Do you have the best family cell phone plan for you and your loved ones? It’s possible — there are a lot of good options out there, many of which offer attractive discounts as you add lines. But the best plans do more than just offer the lowest price.
The best family cell phone plans at a glance
There’s also the matter of perks — the different benefits wireless carriers include with their plans. And of course, any plan worth its salt offers coverage in your area, whether that’s LTE coverage or 5G (assuming you’ve got a 5G-capable phone).
It becomes even more complicated as each carrier different variations on unlimited data, featuring specific perks and benefits. That means the best cell phone plans for families will depend on how much you’re willing to spend, if you need to hotspot and a host of other factors. (If streaming services are important to you, for instance, we have a breakdown of which unlimited data plans offer free access to which streaming services.)
You’re not necessarily stuck getting service from the big carriers. Look beyond AT&T, T-Mobile and Verizon, and you’ll see that discount carriers have rolled out unlimited options that are among the best family cell phone plans out there precisely because they don’t charge a lot.
Families of four can expect to pay between $120 to $220 a month for four lines from the major wireless carriers. If that seems like a wide range, that’s because benefits can increase on higher-priced plans.
Here’s a closer look at the best family cell phone plans depending on your needs.
The best family cell phone plans
Best overall value family plan
Best family plan for coverage and speeds
An alternative option for families and friends
Best family plan for Comcast customers
Best family plan for streaming
How to pick the best family cell phone plans
Picking the right cell phone plan comes down to balancing the costs of multiple lines of data with the perks each carrier offers. If you do a lot of video streaming, for example, you’ll want to pick a plan that not only throws in a streaming service as a perk (Netflix with T-Mobile, multiple streaming services with Verizon or HBO Max with AT&T’s priciest plan) but also doesn’t slow your data if you consume a lot of data in a given month.
Because the thing about unlimited data is that, with the exception of one plan, it’s not truly unlimited. AT&T’s Unlimited Extra customers will enjoy a 50GB cap, just like three of Verizon’s four unlimited plans. T-Mobile has doubled the cap on its Magenta plan to 100GB, while the more expensive Magenta Max plan does away with caps entirely for a truly unlimited plan; AT&T followed Magenta Max’s lead with its Unlimited Elite plan.
The lowest-priced plans at Verizon (Start Unlimited) and AT&T (Unlimited Starter) allow your data speeds to be slowed whenever there’s network congestion. As for Visible, we’ve noted that its speeds don’t always match Verizon’s in the same away, as traffic can be slowed when the Verizon network is congested; Visible no longer caps data speeds outside of hotspot usage and 5G.
We’ve focused on unlimited plans, but both AT&T and Verizon offer tiered data options, too. AT&T offers a single 4GB plan, while Verizon lets you choose between 5GB and 10GB tiers. Families draw from the same pool of data at both carriers. Unless you’re only adding two lines and don’t need a lot of data, the costs savings from unlimited data plans aren’t really substantial. For example, four lines of Verizon’s 10GB data plan will cost you $140 a month, which is the same amount as four lines of the carrier’s Start Unlimited plan.