Opting for a family plan is the easiest way to save money on your wireless bill. Most carriers, major and small, offers discounts for every additional line you add to your family plan.
Much like single-line phone plans, the right family plan for you and your loved ones will depend on your wireless needs and budget.
Search for a Family Cell Phone Plan
Go to our cell phone search page and follow these steps:
- Click the number of lines you need for your family plan.
- Select whether you need new phones or if you're bringing your own phones. You can choose different phones for each line if you like.
- Select the amount of data, talk and text you'll need (for each line).
- Enter your street address to ensure that the search results reflect carriers that provide you with good coverage where you live.
- Choose your current carrier (if applicable)
It might be tricky to know exactly how much data you want with your family plan, so we’d recommend erring on the side of less data for now in order to see more plan options.
Once you hit the Search button, you'll be given a long list of family plans available from various providers. You'll see Verizon family plans, Cricket family plans, T-Mobile plans, AT&T family plans, Boost Mobile family plans, you name it—and you’ll be able to compare things like plan price, data allowance, hotspot, streaming perks, international features, and more.
Compare the Best Cell Phone Plans
Now that you have a list of family plans that fit your criteria, now comes the hard part—choosing which one is right for you and your family. Here are some things to consider:
- Which cell phone carrier has the best coverage?
- What is your budget?
- How much data does each line need?
- Do you want a family plan on a major carrier or an MVNO?
- Are there any special deals on family plans?
- Are there any bonus extras that come with the plan?
Compare the Best Coverage
Coverage is very important when it comes to picking the best family plan. You'll want to look at the locations that you and your family members spend the most time and need the best cell phone service, for example:
- If you spend most of your time at the office, you'll want good coverage in that area.
- If your kids are in college, they'll need good connection there.
- Everyone will want good cell phone service at home.
Unlimited vs Limited Data Family Plans
It’s a common misconception that unlimited data plans are way more expensive than limited data plans. While that’s certainly true for major carriers like AT&T and Verizon, you can get unlimited plans for affordable rates with T-Mobile and with smaller carriers like Mint Mobile. For example, these are the cheapest family plans (for a family of three) that come with unlimited data:
Shared plan with 3 lines
|
#1
|
XFINITY Mobile
Multi-Line Plan
$20/mo
|
|
#2
|
Mint Mobile
Mint Modern Family Plan
$45
|
|
#3
|
US Mobile
Unlimited Starter Plan
$60/mo
|
|
#4
|
Ultra Mobile
Unlimited Family Plan
$74/mo
|
Now let’s compare those prices to some limited data plans offered by wireless carriers:
Shared plan with 3 lines
|
#1
|
Twigby
Multi-Line Plan
$25/mo
|
|
#2
|
XFINITY Mobile
Multi-Line Plan
$26.66/mo
|
|
#3
|
US Mobile
12GB Shared Data Plan
$41/mo
|
|
#4
|
T-Mobile
$15 Connect by TMO 5GB
$45/mo
+ $30 Upfront
|
As you can see, while the unlimited data plans are still more expensive, they’re still extremely reasonably priced—especially when you divide the plan prices by 3 and see that you can get unlimited data for as low as $27/month on a 3-line family plan.
How Much Data Does Your Family Really Need?
How much data your family needs depends on each individual’s wireless habits. You should take each line on your family plan on a case-by-case basis. If your teenager loves all things streaming, gaming, and social media, you probably want to get them an unlimited plan. Meanwhile, if Grandma only uses her phone to check her Facebook messages, you can probably get away with a 3GB plan for her. For a more comprehensive look into how much data each line needs, check out our guide on mobile data usage.
When in doubt, you may want to lean on the side of more data because if anyone in the family surpasses their data allotment, their data speeds will be significantly slowed until the next month—this can quickly become frustrating, especially if it happens month over month. Carriers tend to slow data speeds to around 2G, which will make it hard to do anything beyond basic web browsing.
Shared vs Per Line Allotment
Before choosing the best family plan, make sure you understand the difference between a shared data plan and a per line allotment plan.
Shared data plans mean that if you have 8GB of data allowance in your family plan, all lines share this 8GB—and not equally. One line could use 5GB, another line could use 1GB, another line 2GB, and the last line might miss out completely. It's really a first come, first served scenario. Perhaps for this reason, shared data family plans aren’t nearly as common as they used to be—they’ve slowly been phased out over the years in favor of the per line allotment plans.
Per line allotment plans mean that each line has its own separate data allowance that cannot be shared across lines. Most family plans these days offer this type of data distribution so that each line can have exactly what they need. For instance, a young child on a family plan may only need 1GB of data, whereas a teenager might need 10GB, and both parents need unlimited data. Family plans with the ability to mix and match data allowances help keep the whole family happy.
Best Family Plan Deals Right Now
Out of the many family plan deals out there, these are our top five favorites currently.
- Best 2-line family plan: Simple Mobile $50 Unlimited plan
- Best prepaid family plan: Metro by T-Mobile Unlimited family plan
- Best family plan for coverage: US Mobile Unlimited Premium family plan
- Best international family plan: T-Mobile Magenta
Best family cell phone plans
| Plan | Lines | Data | Best For | Price | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Simple Mobile Unlimited Plan | 2 | Unlimited | 2 lines | $75/month | View Details |
| Metro by T-Mobile $60 Unlimited Plan | 4 | Unlimited | Prepaid | $155/month | View Details |
| US Mobile Unlimited Premium | 4 | Unlimited | Coverage | $160/month | View Plan |
| T-Mobile Magenta | 4 | Unlimited | International | $160/month | View Details |
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