The best cell phone plans for one person in 2025

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Plainly, people seeking a single-line phone plan should avoid major carriers like Verizon, AT&T, and T-Mobile and opt for mobile virtual network operators (MVNOs). From a value standpoint, MVNOs like Mint Mobile, Visible Wireless, and others offer the best cell phone plans for one person.

As detailed below, major carriers' prepaid and postpaid plans are significantly less cost-effective for single-line users than comparable MVNO plans that provide essentially the same data allotments, data speeds, and coverage. Major carrier plans generally only make sense when you have three or more lines in an account.

From extensive testing, our top pick among the best cell phone plans for one person is Mint Mobile's 12-month unlimited plan, which offers unrivaled long-term value for a single line. Tello Mobile's Build Your Own Plan is our top budget recommendation, as it allows you to customize minutes and data on a single line for as low as $5/month.

Our top picks for the best cell phone plans for one person

Best overall: Mint Mobile 12-Month Unlimited Plan - See at Mint Mobile

Best unlimited premium: Visible Wireless Visible Plus Plan - See at Visible Wireless

Best unlimited alternative: US Mobile Unlimited Starter Plan - See at US Mobile

Best budget: Tello Mobile Build Your Own Plan - See at Tello Mobile

Best overall

Mint Mobile's 12-month unlimited plan is the first option we'd recommend for most single-line users. Our top budget pick among the best unlimited data plans, the annual prepaid plan costs $20/month ($240/year) through a promotional price that reduces the typical $360 yearly, upfront cost by $120.

Mint Mobile operates on T-Mobile's network, which means excellent urban, suburban, and rapidly expanding rural coverage. It advertises data speeds between 79 and 357Mbps on T-Mobile's LTE and 5G networks, which, in our testing, is easily fast enough for most people to seamlessly stream music and videos, load photos and videos on social media, and download apps and games.

As detailed in our Mint Mobile vs. T-Mobile guide, all Mint Mobile plans are subject to deprioritized data (artificially slower speeds relative to the major carrier's high-end customers during congestion), and the unlimited plan may be further deprioritized in congested areas after using 35GB in a month. However, it still effectively offers unlimited data at high speeds, as no data cap will throttle the service, and you might not encounter deprioritized speeds if you're not routinely in crowded locations. Even in the population density of New York City, we've found that deprioritization has not meaningfully affected the service enough to recommend against it.

If you're new to Mint Mobile and unsure about paying for a year of service upfront, we recommend starting with the carrier's long-standing new customer promotion. It's our primary pick among the best cheap cell phone plans and offers three prepaid months of service for discounted rates that start at $15/month. Afterward, the 12-month unlimited plan provides the best overall value.

Mint Mobile's plans include mobile hot spot data allowances. The limited data plans share your phone's data allowance, while the unlimited plan has a dedicated 10GB hot spot allocation.

Potential limitations with Mint Mobile include its lack of separate plans for connected devices, like cellular versions of smartwatches and tablets. Another compromise common among nearly all MVNOs is a lack of dedicated physical retail stores, which may offer a better support experience in some cases. However, Mint Mobile's intuitive app and phone- and online-based customer support are unmatched among MVNOs and major carriers.

Also, if you're sure that T-Mobile inadequately covers you, you'll be better served by the Verizon- or AT&T-backed options below.

Read our full Mint Mobile review.

Best unlimited premium

The Visible Plus plan from Visible Wireless is highly recommended for unlimited data power users. It includes truly unlimited premium data that is not subjected to deprioritization, and its promotional monthly cost of $30/month for your first year of service is an utter bargain.

As detailed in our Visible vs. Verizon guide, Visible is a subsidiary of Verizon, and the Visible Plus plan grants customers access to the entirety of Verizon's coverage. That includes LTE, Verizon's standard 5G network (low- and mid-band), and Verizon's high-band 5G, which the carrier calls "5G Ultra Wideband."

Visible advertises typical data speeds between 11 and 634Mbps. Even at the lowest speed, 11Mbps is enough to run most apps and streaming content smoothly.

Mobile hot spot data is also unlimited, with speeds limited to 10Mbps. In our testing, it's sufficient for streaming videos at 1080p resolution on laptops or tablets, let alone browsing the web or sending off an email.

Visible also offers connectivity for cellular versions of smartwatches for an additional $10/month on the Visible Plus plan. However, if you plan on adding smartwatch connectivity, the carrier's top-tier Visible Plus Pro plan is more cost-effective, as it bundles smartwatch service into its price alongside additional features.

A few drawbacks of Visible include its lack of dedicated physical stores and, compared to other MVNOs, its relatively limited online-only support via chat and social media channels, as noted in our Mint Mobile vs. Visible guide.

Read our full Visible Wireless review.

Best unlimited alternative

If you need coverage only AT&T can provide, US Mobile's Unlimited Starter plan is the best alternative to Mint Mobile for most people and to Visible for unlimited power users.

US Mobile uniquely allows you to choose from any of the three major US carriers as a backing network and even periodically switch networks, should you wish. T-Mobile's network is named "Light Speed" in US Mobile's offering, and AT&T's network is known as "Dark Star." Verizon's network is also an option under the "Warp" name.

The Unlimited Starter plan from US Mobile includes deprioritized monthly data allotments of 35GB on T-Mobile's network (Light Speed) or 70GB on AT&T's (Dark Star). You can add higher priority data access on AT&T's network for an additional $120/year (or $12/month), but we haven't found it necessary. The Verizon network (Warp) is the only option that includes prioritized data, and it comes in a 35GB allotment.

As we're primarily recommending the service to those best covered by AT&T, 70GB should be plenty for most power users. It's an exceptional value at $19/month ($228/year total) when you use the annual payment option, and the $25 monthly cost is also worthwhile if you can't commit to the full year.

If you exceed 70GB in a month, data speeds reduce to 1Mbps, which isn't suited for video streaming and media-rich social media apps. Still, it's faster than the snail-like speeds that some carriers will throttle you to after a data cap, and it still can be used for light web browsing, sending messages and emails, and some basic apps.

The Unlimited Starter plan on the Dark Star (AT&T) network also includes a generous 20GB of mobile hot spot data. You can add a $10/month smartwatch or tablet plan to the Unlimited Starter plan, but you might as well upgrade to the Unlimited Premium plan. Adding a smartwatch or tablet data plan to the Unlimited Starter plans ends up being the same monthly or annual cost as the Unlimited Premium plan, which includes 100GB of premium data.

Read our full US Mobile review.

Best budget

For low-data users and those on a budget, Tello Mobile's Build Your Own option for customizable plans is hard to beat. You can tailor service to your needs for prices as low as $6/month in return for 1GB of data and 100 minutes of voice calls (with unlimited texts), or even $5/month if you don't need one or the other. Accordingly, it's also our top budget pick among the best cell phone plans for seniors.

As our Mint Mobile vs. Tello guide notes, Tello's data and voice-minute combinations may better suit your needs and cost less than Mint Mobile's limited-data plans for comparable service on T-Mobile's network. For example, you can opt for 5GB and 100 voice minutes on Tello for $11/month, compared to Mint Mobile's 5GB plan, which includes unlimited voice but ranges from $15 to $25/month. Tello also offers greater flexibility with its monthly payment structure, relative to the long-term prepaid intervals from Mint Mobile.

Tello runs on T-Mobile's network with advertised speeds between 13 and 357Mbps. Premium data isn't offered, so whatever data amount you get is subject to deprioritized speeds when T-Mobile's network becomes congested. However, as with Mint Mobile, we've yet to encounter reduced speeds from deprioritization that meaningfully restrict the service enough to avoid recommending it.

Each Tello plan includes mobile hot spot data shared with your monthly data allotment. Tello also offers smartwatch and tablet connectivity. However, at the time of writing, it's incompatible with Apple Watches and only works with certain Android wearables, like those from Samsung.

Read our full Tello Mobile review.

How we test cell phone plans for one person

We test cell phone plans for one person using the same methods employed in our broader testing for the best cell phone plans overall. We use the plans in day-to-day personal use, which includes making calls, sending messages, and running data-light and data-heavy apps. We test data speeds in areas with varying signal strengths on each network type.

For individuals with single lines, we consider each plan's monthly or annual pricing granularly and assess its cost relative to its offerings. We've extensively tested MVNOs against major carriers, which assures our determination that single-line plans from major carriers are markedly less cost-effective than those from our recommended MVNOs, as depicted below.

What to look for in a cell phone plan for one person

To start, we recommend single-line users look for a phone plan from an MVNO or budget carrier. These plans are universally more cost-effective for one person than major carrier options and, from our extensive testing, offer little to no relative compromise in data, speeds, and coverage.

As a broad illustration of the price distinction, the following table averages the monthly cost of all single-line plans from the three major US carriers, relative to the average monthly cost of all single-line plans from our top four recommended MVNOs.

Primarily, then, you'll need to determine which MVNO option has the best coverage for you — unlimited data won't matter if you can't use it reliably. Since we've ruled out major carrier plans for this guide, consider which network or networks an MVNO uses.

If Verizon's coverage works well in your area, look at MVNOs that run on Verizon's network, like Visible. If T-Mobile is better in your area, check out Mint Mobile or Tello Mobile first. If AT&T provides the best coverage, look to US Mobile, which allows you to switch between the three major carriers.

After establishing which MVNO has the best coverage for you, you can consider how much data you need, whether it's limited or unlimited. Then, assess how much mobile hot spot data you need and whether you want a cellular connection for cellular smartwatch models or tablets.

Major carriers can be better for certain features, like mobile hot spot, secondary device connectivity, and perks. Yet, generally speaking, individuals would be overpaying if they opt for a major carrier. As detailed in our guide to the best prepaid phone plans, even in the rare instance that a major carrier plan costs less than an MVNO plan, it'll come with less data.