Prepaid carriers run on the same Verizon, AT&T, and T-Mobile networks as the big-name plans, usually for much less a month, though their cheapest plans give up perks and priority when the network is busy. If your phone already works well where you live and work, pick a prepaid plan on that network and move your number to it.
The extra you pay a big carrier over a prepaid plan buys perks and priority when the network gets busy. If you’re on Wi-Fi at home and at work most of the day, you’re paying for things you hardly use.
Take Verizon. Its Simplicity plan costs $45 a month per line with AutoPay and paperless billing, plus taxes and fees. Visible, a prepaid carrier on Verizon’s network, charges $25 a month with taxes and fees included.
On one line, Visible’s base plan costs at least $240 a year less than Simplicity, with slower data on a busy network, standard-definition video, and no included roaming in Mexico or Canada. Its Visible+ plan adds all three for $35 a month, at least $120 a year less than Simplicity.
Start with the network that works best where you live and work. If you rarely lose signal on your current service, that’s your answer. Compare prepaid carriers on it, such as Visible on Verizon, Cricket on AT&T, or Mint on T-Mobile. Then check your carrier’s app for your monthly data use. If it’s under 10 GB, a smaller data plan can cost less than unlimited.
Switch in this order:
- Check your bill for promo credits. If monthly credits are paying your phone down, leaving early can end them, so wait until they finish or count the credits you’d lose as a cost of switching.
- Pay off the phone. It has to be unlocked to work on another carrier, and Verizon, AT&T, and T-Mobile unlock a phone only once it’s paid off.
- Get your account number and a number transfer PIN from your current carrier.
- Sign up with the prepaid carrier and give it both. Keep your old service active, since the transfer moves your number and closes the old line.
Families multiply the savings. Simplicity charges the same $45 for every line, so four lines on Visible’s base plan save at least $80 a month, and four on Visible+ at least $40.
If you wouldn’t miss priority or perks, the $20 or more a month Simplicity costs over Visible’s base plan buys you nothing.
If you’re choosing a prepaid plan, compare the best cheap cell phone plans.
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