T-Mobile vs Verizon vs AT&T plan prices
Still Un-carrier
As you can see in the table below, the basic unlimited plan prices of T-Mobile are still lower than those of Verizon and AT&T, and its family plans with more lines are especially appealing.
| T-Mobile Essentials | AT&T Value Plus | Verizon Unlimited Welcome | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 line | $50 | $50 | $65 |
| 2 lines | $90 | $100 | $110 |
| 3 lines | $90 (3rd line free, limited time offer) | $115 | $120 |
| 4 lines | $100 (limited time offer) | $125 | $120 |
| 5 lines | $125 | $155 | $150 |
| Throttling | at >50GB | n/a | no |
| Video streaming | SD | SD | SD |
| Hotspot per line | 3G speeds | 5GB at full speed | – |
*All prices are after Auto Pay and w/ paperless billing, include unlimited talk&text in the US
The difference in plan prices, however, diminishes the more lines you add. Despite that T-Mobile has a slight price advantage of about $5 per line a month for a family plan with four lines, those twenty bucks saved would mean little if there is no T-Mobile coverage.
T-Mobile touting its Un-carrier chops
About those activation fees
T-Mobile postpaid giveth and prepaid taketh away
T-Mobile device connection fee price cut memo
This is a rather sizeable discount for one of the most annoying ghost fees in a carrier’s roster, and is surely being met with appreciation from current and prospective T-Mobile subscribers who might have otherwise been hesitant to pull the trigger.
This is for the lucrative market of postpaid plans, however, which are the bread and butter of carrier revenues once they get their subs locked into lengthy phone installment plans that now extend to 36 months even.
The Device Connection Charge is a one-time charge for connecting a new phone device to the network when activating or upgrading with T-Mobile Prepaid.
New T-Mobile Prepaid activation fee prices
When it comes to prepaid mobile plans, however, T-Mobile wields one of the largest brand in the field, and that’s not its own Prepaid offer. The so-called Metro by T-Mobile formed after MetroPCS merged with Big Magenta, on whose network it piggybacks to provide its competitively priced services.
T-Mobile vs Verizon vs AT&T Prepaid plan prices
| Verizon Prepaid 25GB | AT&T Prepaid 30GB | T-Mobile Prepaid 50GB | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 line | $60 | $40 | $50 |
| 2 lines |
$90 |
$80 | $80 |
| 3 lines | $120 | $120 | $110 |
| 4 lines | $150 | $160 | $140 |
*prepaid plan prices are after an auto-pay discount, where available
Compared to Verizon or AT&T prepaid, T-Mobile‘s offer comes out on top not only with the lowest price for three lines, but also with the fact that it offers the most data at full 5G speed.
Still, its Metro brand remains extremely popular and is T-Mobile‘s largest prepaid offering, with more than 20 million subscribers. Its 4 lines for $100 offer is rather unbeatable, too, even though those only give 35GB of data at full speed without “prioritization.”
Accordingly, while the extra $30 or so in T-Mobile Prepaid charges may seem like a very uncharacteristic Un-carrier move, the new prepaid fee is a storm in a teacup. After all, the amount of T-Mobile customers affected by it would be way smaller than those who would enjoy the 85% cut in its device connection fee for postpaid plans.