Best T-Mobile Prepaid Plans

You pay your cell phone bill every month. So shaving a few bucks off the cost of your plan really adds up. That’s exactly what you can do when you switch to a prepaid plan.

In the wake of its recent merger with Sprint, T-Mobile has revamped its prepaid plan options. There are some great deals for all kinds of users. We’ll go through everything you need to know in this review of the best T-Mobile prepaid plans.

First, here’s a look at every prepaid plan that T-Mobile offers, so you can get an idea of what’s out there.

Best T-Mobile Simply Prepaid plans

T-Mobile’s Connect prepaid plans

T-Mobile’s Simply Prepaid Unlimited Plus is like the Cadillac of prepaid plans: it’s got everything you need (and a few things you don’t need but really want). We’re talking unlimited talk, text, and data, hotspot data, and other perks like HD video streaming. Let’s dive into the details.

The Simply Prepaid Unlimited Plus plan acts a lot like the top-tier postpaid plans on the market. But it’s actually significantly cheaper at just $60 a month. Compare the price to Verizon’s Play More Unlimited plan, which offers similar data and perks.

Verizon’s plan costs a full $20 more a month. The catch is that you’ll have to pay your bill at the beginning of the month with T-Mobile prepaid. If that’s not a big deal to you, then the choice seems pretty obvious.

Most prepaid plans do away with special features and perks, but not this T-Mobile plan. With the Simple Prepaid Unlimited Plus plan you’ll get up to 10 GB of high-speed 4G LTE hotspot data. That’s more than many traditional unlimited plans offer.

Hotspot data is awesome for folks who work on the road or like to stream to the laptop while they’re waiting in the airport (or anywhere else).

It’s not just the mobile hotspot data that makes this plan a cut above other prepaid plans. The Simply Prepaid Unlimited Plus plan also gives you access to T-Mobile’s quickly expanding 5G network.

Pretty much every plan in the world—including unlimited plans—has what’s called a data cap. Once you’ve used a certain amount of data and hit your cap, your data speeds will be reduced. It’s called throttling.

Many unlimited plans are always at risk of being throttled. Others have a data cap of 22 GB or less. But the Simply Prepaid Unlimited plan matches other high-level plans with a 50 GB cap, which is more than enough for most users.

You don’t get something for nothing. So what’s the catch with this powerful prepaid unlimited plan? The short answer is: price.

While the Simply Prepaid Unlimited Plus plan from T-Mobile may be cheaper than postpaid alternatives, it’s still pretty pricey for a prepaid plan.

It’s significantly more expensive than other plans with 5–10 GB of data. Meanwhile, you can get an unlimited data plan from a mobile virtual network operator (MVNO), like Visible, for just $20 less. The Visible plan may not have as many perks, but it gets the job done.

For those who want to pay less than $60 on their monthly phone bill, check out the next two plans in our lineup of the best T-Mobile prepaid plans.

You don’t want to choose your cell phone plan without comparing other options first. So we’ve rounded up some plans that are similar to the Simply Prepaid Unlimited Plus plan. Check it out.

T-Mobile’s Simply Prepaid with 10 GB of LTE data is a pretty great middle-of-the-road plan for those who don’t need unlimited data. Here’s everything we love about the plan.

This plan isn’t priced low enough to make the list of the best cheap cell phone plans, but at $40 a month it’s probably cheaper than your current bill (or about the same). And it gives you a lot of bang for your buck.

Unlimited data plans are all the rage these days, but many people don’t truly need that much data. 10 GB of data is actually quite a lot—it’s enough to stream every episode of the Umbrella Academy in standard definition, for example.

So if you’re the type of person who uses mobile data to stream and game every once in a while when you’re out of the house, but you connect to Wi-Fi at home, you might be just fine with this plan’s 10 GB.

Speaking of data usage: you won’t have to worry about your data cap when you’re streaming music. That’s because T-Mobile allows unlimited streaming when you’re using Pandora, iHeartRadio, iTunes Radio, Rhapsody, Spotify, Slacker, or Milk Music.

This is a great deal for folks who like to rock out while they're working (or working out). But, we should point out, it’s a lot like a plan from Boost Mobile that’s $5 cheaper.

As usual, we have a few complaints. Well, actually, we just have one: this plan doesn’t come with unlimited data.

We were just talking about how 10 GB of data is enough for plenty of people. And, while that’s true, it’s also true that unlimited data is better because it’s … well … unlimited!

If you’re considering spending $40 a month on a cell phone plan, then there are a few MVNOs out there that might actually offer a better deal with more data.

It’s time to take a look at the competition. Here are some other prepaid plans with at least 10 GB of data from alternative carriers.

When you’re just trying to save money, you don’t care much about fancy perks like HD video streaming. You just want a cheap, simple, reliable option. In this cast, that’s the Connect Unlimited Talk & Text + 5 GB Data plan (it’s simpler than the name sounds).

At $25 a month, this plan isn’t just affordable. It’s downright cheap. In fact, it was introduced by T-Mobile recently because the company knew people affected by the COVID-19 crisis and the takeover of Sprint would want a cheap option.

Of course, there is one cheaper plan in T-Mobile prepaid lineup. It’s $15 and comes with 2 GB of LTE data. But we think this plan is a better deal overall.

This T-Mobile plan gives you all the basics: unlimited talk and unlimited text. That may not sound like much, but there was a time (back in the early 2000s) when it would have been a luxury plan.

You’ll also get 5 GB of high-speed LTE data. That should be plenty of data for those who just need to use Google Maps and email every once in a while (making this a great plan for kids).

We can’t wrap this up without telling you what we don’t like about this plan, even though it should be pretty obvious: there’s not much data.

5 GB of data is what many people (myself included) use in a week. So if you’re a heavy, or even a moderate, phone user, this plan won’t cut it for you. The good news is that there are plenty of other cheap data plans, like Mint Mobile’s, that can get you hooked up with more data for less money.

As always, we’ll take a peek at the competition. Here are some similar plans with unlimited talk and text and at least 5 GB of data.

We’ve reviewed the best T-Mobile prepaid plans here, but which one is the best for you? We’ll do a quick recap to help you decide.

• Best unlimited data plan: The Simply Prepaid Unlimited Plus plan is a monster plan that offers everything you could need, and it only costs $60. That includes unlimited talk, text, and data, plus great perks for hotspot data. It’s not the cheapest prepaid plan, but it’s pretty amazing if you can afford it.
• Best value: Those who want a cheaper plan that still includes a decent amount of data will want to look at the Simply Prepaid with 10 GB of LTE Data plan. This plan gets you a decent amount of data and includes unlimited music streaming so you can throw on your power song while you save a few bucks.
• Best budget plan: Check out the Connect Unlimited Talk & Text + 5 GB Data if you’re looking to save a lot of money and still get the basics. It’s not the fanciest plan around, but it’s only $25 a month.

If you’re not seeing your dream plan here, then be sure to check out the best prepaid plans from AT&T and Verizon.