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Verizon is often seen as the best wireless carrier in the US, not so much because it has the best prices, the best customer service, or the best perks. But solely because of its coverage. And let’s face it, when it comes to a wireless carrier, the coverage of that carrier is the number one reason to use them. Verizon has coverage just about everywhere, even places where its competitors do not.
When it comes to coverage, Verizon does cover around 71.5% of the US. However, it’s 4G LTE network does cover 99% of Americans, with the Verizon 5G Network covering around 222 million Americans. That might sound weird, with the network covering 71.5% of the US, but 4G LTE covers 99% of Americans. Well, carriers like to use the metric of covering actual Americans versus land. This makes the percentage sound higher, but it is also a more useful metric. There are plenty of parts of the US where there are very few people living. Take Alaska, for example. It’s the largest state in the US, but it only has around 760,000 people living there.
Verizon has recently simplified its plans, and typically, when a carrier says they “simplified” something, it’s usually the opposite. But that is not the case with Verizon. They have actually simplified their Unlimited plan, making it much easier to decide which one you want. In this article, we’ll be comparing postpaid, prepaid, and plans from MVNOs like Visible. To help you find the best plan for you.
Postpaid vs. Prepaid vs. MVNO
Before we get started, it’s essential to talk about the differences between Postpaid, Prepaid, and MVNO. Postpaid are customers who pay for their service after they have received it. That means your final bill will be larger than your first bill. Prepaid essentially means that you pay for your service before you receive it. MVNO stands for Mobile Virtual Network Operator, and they essentially buy access to Verizon’s network at wholesale rates, which is why it can be much cheaper than getting a postpaid plan.
When it comes to coverage, all three will offer the same coverage if they are on the same network. The difference here is that it is going to be in busy areas. On a network tower, Postpaid customers get priority, followed by prepaid customers. MVNO customers are at the very bottom, however a Verizon-owned MVNO may be a bit higher than other MVNO’s, as it’s still a Verizon company. Visible is owned by Verizon.
Smartphone selection is another difference here. While postpaid customers get access to almost all smartphones that are available, prepaid and MVNO’s have far fewer options for customers. They also usually do not offer any financing, so you’d need to go through a third party, like Samsung (and buy unlocked).
Now that you know the difference between postpaid, prepaid, and MVNO, let’s get started.
Best Overall Verizon Plan: Unlimited Plus
Verizon now has three unlimited plans. They are actually pretty easy to compare. These plans start at $30 per line for a family of four. And go up to $55 per line for a family of four. There is Unlimited Welcome, Unlimited Plus, and Unlimited Ultimate. We have chosen the Unlimited Plus plan as our pick for the best overall plan. And here’s why.
Unlimited Welcome offers unlimited talk, text, and 5G. That means your data can be slowed at any time. That’s not the greatest experience, and if you do any traveling at all, you will want your data to be fast and not slow like molasses.
With Unlimited Plus, you get truly unlimited data – you will not get throttled at all. It also includes 5G Ultra Wideband (this includes mmWave and C-Band networks). That will provide you with much faster data in busy places like stadiums and such. It also includes 30GB of premium hotspot data and up to 50% off of one watch, tablet, hotspot, or Hum plan.
Unlimited Ultimate takes this up a notch, doubling your hotspot data to 60GB and giving you 50% off of two watches, tablets, hotspots, or Hum plans. Verizon also includes high-speed international data, talk, and text in this plan. It’s pretty good for only $10 more, but I feel that this is not needed for most people.
For most people, you’re going to be perfectly content with Unlimited Plus. You don’t need to worry about using too much data, and you get a good amount of hotspot data too.
But that’s not all. Verizon used to offer several perks with its plans before. The company heard the complaints about customers getting perks that they wouldn’t use. So now, they’ve stripped that out of the plans – effectively lowering the prices too. And now you can add some perks for $10 per month, per perk. In most cases, these perks are cheaper than if you were to subscribe directly to them.
So what perks are available? Verizon has a load of perks available with these new plans. As outlined below.
- Disney Bundle
- 100GB Mobile Hotspot
- Apple One
- Netflix + Max Subscription
- Walmart+ Membership
- Apple Music Family
- Smartwatch Data & Safety
- +play Monthly Credit
- 3 TravelPass Days
- 2TB Cloud Storage
Pricing without perks starts as low as $30/month for four lines with Unlimited Welcome and up to $55/month for Unlimited Ultimate. For those looking for a single line, Unlimited Welcome starts at $65, Unlimited Plus at $80, and Unlimited Ultimate is $90.
Best inexpensive Verizon Plan: Unlimited Welcome
Yes, Unlimited Welcome isn’t really that inexpensive. But if you want a postpaid plan – where you can finance your phone through Verizon – then Unlimited Welcome is the best option. As explained above, Unlimited Welcome is pretty basic. It offers unlimited 5G data. However, this does not include Ultra Wideband, and you can be throttled anytime. It also offers Home Internet for as low as $40/month. You still get unlimited talk and text here, too. So you’ve got the essentials, for a pretty decent price, especially for a family plan.
You can still add perks to this plan with the Unlimited Plus and Unlimited Ultimate plans. So you could add the Disney Bundle for $10 per month, which is a $16.95 value.
Who is this plan for? I’d recommend the Unlimited Welcome plan for anyone who is working from home or does not use their phone all that much. Think of your parents for this one. Do they really need speeds that are literal gigabits when they leave their home? Probably not. Just fast enough to watch TikTok, send a few messages if needed, and be able to make video calls. Those who work from home, like myself, won’t use a whole lot of data since they use their WiFi most of the time. Making it the perfect option.
Best Verizon Prepaid plan: Unlimited
Surprisingly, Verizon does offer some pretty decent prepaid plans. These start at $35 per month and go up to $60 per month, that’s with auto-pay included ($10 per month discount). Since this is prepaid, the taxes and fees are included in that price. So that really makes these plans quite attractive.
The cheapest plan is Verizon’s 15GB plan. If you don’t need a ton of data, then this is a really good option. You do get unlimited data, but 15GB of premium data. So after that 15GB of data, you might be slowed. Surprisingly, it does include a mobile hotspot, which uses 15GB of premium data.
The next plan, which is their unlimited plan, and it’s a weirdly placed one. It is $50 per month (or $60 without autopay). This includes unlimited data, but you don’t get 5G Ultra Wideband here, so you can be throttled at any time. And you do get 5GB of mobile hotspot data included.
The best plan for those that don’t work from home and do some traveling, is the Unlimited Plus plan. This is $60 per month (or $70 per month without autopay). This offers unlimited data with 50GB of premium data. It does include 5G Ultra Wideband, giving you access to those incredible speeds that you’ve likely seen on social media. Verizon also includes 25GB of the premium mobile hotspot, and Global Choice is included at no extra charge. This gives you data, talk, and text in one country per month.
Our pick here is definitely the Unlimited Plus plan if you do a lot of traveling, or use a lot of data each month. If you can keep your data usage under 15GB per month, then the 15GB plan is the best choice, and a pretty cheap choice too.
Best Verizon MVNO: Visible
Visible is by far my favorite MVNO on any network these days. Visible is actually owned by Verizon, so they do get a bit of preferential treatment on the network compared to some other MVNO’s out there. However, Visible offers two really solid plans that start at only $25 per month.
There are Visible and Visible+. With Visible, you’re paying $25 per month, and you get unlimited data, text, and talk. However, your data can be throttled at any time, since there’s no promise of premium data here. I have used this plan for a few months, and it’s pretty rare that you get throttled. It’ll really depend on how busy the area is that you’re in.
Visible+ is a really impressive plan for its normally $45 per month price tag. Though right now you can get it for only $35 per month. This plan offers unlimited talk, text, and data and works on Verizon’s 5G Ultra Wideband network. It also includes 50GB of premium data per month. That’s right up there with some postpaid plans that are three times the price.
Both plans offer unlimited use of the mobile hotspot, which is supposedly capped at 5Mbps. However, I have never seen it capped at that speed. I typically get the full speed that I would on my phone. But do keep that in mind in-case Visible does start to enforce it.
As if that wasn’t enough, Visible does also offer Apple Watch support for $5 per month. That’s cheaper than Verizon, even with its 50% off perk with its Unlimited Plus and Ultimate plans.
Which plan should you get?
Now that we’ve gone over Postpaid, Prepaid, and MVNO plans, which one should you get? This all depends on how you use your phone. How you buy your phone, and if you use any of these perks like Disney+, Apple Music, etc.
For myself, the best plan is actually the Unlimited Plus plan. Let me explain why, a bit. I’m the Editor in Chief here at Android Headlines, so I do quite a bit of traveling. I travel to CES in January, to Barcelona for MWC in February, Google I/O in May, among many other launch events. In fact, in 2023, I traveled over 50,000 miles around the world. So, having top-speed data access and plenty of mobile hotspots is truly crucial for me. I’ve found that 30GB of premium hotspot data is plenty, but for those months where I think I might need more (like CES in January), I can switch to the Unlimited Ultimate plan for a month.
However, if I did not travel so much, I would stick with Visible’s Visible+ plan. It has everything I need right now with all of this travel, except for the hotspot and premium data.
For those that buy their phones through the carrier and finance them, you will want to stick with Verizon’s Postpaid plans – Unlimited Ultimate, Plus, and Welcome. But if you’re okay with buying and financing through other means, then Visible or Verizon Prepaid are really good options. You can finance through Affirm at 0% interest, too.
The one thing that all of these have in common, however, is that they all work on Verizon’s award-winning network. And that’s what matters.