Cell Phone Plan Price Compared: One Line at 7 Carriers, $15 to $110 a Month

A single phone line costs anywhere from $15 to $110 a month in October 2026, and the number on each carrier’s card means something different. As of October 10, 2026, the prepaid brands price one line at $15 to $30 (Mint Mobile, with a year paid up front), $25 to $40 (Visible, taxes and fees included) and $25 to $44 (US Mobile, monthly). Google Fi runs $35 to $65 before tax. The national carriers start at $50 at T-Mobile and AT&T after their AutoPay discounts, and Verizon’s new Simplicity Plan advertises $30 a line, but only after AutoPay and a $15 switch discount and only if every line on the account moves. This guide puts the one-line price of every plan at seven carriers on one table, translates each carrier’s conditions, adds up a first year, and sorts out what the word unlimited means at each. Mint Mobile and Google Fi have their own guides: Mint Mobile and Google Fi.

The quick answer

Lowest standing price for unlimited: Visible at $25 with “Taxes & fees included,” or US Mobile’s Unlimited Starter at $25 monthly, also taxes and fees included
Lowest price of any kind: Mint Mobile’s 6 GB plan at $15 a month on a 12-month plan, “$180 upfront payment required,” taxes and fees extra
Lowest national-carrier headline: Verizon Simplicity at $30, “After AutoPay and $15/mo switch discount. Plus taxes and fees.”
Lowest national-carrier price without a switch condition: $50 at T-Mobile (Essentials Saver, 50 GB of premium data) and AT&T (Value 2.0, 5 GB of high-speed data), both with AutoPay and before taxes and fees
Most expensive one line: AT&T Elite 2.0 at $110, then T-Mobile Experience Beyond at $100 and Verizon Unlimited Ultimate at $95
Taxes and fees: included only at Visible and US Mobile; extra everywhere else
Fine print that moves the price: AutoPay discounts of $5 (T-Mobile) or $10 (AT&T, Verizon myPlan); a bank account for AT&T’s discount; a switch discount and whole-account move at Verizon Simplicity; intro versus regular rates at Mint

Key facts at a glance: one line, October 10, 2026

Carrier and plan	Monthly price	Conditions behind the price	Taxes and fees	Data at full speed
Mint Mobile 6 GB, 17 GB, 23 GB, unlimited	$15, $20, $25, $30	12 months paid up front ($180 to $360); 3-month plans are intro rates that renew at $25, $35, $45, $40	Extra	6 GB, 17 GB, 23 GB; unlimited slows after 50 GB
Visible, Visible+, Visible+ Pro	$25, $30, $40	$30 and $40 use code 5OFF5 against $35 and $45	Included	Unlimited; premium data from Visible+
US Mobile Starter, Premium	$25; $39 then $44	Or $199 and $299 for a first year, renewing at $270 and $390	Included	Unlimited; Premium is priority data
Google Fi Flexible, Essentials, Standard, Premium	$20 + $10 a GB; $35, $50, $65	50% off unlimited plans for 12 months with a Pixel until Nov 10, 2026	Extra	Pay per GB; 30, 50, 100 GB then 256 kbps
Verizon Simplicity	$30	After AutoPay and $15 switch discount; all lines must move	Extra	Unlimited, 10 GB hotspot
Verizon Unlimited Welcome, Plus, Ultimate	$65, $80, $95	Auto Pay and paper-free billing; $10 more without	Extra	Unlimited; Ultra Wideband from Plus
T-Mobile Essentials Saver, Experience More, Experience Beyond	$50, $85, $100	AutoPay with eligible payment; $5 more without; up to $35 connection charge	Extra	50 GB premium; unlimited premium on both Experience plans
AT&T Value, Extra, Premium, Elite 2.0	$50, $70, $90, $110	$10 discount needs paperless billing and AutoPay from a bank account, starts within 2 bills	Extra	5 GB, 100 GB, then unlimited without slowing

Prices from each carrier’s plans page as read on October 10, 2026, US, for one line, with each carrier’s standard AutoPay discount applied where it has one.

What the card price leaves out, carrier by carrier

T-Mobile. On its plans page, every price is “for 1 phone lines + taxes and fees,” ”+ up to $35 device connection charge per line,” with the “AutoPay discount using an eligible payment method applied.” The $50 plan is “Our lowest price for unlimited talk, text, and data.” with “50GB of premium data on the Best Mobile Network” before slower speeds. T-Mobile’s current “Get a 3rd line FREE” offer makes three lines cost the same as two on the Experience plans.

Verizon. On the Simplicity page, the $30 is “After AutoPay and $15/mo switch discount. Plus taxes and fees,” and Verizon’s FAQ says “if you do want to move to the new Simplicity plan all lines on the account will need to move to Simplicity as well.” The myPlan tiers are “$65 /mo*,” “$80 /mo*” and “$95 /mo*” “per line for 1 line w/ offer credit,” with “$10/mo per line more without Auto Pay. Plus taxes & fees,” and the Broadband Facts labels list a “$40” activation fee.

AT&T. Its wireless plans page states: “Taxes and fees extra. Plan price after $10/mo. discount (starts within 2 bills) per phone line when you sign up for paperless billing and AutoPay with a bank account or AT&T Points Plus® Card from Citi.” Value 2.0 is “Unlimited talk, text & data + 5GB of high-speed data” and Extra 2.0 is “Unlimited talk, text, data + 100GB of high-speed data”; Premium and Elite do not slow by usage.

Mint Mobile. On its plans page, the 3-month price is “an introductory rate” with a higher “Regular Monthly Price”; the 12-month price is not. “Taxes & fees extra,” and the labels show roughly $2 a month in Mint’s own fees. Unlimited “customers who use over 50GB/mo. may notice reduced speeds.”

Visible. Its plans page shows “Taxes & fees included” on every card; the labels list provider fees as “None.” Visible+ is “Reg. $35/mo” and Visible+ Pro “Reg. $45/mo,” cut by $5 “for 5 years w/code 5OFF5.”

US Mobile. Its plans page says “Taxes & fees included.” The headline “Unlimited for less than $17/mo.” is the annual Starter price: “Price when paid annually. New lines only. See terms.” Monthly Premium “Renews at $44/mo after 6 months.”

Google Fi. Its plans page notes “Monthly prices do not include taxes and gov’t fees.” Unlimited means “High-speed data up to 100 GB/person on Unlimited Premium, 50 GB/person on Unlimited Standard, 30 GB/person on Unlimited Essentials, and 256 kbps after.”

A first year for one line, by our math

Using each carrier’s cheapest unlimited or near-unlimited plan for one new line, before taxes and fees except where included:

Plan	First-year total (our math)	Notes
US Mobile Unlimited Starter, annual	$199	New line; renews at $270; taxes and fees included
US Mobile Unlimited Starter, monthly	$300	Taxes and fees included
Visible	$300	Taxes and fees included
Mint Mobile unlimited, 12-month	$360	Paid up front; slows after 50 GB; taxes and fees extra
Verizon Simplicity	$360	Only with AutoPay and the switch discount; taxes and fees extra
Google Fi Unlimited Essentials	$420	30 GB at full speed; $210 with a Pixel until Nov 10, 2026
Mint Mobile unlimited, 3-month renewals	$450	$90 intro, then three renewals at $120
T-Mobile Essentials Saver	$600	50 GB premium data; plus up to $35 to connect
AT&T Value 2.0	$600	5 GB at high speed; bank-account AutoPay
Verizon Unlimited Welcome	$780	Plus a $40 activation fee on the label
T-Mobile Experience Beyond	$1,200	Unlimited premium data, Netflix, Hulu, satellite texting
AT&T Elite 2.0	$1,320	250 GB hotspot, tablet and watch lines, 20 GB abroad

The gap between the cheapest and the most expensive one-line year is $1,121, before anyone’s taxes and fees, and most of it buys network priority, hotspot, travel data and perks rather than more talk, text or basic data.

What “unlimited” means at each carrier

Only three plans on the table never slow by usage: AT&T Premium and Elite, and the premium-data tiers at T-Mobile’s Experience plans and Verizon’s Plus and Ultimate, each described by its carrier as data that does not slow based on how much you use or as unlimited premium data. Everything else has a number: 50 GB at T-Mobile Essentials and Mint unlimited, 5 GB and 100 GB at AT&T Value and Extra, 30 GB, 50 GB and 100 GB at Google Fi, and network-busy slowing at Visible and US Mobile Starter. Hotspot follows the same pattern, from 3 GB at AT&T Value to unlimited at Visible, US Mobile Premium, T-Mobile Experience Beyond and Verizon Ultimate.

Where the carriers’ pages disagree with their headlines

Verizon’s $30 is not $30 for most people. It needs a switch discount and a whole-account move; its own myPlan Welcome line is $65.

Mint’s $15 is $25 after three months unless you pay for a year.

US Mobile’s “less than $17” is $199 up front for a first year, then $270.

Visible’s $30 and $40 are promo prices, $35 and $45 on the labels, held for five years by a code.

AT&T’s $10 discount is not for credit cards, apart from AT&T’s own Citi card.

T-Mobile’s $50 plan changes name at three lines, from Essentials Saver to Essentials.

Before you choose

This is a list of things to check, not a recommendation:

Add taxes and fees to every price except Visible’s and US Mobile’s. On a $50 plan they can be a meaningful share
Check the AutoPay condition. Eligible payment method at T-Mobile, bank account at AT&T, Auto Pay and paper-free at Verizon
Decide how much full-speed data you need. 5 GB, 30 GB, 50 GB, 100 GB or unlimited is the real tier boundary
Paying a year ahead? Mint and US Mobile reward it; Mint’s monthly-equivalent price holds only on 12-month plans
Switching carriers? Verizon Simplicity’s $15 switch discount, Google Fi’s Pixel discount and US Mobile’s first-year prices are for new lines
More than one line? This table is one line; T-Mobile’s third line free and Verizon’s four-line credits change the per-line math

Quick answers to what people search

What is the cheapest cell phone plan? Mint Mobile’s 6 GB plan at $15 a month on a 12-month plan ($180 up front), taxes and fees extra, per the carriers’ pages read October 10, 2026. For unlimited, Visible and US Mobile Starter at $25 with taxes and fees included.

What is the cheapest unlimited plan at a big carrier? Verizon Simplicity at $30 after AutoPay and a $15 switch discount, with every line on the account moved to it; otherwise $50 at T-Mobile (Essentials Saver) or AT&T (Value 2.0).

Which carriers include taxes and fees? Visible and US Mobile. T-Mobile, Verizon, AT&T, Mint Mobile and Google Fi add them.

How much is one unlimited line at T-Mobile, Verizon and AT&T? $50, $85 or $100 at T-Mobile; $30 (Simplicity, with conditions) or $65, $80 or $95 at Verizon; $50, $70, $90 or $110 at AT&T, all with AutoPay and before taxes and fees.

Is Mint Mobile really $15 a month? Yes on a 12-month plan paid up front; on a 3-month plan $15 is an introductory rate that renews at $25.

Which plan has the most hotspot data? Unlimited hotspot at T-Mobile Experience Beyond, Verizon Unlimited Ultimate, US Mobile Premium and Visible; AT&T Elite lists 250 GB.

Does Google Fi have a cheap plan? Flexible is $20 plus $10 a GB, cheaper than its $35 Essentials plan below 1.5 GB of use by our math.

Which is the most expensive single line? AT&T Elite 2.0 at $110, then T-Mobile Experience Beyond at $100 and Verizon Unlimited Ultimate at $95.

Bottom line

As of October 10, 2026, one phone line runs from $15 at Mint Mobile with a year paid ahead, through $25 all-in at Visible and US Mobile, $35 at Google Fi and $50 at T-Mobile and AT&T, to $110 at AT&T Elite. Verizon’s $30 Simplicity sits in the middle only for new customers who move every line. The two numbers to check before comparing are whether taxes and fees are inside the price, which is true only at Visible and US Mobile, and how many gigabytes run at full speed before the plan slows. The carrier-owned prepaid brands, Boost, Cricket, Metro, Straight Talk and Total Wireless, are compared in our prepaid plan comparison. The cable-company phone plans, sold only with home internet, are in our Spectrum Mobile guide and Xfinity Mobile guide.

Prices, conditions and quotations from the plans pages of T-Mobile, Verizon, AT&T, Mint Mobile, Visible, US Mobile and Google Fi, read October 10, 2026, with Google Fi’s Pixel offer date rechecked November 1, 2026, US, for one line with each carrier’s standard AutoPay discount applied. First-year totals and differences are our own arithmetic. Each carrier’s page is the authority and may change. This is general information, not financial advice.