Prepaid versus Monthly Contract Cell Phone Plans
So when would prepaid save you money over contract-based plans and vice versa? We’ll now put that very question to the test by comparing many plans from various cell phone service carriers. With data current as of Feb. 16, 2009, this analysis takes such a comparison a step further than an earlier analysis of Virgin Mobile versus Verizon Wireless.
Virgin Mobile is often synonymous with prepaid wireless and oftentimes pops into the minds of consumers first when considering such a route. Why? The hip company keeps its pay-as-you-go-pricing low, doesn’t require commitments and (unlike the warning mentioned above for typical cases) even allows your prepaid minutes to roll forward.
Virgin Mobile has even rolled out an especially attractive plan with unlimited voice minutes for $49.99 per month with no contract.
The various scenarios below compare three common amounts of minutes used per month – 200, 400 or 1,000 minutes – at Virgin Mobile, Boost Mobile, Net10, T-Mobile, Verizon Wireless, Tracfone and AT&T so you can see which carrier gives you the most bang for your buck. For the purpose of this analysis, carriers were only included with true nationwide coverage (i.e. Cricket Wireless didn’t make the analysis for not meeting this criteria).
200 anytime minutes per month with Virgin Mobile:
30-day minute pack with no contract: $20 or 10 cents per minute
By the minute with no contract: $26.99 or 10 cents per minute (including a $6.99 monthly fee)
By the minute with no contract: $40 or 20 cents per minute
Monthly plan with a contract (plus 500 minutes on nights and weekends): $25
Note: Text, picture and video messaging is $5 a month extra for 200 messages, $10 for 1,000 or $20 for unlimited on the no-contract plans. The mobile Web is $5 a month extra for 5 megabytes, $10 for 20 megabytes or $20 for 50 megabytes.
200 anytime minutes per month with Boost Mobile:
Pay as you go with no contract: $20 or 10 cents per minute
No monthly contract plan offered at this level (but $50 for unlimited minutes)
Note: Text messaging is 10 cents per message with no contract. Picture, audio and video messaging is 25 cents each. The mobile Web is 35 cents a day for unlimited use.
200 anytime minutes per month with Net10:
“Airtime on demand” with no contract: $20 with 30 days of service
No monthly contract plan offered at this level (but 250 “easy” minutes for $25 with no contract)
200 anytime minutes per month with Verizon Wireless:
$27.92 with no contract using eight 99-cent days (“Core” plan at 10 cents per minute), $25.92 using eight $1.99 days (“Plus” at 5 cents per minute) or $27.92 using eight $2.99 days (“Power” at 2 cents per minute) with various expirations
No monthly contract plan offered at this level (but 450 minutes for $39.99)
200 anytime minutes per month with T-Mobile:
$28 using eight $1 pay-by-the-day days at 10 cents per minute
No monthly contract plan offered at this level (but 300 minutes for $29.99)
200 anytime minutes with Tracfone:
$39.99 with no contract and 90 days of service
No monthly contract plan offered at this level (but 150 minutes for $29.99 per month)
Related posts:
- Which Cell Phone Option Is Cheaper, Prepaid or Monthly Contract
- Prepaid vs. Cell Phone Contract: Comparison for New Users
- The Most Affordable Cell Phone Plans, Virgin Mobile, MetroPCS, & Sprint
- Senior Citizen Cell Phone Plans
- Free Government SSI Phone, Prepaid And Contract Cell Phones, A Phone To Fit Any Budget
- Low Income Cell Phone Plans For Families
- Senior Citizens Can Find Cell Phone Plans Too
- How to Save Money When Cancelling a Cell Phone Contract
- How to Compare Wireless Phone Plans
- Consumer Cellular and AT&T Senior Nation, Two Great Companies and Plans for Senior Citizens
Tags: Cell phone plans
May 21st, 2010 at 3:50 am
It’s all too complicted for me so I’ll just stick to my tried and tested Net10. I love the phone I got from them and I love the fact that at 10c per minute calling and 5c per text I can mentally calculate how much the cost of each call is and can stay on top of my budget!
May 30th, 2010 at 6:55 pm
No contest….prepaid! It is cheaper, plain and simple. I have net10 like Rosemary and pay a flat rate for my minutes and that way only pay for the minutes I use.