To say that navigating U.S. carriers’ family plans is a trial is the understatement of the century. Although carriers’ websites have improved and plans have become more transparent, it’s still an exercise in frustration trying to figure out which network offers the best deal for your family. Luckily, we’ve compiled this comprehensive guide on how to choose the family plan that best suits your needs — and saves you the most cash. Updated on 12-30-2015 by Julian Chokkattu and Malarie Gokey: Updated pricing plans from-T-Mobile and Sprint. Added new promotions for T-Mobile and Verizon. Removed old promotions that have expired and Verizon’s now dead two-year contract plan and Edge plan. Noted that Sprint’s two-year contract plans are no longer promoted or visible on its website for new customers. Related:- The 5 best smartphones you can buy-and-These are the 5 best phablets money can buy Click on a step or go to the next page: Do you want a two-year contract? How much data do you need? T-Mobile’s prices Sprint’s prices Verizon’s prices AT&T’s prices Choose your carrier Next page: Do you want a two-year contract? Do you want a two-year contract? T-Mobile only offers one family plan, so you don’t have to worry about choosing among different plans.-Verizon followed suit on August 7, 2015 when it announced two-year contract plans would no longer be offered to new customers. Sprint also said it would phase out two-year contracts before 2016, and those plans are no longer visible on its website. However, at AT&T, -you have two very different options to choose from: one with a two-year contract and one without. Related:- 200 Awesome iPhone Apps for 2015 At AT&T, you can also choose between the contract-free AT&T Next plan and the standard two-year contract plan. These contract-free plans were built to compete with T-Mobile. Paying full price for your phone The downside of contract-free plans is that you’ll have to pay the full, unsubsidized price of the smartphone of you buy. Sprint, Verizon, AT&T, and T-Mobile let you pay installments on the device, typically $20 to $30 a month over a period of 24 months. The two-year contract option gives you the benefit of a nice discount on your new smartphone right from the get go. However, depending on which smartphone you buy and how often you like to upgrade, the two-year contract plan may end up costing you a whole lot more in the long run. Contract-less plans can be cheaper over the long term and offer you more flexibility because you’ll be able to switch carriers at any time. If you decide to do a two-year contract, you’ll have to pay an early termination fee (ETF). At Verizon, ETFs cost as much as $350 and at AT&T, you’ll have to pay up to $325. Click on a step or go to the next page: Do you want a two-year contract? How much data do you need? T-Mobile’s prices Sprint’s prices Verizon’s prices AT&T’s prices Choose your carrier Next page: How much data do you need? How much data do you need? Perhaps the most important decision you’ll have to make when choosing a family plan is the amount of data you will need. It is essential that you choose the right amount for your family, so as to avoid overage charges. T-Mobile is the exception to this rule, as it no longer has overage charges. If you exceed your limit of free data on the Uncarrier’s network, the company will just dial back your data speed to 3G or slower for the duration of the month. Related:- The best Android apps for almost any occassion On the other hand, Verizon will charge you $15 per 1GB of data if you go over your limit. AT&T-has different rates per gigabyte, depending on your plan, but its typically about $15 per gigabyte over. Although Sprint doesn’t explain overage charges in great detail, it does say that “additional on-network data usage” will cost 1.5¢/MB. Sprint will send text message alerts to the head of the family if the data limit is exceeded, and there are options for similar notification methods on AT&T and Verizon as well. To determine how much data you need, consider two factors: the number of people in your family plan and how much data you think each person will use. If you and your family rarely use the Internet when you’re away from a Wi-Fi network, you might want to buy less data. However, if you like to stream movies over your 4G network, browse the Internet for hours, check your email 95,000 times a day, and live tweet your day, you’ll want a huge chunk of data. - Lines - Light data use - Average data use - Heavy data use -2 -2GB -4GB -6GB -3 -3GB -6GB -9GB -4 -4GB -8GB -12GB -5 -5GB -10GB -15GB Sprint, Verizon, and AT&T want you to share data, T-Mobile does not With the Sprint, Verizon, and AT&T family plans, all family members draw from the same data pool, which means that all four of you pull data from the 8GB you purchased. All the data from these two networks should run at 4G LTE speeds. Meanwhile, T-Mobile users each get their own chunk of data. Each individual T-Mobile customer in the family plan gets 2GB of 4G LTE data for free, but once you run out of 4G data, slower data speeds of 2G or 3G LTE are unlimited. Additional 4G LTE data costs more. T-Mobile and AT&T let you save data you don’t use for the next month - T-Mobile was the first to allow customers to save unused data for up to a year and use it when they need it most. The program, called Data Stash rolls over your extra data to the next month if you have the 6GB and 10GB data plans. That way, you never lose data. T-Mobile also offers a one-time chunk of 10GB 4G LTE data to Data Stash customers. As of January 25, AT&T offers a similar option, called data rollover. If you have a AT&T Mobile Share Value plan, your unused data will rollover to the next month, but the extra data only rolls over for one billing period, instead of over the course of a year. Additionally, if you buy extra data due to an overage charge, you better use all of it up that month, because it won’t cross over to the next month. Click on a step or go to the next page: Do you want a two-year contract? How much data do you need? T-Mobile’s prices Sprint’s prices Verizon’s prices AT&T’s prices Choose your carrier Next page: T-Mobile’s prices T-Mobile’s Plans and Prices T-Mobile Simple Choice Plan Please enable Javascript to watch this video - Lines - Line cost Total cost - C ost + extra data -2 -$50+$30 -$80 4GB 4G LTE -$110 w/12GB 4G LTE -3 -$50+$30+$10 -$90 6GB 4G LTE -$135 w/18GB 4G LTE -4 -$50+$30+$10+$10 -$100 8GB 4G LTE -$160 w/24GB 4G LTE -5 -$50+$30+$10+$10+$10 -$110 10GB 4G LTE -$185 w/30GB 4G LTE *These are promotional Uncarrier Amped Family Match prices. T-Mobile started the promo in November and hasn’t named an end date. T-Mobile offers only one plan and its website is perhaps the easiest to navigate. There’s no contract, and you have-to pay the full, unsubsidized price for each smartphone on the plan. You’ll pay for each device in installments (typically $20 to $30 a month per phone). You can, of course bring your own phone instead of buying a new one. If you switch, T-Mobile-will not only pay off your Early Termination Fees (ETF), but also pay the remaining balance of your device, if you’re on a device installment payment plan. First, you decide how many people are in your plan. The first line costs $50, the second costs $30, and every line after that costs $10. Families can add up to 12 lines. Then, you determine if you need more than 2GB of 4G LTE data per person. After that, users have unlimited data at slower speeds like 3G or 2G. There are no overage charges, either, so if you rarely use data, then the 2GB per person is enough. However, if you’re a-family of-Internet fiends, you’ll want to add 6GB more 4G LTE data to each person on your plan. For a limited time, every added 6GB costs $15 more (without the promo, you can add 4GB of extra data for $15). With Data Stash, if you don’t use your data up in one month, it will roll over to the next one for an entire year. The Uncarrier lets you store up to 20GB to use in the next 12 months.-However, Data Stash only applies to plans with 6GB 4G LTE data and up. Back in November, T-Mobile announced Uncarrier Amped, a program to double everyone’s data. Previously, customers only got 1GB of high-speed data per line for free, but now they get two. The doubling of data continues as you increase the data allotment of each person in your family plan, thanks to Family Match. As such, when you increase each person’s data amount to 6GB of 4G LTE, you only play $15 extra per line. It’s a great deal for that much data, and you also get data stash rollover and Binge On video streaming for free. Finally, with Family Match, the fourth line comes free as well. Related:- Binge watch all you want: T-Mobile won’t charge you a dime to stream Hulu or Netflix T-Mobile also offers several perks through its Uncarrier Amped efforts, which include: -Mobile without Borders: T-Mobile users get unlimited talk, text, and data in Canada and Mexico, as well as the United States. Unlimited text and data at lower speeds is also available in almost 150 countries worldwide, though calls cost 20 cents per minute. Jump on Demand: You can lease phones for less and upgrade whenever you want to the latest and greatest phone. Music Freedom: Stream music on most of the popular streaming apps, including Spotify without burning through your data allowance. Binge On: Stream videos via apps like Netflix and HBO Now for free at a lower resolution. Explore T-Mobile’s plans: T-Mobile Family Plans Click on a step or go to the next page: Do you want a two-year contract? How much data do you need? T-Mobile’s prices Sprint’s prices Verizon’s prices AT&T’s prices Choose your carrier Next page: Sprint’s prices Sprint’s Plans and Prices Please enable Javascript to watch this video Shortly after the long-rumored deal between T-Mobile and Sprint fell apart, Sprint’s new CEO introduced a new plan called the Family Share Pack to woo customers away from T-Mobile and other rival carriers. Since then, it has tried several promotions to inspire users to switch. Sprint is aggressively targeting customers from other networks, so if you’re considering making the switch, you could be eligible for 50 percent off of Verizon, AT&T, and T-Mobile rates. Related:- Load your iPad with the best apps in every category However, if you are currently a Sprint customer, here’s what you can get. The Sprint Family Share plan comes in two distinct flavors: one with a two-year contract and one without. In August, Sprint said it would eliminate two-year contracts by the end of 2015. No formal announcement has been made, but the contract plan isn’t visible to new customers on Sprint’s site. Since the contract-free plan is Sprint’s focus, we’ll examine that one first. Sprint Family Share Pack (no contract) - Lines - Line cost - 4G LTE data - Total cost 2 -$20 x 2 -$30 w/2GB $50 w/4GB $ 70 w/8GB -$70 $90 $110 3 -$20 x 3 -$50 w/4GB $100 w/10GB -$120 w/40GB -$110 $160 $180 4 -$15 x 4 -$70 w/8GB $100 w/10GB -$120 w/40GB -$130 $160 $180 5 -$15 x 5 -$70 w/8GB $100 w/10GB -$120 w/40GB -$145 $175 $195 If you sign up for Sprint Easy Pay or the iPhone for Life leasing program, you’ll have to pay monthly installments on your new smartphone. Easy Pay requires you to pay the full, unsubsidized amount for your phone, while the iPhone leasing program, asks you to pay only until the next iPhone comes out, at which point you upgrade. The result is that you don’t pay the full price, but you pay more than you would for it on a two-year contract with a subsidy. Sprint has extended the lease program to a number of devices, including popular Samsung phones like the Galaxy S6, Galaxy S6 Edge, Galaxy S5, Galaxy Note 4, as well as the LG G3 and the HTC One M9. For a full list of lease devices, click here. Once you’ve decided which option is best for you, Sprint asks you how much data you want.-A recent-promotion offers families of four 10GB of shared data along with unlimited talk and text for $100. That amounts to 2.5GB per person. To match T-Mobile’s 40GB data deal for families of four, Sprint offers the same amount of data for the same price as T-Mobile: $120. It’s unclear how long the deal will last. The carrier will cut the data access charge for non-discounted smartphones on select plans. For example, those who sign up for the $70 or $100 Sprint Family Share Pack plans will only have to pay $15 a month for each smartphone on the plan. Sprint Family Share Pack (two-year contract) - Lines Line cost 4G LTE data- Total cost - 2 $40 x 2 -$30 w/2GB $50 w/4GB $70 w/8GB -$110 $130 -$150 3 $40 x 3 -$50 w/4GB $70 w/8GB -$100 w/10GB -$170 $190 $220 4 $40 x 4 -$50 w/4GB $70 w/8GB -$100 w/10GB -$210 $230 $260 5 $40 x 5 -$50 w/4GB $70 w/8GB -$100 w/10GB -$250 $270 $300 The Family Share Pack with a two-year contract is exactly the same as the one without, except you’ll get your device for a subsidized price and pay $40 per line every month instead of $20 or $15. Although some existing customers may be on this plan, it doesn’t appear on Sprint’s website as of December 30, 2015. Sprint did say earlier it would phase out two-year contract plan Explore Sprint’s plans: Sprint Family Plans Click on a step or go to the next page: Do you want a two-year contract? How much data do you need? T-Mobile’s prices Sprint’s prices Verizon’s prices AT&T’s prices Choose your carrier Next page: Verizon’s prices Verizon Plans and Prices Verizon eliminates two-year contracts Verizon used to offer two plans: the More Everything Plan with a two-year contract, and the More Everything Plan with Edge, which used a device installment payment plan. In August 2015, Verizon eliminated the two-year contract option for new customers and revamped its prices for the no-contract plans. Existing Verizon customers can keep their old plans — for now — or move to the new plan. The Verizon Plan - Lines - Line cost 4G LTE d ata- - Total cost -2 -$20 x 2 $45 w/3GB $60 w/6GB $80 w/12GB $85 $100 $120 -3 -$20 x 3 $45 w/3GB $60 w/6GB $80 w/12GB $105 $120 $140 -4 -$20 x 4 $60 w/6GB $80 w/12GB -$100 w/18GB $140 $160 $180 -5 -$20 x 5 $60 w/6GB $80 w/12GB $100 w/18GB $160 $180 $200 Verizon now offers plans based on the size of your data package. You can get S, M, L, XL, and XXL plans, but the data is shared. Here is the breakdown. All of the choices include unlimited talk and text. Verizon simplified the phone access charge to a flat fee of $20 per phone line. Tablet and jetpack lines cost $10 to connect and wearables cost $5 to connect. In addition to the total cost listed above, users will have to add monthly phone payments for their devices — just like on T-Mobile and other device installment payment plans. Related: -Everything you need to know about Verizon’s new no contract plans Verizon currently has a limited-time promotion for new customers who switch from a different network. If you owe money on a device installment plan, the carrier will pay up to $650 per line after a trade in value is determined to cover the cost of your old phone from another carrier. You have to sign up for the 24-month payment installment plan for a new phone on Verizon, though. If you were on a two-year contract with AT&T or Sprint, you can get up to $350 for Early Termination Fees (EFTs) to cover the cost of switching. The carrier will also add 2GB of data to the XL and XXL plans, meaning that XL plans will get 14GB of shared data total and XXL plans will get 20GB of shared data. It’s unknown how long this promo will last. You can read more about it here. Explore Verizon plans Verizon Click on a step or go to the next page: Do you want a two-year contract? How much data do you need? T-Mobile’s prices Sprint’s prices Verizon’s prices AT&T’s prices Choose your carrier Next page: AT&T’s prices AT&T Plans and Prices AT&T Mobile Share Value Plan (with two-year contract) Please enable Javascript to watch this video - Lines - Line cost 4G LTE d ata- - Total cost -2 -$40 x 2 $30 w/2GB $50 w/5GB $100 w/15GB $110 $130 $180 -3 -$40 x 3 $30 w/2GB $50 w/5GB $100 w/15GB $150 $170 $220 -4 -$40 x 4 $30 w/2GB $50 w/5GB -$100 w/15GB $190 $210 $260 -5 -$40 x 5 $50 w/5GB $100 w/15GB $140 w/20GB $250 $300 $340 *updated 12-30-2015 — promotional prices may end soon AT&T also has a plan with a contract and one without. The plan with the contract asks you to pay $40 per line and you’ll be charged $15 for each GB of data overage. AT&T Mobile Share Value Plan (no contract) - Lines - Line cost 4G LTE d ata- - Total cost -2 -$25 x 2 $15 x 2 $30 w/2GB $50 w/5GB $100 w/15GB $80 $100 $130 -3 -$25 x 3 $15 x 2 $30 w/2GB $50 w/5GB $100 w/15GB $105 $125 $145 -4 -$25 x 4 $15 x 2 $50 w/5GB $100 w/15GB -$140 w/20GB $150 $160 $200 -5 -$25 x 5 $15 x 2 $50 w/5GB $100 w/15GB $140 w/20GB $175 $175 $215 *updated 08-18-2015 — promotional prices may end soon The AT&T Mobile Share Value plan with no contract offers better deals for families, but gets confusing. If you choose a plan with less than 5GB of data, you’ll have to pay $25 per line. However, if you buy 15GB or more of data, you’ll pay just $15 per line. With this offer, AT&T is trying to target large families who use lots of data by making it cheaper to get more than it is to buy less. The end result is great for big families and somewhat bad for mid-to-small-sized families. Explore AT&T plans: AT&T Family Plans A note on data rollover: As of January 25, AT&T offers data rollover. If you have a AT&T Mobile Share Value plan, your unused data will rollover to the next month, but the extra data only rolls over for one billing period, instead of over the course of a year. Additionally, if you buy extra data due to an overage charge, you better use all of it up that month, because it won’t cross over to the next month. This applies to both plans. Click on a step or go to the next page: Do you want a two-year contract? How much data do you need? T-Mobile’s prices Sprint’s prices Verizon’s prices AT&T’s prices Choose your carrier Next page: Choose your carrier Which carrier is the best? T-Mobile, AT&T, Sprint, or Verizon: What’ll it be? Now that we’ve looked at all the plans, let’s narrow it down to the cheapest plans from each carrier and compare. The Best Carrier Plans * Best prices are bolded — Some are ties - Lines T-Mobile Verizon AT&T Sprint -2 $80 w/4GB $110 w/12GB $85 w/3GB $100 w/6GB $120 w/12GB $80 w/4GB $100 w/5GB $130 w/15GB $70 w/2GB $90 w/4GB $110 w/8GB -3 $90 w/6GB -$135 w/18GB $105 w/3GB $120 w/6GB $140 w/12GB $105 w/2GB $125 w/5GB $145 w/15GB $110 w/4GB $160 w/10GB $180 w/40GB -4 $100 w/8GB -$160 w/24GB $140 w/6GB $160 w/12GB $180 w/18GB $150 w/5GB $160 w/15GB -$200 w/20GB $130 w/8GB $160 w/10GB $180 w/40GB- -5 $110 w/10GB - $185 w/30GB $160 w/6GB $180 w/12GB $200 w/18GB $175 w/5GB $175 w/15GB -$215 w/20GB $145 w/20GB $175 w/20GB $195 w/20GB- Winner: T-Mobile — Close second, Sprint T-Mobile undoubtedly has the cheapest plans for families over all, but if you have only two or three people in your family, AT&T and Verizon offer plans that don’t cost too much more. Verizon’s new plans actually put its prices more in line with those of T-Mobile, which is a surprising turn of events. Of course, that’s only if you abandon the two-year contract and transition to phone payment installment plans. Verizon and AT&T both boast that they offer better coverage and faster data in rural parts of the country, and depending on your area that may be true. However, T-Mobile offers excellent coverage in large, metropolitan areas and is working hard to improve its coverage in rural America. Sprint definitely upped the ante with its incredible Family Share Pack and-and has a lot of great offers compared to the rest. Of course, Sprint’s deals come with a lot more data than those of T-Mobile, so if you’ve got a big family that uses a lot of data, Sprint’s the winner here. However, if you abide by our data chart, you’ll find that 20GB of data isn’t really necessary for most people, so the extra data might be a moot point. T-Mobile’s offering of Music Freedom, Data Stash, and Binge On are also valuable offers that definitely tip the score towards them. In the end, it depends on how much data you use and whose network performs better in your area. Nonetheless, we think T-Mobile has an edge and there’s an undeniable momentum building behind the magenta carrier. Compare and contrast family plans for yourself: T-Mobile Sprint-Verizon AT&T ————— Click on a step or go to the next page: Do you want a two-year contract? How much data do you need? T-Mobile’s prices Sprint’s prices Verizon’s prices AT&T’s prices Choose your carrier ————— Past Updates: Updated on 8-18-2015 by Malarie Gokey:- Added new Verizon plan, which eliminates two-year contracts and offers new shared data prices for customers on a monthly phone installment payment plan. Added new AT&T data promotions. Updated on 8-03-2015 by Malarie Gokey:- Added new T-Mobile family plan, which offers 10GB per person for two people for just $100 a month. Also added new Uncarrier Amped promos. Added new Sprint plan, which gives-four people unlimited talk, text, and 10GB of shared data for $100 or 40GB of shared data for $120. Also updated Verizon and AT&T pricing to reflect changes. Updated on 04-02-2015 by Malarie Gokey:- Added new T-Mobile offers to pay your device if you switch, unlimited data for two lines for $100, and 10GB of data for four people for $100. Added Sprint lease options and removed terminated AT&T 15GB data promotion. Updated on 02-05-2015 by Malarie Gokey:- Updated with new Verizon data plan offers. Go to Verizon’s prices section for the prices. Updated on 01-15-2015 by Malarie Gokey:- Updated with T-Mobile and AT&T’s latest family plan data rollover promotions. Updated on 11-17-2014 by Malarie Gokey:- Updated with Sprint and AT&T’s latest family plan promotions. Updated on 10-02-2014 by Malarie Gokey:- Updated with Sprint Family Share Pack info. Updated on 8-26-2014 by Malarie Gokey:- Updated to reflect new T-Mobile policy, which will allow customers to add up to 10 lines. After the second line, each additional line will cost just $10 a month. Updated on 07-28-2014 by Malarie Gokey:- Updated to reflect new T-Mobile promotion, which will offer 10GB of 4G LTE to all 4-person family plans from July 30 to September 30, 2014.



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