Best Military and Veteran Cell Phone Plans 2022

It’s impossible to properly thank veterans for the service they’ve rendered, but cheaper military cell phone plan options is a start.

Pretty much every wireless carrier offers military cell phone plans, but which one is best for you and your family? We'll break it down for you so you can decide.

Best veteran cell phone plans:

• Verizon 5G Start Unlimited Plan for Military: Best overall phone plan
• AT&T Unlimited Start for Military: Best budget buy
• T-Mobile Magenta Eligible Military Only: Best family plan

All right, you’ve got options, so let’s take a snapshot of all the best wireless providers for military cell phone plans.

Best veteran cell phone plans comparisons

Verizon 5G Start Unlimited plan features

Out of all the providers, Verizon has the best coverage. Wherever you may be adventuring, you can rest assured that you won’t be completely off the grid. If anybody needs to reach you or you need to make a call, Verizon is your most reliable option.

Your Verizon plan gets you DVD-quality streaming and unlimited hotspot coverage (at full-speed up to 10 GB). And right now Verizon is offering a free, 12-month Disney+ subscription. With a combo like that you should never get bored, no matter where you end up.

Let’s say you’re out adventuring again. It’s time to sleep, but you want to catch up on the latest episode of The Mandalorian on your laptop before bed. Verizon’s speeds and hotspot access make this dreamy situation possible.

Though you’re saving money with your Verizon military cell phone plan, you’re paying a little more than you would with another provider. Over the course of a year, those extra bucks certainly do add up.

If you want a cheaper deal, you might want to consider AT&T or T-Mobile, but just be aware you won’t have the same coverage or internet speeds.

There are three other Verizon military cell phone plans you can choose from. All of them are more expensive than Verizon 5G Start Plan for Military, but they pack a lot of data.

If you’re on the go a lot and need the best coverage, consider the 5G Do More, 5G Play More or the 5G Get More Unlimited Verizon plans.

Out of all the military discount cell phone plans, AT&T will save you the most money month after month. No matter what veteran cell phone plan you opt for, you’re saving money, but AT&T takes it to another level. Over the course of a year, you can save more than $100 with AT&T. (Hey, $100 can go a really long way!)

Now you’re probably wondering—what’s the catch with AT&T? We’ll get there. But the long and short of it is higher activation fees and coverage that isn’t as good as Verizon.

With the AT&T Next and Next Every Year programs you can upgrade your phone to the latest model before you've even finished paying it off. While this might promote fiscal irresponsibility, it's hard to argue with an iPhone 11 Max Pro.

AT&T will also give you free movie tickets and other entertainment perks because why not? Don't ask questions. Just take the free stuff.

Sadly, this plan caps your video streaming speed at 1.5 Mbps. That means even your standard definition content on Netflix is going to be a bit grainy, at best.

There’s a small gap between AT&T and Verizon when it comes to coverage, but AT&T’s coverage is still second-best. Putting it in this section sounds a bit nit-picky, and it probably is, but you should know that the cheaper monthly price comes with coverage that’s less than the best.

If you live in a big city, though, and you don’t go out in the country too often, AT&T should provide you with solid coverage.

AT&T has a couple of other plans for military that will give you more high speed data (and higher bills). Check it out.

T-Mobile family plan features

The bigger the family, the better T-Mobile sets up its family plans. With your veteran or active duty status, adding lines is cheap. Seriously, call up grandma, call up your grandchildren, call up your siblings and get them on your T-Mobile veteran plan.

It only costs $25 a month add a second line to your plan, and just $10 a line after that. (The family that pays together stays together, right?)

T-Mobile wants your business. So much so that it’ll cover your remaining payments with your current provider (AT&T or Verizon). As long as you trade in your old phone and opt into a new contract, you’ll be free to join T-Mobile without forking over a bunch of money on cancelation fees with your old provider.

T-Mobile’s coverage isn’t quite as reliable as Verizon, but it’s still decent. Just don’t be surprised if your network drops while you’re out in the wilderness.

We recently took a T-Mobile phone out into the wilderness of Yellowstone to see if we could find any bars. About 10 minutes after we passed through the national park gates, our bars started dropping like flies. Coverage crept back up from time to time, but the coverage was far from reliable. This is a good thing to keep in mind if you're going to find yourself in a national park or exploring the great outdoors any time soon.

Likewise, if you live in a more rural area, or camping is your family vacation of choice, you might run into low bars with a T-Mobile plan.

Sadly, no. The only T-Mobile veteran plan is the Magenta Eligible Military Only.

• Best overall veteran plan: The Verizon Start Unlimited Plan for Military gets you amazing coverage and speed for an affordable price. It’s not the cheapest military cell phone plan, but it’s got the most bang for your buck.
• Best budget plan: The Unlimited AT&T Unlimited Starter for Military plan is your best bargain option for frugal vets. You get decent coverage and some free movie tickets.
• Best family plan: We recommend the T-Mobile Magenta Eligible Military Only plan for the whole family. It’s the cheapest way to add multiple lines to an existing military plan.

Additional contributors

Easton Smith