The top cellular service providers for 2024

We’ve picked Verizon as the best cell phone provider in the US because it has a wide variety of simple plans and the most reliable 5G coverage. If you bring your phone, plans start at $25/per month for the Unlimited Welcome line or $30 for an extra 30GB of premium hotspot data – perfect for playing the best mobile games or streaming on the go.

Verizon offers all the latest devices if you do want a new phone, with plans that are easy to customize to your needs, so you don’t pay over the odds. You can also choose from a range of phone bundles that include useful subscriptions to services like Disney Plus.

While we do have to point out that Verizon’s customer reviews average a pretty disheartening 1.2 out of 5 stars on Trust Pilot, all the cell phone carriers on this list have pretty low scores, with no provider above the 2-star mark. This suggests customers only leave reviews when they’ve had a bad experience, so it might be worth taking with a pinch of salt.

While Verizon isn’t the cheapest cell phone provider here, its 5G coverage is impressive; the company rolled out C-Band 5G early last year to offer faster mid-band 5G to millions of consumers across the country. RootMetrics recently reported that Verizon had the best 5G reliability of any carrier, so if data is important to you, we think it’s worth paying a little more.

Verizon.

Mint Mobile became famous for having Ryan Reynolds as a major shareholder, but now that the Canadian actor has sold his stake to T-Mobile, is it still worth considering as a cell phone provider? In short, yes. Mint uses T-Mobile’s network for coverage, and it swaps between 5G and 4G LTE coverage (whichever is stronger in your area) for reliable and fast speeds.

Mint Mobile also offers some of the most affordable prepaid phone plans, with extra discounts on family plans. To get the lowest prices you typically need to take out a 12-month contract, but Mint usually offers promotions to new customers that give you months of free service.

Unlimited calls and texts are the standard with Mint Mobile Plans, 5G and 4G LTE coverage (whichever is stronger in your areas), free calls to Canada and Mexico, and free mobile hotspots up to 10GB. The price you pay each month depends on how much data you need: on a 12-month plan, $15 a month gets you 5GB of data, while 40GB of 5G data is $30.

T-Mobile has a selection of fantastic phone plans with 5G coverage, although this provider is not quite as budget-friendly as Mint Mobile. We like that T-Mobile makes it easy to check 5G and 4G LTE coverage in your area with its coverage map, giving you peace of mind before you take out a contract.

T-Mobile’s Go5G plans are ideal for the most data-hungry users and those who want the best performance from their phones. The Essentials Savings plan starts at $50 per month for 50GB of data, while the Magenta Max plan ($85 a month) gives you Unlimited Data, a free Netflix account, and a 40GB mobile hotspot.

Unlike some carriers, all the taxes and fees are included in this price. T-Mobile offers discounts when you take out multiple lines at the same time (great for families) as well as for those aged over 55, military personnel, veterans, and first responders.

Compare T-Mobile plans.

One of the three major cell phone carriers in the US, AT&T Wireless owns and looks after its own cell towers rather than piggybacking on them as smaller networks do. Cell phone reception remains top-notch, but we haven’t rated AT&T higher in this guide because T-Mobile has better customer reviews, and Verizon provides better coverage generally.

AT&T Wireless has plenty of plans to choose from, including those with discounts for students or multiple lines. If you bring your own phone AT&T Wireless will give you $250 in bill credits, but if you do want a new device, the payment plans are reasonable. Once you’ve paid off your phone, it will be unlocked for use on any cell phone carrier in the future.

Unlike Visible Wireless below, AT&T is one of the providers to have physical stores, which means you can visit should you have a query, or want to talk to someone about your contract. It’s also easy to check AT&T’s wireless coverage across the US.

Compare AT&T Wireless plans.

US Mobile might be one of the lesser-known brands on this list, but they’ve got a fun website and some incredible 5G speeds. If you’re into mobile gaming or streaming on your phone, this might be the provider for you.

If you run out of data, texts, or talk minutes before your next month, for example, you can add Top Ups to refill your balance. US Mobile also has an Autopilot AI service, which essentially looks over your previous typical phone usage and finds the best plan for you – not the most expensive one.

The Unlimited Basic package starts at $35 per month, while Unlimited Premium is $45 (which gives you 10GB of international data and 50GB of hotspot data).

Compare US Mobile contracts.

In the same way that Visible is owned by Verizon, Cricket Wireless is owned by AT&T. According to Wikipedia, it supplies ten million subscribers in the United States, which makes it one of the smaller carriers on our list. With a range of prepaid plans, you know exactly what you’re spending, and you get access to Cricket’s nationwide 5G network as standard on each plan.

Cricket’s cheapest plan is $30 per month (for 5GB data) and the most expensive is Unlimited Premium with 15 GB Mobile Hotspot data at $60 monthly. If you want to buy several family lines, you can get 4 for $25 each month. Cricket also offers bonuses for the more expensive plans, including the ability to stream HBO Max with ads.

If you’ve got an iPhone, it’s possible to trial Cricket Wireless with the tryCricket app, which has an average rating of 4.7 stars out of 5. We’d suggest taking advantage of this free trial and checking Cricket’s network coverage to ensure you’ll be covered in your area.

Compare Cricket Wireless plans.

Visible is another lesser-known US cell phone carrier that is well worth checking out before going straight to the big brands. The carrier is a Mobile Virtual Network Operator (MVNO) that uses Verizon’s network, which we’ve already said is very reliable. It’s worth saying, though, that if the network gets congested you can see speeds slowing down on some plans.

Visible has two simple contract plans; the standard Visible plan ($25/month) offers “all the basics” – unlimited calls, texts, and data, an unlimited data hotspot, plus unlimited calls and texts to Mexico and Canada.

The Visible+ plan ($45/month) gives you all of this, plus 5G Ultra Wideband, the Premium Network Experience – meaning your speeds won’t slow down during congested periods – and International Calling to over 30 countries. There aren’t any hidden extra fees here, and adding an Apple Watch costs you an extra $5/month.

Visible only offered iPhones when it started, but now you can get the latest and best Android phones from Samsung and Google. Visible saves money by not having a storefront or call center (it does have 24/7 online chat support). If you don’t mind that and want to save money on an unlimited plan, this is the best cell phone carrier for you.

Compare Visible plans here.

The Consumer Cellular website isn’t as sleek as some providers, but there are some good value deals if you know where to look. As far as pricing goes, what you get at the lowest end isn’t as generous as other providers in this list. For example, $25 a month includes unlimited talk and text but only 5GB of data (it’s unlimited on Verizon’s basic plan).

However, Consumer Cellular should appeal to you if you want a monthly plan without a contract, and it’s been going for over 25 years as a US-based company (with US-based customer service centers).

Consumer Cellular gives AARP members a 5 percent discount, which has seen it become popular among seniors. As an MVNO, the carrier relies on T-Mobile and AT&T networks for coverage, so you should get as good a coverage as those wherever you are in the country. Like many providers, you can check your postcode on the website to make sure.

Compare Consumer Cellular plans.