for coverage with 5G access but can also rely on Wi-Fi partners in some dense areas. Google Fi used to work with UScellular but has since dropped that partnership. Still, with T-Mobile purchasing US Cellular, it all comes out in the wash. To get the most out of Google Fi, you’ll want an approved phone with all its advanced features. If you have iPhone users in your family, Google Fi will require a few more steps to get SMS messaging working properly.

Google Fi’s oldest plan is called Flexible. This plan starts at $20 per month with unlimited talk and text. Data costs $10 per gigabyte but only charges for 6GB of usage, which is quite expensive. Data is slowed after 15GB of total usage. This plan can also use data for the same cost in over 200 destinations worldwide.

Unlimited Plus costs a steep $65 per month for one line, but you get the same data roaming features as Flexible with 50GB of high-speed data. You can use all of that data as a mobile hotspot if you want. Google One cloud storage is included with 100GB a year of YouTube Premium is included.

At $50 per month, Simply Unlimited comes with 35GB of high-speed data, 5GB of hotspot data, and not much else. Data, calls, and texts work in the U.S., Mexico, or Canada, but you don’t get the same international usage as Flexible or Unlimited Plus. This plan is ideal for families on a budget with four lines, bringing the cost down to just $20 per line.

Flexible and Unlimited Plus both support a free second SIM that shares your data. This SIM can be used on a tablet or spare phone, so you can use your data on multiple devices without running a mobile hotspot on your primary device. All plans also come with free smartwatch data for select watches, such as Google Pixel Watch or Galaxy Watch5.

When T-Mobile purchased Sprint, a bit of spectrum and Boost Mobile were sold to DISH Network, kicking off its Dish Wireless brand. Boost Infinite was launched alongside Boost Mobile with a handful of unlimited options and phone bundles. Boost Infinite’s plans have since replaced Boost Mobile’s older options. With Boost Mobile, there are three unlimited plans: Unlimited, Unlimited+, and Unlimited Premium. There’s also a version of Unlimited that’s bundled with a new iPhone or Galaxy phone.

Boost Infinite’s cheapest plan is Unlimited, which comes with 30GB of high-speed data and costs $25 per month as long as your account is active. There’s no contract, but you will need a credit check if you want to use monthly payments to buy a new phone.

Boost Infinite’s two most expensive plans are Infinite Access for iPhone and Infinite Access for Galaxy. Both plans cost $65 monthly plus taxes and fees with unlimited talk, text, and data with network switching. The iPhone plan comes with a base model iPhone with the option to pay the difference for an upgrade to a larger model or with more storage. Similarly, the Galaxy plan lets you choose a Galaxy S24 model with the base S24 model being free. No trade-in is required with this plan, and since you’ll be on a new phone, you’ll have access to Boost Infinite’s network switching.

Boost’s network is a mix of services from T-Mobile, AT&T, and Dish Wireless coverage. Boost has coverage in many big cities and some towns across the country, so many people will spend most of their time on Dish’s own towers. To bring your phone to Boost Infinite, you’ll need something that works with T-Mobile’s network, which is most unlocked phones, but to get the most of Boost Infinite’s 5G coverage, you’ll want a phone with support for bands n29, n66, n70, and n71.

Find the carrier that fits your needs

Picking the right carrier isn’t as simple as it may seem, with AT&T, T-Mobile, and Verizon all offering strong nationwide coverage and vast nationwide 5G networks. Even so, Verizon and AT&T have stronger rural coverage with their huge LTE networks compared to T-Mobile, but T-Mobile dominates in urban and suburban areas with its fast Ultra Capacity mid-band 5G covering the majority of Americans. Even if you want to pick a prepaid option, you’ll still use one of these three networks with most carriers.

It must be said that T-Mobile doesn’t have a totally clear slate, with some customers rightfully irritated by the carrier pushing them into a new plan. There have also been some data breaches that have further affected potential customers’ trust. Verizon isn’t faultless either, as the carrier is increasing fees to make older plans more expensive. At the end of the day, carriers want to make money and buying one of the best Android phones unlocked gives you the flexibility to switch whenever you want.

T-Mobile stands out as the best value for most people with its vast 5G network achieving top marks in Ookla’s 2024 Connectivity Report, which has also allowed it to lean into its network with T-Mobile 5G Home Internet becoming a realistic option for many. T-Mobile’s plans are fairly typical compared to AT&T and Verizon, but 5G perks matter a lot more on a network where you’ll be using 5G most of the time.