Can you imagine your life without a cell phone? No? Well, what about having a cell phone that can’t make or receive calls or texts and has no access to the internet? At that point it should qualify as a glorified calculator. You can’t even take pictures because your storage practically overflows despite deleting all the games off your phone to make room. What comes next? Run from coffee shop to public library, sucking up all the free wifi so you can reply to a couple Snapchats? How are you supposed to call your mom from the bank when you forget your social security number? It sucks. But lucky for you, these 10 cell phone plans have everything you need to make it through the semester (and life) at a price you and your minimum wage job bagging groceries can afford.
Check out the best cell phone plans for college students on a budget.
10. Verizon
Cheapest Cell Phone Plan: [$30 when you enroll in Auto Pay, plus taxes and fees]
Unlimited talk and text, high-speed data for the first 500 MB (then reduced to 2G speeds), no annual contract, unlimited texts to over 200 international destinations, mobile hotspot (480p streaming), nationwide coverage
Best Cell Phone Plan: [$40 when you enroll in Auto Pay, plus taxes and fees]
Same features as above but high-speed data for the first 3 GB
Some things we just can’t live without. Unlimited talk and text are two of them. If you think I’m gonna sit around and wait until 9 p.m. to make a call because I’m out of minutes, you’ve got another thing coming. At Verizon, the cheapest single-line cell phone plan costs $30 (plus some taxes and fees) and comes with 500 MB of high-speed data. That amount of data should last you about 1,171 minutes on YouTube, but unless you want to pay a $5 overage fee per 500 MB, you better save that ‘Food Review’ binge until you can get to a laptop. If you can’t get enough of the internet and have an extra $75 a month to spare, the goUnlimited plan might work for you. But who really needs unlimited data? If you feel particularly creative (or desperate) you can connect 1 GB of data to your tablet with Verizon’s data-only plan for $20 a month. But why not splurge and make it 2 GB for $35? Treat yo-self. Download a texting app and use your tablet as a cell phone. I’ve seen people do it– for real.
9. AT&T
Cheapest Cell Phone Plan: [$30 with AutoPay discount]
Unlimited talk and text in the U.S., unlimited text to over 100 countries, high-speed data for the first 1 GB (then reduced to 128Kbps), mobile hotspot, HD video streaming (up to 1080p), prepaid service, nationwide coverage
Best Cell Phone Plan: [$40 with AutoPay discount]
Same features as above but high-speed data for the first 8 GB and unlimited talk and text to Mexico and Canada
Who knew AT&T still provided cell service? I thought they’d given up and started trying to make TV popular again. Regardless of the plan you choose, you’ll get HD quality streaming, a mobile hotspot and unlimited talk and text to all your friends in NAFTA. But for ten extra bucks, you can upgrade your 1 GB cell phone plan to an 8 GB cell phone plan. Ya know, in case you need 8 GB of data every month to rant on Twitter and watch Tasty videos in class and ignore your professor. Prepaid cell phone plans with AT&T have no contract, so if you ever get laid off for taking one too many ‘sick days,’ you can cancel your service right away.
8. Cricket Wireless
Cheapest Cell Phone Plan: [$30]
Unlimited talk and text, high-speed data for the first 2 GB (then reduced to 2G speeds), no annual contract, no overages, monthly taxes included, nationwide coverage
Best Cell Phone Plan: [$35 after Auto Pay credit]
Same features as above but high-speed data for the first 5 GB
Okay, so I might have lied a bit. Cricket’s cheapest plan actually costs $25 a month, but only has talk and text. For $5 more, you get 2 GB of data and that’s really all the average user needs in a month. That’s like 2,300 posts on Facebook and 4,450 minutes of Spotify, but hopefully you’ll be more diplomatic with your data usage. Cricket has basic cell phone plans that work great for users who need a working cell phone and maybe the occasional 30–minute Instagram binge. However, if you use data to stream video and download content as much as I drink eggnog during eggnog-season–which is to say, a lot–you might want a different network. Cricket caps data speeds at 3 Mpbs, . So, if you want to watch the newest episode of Game of Thrones in the back of your lecture hall lag-free, you might need to connect to Wi-Fi.
7. Virgin Mobile
Cheapest and Best Cell Phone Plan: [$35 plus taxes and surcharges]
Unlimited talk and text, high-speed data for the first 5 GB (then reduced to 2G speeds), no annual contract, member benefits, nationwide coverage
Hey, even the ‘can you hear me now’ guy recognized that Sprint has a better network. But if you want Sprint quality without the Sprint price, Virgin Mobile has you covered. They use the same nationwide network. When you get a cell phone plan with Virgin Mobile, you get access to all kinds of member benefits, like 25% off at Reebok and Papa John’s. With 5 GB of high-speed data, ordering your large cheese pizza and Pepsi Max soda-pop from Papa John’s will be dangerously fast.
6. Straight Talk
Cheapest Cell Phone Plan: [$35]
Unlimited talk and text, high-speed data for the first 2 GB (then reduced to 2G), no contract, save $1.00 with Auto-Refill, nationwide coverage
Best Cell Phone Plan: [$45]
Same features as above but high-speed data for the first 10 GB
If you’ve ever walked through the electronics department of Walmart and seen a wall of green and black gift cards, you were probably looking at Straight Talk refills. Straight Talk allows users to customize their cell phone plan to the extreme by letting you pick the right time to pay your bill. Don’t get paid until the ninth of the month but your phone bill says due on the first? With Straight Talk, you prepay for 30 days of service when you feel good and ready, so you’ll never get stuck with a phone bill you can’t pay. Trust me, the last thing you wanna see when you look at your bank app in the check-out line of Target is a forgotten phone bill taking all your Oreo cookie money.
5. Metro PCS
Cheapest Cell Phone Plan: [$30]
Unlimited talk and text, high-speed data for the first 2 GB (then reduced to 2G), no annual contract, taxes and fees included, nationwide coverage
Best Cell Phone Plan: [$40]
Same features as above but high-speed data for the first 10 GB, unlimited music streaming on 40+ music apps including Spotify, Apple Music and Pandora
Do you remember those weird MetroPCS Tech&Talk commercials from the early 2010’s; the ones that basically encapsulate the surreal comedy of that era? Well, if they don’t make you laugh, at least they’ll show you that Metro PCS has always had student-friendly cell phone plans. Since these commercials, they’ve upgraded a generation from 3G to 4G data speeds, which means now when you’re bored in the waiting room of your dentist’s office, you can download Doodle Jump ten times faster. If you have 500 hours to spare browsing the internet on your data plan, then 10 GB would be about enough. Skype your long-distance girlfriend for a day and half straight or download and delete Tinder 80 times a month to squeeze out every last bit of data. The price includes taxes and fees, so every month you know exactly how much you’ll be paying. In the world of adulthood, a fixed monthly cell phone bill is considered a delicacy. Enjoy.
4. Boost
Cheapest Cell Phone Plan: [$35]
Unlimited talk and text, high-speed data for the first 3 GB (then reduced to 2G), no annual service contact, hotspot (usage draws from high-speed data allotment), unlimited music streaming from partners like Pandora, Spotify, iHeart Radio and Napster, taxes and fees included, nationwide coverage
Best Cell Phone Plan: [$50]
Same features as above but unlimited 4G LTE data, 12 GB hotspot, mobile-optimized streaming for videos (480p), gaming (streaming cloud gaming up to 2mbps) and music (500kbps)
Picture this: you just got off your 7-hour shift at your minimum wage job, crawl into the driver’s seat of your white Kia Soul or whatever it is you drive (maybe you hope on a bike, I don’t judge) and start playing your ‘I’m too tired to blink’ playlist on max volume. And then it lags. Right in the middle of your solo. Well with that $56 shift you just worked, you could buy a month of unlimited music streaming from Boost and still have 3 GB of data, a meal from Chick-fil-a and a $14 bottle of good wine to take the edge off. If you’d rather spend your time re-watching Scrubs in your cubicle, skip the wine and get unlimited data instead.
3. Simple Mobile
Cheapest Cell Phone Plan: [$25]
Good until Dec. 31, unlimited talk and text, unlimited international text and 20 calls to any of 69 destinations, high-speed data for the first 3 GB (then reduced to 2G), mobile hotspot capable, save $5 with AutoReup, no contract, nationwide coverage
Best Cell Phone Plan: [$40]
Same features as above but high-speed data for the first 12 GB, save $2.50 with AutoReup
Despite having the same color scheme as Straight Talk, Simple Mobile beats it by a long shot. If you want to get a great deal before the end of 2018, Simple Mobile’s cheapest cell phone plan fits the bill. You won’t find 3 GB of high-speed data for $25 anywhere else; you’ll always get less for more. Even their $40 plan beats most of the competition by giving you more data for less dollars. If your secret communications through the dark web take up more than 12 GB of data, you can always add another 1.5 GB for $10. I don’t know about you, but I like my data like I like my French fires: a la cart.
2. Republic Wireless
Cheapest, Best and Only Cell Phone Plan: [$15]
Unlimited talk and text, add 1 GB of 4G LTE data for $5 from the app anytime, no contract, nationwide coverage
For all the lonely people on Twitter complaining about how dry their phones are, this plan could be right up your alley. Of course, you’ll have unlimited talk and text for all the times you call your mom to ask about confusing adult problems or on those rare occasions when a classmate texts you about the homework– just no data. Believe it or not, I’ve heard that some people don’t sit on their phone all day looking for memes they haven’t already sent to the group chat. For them, this makes sense. Pay your bill and add data from Republic’s convenient app. Take complete control of your cell phone plan and get what makes sense for you.
1. Mint Mobile
Cheapest Cell Phone Plan: [$15 a month for three months]
Unlimited talk and text, high-speed data for the first 2 GB (then reduced to 2G), free SIM card, mobile hotspot, free international calls to Mexico and Canada, nationwide coverage
Best Cell Phone Plan: [$25 a month for three months]
Same features as above but high-speed data for the first 10 GB
Don’t worry, I’d never heard about Mint Mobile either. With deals like these, it makes sense that wouldn’t want word getting around. Mint cell phone plans come in 3, 6 or 12-month installments. Unlike contracts at other places, they won’t lock you into paying a bill every month but instead pay for the length of the service you want up front. Unstable income? For $45 you get three months of service guaranteed, so you won’t have to scrape up some change from the couch cushions when you notice the date. Mint Mobile might not sound as glamorous as major providers like Sprint or Verizon, but it has everything you need in a cell phone plan for the price of a large cheese pizza.
