Why I think prepaid is better for most

Getting postpaid cellphone service within the US has by no means been notably reasonably priced, however the scenario has worsened dramatically because the pandemic. Verizon, T-Mobile, and AT&T haven’t solely elevated the listed costs of their plans, however the quantity of additional charges has additionally seemingly risen. We’ve additionally seen adjustments just like the elimination of perks or further prices for them, and older grandfathered plans have seen worth adjustments. While T-Mobile initially averted worth hikes, even the uncarrier has modified its tune by elevating costs on its legacy plans.

All of this leads me to a conclusion: most of us shouldn’t stick with the Big Three anymore. It simply isn’t price it besides for a small minority. Prepaid is a better route for most. While prepaid carriers have additionally seen some worth rises, the will increase have been at a a lot slower charge. We’ve even seen just a few carriers like Mint Mobile decrease their pricing in response to latest provider hikes.

For transparency’s sake, I need to make clear that I at present have a Verizon account, although I even have just a few MNVOs for work testing functions. In truth, this complete article began as a dialog between my spouse and me about leaving Verizon and the way it’s simply not price it for us anymore. I principally stored postpaid as a result of I have a bigger household. Even so, I am very possible switching from my Verizon account when our final machine on a fee plan is lastly totally paid off.

You would possibly think you might be a part of the group that received’t profit from switching to prepaid, however earlier than you make up your thoughts, it’s essential to dispel some frequent myths about prepaid service.

Prepaid provider myths chances are you’ll imagine

If you enterprise outdoors of the Americas, you’ll discover that quite a lot of different international locations favor prepaid, together with the vast majority of Europe. I’ve delved into this topic extensively with colleagues and pals from throughout the globe prior to now. While this isn’t true of all areas, such because the UK, in lots of international locations, the carriers construct the community, but it surely is the associate MVNOs operating on them which have the bulk of the particular subscribers.

Some of those MVNOs provide postpaid plans, however most function on a prepaid mannequin. While it is potential to acquire a cellphone and repair immediately from the larger carriers as common customers, most direct subscribers are sometimes companies that favor this feature as they’ll simply arrange accounts for a number of workers, change numbers quick, and far more. So why is the US market so completely different? Honestly, many individuals within the US maintain onto a false notion of the prepaid market. It’s true that prepaid companies have been sometimes subpar and aimed principally at teenagers and low-income people within the late ’90s and into the early 2000s. Thankfully, instances have modified.

Here are just some prepaid provider myths I’ve heard earlier than:

Prepaid carriers are fly-by-night operations or much less reliable in some way

Virgin and another prepaid carriers from the early 2000s have been certainly not the most effective manufacturers on this planet, and customer support might be a nightmare too. Thankfully, this is now not the case. In truth, among the greatest prepaid carriers are simply sub-brands that belong to the Big Three networks. This consists of Verizon-owned Visible, AT&T-owned Cricket, Metro by T-Mobile, and Total by Verizon Wireless. There are nonetheless unbiased carriers, however even a few of these are run by large corporations, like Google Fi Wireless. Bottom line, there could be some smaller MVNOs, however most of those companies are run by established, trusted companies.

Many imagine that customer support with a prepaid provider can be subpar, however this largely is determined by the provider and your particular wants. If you require hands-on help for establishing gadgets or troubleshooting, you would possibly want a provider with a bodily location. Cricket and Metro by T-Mobile are good examples of prepaid companies with retail shops. Straight Talk additionally gives restricted in-person customer support by Walmart, though some companies could incur extra charges. These carriers are extensively accessible all through most of the nation, and whereas there are different smaller regional carriers with bodily areas, the three talked about are among the many most accessible.

Not everybody wants hands-on assist, although. Tech-savvy people or these prepared to rent a tech specialist for the uncommon situations when it’s wanted would possibly choose for carriers with out bodily shops however with robust on-line and cellphone assist programs. Google Fi and Consumer Cellular are examples of such carriers. My personal expertise with Google Fi concerned strong customer support, albeit with lengthy wait instances earlier than reaching a technician who might tackle my advanced points. Conversely, I’ve heard optimistic evaluations from a non-tech-savvy member of the family about Consumer Cellular’s responsive customer support.

While it’s unusual for a well known MVNO to lack customer support fully, some do have extra restricted choices, which could be extra appropriate for these with larger technical proficiency. For occasion, Mint Mobile gives a customer support expertise that varies considerably; the web chatbots will not be very useful, and getting by to a educated technician could be time-consuming. However, I have additionally skilled fast and environment friendly service from Mint. It’s essential to notice that some carriers present first rate customer support however could solely provide assist by on-line messaging, which calls for extra effort from the buyer. Visible is a superb instance of this.

I’ve typically heard misconceptions about how MVNOs function. Some imagine these smaller prepaid carriers have their very own networks and fear about restricted regional protection. However, almost all prepaid carriers within the United States make the most of the networks of the Big Three, Dish, or US Cellular.

There’s additionally a persistent fantasy that service with prepaid carriers is inferior. While it’s true that within the early days, many MVNOs applied aggressive measures like throttling to reduce information use and cut back prices, the standard of prepaid companies has considerably improved. As a school scholar recent out of highschool throughout these instances, I skilled firsthand among the limitations of early prepaid companies. Today, many prepaid carriers are simply as dependable as their postpaid counterparts. This is very true for calling and texting.

Although deprioritization can nonetheless noticeably have an effect on low-cost prepaid plans, a number of prepaid carriers provide choices that intently match the reliability and efficiency of huge provider plans. Some of the better choices embrace Google Fi, Visible, Cricket, and Mint Mobile. While these corporations will nonetheless have slight deprioritization over the principle community, many provide almost as quick of speeds although latency varies relying on provider.

You’ll have fewer options and perks

Despite what you will have heard, many prepaid plans now provide options similar to these present in postpaid plans. Just just a few years in the past, full 5G assist was missing in prepaid choices, however now virtually all assist this normal. There are additionally quite a few limitless information plans, worldwide choices, and extra. It’s true that perks are much less frequent within the prepaid area, however they aren’t as spectacular within the postpaid realm as they was both. For occasion, AT&T now not gives streaming perks, and Verizon has shifted away from free perks on postpaid plans, now treating them as add-ons sometimes priced at round $10 a month every. T-Mobile nonetheless supplies the most effective free streaming perks with choose plans, together with Apple TV+, Netflix, and Hulu, relying on the plan you select.

In the prepaid sector, just a few carriers do provide perks, though streaming advantages are much less frequent. For instance, Google Fi Wireless consists of six months of YouTube Premium for free and a full subscription to Google One with 100GB of cloud storage. Similarly, Cricket gives a plan that features free ad-supported Max streaming.

I’ve heard issues concerning the “unreliable nature” of prepaid plans making them much less preferrred for frequent vacationers, and that households would possibly discover better worth with postpaid carriers because of steep reductions. However, this actually is determined by the provider and the particular plan.

Traditionally, postpaid plans have been extra prone to embrace worldwide entry, both for free or as an add-on. However, this has modified considerably over the previous decade. Now, many prepaid carriers provide interesting worldwide options. For instance, a number of plans embrace free calling to and from Canada and Mexico. Google Fi’s Unlimited Plus plan even surpasses main US carriers by providing free information in over 200 international locations, plus calls from the US to over 50 locations, all at a price corresponding to, or lower than, comparable plans from massive carriers.

While some prepaid carriers like Visible provide restricted or no household plan choices, there are notable exceptions. Google Fi and Cricket each provide substantial multi-line reductions that may compete with conventional carriers. For occasion, for a household of six, Google Fi’s Simply Unlimited plan prices simply $25 per line, in comparison with $40 per line for Verizon’s Unlimited Plus. Interestingly, Verizon’s base plan doesn’t embrace premium information entry, whereas Google Fi’s Unlimited Plus supplies 35GB of prioritized information per line, with speeds decreased after that primarily based on community congestion. Despite this, speeds stay usable, possible outperforming Verizon’s fundamental postpaid plan. Additionally, Google Fi consists of perks like 5GB of hotspot entry, which Verizon doesn’t provide at this degree.

It’s true that a number of prepaid carriers have restricted cellphone alternatives, particularly these which are smaller or extra budget-focused. However, any prepaid service from the Big Three will present entry to all the most recent telephones, together with the Pixel 8, Galaxy S24, and that iPhone 15. This additionally holds true for prepaid carriers owned by these bigger networks, reminiscent of Visible, Total by Verizon, and Cricket (owned by AT&T).

Even some unbiased prepaid carriers provide a surprisingly in depth collection of telephones. For instance, Mint Mobile could not carry the iPhone 15 but, but it surely does provide the iPhone 14, Galaxy S24, and Pixel 8. Google Fi, whereas not stocking Apple gadgets, carries almost each main Android machine accessible within the US.

The backside line is that with a little bit of analysis, you will discover a provider that provides all kinds of cellphone choices. You can even carry your individual unlocked cellphone, which may additional increase your selections.

Prepaid doesn’t provide the financing and safety choices you’d get with a giant provider

Many imagine that prepaid companies require you to pay for your cellphone in full upfront and that they lack complete safety plans. However, this isn’t the case. Several prepaid carriers now provide machine financing plans just like postpaid companies, permitting you to get the most recent telephones and not using a hefty preliminary fee. For instance, Google Fi Wireless gives the Pixel 8a for free with a 24-month fee plan, and carriers like Cricket have promotions for each high-end and finances gadgets.

Moreover, machine safety isn’t unique to postpaid. Prepaid carriers like Visible associate with corporations like Assurant to offer reasonably priced safety plans beginning at $3 a month, masking every part from unintended harm to machine malfunctions.

Even if a provider doesn’t provide its safety or fee plan, you may typically undergo a serious retailer like Best Buy and get a fee plan or insurance coverage by third-party suppliers like Assurant and Affinity.

The comparability between prepaid and postpaid companies reveals some stunning similarities, difficult the notion that sure advantages are unique to postpaid plans. It’s true that postpaid carriers usually present a extra strong service total, together with arguably superior buyer assist, extra complete plan choices, enhanced cellphone availability, larger community precedence, and a wider vary of cellphone and related machine offers. Prepaid plans could provide comparable advantages, however postpaid sometimes edges it out with extra perks for these searching for an easy buying expertise with minimal upfront analysis.

With postpaid, you will get machine safety, accent choices, and financing plans from a single supply, simplifying the shopping for course of. Additionally, main carriers have a tendency to supply barely better trade-in values, routes to sooner upgrades on sure plans, and even reductions on residence web companies.

Still, it’s price questioning whether or not these marginal enhancements or the comfort of the preliminary setup justify the upper prices of postpaid plans, particularly when substantial financial savings could be achieved with prepaid choices. The fact is many customers are paying for options they don’t totally make the most of. It’s additionally true that many wouldn’t discover the slight impression on speeds and reliability so long as they switched to a trusted, higher-quality plan like these from Google Fi, Visible, and several other others we’ve talked about on this listing.

For occasion, not everybody values worldwide entry or streaming perks. Even if a service like Google Fi’s community is barely slower than T-Mobile’s direct service, if it’s 95% as quick, would the distinction be noticeable? For most, I’d argue the reply is no. Though once more, there are all the time exceptions.

While multi-line reductions and streaming perks can be found within the prepaid world, for massive households, the reductions given might imply main carriers may not be considerably larger, making it worthwhile for some to pay further for the advantages of a postpaid expertise. However, for most folks, opting for a prepaid provider is possible the better selection in 2024.

Prepaid plans typically align extra intently with particular person wants and provide substantial financial savings. You’ll possible take pleasure in an analogous service high quality whereas saving a whole lot of {dollars} yearly, with the added flexibility to modify plans or carriers with out main penalties. Obviously, when you decide to fee contracts by a prepaid provider you’ll need to pay these off first, although a cellphone purchased unlocked with a fee plan from a serious retailer would be capable of swap networks instantly because it isn’t formally tied to any carrier-related promotions.

As the de facto US cellphone provider specialist at Android Authority, I’ve observed that prepaid carriers are usually extra cautious about worth will increase, making them slower to implement adjustments. This results in extra predictable prices, lowering the probability of sudden, surprising spikes in your invoice— a standard concern with postpaid companies.

As for which carriers I suggest? Honestly, virtually any will work when you be sure to analysis completely however my previous experiences put Google Fi, Cricket, and Visible on the entrance of the prepaid line. Additionally, the large three typically provide their very own prepaid service when you want to get your service from an even bigger model title however don’t need to pay full worth.