Currently, US Mobile offers the best value and cheapest unlimited plan we’ve seen. You can get four lines of unlimited data for as cheap as $80/month. The best-performing plan that will please the whole family is T-Mobile’s Magenta MAX plan. If you need a lot of data, whether for work or for play (or both), then we recommend AT&T’s Unlimited Elite plan. If you’re sharing the plan with your children, the Just Kids Verizon Wireless plan has parental controls to keep your kids focused on the right things. Read on for the details.
Cost: Does it cost less per line than an individual plan? Data: Is data shared between lines or does each line have its own data cap? Parental controls: Can the parent account control the data usage and apps of other phones on the plan? Bill pay: Are prices all bundled together in a single bill or does each line pay separately? Perks: Are there any special features or perks for adding extra lines?
We’ll talk about these factors and others in our detailed review of the best family cell phone plans. We love US Mobile for its super affordable, but still robust, family plan. Here’s everything you need to know about it. Currently, no other carrier comes close for price comparison. Look at how much US Mobile undercuts other “affordable” carrier for a 4-line family plan: If you want to see how good coverage is in your specific area, take a peek at this coverage map. So US Mobile customers may notice data slowdowns when the network is “congested.” You might experience deprioritization on your commute home from work for example, when everyone else is streaming podcasts on their drive. Generally, the more crowded an area you’re in, the more likely your data speeds can get throttled. This plan has pretty much everything. Sure, it costs a pretty penny, but you’ll get a lot of bang for your buck. T-Mobile’s Magenta MAX plan has enough talk, text, and data for everyone in the family. Each line comes with a 50 GB monthly data cap. That’s about enough to stream every single episode of Breaking Bad! In 2020, T-Mobile acquired Sprint in an historic merger, boosting coverage. It’s also upped its data speeds significantly. In fact, we surveyed over 120,000 mobile customers and found that T-Mobile’s data speeds are the fastest in the industry.
20 GB of high-speed 4G LTE mobile hotspot data, plus unlimited hotspot at 3G speeds Unlimited in-flight Wi-Fi on domestic flights A free Netflix subscription (2-screen) Unlimited minutes international texting in over 210 different countries, plus data and calling benefits in Canada and Mexico Free giveaways and discounts with T-Mobile Tuesdays
Paying more than $150 a month may seem steep, even if you are getting a premium plan with four lines. And it is significantly pricier than the cheapest plans on the market, like this one from US Mobile, which costs just $100 a month for four unlimited lines. That said, the company’s coverage map still looks pretty good. Check it out. Let me tell you everything that I (and my family) love about this plan. With most unlimited plans the data cap is somewhere between 25–50 GB. That’s enough data to stream about 25–50 hours of video (in standard definition). That may sound like a lot, but for many gamers, serious working professionals, and influencers, it’s chump change. So how much data does the Unlimited Elite plan come with? Try 100 GB of high-speed 4G LTE data (or 5G data where available). I dare you to try to use it all up (I’ve never gotten close). If you want to see how AT&T’s coverage stacks up in your area, zoom in on this interactive map.
A free subscription to HBO Max 30 GB of mobile hotspot data Unlimited HD streaming
Honestly, my family has considered dumping this plan because of the price. It costs as much or more than other top-tier cell phone plans, even when you’re bundling multiple lines together. So it’s probably only worth it for those families that really do want all the data. But phones can also be a bit of a Pandora’s box for your kids, opening them up to a whole big world that they’re not ready for. This is why parental controls exist, and Verizon’s Just Kids plan has the best parental controls in the industry. You can use the Verizon Smart Family app to control these filters and settings from your own phone. That way you don’t have to confiscate your kid’s device to make sure they aren’t getting up to no good. With the Just Kids plan you can stop worrying about what your kid is looking at on their phone and instead concentrate on the more important questions, like why your kid keeps saying weird words like “wig” and “snatched.” Each of your kids’ lines on this plan will also come with 5 GB of full-speed data. That’s plenty for everyday activities, like using Google Maps, streaming a little bit of music, and posting a photo to Instagram. After the 5 GB data cap has been reached, the data speeds will be reduced (which, again, might be a good thing). Just look at this service map.
Best value: US Mobile only charges $20/line for unlimited talk, text, and data if you get up to four lines on the same family plan. That price beats out every other carrier. You also get access to Verizon’s awesome network. Best performance: If you want a powerful, well-rounded plan that will please everyone in the family, then check out T-Mobile’s Magenta MAX plan. Best for data hogs: If you’ve got a family of gamers, streamers, and other data hogs, then AT&T’s Unlimited Elite plan is the way to go. Best for kids: With the Just Kids Verizon Wireless plan you can use parental controls to keep your kids focused on the right things.
