Best Unlimited Data Plans for 2025
With an unlimited data plan, you can stream media, play online games and correspond with your friends without worrying about whether your cellular access is going to get used up and stop working.
However, even unlimited plans have restrictions. It's best to understand the details before signing up for one or switching carriers. We looked at data amounts, performance, pricing and perks to pick our recommended postpaid plans from three major carriers: AT&T , T-Mobile and Verizon .
What is the best unlimited phone plan overall?
We'd love to point to one plan and say, "Get this one," truly. But phone plans are designed to appeal to all kinds of people by offering all kinds of options. You might value price over perks if you just need a plan that will keep you connected at all times. Or maybe you're a frequent traveler and you want endless high-speed data and higher-resolution video streaming and are willing to pay for those features.
Assuming network coverage is good-to-great -- which isn't a given, but for the sake of argument -- then cost becomes a major factor, in which case T-Mobile's Essentials plan delivers the basics at a good value. At the other end, T-Mobile's Experience More or Verizon's Unlimited Plus give you plenty of features without paying the full prices of their top plans. However, there's one thing to note about the most expensive plans: They often get the best trade-in or included device offers to entice customers to sign up for the most lucrative plans.
Best unlimited data plans for a single line
Best unlimited data plans for multiple lines and families
Best unlimited plans for perks
Recent updates
T-Mobile shook up its plans in early 2025, replacing its Go5G Plus and Go5G Next plans with Experience More and Experience Beyond. And yet, the stalwart Essentials and Essentials Saver plans are still in the lineup as lower-cost alternatives to the bells-and-whistles Experience plans. It also announced that the Starlink-based T-Satellite service is included in Experience Beyond and Go5G Next plans, and available as a $10 a month add-on for other plans (even extended to competing carriers). T-Mobile also introduced its five-year price guarantee on its prepaid plans as well as the postpaid plans.
Since we updated this guide, Verizon has added a three-year price guarantee to its plans.
We also added a new category -- best plans for perks -- highlighting a top pick and a runner-up based on the variety of add-ons, like streaming services, designed to attract customers.
Factors to consider
A wireless carrier saying it offers 5G is like me saying I have a car. Good for me -- but what make and model is it? Does it run reliably? Can it actually get up to the top speed on the speedometer or will it sputter when I try to merge onto the freeway? And could I have gotten the same performance if I'd paid less for a model without extras like heated seats and a TruCoat sealant?
As you're evaluating carriers, keep the following things in mind.
Emergency SOS might be one of the most important features to come out on any phone this year.
Know your area
Wireless coverage can make or break a plan. If you aren't getting reliably fast connections, or if calls often drop or aren't picked up, then you could be paying for more than you're getting. Fortunately, most areas of the US are blanketed by some type of cellular coverage, so there aren't as many dead zones as there used to be. (And now satellite service is starting to fill those holes.) The major companies are also putting a lot of money and effort into broadening their coverage.
On the other hand, even in a dense area, one carrier's network may be stronger than another's, or signals could be reduced due to interference. So the best approach is to ask friends or family members which services they use and if the quality is acceptable. You can also test-drive services to see how your devices work in your area. (See the FAQ below for more on how reliable coverage maps can be.)
Know your deals and discounts
One other thing to keep in mind: discounts. All the carriers offer additional discounts you could be eligible for, depending on your employer, military status, student status or age.
First responders, military members, veterans, nurses and teachers can get discounts on every major carrier. Verizon has discounts for students, while T-Mobile's Work perk could knock 15% off the monthly price of an Experience More or Experience Beyond plan , with AT&T offering a similar program for its Unlimited Premium PL plan . AT&T also has a promotion for teachers that offers 25% off its latest unlimited plans .
If you're 55 or older, you may also be eligible for a discounted plan: T-Mobile offers discounted plans nationwide for as low as $55 a month for two lines, and Verizon and AT&T offer similar options but only for Florida residents.
It's also worth noting that on their websites, some carriers sometimes advertise different rates geared toward switchers, for example if you bring your own phone (not trade in and finance a new one on an installment plan). Our recommendations reflect the actual rate outside of these very specific promotions.
How we test
Picking a wireless plan and carrier is a very individualized process. What works for you and your family's needs may be vastly different from what your friends or neighbors are looking for. Even geographically, some areas have better AT&T coverage while others work best on Verizon or T-Mobile. The picks we make are based on more than a decade of covering and evaluating wireless carriers, their offerings and overall performance.
Specifically, we take into account coverage, price/value and perks.
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Coverage
Since all three major providers cover most of the country with good 4G LTE or 5G, this is largely a toss-up on a macro level. It's why we recommend a variety of eSIM options for figuring out what works best for you in your particular location, so you can best decide what's right for you. Looking at coverage maps on each provider's website will likely show that you get good coverage even if your experience isn't full bars or the fastest speeds.
Price/value
Value is factoring in the total experience you might get, such as how much high-speed data you get and what's included in the sticker price. We also take into account whether a plan includes typical taxes and fees, or whether those are charged separately, inching your monthly bill higher.
Perks
Perks are add-ons beyond the core components of wireless service (talk, text and data). This could range from bundling in or discounting on streaming services to extra hotspot data or the ability to use your phone internationally.
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Unlimited phone plan FAQ
What to know about 5G
"5G" is an umbrella term that encompasses the current fifth-generation cellular wireless network technologies. All the major carriers and phones support 5G connections, which can offer faster data speeds than older technologies such as 4G LTE or 3G.
Essentially there are three types of 5G : Millimeter-wave (mmWave), which can be fast but has limited range; low-band 5G, which has slower speeds but works on a broader range; and midband , which is a balance between the two that's faster than low-band but also covers a larger range than millimeter-wave. Midband also incorporates C-band , a batch of spectrum auctioned off by the Federal Communications Commission in 2021.
Your phone's 5G connection depends on which type blankets the area you're in, as well as other factors, such as population density and infrastructure. For instance, mmWave is super fast, but its signals can be thwarted by buildings -- or glass, or leaves -- or whether you're inside a structure.
When your device is connected to a 5G network, it can show up as several variations such as 5G, 5G Plus, 5G UW or others, depending on the carrier. Here's a list of icons you see at the top of your phone for the major services:
AT&T: 5GE (which isn't actually 5G, but rather a sly marketing name for 4G LTE), 5G (low band), 5G Plus (mmWave, midband)
Verizon: 5G (low band, also called "Nationwide 5G"), 5G UW/5G UWB (midband and mmWave, also called "5G Ultra Wideband")
T-Mobile: 5G (low band), 5G UC (midband and mmWave, also called "Ultra Capacity 5G")
There's also 5G Reduced Capacity (5G RedCap), which is a lower-power, smaller-capacity branch of 5G used by devices such as smartwatches and portable health devices; the Apple Watch Ultra 3, for example, connects via 5G RedCap.
Just around the corner is 5G Advanced, promising much faster speeds due to carrier aggregation, or combining multiple spectrums.
How reliable are coverage maps?
The three major companies in the US -- AT&T, T-Mobile and Verizon -- offer services directly and have robust nationwide networks that offer 4G LTE (fast) and 5G (even faster) data. They all promise coverage that blankets most of the US, and they're actively trying to build up 5G coverage everywhere they can.
But maps are one thing; experience is another. That's why it's impossible to say that one carrier is objectively better than another. For example, T-Mobile's service in New York may be excellent, but Verizon is more reliable in rural Iowa. Or you may have basic 5G coverage but not faster millimeter wave 5G.
If possible, ask neighbors, friends or family near you about which carriers they use and how fast or reliable the wireless service is. And don't forget to take into consideration not just where you live, but the places you frequent: Your house might get a clear connection, but your workplace could be in a cellular black hole.
You may also be able to test-drive a network -- go to a carrier's store and ask if there are free ways to try out the company's service. T-Mobile offers a free three-month Network Pass , Verizon has a 30-day "trial" program , and AT&T has its own 30-day eSIM free trial program .
Why consider an unlimited plan?
Unlimited plans were once rarities, but now nearly all plans -- especially postpaid plans -- offer unlimited data. If you're on T-Mobile, all your plans are unlimited, and Verizon no longer lets new users sign up for a shared data plan. Only AT&T still offers some tiered data plans where the flow of data stops when you've reached the limit.
Though everyone's wireless needs are different, we think unlimited plans are the best option for most phone users, especially when it comes to choosing a new plan.
For example, the AT&T 4GB plan isn't great. It has a 4GB per line plan that runs $50 a month for one line ($160 for four lines). Each line here gets 4GB of data, but if you go over that threshold in a month, you're paying $10 for every 2GB. AT&T's plan also doesn't include access to its 5G networks.
The company's basic unlimited plan, Unlimited Starter, is $65 a month for one line or $140 for four lines.
If you have one or two lines and don't use a lot of data, you may be fine with one of these plans, though if you have just one line, we'd recommend switching over to AT&T's $51 per month Value Plus VL or T-Mobile's Essentials Saver. Two lines of that T-Mobile plan run $80 a month, which is still $10 cheaper than two lines of AT&T's 4GB plan and you won't have to worry about how much data you're using.
For most people, we really do believe, unlimited is the best choice when choosing a new plan.
Is unlimited data really unlimited?
It is, but the speeds you get may vary depending on your plan and how much data you use in a given month.
To experience data slowdowns on most of the plans mentioned above, you will need to have:
1. Used over 50GB of data in a month.
2. Be in an area that's experiencing "congestion," "heavy traffic" or a "busy" network. Examples of this could be at a sporting event or concert where there are tens of thousands of people in the same area uploading and sharing photos and videos.
All carriers say that in these cases your data should be slowed only "temporarily." If you have an older unlimited plan, your threshold for when your data slows and how long it lasts may be different.
Is hotspot included?
A hotspot, or the ability to share your phone's connection with other devices, will vary based on the plan you have. Some, like AT&T's Value Plus VL and Verizon's Unlimited Welcome, don't include it at all, while others -- such as AT&T's Unlimited Starter and T-Mobile's Essentials -- offer limited amounts of high-speed access before capping your hotspot performance to "3G" or "2G" speeds.
In short, if hotspot access is important to you, check out a pricier unlimited plan, such as T-Mobile's Experience More (60GB of high-speed data) or Experience Beyond (250GB of high-speed data); Verizon's Unlimited Plus (30GB of high-speed data) or Unlimited Ultimate (200GB of high-speed data); or AT&T's Unlimited Extra EL (30GB of high-speed data) or Unlimited Premium PL (60GB of high-speed data) options.
