Unlimited Plan Comparison: Verizon vs. AT&T vs. T-Mobile vs. Sprint

UNLIMITED DATA COMPARISON

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So it’s 2017 and unlimited data is officially back at all of the major US carriers. (Don’t even try to tell me that you saw this coming.) It seemed like just days ago we were paying a hundred dollars for 2GB and 4GB of data and having our grandfathered unlimited data plans ripped from our cold, crusty, fingers with the shadiest of moves. But hey, we’re not about to complain that we can all get back on unlimited data for some decent prices. 

As you know, T-Mobile kicked off this new unlimited wave a few months ago with T-Mobile ONE before Sprint jumped in with their own take. Both plans had some pretty major issues out of the gate, a couple of which T-Mobile has attempted to address. And then, this weekend, Verizon said, “We’re bringing unlimited back!” Their plan, as it turns out, was more or less a better implementation than what T-Mobile and Sprint had done, so those two have now copied Verizon’s idea in a matter of days. Finally, AT&T decided it couldn’t be left out, so it has announced that it will remove a single requirement from its lesser-known unlimited plan to make itself competitive in this new age.

There is a lot to consume concerning the four offerings from these carriers, so we decided that we would attempt to put together a simple chart that lays out the basics. Below, we attempt to breakdown the pricing in simple terms and even layout some of the asterisks of each feature. Keep in mind that we didn’t factor in network, as that is for you to decide.

UPDATE: On February 26, AT&T introduced two new unlimited plans to better compete. We’ve updated the table below to include details on those plans.

UPDATE AUGUST 29: We’ve updated the chart below to reflect changes to Verizon’s Unlimited plan offerings. See the updated chart at this post.

Have fun.

VerizonAT&TT-MobileSprint
PriceSingle line: $80
Multi line: $100 account fee + $20 per line
Autopay required
Unlimited Plus: $90 for 1 line, $145 for 2 lines, plus $20 for lines 3-10
Unlimited Choice: $60 for 1 line, $115 for 2 lines, plus $20 for lines 3-10
Multi-line: $70 for 1 line, $100 for 2 lines, $160 for 4 lines
Autopay required
-Taxes and fees included
Multi-line Promo: $50 for 1 line, $40 for line 2, $0 for line 3-4
Multi-line (in 12 months): $60 for line 1, $40 for line 2, $30 per line 3 and 4
Autopay required
DataUnlimited data with network management per line after 22GBUnlimited Plus: Unlimited data with network management per line after 22GB
Unlimited Choice: Unlimited data at 3Mbps max speed with network management per line after 22GB
Unlimited data with network management per line after 30GBUnlimited data with network management per line after 23GB
-Music streaming throttled to 1.5Mbps
-Gaming throttled to 8Mbps
Hotspot10GB per line
3G speeds after
Unlimited Plus: 10GB per line
128Kbps speeds after
Unlimited Choice: No tethering
10GB per line
3G speeds after
10GB per line
2G speeds after
Video QualityStreaming as the content provider sends; no throttlingUnlimited Plus: Streaming as the content provider sends; customer can throttle with Stream Saver
Unlimited Choice: Up to 480p video
Streaming as the content provider sends; customer needs to toggle off Binge OnUp to 1080p video
Canada and Mexico RoamingUnlimited calling and texting to and from, plus 500MB 4G LTE data in either country (2G after)Unlimited calling, texting, and data to and from; need to turn on free Roam North America feature.Unlimited calling, texting, and data to and fromNot available

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