The best Verizon Wireless plans for January 2023
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The best Verizon plan for you depends on several factors. For example, are you a single user on a budget? Maybe you’re looking for a plan for your whole family. Well, whatever your needs, we’ve laid out all your options and provided plenty of pointers to this month’s best Verizon wireless plans in this guide.
Verizon plans: jump links
Like most carriers, Verizon’s plans generally fall into two categories: postpaid and prepaid. We’ll cover both here in this guide, so if you’re not sure how much data you need but have an idea of how much you’re willing to spend, you’ll find loads of useful information here. You’ll also find a handy FAQ section below, where we cover topics such as coverage, price and 5G access.
As a carrier, Verizon is widely believed to offer the best nationwide coverage of its service, and while you’ll generally find its plans on the pricey side, they do offer some excellent streaming-focused benefits. Going postpaid is certainly pricey, but often worth it — not least because the selection of Verizon phones is particularly good if you opt for an unlimited plan. You’ll also find that most of the current Verizon deals are also available exclusively for postpaid unlimited plans, though this shouldn’t let that discourage you from checking out the other plan types as well.
If you find this week’s best Verizon plans a little too pricey, we’ve also included some honorable mentions from our Best Cell Phone Plans guide at the bottom of the article. There you can see how Verizon stacks up against the competition, as well as check out some of the best prepaid plans from cheaper services.
The Best Verizon Plans: Current Lineup
Verizon unlimited data plans
Verizon’s subscription service leads the way with its unlimited postpaid options – which serve as something of a “flagship” offering of the service. Basically, these unlimited data plans offer Ultra Wideband 5G access (except Start Unlimited), access to the premium network (i.e. prioritized speeds), and a bunch of streaming and cloud storage benefits. These are the best Verizon plans available right now, although, as you’d expect, they come with a pretty premium price tag. We recommend this one to someone who really uses their phone a lot and wants to make the most of that unlimited data limit.
Verizon prepaid plans
Verizon prepaid plans (opens in new tab) are flexible subscriptions without a contract for which you pay monthly renewable. Basically, they don’t require credit checks and have fairly reasonable prices, but don’t offer most of the benefits you’ll find with postpaid plans like streaming services. They are also subject to slower data rates everywhere since they are not on Verizon’s premium network. That said, they’re a viable choice if you’re on a strict budget and don’t want to be locked into an annual contract.
Verizon connected and accessory subscriptions
In addition to phones, Verizon also has plans for a number of smartwatches, tablets, and any number of mobile gadgets it calls connected devices. You can generally add these to existing Verizon plans for around $10 each, but if you want a standalone plan those are also available, here’s a quick list of prices:
- Tablets
- Unlimited – $20 per month (opens in new tab)
- Unlimited plus – $30/mo (opens in new tab)
- Smart watches
- Unlimited – $10 per month (opens in new tab)
- Laptops
- Unlimited – $20 per month (opens in new tab)
- Unlimited plus – $30/mo (opens in new tab)
Other gadgets you can connect with a Verizon Connected plan include cars, hotspots, satnavs, and streaming cameras — generally for the same rates as above.
Verizon prepaid data plans
Verizon prepaid data plans are a slightly newer addition to the carrier’s site and are essentially replacements for the old shared data plans. They’re designed to work with multiple mobile devices (tablets, smartwatches, etc.), but don’t include any of the usual minutes or text messages you’d get with a standard phone plan. Also, unlike the old shared data plans, they are now prepaid instead of postpaid, which makes them quite flexible with regard to contracts.
Please note, Verizon prepaid data plans are best used as add-ons to an existing prepaid phone plan. Upfront, these plans are quite pricey, but if you add them to an existing account, you’ll get $30 off per month per line. These are the prices:
- Subscription of 5 GB –$40/mo (opens in new tab) ($10 as an additional line)
- Subscription of 25 GB – $60 per month (opens in new tab) ($30 as an additional line)
- Subscription of 100 GB with Ultra Wideband 5G – $80 per month (opens in new tab) ($50 as an additional line)
- 150 GB plan with Ultra Wideband 5G – $100/mo (opens in new tab) ($70 as an additional line)
As you can see, the two more expensive tiers (100 GB and 150 GB) offer unlimited access to Verizon’s 5G Ultra Wideband network. However, all subscription tiers have HD video streaming as standard.
Verizon Plan Pricing: Postpaid vs. Prepaid
Like most carriers, Verizon plan prices fall into two categories: postpaid and prepaid. With the postpaid plans, you sign up for a long-term contract (24 months) and pay your bills at the end of the month until your term is up. In general, these plans also entitle you to some great Verizon deals each month, allowing you to upgrade or buy a new phone at a lower rate.
When you go prepaid, you generally pay at the beginning of each month and are not locked into a long-term contract. That generally gives them more flexibility, although Verizon does have a loyalty program that reserves the best rates for those who continue their subscription longer. Of course, this is a bit cheeky because it wants to tie people in, which offsets the prepaid flexibility, and it’s also worth noting that Verizon tends to reserve its new phone deals for postpaid customers only.
Visible wireless plans: frequently asked questions
How is Verizon’s coverage?
Verizon is generally believed to have the best nationwide coverage of any major carrier – with the most sources (opens in new tab) putting their total coverage for its 4G LTE network at about 70%. However, things get a little more complicated when you start thinking about the 5G network – which is still in its infancy with most major carriers. In this regard, Verizon currently only has about 11% nationwide coverage, mostly in major cities. If you are specifically looking for coverage in your area, you can view the current up-to-date coverage map here (opens in new tab) – including the option to enter your local zip code.
Does Verizon have 5G in all its plans?
On paper, all Verizon plans do indeed have access to the 5G network, though it’s worth noting that not all 5G data plans on Verizon offer the same speeds across the board.
Verizon actually offers two tiers of 5G access: a standard “5G” network, which goes down at the same time as its existing 4G LTE network, and a fancy pants “5G Ultra Wideband” network, which runs on a completely different band. Basically, the cheaper Verizon plans use the standard 5G network, while the more expensive plans get full access to the broadband network. As you’d expect, you’ll get blazing fast speeds on the broadband network, although it’s worth noting that it’s not as widely available outside major cities just yet.
Why are Verizon plans so expensive?
Cell phone plans through the major carriers are generally quite a bit more expensive than those offered by the smaller prepaid carriers like Visible and Mint Mobile. This is generally explained by the fact that the major carriers physically manage the networks that all carriers, both large and small, use to provide service and therefore have to spend more to maintain them. However, Verizon has particularly pricey plans, which are somewhat offset by the fact that they generally offer the best speeds and benefits on their plans.
If you’re looking for a more cost-effective option, we recommend checking out our section on Verizon vs. the competition below.
What’s the Best Verizon Plan for Families?
In general, the best Verizon plan for families will be one of the unlimited postpaid plans, which have the advantage of not having to worry about restrictions, have plenty of benefits, and also offer discounts for multiple lines that are added per plan. added.
Verizon’s unlimited postpaid plans also have a unique “mix-and-match” option that allows you to add lines under a different plan tier if you wish. Using this, for example, you can have two subscriptions under the basic ‘Start Unlimited’ plan, one under the premium ‘Get More’ plan, and then an additional ‘Just Kids’ plan – a unique kid-friendly plan that is only offered in addition to at least at least one other unlimited data plan.
What’s the Best Verizon Plan for Seniors?
Verizon has only one plan for seniors – his 55 Plus subscription (opens in new tab), which currently starts at $60 for one line and $80 for two lines. It’s actually a very generous plan for Verizon, but unfortunately it’s only open to Florida residents right now. If you are a senior living outside of Florida, we encourage you to review our alternatives below.
Verizon versus the competition
The best AT&T plans (opens in new tab) generally offer the best competition to Verizon each month by offering very similar service, and generally always slightly cheaper prices across the board. Like Verizon, AT&T has an ever-expanding 5G network and a focus on offering fast unlimited data plans. When it comes to coverage, however, AT&T lags slightly behind 4G, and it also tends to offer more “stripped-down” plans without the kind of perks that Verizon offers, such as free subscriptions to streaming services, for example.
A really, really great cheap alternative to Verizon is Visible (opens in new tab) — which is a smaller prepaid carrier that Verizon actually owns and operates as a subnetwork. Visible’s claim to fame is their all-inclusive unlimited Visible wireless plan (opens in new tab) for just $40 a month – which is definitely a great price. However, unlike Verizon customers on the main network, visible users will be subject to deprioritization and slower speeds when the network is busy, so keep that in mind.
Also worth checking out are this week’s Mint Mobile plans, which are also a great choice if you want to save on your bills. With plans from only $15 per month (opens in new tab)and an unlimited data plan for only $30 (opens in new tab), Mint is definitely a good option for those on a budget or for senior citizens in particular. However, this prepaid carrier works under the T-Mobile network, so some Verizon phones may not be compatible unless specifically unlocked.