List of Cheap, Basic Prepaid Cell Phone Plans – Under $10 a Month!
Nowadays, it seems everyone has a cell phone. What if you just want a really basic phone plan for light calls (“are you here yet?” “where are you?”) and emergencies? Or you may be thinking about getting an additional phone for grandparents, kids, or other relatives. The good news is now you can have all that convenience for less than $10 a month.
Here are the cheapest prepaid cellular plans with nationwide coverage assuming light usage. The benefits of prepaid are that there are no credit checks, no long-term contracts, and most phone taxes other than sales tax are already rolled into the cost instead of an extra $5 a month per line. They may even work with smartphones for people who are okay with data usage only where there is WiFi coverage (potentially home, office, and many cafes).
You may have never heard of some of these names before, but if you look under the hood you may find they use the same cell towers as the big companies (AT&T, Verizon, Sprint) all at a fraction of the cost.
T-Mobile
With a T-Mobile Prepaid plan, you can buy 1,000 minutes for $100 that will last an entire year before they expire and you are required to refill. That’s $8.33/month. In addition, that will get you on their Gold Rewards plan which gets you 15% extra minutes on future refills and in future years you can buy as little as 35 minutes for $10 or 460 minutes for $50 and that will also last you an entire year. The Gold Rewards status lasts as long as you keep your prepaid account account, so in future years you could be spending just $50 a year or less.
New basic phones are about $25, and new Android phones start at $99 direct from T-Mobile. You can also buy a SIM card to put in an off-contract T-Mobile phone or any unlocked GSM including the Apple iPhone.
Page Plus Cellular (Verizon MVNO)
By purchasing bulk minutes from the Verizon Wireless network as a MVNO, Page Plus Cellular offers the coverage of Verizon and the ability to use off-contract Verizon phones (iPhones are blocked still I believe). You can buy a 2,000 minute card for only $80 that will also last an entire year before you are required to refill. Note that there is a $0.50 per monthly service fee charged on the 25th of every month deducted from the refill card balance. That’s only $6.67 a month.
Alternatively, you can buy 100 minutes for $10, which lasts 120 days after activation. That can result in only paying $30 a year ($10 x 3, though you still have a $.50 a month service fee which reduces your balance and thus minutes), but you have to watch your minute usage and renewal dates carefully. They also have a $12 recurring monthly plan that provides 250 minutes, 250 text mesages, and 10mb of data. Their own phone selection is limited but you can buy off-contract Verizon phones from eBay, just watch out for stolen phones with banned IMEI/ESNs.
H20 Wireless (AT&T GSM MVNO)
H20 Wireless sells 2,000 minutes for $100 that is valid for one year. Additional minutes are 5 cents, and additional texts are 5 cents each as well.
You can use old AT&T phones on H20 wireless. This also means you can rock an AT&T iPhone (can be locked, off-contract) and look like the cool kids but only pay $100 a year for service instead of $700+. Of course, you won’t have a data plan. (If you want data, check out StraightTalk where you can get a $45 Unlimited plan using AT&T iPhone via their SIM card.)
Kajeet (Sprint MVNO)
Kajeet is meant for kids and has built-in parental controls. But they do have a really cheap $4.99 a month plan that includes a dinky 10 minutes included. Additional minutes are 10 cents each, and text messages are 10 cents each as well. Not a bad option for very low usage.
You can buy a new Android phone from them right now for $99, but other than that the phone selection isn’t very good for cheap phones (important for kids that lose/break them often). The bad news is that the parental controls mean that you can’t just bring over any old Sprint phone either.
Other providers with good low-usage options (but not as good as those above in my opinion) include:
- TracFone (MVNO for Verizon, AT&T, T-Mobile, and Sprint) You can buy 800 minutes for $120 good for one year, which includes double minutes on all future airtime. You can later buy 120 minutes for $20 that lasts 90 days, or $6.66 a month.
- PlatinumTel (Sprint MVNO) $10 for 90 days, with no minutes included. Instead, you pay a flat 5 cents a minute for talk, 2 cents per text, or 10 cents per MB.
By Jonathan Ping | Frugal Living | 4/26/12, 1:07am
April 26th, 2012 at 8:57 am
Here’s a big vote for Page Plus. I have had them for over 5 years, buying the 100 minutes for $10 three times per year. One important point is that unused minutes roll over and do not expire as long as you renew on time. On the standard plan (which is what the $10 or $80 cards are) you are charged individually for minutes, texts, and data, so you can use your balance any way you like. Also, any post-paid (new or off-contract) Verizon phone will work on Page Plus, but not their pre-paid phones.
April 26th, 2012 at 9:30 am
Could you review the best prepaid plan for data centric usage?
April 26th, 2012 at 9:52 am
PagePlus for me, too. Their website isn’t very flashy or sleek, but it works fine. When you activate a phone, you get a rather irritating ‘you have $N left’ message every time you use it, but customer service will switch that off for you if you email them.
Callingmart often has 5% off coupon codes for all these prepaid cards. Check Fatwallet.com.
April 26th, 2012 at 10:19 am
I’ve been on TMobile for awhile, and it’s pretty good. One feature I particularly like is that you can switch between per minute and per day rates ($2 for calls/text/data). So whenever I expect heavy usage (>20min since I buy $100 at a time to get the 10c/min rate), or need data I can just switch over my plan for a day.
April 26th, 2012 at 11:18 am
You can get a tracfone for $10 and 120 min every 90 days for $20. Total is under $7 per month.
April 26th, 2012 at 11:36 am
Virgin Mobile PayLo plans have an auto pay option for $15 every 90 days. $.20 a minute. Not great if you need minutes. But if you are an infrequent user then the money rolls up to $400. Also, Virgin Mobile is the only carrier I know of where with the unused dollars you are able to buy new phones and/or accessories.
April 26th, 2012 at 1:12 pm
I’ve had TracFone for years. Many of their phones come with double or triple minutes for life deals. When you buy a year’s worth of service ($80 on amazon) there is always a promo code you can enter to get 200 extra minutes on top of the double minutes meaning the one year service comes with 1000 mins or 1400 with triple mins. Also when you activate a year, they usually offer you a second year for $49. Additionally, if you buy a newer tracfone you can move your number and minutes over to the new phone immediately – so replacing / upgrading your phone is easy. Also when you activate for a year, all of your current minutes get extended for that year – so you never lose any minutes as long as you keep the phone active. Text messages cost .3 mins.
If you don’t use a ton of minutes, and don’t need data, tracfone is the cheapest service I know of. I’ve had them for at least 5 years.
April 26th, 2012 at 1:55 pm
Do pre-paid cell phones help you build credit?
April 26th, 2012 at 2:02 pm
@MAC – My parents actually use Virgin Mobile on that $15 every 90 days plan, but I couldn’t find it online at virginmobile.com. The cheapest I see on their site is $20 for 90 days with no minutes included (20 cents a minute). Is it an old grandfathered plan like their $25 Beyond Talk plan?
April 26th, 2012 at 2:07 pm
@Jonathan. The $15 only kicks in once you switch over to auto pay. It prompts you to go auto pay for $15 once you have activated IIRC. Don’t believe it is a granfathered option. Have had these accounts for awhile so have been on auto pay for a long time.
April 26th, 2012 at 3:16 pm
Really good list of cheap cell phone plans. These are great for kids or those who make limited calls. I love my iphone.
April 26th, 2012 at 9:40 pm
@csdx regarding T-mobile – how do you switch between per minute and per day plans?
April 27th, 2012 at 8:35 am
So if you practically do not use it, then nothing beats T-Mobile’s $10/year once you have the Gold status. Is that correct?
April 27th, 2012 at 9:10 am
@Nicky I just log on to t-mobile.com and there’s a section there to choose which plan you want to use, you can even choose to jump on a monthly plan too.
@Vlad, if you’re looking to maintain a single number then $10/yr is the cheapest, but in exchange you’re paying more per minute
April 27th, 2012 at 7:27 pm
Thanks Johnathan for the post. I pay for my parents cell phone and have been meaning to move them from post-paid to prepaid for sometime since I their plan seems to keep going up a little by little while my pre-paid plan just seems to be getting cheaper (I use pageplus). Reading your post gave me the push I needed to get it done. Figure I will be saving between $200 to $300 a year.
April 28th, 2012 at 1:03 pm
Wow! I didnt know abt the 15 for 90days with virgin mobile either.
I will try to switch to autopay.
I am also considering to switch to the tmobile prepaid plan. But the initial phone cost and paying 100 the first year and 50 the following year. Is quite close to the 15 for 90 that virgin has.
As soon as i get it start though. Will update if the 15 does kick in for me.
April 28th, 2012 at 11:07 pm
@csdx so if you can switch to the per day plan from the website, your per minute balance will still remain the same, for you to switch back to? thanks.
April 29th, 2012 at 10:32 pm
Have been using TMobile Pre Paid for the last 5 years(me and my spouse).. always very good.. yearly I may spend $100 to $120(I use cell phone only for emergency and my cell phone number is known to very few of my family). I redirect Google voice calls to my cell or home as per the need. Others never know on which number that I am taking my google voice calls.
April 30th, 2012 at 2:02 pm
I’ve used Mingo Wireless for several years. There’s a $100 package that gets you 2000 minutes – that’s 5 cents a minute, a refurbished Blackberry or Samsung, and free shipping. Minutes expire in a year and will roll over if you buy more. They offer a 30 day guarantee on the phone and will exchange it and pay for the shipping if you’re not happy. My experience with customer service has been extraordinary. The only drawback as far as I’m concerned has been the somewhat limited coverage of the Sprint network they use. Also, you will not be able to use RIM services if you get the Blackberry phones. I can’t speak with authority about the internet services since I’m not really an internet/phone user, but it’s worked just fine for the small amount I’ve used. There are several internet/data packages, but I don’t like them because they expire.
May 24th, 2012 at 3:30 pm
What about the svc phone? Its a tracfone like someone had posted before… but its designed “for seniors” aka being a senior value cellphone… but it really is just called that for marketing reasons. Its basically a samsung t155 and it is BEYOND simple. I pay seven dollars a month for it. That is Unbelievable and the service hasnt let me down yet.
July 10th, 2012 at 8:22 am
Pure Prepaid and PureTalk USA also uses the AT&T GSM MVNO. Minutes never expire.
July 10th, 2012 at 12:10 pm
PureTalk USA is almost half the price of T-Mobile (per minute)! Angie, thanks for sharing this! Have you been using them much? What is your impression?
July 19th, 2012 at 3:45 pm
Hi has anyone else used the puretalk USA if so tell us about it Thanks!
July 21st, 2012 at 8:18 am
I have been using PagePlus for 5 months and I love it. The $29.95 monthly plan is perfect for me and I managed to get $20 refill pins off of EBay. I have no complaints!
August 3rd, 2012 at 5:36 am
We have been using Page Plus since last November and could not be any happier. We were paying Verizon $120 a month for 2 cell phones with very basic coverage as we do not use our phones very much. We might use approx 250-400 a month on texts and calls each (my husband and I). Since switching to Page Plus, we have lowered our bill to about $28 total for both of our lines. I am currently on The 12 and it’s perfect for my usage. My husband does the $80 card for 2,000 minutes for the year. However, we will both be going on The 12 plan shortly, which will bring our monthly bill to less than $24. We buy our refills from Callingmart and get discounts each and every month, so they actually cost us about $11 each. Awesome, awesome deal. It can be a little difficult to get used to; how it works, etc., but there are great resources online that help you figure it out. We are so happy we left Verizon and went with Page Plus (which runs on their network!).
August 17th, 2012 at 11:39 pm
@ Vlad & others. T-mobile plan is great for limited phone users. I paid $19.99 for a Samsung flip phone, ~$95 for ($100 card activated gives 1000 minutes and instant Gold status for a full yr. Then $10 a few days before the year ends and the clock starts over & all the minutes roll over for another entire year. At the end of that year another $10 and that’s 3 years for $135 that’s $3.75 a month… 4 years it’s ~$3.02 a month. Great for emergencies and fast converstation users or light light texting.
If the AT&T or the Tracfones rolled over for a second year it would be great but… T-Mobile in that area has them beat for the casual, lighter or senior user.
September 23rd, 2012 at 6:34 am
HI,
Do you have any plan recommendations for the new I Phone 5?
Thanks!
October 2nd, 2012 at 4:37 am
Looks like Pure Prepaid and PureTalk reduced their expiration periods to 30 days. So you need to pay at least $10/mo to keep your number. Once again T-mobile remains the cheapest carrier I know to keep a phone number with no or minimal usage (84 cents per month). If anyone knows better, please share!
October 3rd, 2012 at 1:52 pm
I am a big fan of prepaid cell phones and I was just reading another article that said you could save around $1000 a year by getting an iPhone 5 with Virgin Mobile instead of Verizon or one of the other contract phone companies. Its crazy how much you can save using prepaid and being smart.
October 13th, 2012 at 11:44 pm
all you people asking about using this plan or that plan on your iPhones ?
buying $400 – $600 iPhones to use it for a few minutes a month and little or no web/data usage ? what’s the point of having a web enabled / app centric smart phone if you don’t use it… and how does it make sense to pay ridiculous money for a phone you rarely use ?
I use a 5 or 6 yr old cheapo $20 nokia phone I got when I first switched over to pre-paid from monthly and it works fine with good reception and clear audio, what else do you need if you’re not using the apps and web ?
looking for better bargains in usage charges is smart, using a $500 phone for your “light usage” or “senior plan” or “$15 for 90 days” type usage is just plain idiotic
October 29th, 2012 at 5:03 pm
Unreal, thanks for that opinion.
Unfortunately, you are totally wrong.
The kind of $500 “phone” is for many people, as useful as a camera, videocam, notepad, organizer, entertainment device, video player, music player, schedule, alarm clock, thousands of books or e-books…. a little light usage as a phone is sometimes not the main use.
I think the person who can’t fathom and spouts off calling others names is the one who is a little light in the illumination department.
November 10th, 2012 at 7:43 pm
T mobile sim cards and prepaid plans suck. You run out of minutes quickly and cant receive calls. I stopped buying those.. simplemobile is the best!!!!
December 31st, 2012 at 9:44 am
I use my cell phone for emergencies when I’m in the car away from my home land phone. I want to fine the least costly plan for the small amount of calls and time I use it. Thanks for any input someone has for me.
January 25th, 2013 at 10:19 am
My advice for someone that wants to save money on smartphone usage. Buy a cheap prepaid plan from one of the providers. 10 bucks a month isn’t bad for a few minutes. Go to Wal-Mart and purchase Internet On the Go mobile hotspot. It was 80 dollars when I bought it. You have to buy a plan also, but you get a free 25 dollar credit once the first card you purchase is gone. You have your choice on these cards on how long you want them to last. For 45 bucks you can get 8 GB data for 30 days or 4 GB for a whole year. I believe the 25 is good for 3 GB for 30 days or 1.5 for a year. Make sure you use the hotspot with your phone for your data usage. (You can connect to it and use skype and place tons of calls) Just a thought. It is on the Sprint network. The data is even cheaper than virgin mobile plus multiple people can use it. I have it now and love it.
February 18th, 2013 at 9:15 pm
Thanks to everyone for all the great suggestions. You have really given me exactly what I have been looking for and I am so grateful to all those who took the time to give their insight to this topic. Very, very helpful!
February 22nd, 2013 at 3:52 pm
Bryan Says:August 17th, 2012 at 11:39 pm “$10 a few days before the year ends and the clock starts over & all the minutes roll over for another entire year.”
Bryan, please let me know T-Mobile URL stating “$10 for year”. I can not find it.
Other than that, followings are cheapest I found so far.
$5 for 90days. It means $20/year. $0.10/call, $0.05/text.
Initial cost is GSM unlocked phone ($20), SIM ($9.99+$5 shipping)
$0, if you do not use at all. $0.27/call, $0.17/txt.
Initial cost is GSM unlocked phone ($20), SIM ($1.00+$0 shipping)
March 1st, 2013 at 12:45 pm
Jonathan,
Your math on the PagePlus is off. It comes out as low as $30 per year, not $36. That is because the 50 cents a month maintenance fee comes out of the $10 refill cards; it is not in addition to it. (And the $80 card would only be $80 a year, not $86.) Obviously you will have a bit less minutes due to the 50 cent charge.
March 2nd, 2013 at 4:47 pm
@Joseph – Thanks for the clarification on PagePlus, I’ll update the post.
March 2nd, 2013 at 10:25 pm
Thanks, Jonathan.
Al, here is the T-Mobile URL describing how you can keep service active for each additional year for only $10 (after spending $100):
http://www.t-mobile.com/promot.....t=OnsiteAd
Al, which carrier is $0 (free) for the service and .27/minute?
March 13th, 2013 at 6:50 am
Some things I do not have clarity on and would appreciate an opinion on!
1. do I get a phone number and SIM card automatically when I order the handset and $100 from say tmobile? Or do I have to order a SIM card with it?
2. Then I am not sure whether to buy a micro sim or regular one for the phone that I am purchasing?
Thanks
March 13th, 2013 at 9:12 pm
Answers to my questions above are:
1. You get the SIM card with the phone which you have to activate when you receive it. Sometimes there is an activation fee, which can often also be waived. There are other instructions for switching your number to t-mobile as part of the process.
2. Another piece of useful info is that the phone can be unlocked after 30 days.
3. Any free credit supplied with the phone does not count towards the $100 gold status
April 16th, 2013 at 5:56 pm
Ai, or other people!
What is the carrier following these conditions??
“$5 for 90days. It means $20/year. $0.10/call, $0.05/text.
Initial cost is GSM unlocked phone ($20), SIM ($9.99+$5 shipping)” ??
April 16th, 2013 at 6:18 pm
There is a brand new carrier (a T-Mobile MVNO) that started offering service in the U.S. in the past few weeks. They are a major and well-established MVNO carrier in Europe. (Perhaps the largest MVNO there?) It is “Lycamobile”. You can buy as little as $5 of service and it has no expiration date, you can use it indefinitely. The only qualification is that you have to make at least one call every 120 days.
May 17th, 2013 at 1:20 am
Can anyone tell us all if you can buy your own GSM quadband phone, insert a SIM and use on different cell providers? Question 2: Can a person pass loads to other users like in Europe?