Spectrum Mobile vs. Verizon: Same coverage, half the price

Verizon is one of the nation's largest cell phone carriers, renowned for its best-in-class 4G LTE coverage and fast 5G speeds. On the other hand, Spectrum Mobile is a relatively new mobile virtual network operator (MVNO) that doesn't operate its own towers and instead piggybacks off of Verizon's network.

The main difference between the two phone companies is that anyone can sign up for Verizon service, while Spectrum Mobile is limited to Spectrum home internet customers. Additionally, Verizon offers a lot with its plans—generous high-speed data, sizable mobile hotspot allowances, and various phone or perk discounts. However, Verizon's prices are among the highest in the industry. By comparison, Spectrum Mobile provides fewer extras with its plans for far less money.

There’s much more to explore as we compare Verizon and Spectrum Mobile, so read on to find out which carrier is right for you.

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Spectrum Mobile vs. Verizon: Coverage

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Comparing Verizon and Spectrum Mobile coverage is like the Spider-Man pointing meme—both companies deliver the same service. As a Verizon MVNO, Spectrum Mobile offers the same great 4G and 5G coverage and speeds as its parent carrier. In our experience, Spectrum Mobile indeed lived up to this promise—wherever you have a reliable Verizon 4G or 5G signal, you'll also have a fast Spectrum Mobile signal.

Verizon's exceptional 4G LTE network spans over 70% of the United States, delivering strong signal strength in cities and rural areas. Meanwhile, Verizon’s 5G network continues expanding while providing blazing-fast mobile data speeds with its 5G Ultra Wideband (UWB) connectivity.

Because you'll tap into Verizon towers, this round is a draw either way.

Compare cell phone network coverage maps

Check out Verizon's (and, therefore, Spectrum Mobile's) coverage below to get a sense of signal strength in your area.

Spectrum Mobile vs. Verizon: Price

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Most major carriers offer pricey plans, and Verizon is no different. Big Red charges a premium for service, largely because of its cell tower infrastructure, which is expensive to maintain. Verizon's unlimited data plans start at $60/month (with autopay) for a single line on Unlimited Welcome and increase to $75/month with one line on its top-tier Unlimited Ultimate plan. Although you'll pay more than most competitors, Verizon provides generous mobile hotspot allowances, high mobile data deprioritization thresholds, and best-in-class 4G LTE coverage.

By comparison, Spectrum Mobile features affordable unlimited plans starting at just $29.99/month for its base Unlimited tier. Unlimited Plus sets you back $39.99/month, with By the Gig beginning at a cost-effective $14/month. Spectrum Mobile’s wallet-friendly plans are almost half the price of its parent carrier’s.

While Spectrum Mobile provides fewer plans and benefits (like loads of premium data), it costs significantly less than Verizon.

Spectrum Mobile trounces Verizon with its noticeably lower costs, saving you significantly more on your monthly bill.

Spectrum Mobile vs. Verizon: Availability

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Anyone can sign up for Verizon service on a prepaid or postpaid plan. Simply pick out a Verizon plan, select a new phone, and activate your new service. You can even keep your number and phone if you like. Additionally, Verizon postpaid plans require a credit check for new customers, while prepaid provider Spectrum Mobile doesn’t. If you want service directly with the mothership sans credit check, consider a Verizon prepaid plan.

However, Spectrum Mobile is only available to Spectrum home internet subscribers. This requirement is in place because you get access to Verizon’s network at a fraction of the cost, but without benefits you may not need like high data deprioritization thresholds and tons of mobile hotspot. Nevertheless, we don't suggest switching to Spectrum for your ISP needs simply for its mobile service since fiber offers faster speeds, and you might find a better deal with another company.

Verizon wins this round because anyone can sign up regardless of their ISP.

Spectrum Mobile vs. Verizon: Perks

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One of the ways Spectrum Mobile keeps your monthly bill so low is by providing barebones plans without perks. Although you get access to nationwide Wi-Fi hotspots, that's about it.

By comparison, Verizon lures customers with discounted perks like streaming service subscriptions and cloud data storage. While Big Red nixed the free goodies bundled with its previous plans (Get More, Play More, and Do More), you can tack on low-cost extras like the Disney Bundle (Disney+, Hulu, Discovery+), Apple Arcade, and Verizon Cloud Storage.

Though neither carrier gives you free perks, we're tossing this one to Verizon since you can subscribe to various services for cheaper than normal. You don't even get extras discounted with Spectrum Mobile.

Spectrum Mobile vs. Verizon: High-speed data

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Unlimited data is rarely unrestricted. Although the days of overage charges and rollover minutes are blessedly over for the most part, carriers deprioritize or slow data speeds after you burn through your premium or high-speed allotment. Even though most carriers don’t cut off your data completely, trying to do your usual mobile tasks like streaming music or web browsing can be challenging at these slower speeds. For instance, your favorite Taylor Swift album might buffer while streaming, or Google Maps could load at a molasses pace.

Verizon gives you unlimited premium data that doesn't slow down regardless of usage with its mid-tier Unlimited Plus and top-shelf Unlimited Ultimate plans, while its base Unlimited Welcome package is subject to deprioritization at any time. On the prepaid side, Verizon's Unlimited Plus gives you a whopping 50GB of priority data. Conversely, Spectrum Mobile's Unlimited Plus plan only provides 30GB of high-speed data, with Unlimited giving you even less at 20GB.

Let's see how Verizon and Spectrum Mobile deprioritization allotments match up.

As you can see, Verizon takes the cake with its plentiful premium data provisions. And unlike Spectrum Mobile, Verizon sports unlimited data with no deprioritization threshold on its maxed-out Unlimited Plus package.

Spectrum Mobile vs. Verizon: Mobile hotspot data

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Mobile hotspot tethering lets you tap into cellular data for a personal Wi-Fi network virtually anywhere you have a strong signal. You can use your smartphone or a standalone hotspot device to create an internet connection to share with devices like tablets, portable game consoles, or laptops.

Verizon gives you 30GB with its Unlimited Plus tier and a whopping 60GB on Unlimited Ultimate. Spectrum Mobile supports mobile hotspot connectivity on each plan but offers no dedicated data allowance. Instead, any data you burn while using your phone as a hotspot comes directly from your monthly data. Additionally, Spectrum slows down your hotspot data speeds after 5GB.

Ultimately, Verizon is the obvious winner since it boasts mobile hotspot data allowances while Spectrum Mobile doesn't.

Spectrum Mobile vs. Verizon: Family plans

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A family plan lowers your monthly bill, typically delivering increased savings with each added line. Verizon progressively lowers your bill the more lines you bundle together, so we recommend grabbing family, friends, or a significant other for sweet savings. Spectrum Mobile doesn't include any multi-line savings, though its already-low single-line pricing still makes a family plan cost-effective.

Let's look at Verizon and Spectrum Mobile multi-line discounts:

Verizon family plans save you considerably more when compared with its single-line prices. But Spectrum Mobile's family plans undercut Verizon's, even without a multi-line discount, making it the winner.

Spectrum Mobile vs. Verizon: Customer service

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Hopefully, you won't need customer service (we've ALL suffered endless phone menus and earworm-inducing hold music). But whether you've got a question about your bill or need help upgrading plans, Spectrum Mobile and Verizon have you covered. You can seek support online, over the phone, and in brick-and-mortar stores.

We like that the parent carrier and its MVNO both offer physical locations where you can pop in for assistance when needed. This category is a tie because both carriers deliver decent customer service across all avenues.

Spectrum Mobile vs. Verizon recap

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While most MVNOs fall short compared to their parent carriers, Spectrum Mobile proves an exception to the rule, punching well above its weight class. Verizon offers high data deprioritization thresholds, generous mobile data allowances, and optional discounted perks. 

Nevertheless, we recommend Spectrum Mobile over Verizon for eligible customers because of its low cost that doesn't sacrifice network coverage. Its no-frills plans should profit most folks' basic talk, text, and data needs without breaking the bank by adding potentially unnecessary extras like dedicated hotspot data. If I weren't so pleased with my Google Fiber internet, I'd consider switching to Spectrum for my home and mobile internet needs.

However, Verizon is a better choice for non-Spectrum internet subscribers. Additionally, high data users demanding ample mobile hotspot allowances and enormous premium data thresholds should stick with Verizon. Notably, fellow Verizon MVNOs Xfinity Mobile and Cox Mobile offer similar plans to Spectrum Mobile's for their respective home internet customers.

Peruse Verizon and Spectrum Mobile plans below to find a plan that's right for you:

Methodology: How WhistleOut rates cell phone plans

WhistleOut evaluates phone plans based on the following criteria:

• Price & value: Not all cheap plans are “bad,” and not all expensive plans are worth it. We look at everything a plan includes and compare it both to other plans from the same carrier, as well as similar plans from competitors in the market, to determine whether the value is consistent with the price.
• High-speed data: Also called “premium” data, this is how much data you get at full 4G/5G speeds before they can or will slow down. The more guaranteed high-speed data the plan includes, the better experience you’ll generally have—but there’s also usually a limit to how much you actually need, and we ensure that you’re not overpaying for data that will go unused.
• Coverage & network reliability: The breadth of each carrier’s 4G LTE and 5G networks determines your reception and service. Particularly in the case of 5G, some carriers offer far more robust coverage than others, which affects how their phone plans perform in different parts of the country.
• Plan extras and perks: In addition to the basics—talk, text, and data—some plans throw in freebies like hotspot allowances, cloud storage, entertainment subscriptions, or service discounts.

Our mobile experts leveraged proprietary data and real-world customer feedback to evaluate Spectrum Mobile and Verizon. We compared the two MVNOs by analyzing their coverage, cost, and plan options. We considered plan-specific elements, including perks, premium data allowances, and mobile hotspot allocations. After performing hands-on testing and extensive research, including customer feedback, we picked the best carrier we feel meets the needs for most people. We only compared Spectrum Mobile vs. Verizon—no other carriers, big or small, were included in our examination.

Visit our guide to choosing a phone plan to dive deeper into a cell phone carrier or plan to find the one that best meets your specific needs.