Updated September 2026 · 11 compared

The best cellular carriers, ranked.

11 cellular carriers compared across 23 evidence-checked head-to-heads.

Every matchup is scored round by round on what matters most: price for a single line, customer service & trust, perks & extras, network coverage & reliability.

1US Mobile7.6
2T-Mobile6.8
3Metro by T-Mobile6.8

At a glance

Best for customer service6.7

Consumer Cellular

See price

Jump to review ↓

Best for price for a single line5.9

Mint Mobile

See price

Jump to review ↓

Top 11 cellular carriers

Ranked by overall score

Top rated

US Mobile

Best for: Someone unsure which carrier covers their address

Pick US Mobile if you're not sure which network actually covers your address.

Price for a Single Line: $25/mo
Customer Service & Trust: 4.5-4.6/5 Trustpilot
Perks & Extras: 30-day free trial
Data Deprioritization & Congestion: No 100GB soft cap on top tier, but real speed complaints

Taxes and fees included in the price
Four tiers let you pay for what you actually use
Pick whichever of the 3 major networks actually covers you
Can switch networks later without changing carriers

Cheapest tiers cap high-speed data before dropping to reduced speed
Coverage quality still depends on which single network you pick
BBB complaints cite speeds as low as 1.8 Mbps
Entry tiers cap high-speed data at a low threshold

Best for perks

T-Mobile

Best for: Heavy streamer or traveler who wants the fastest 5G

Pick T-Mobile if you want the fastest 5G network available and stream heavily.

Price for a Single Line: $50/mo
Customer Service & Trust: 1.4/5 on Trustpilot
Perks & Extras: 3 streaming services + Wi-Fi
Head-to-head record: 4–1

50GB of premium high-speed data included
Owns and operates its own nationwide 5G network
Led every major Opensignal speed category in Q2 2026
Truly unlimited premium data on top tiers

Taxes and fees now itemized on top of the advertised price
More than double Consumer Cellular's cheapest comparable tier
Can still lag Verizon in some rural/indoor scenarios
5-year price lock covers plan rate only, not taxes/fees

Metro by T-Mobile

Best for: A family of 4 wanting bundled Amazon Prime and shared pricing

Pick Metro by T-Mobile if you're adding multiple lines and want bundled Amazon Prime perks.

Price for a Single Line: $40/mo
Customer Service & Trust: Thousands of stores, weak online ratings
Perks & Extras: Amazon Prime included
Network Coverage & Reliability: Ultra Capacity 5G, most markets

5-year price-lock guarantee on current plans
Runs on T-Mobile's Ultra Capacity 5G in most markets
Identical physical coverage map to T-Mobile postpaid
$60 Unlimited Premium gets Metro's highest internal priority tier

Cheapest $25 rate requires paying 6 months upfront
Standard month-to-month price is $40, well above Visible's $25
Deprioritized behind T-Mobile postpaid during congestion
Entry $25 plan deprioritized after ~35GB during congestion

Best for customer service

Consumer Cellular

Best for: Budget-conscious user who wants simple, transparent billing

Pick Consumer Cellular if you want low, transparent pricing with no credit check or contract.

Price for a Single Line: $20-$35/mo
Customer Service & Trust: 4.2/5 'Great' on Trustpilot
Perks & Extras: 5% AARP discount
Network Coverage & Reliability: AT&T network (new activations)

No credit check, no contract
Auto-upgrades instead of charging overage fees
AARP discount drops the flagship plan to $33.25/mo
Rides AT&T's full nationwide LTE/5G network

Even the flagship Unlimited plan caps at 35GB before slowing
No independent speed-award recognition like T-Mobile's Opensignal sweep
No true unlimited high-speed option at any price
Under-50 customers pay up to $30/mo more for the same data

Verizon

Best for: Someone who needs guaranteed priority data during congestion

Pick Verizon if you need guaranteed priority data and a big retail store footprint.

Price for a Single Line: $55/mo
Customer Service & Trust: 1.3/5 Trustpilot, but 1,700+ retail stores
Perks & Extras: 6+ streaming/perk options
Network Coverage & Reliability: 5/8 RootMetrics awards

Full postpaid billing with a large retail network behind it
Higher tiers include real premium data before deprioritization
Guaranteed priority on its own network at every paid tier above entry
True month-to-month billing, cancel anytime

$55/mo entry price plus taxes and fees on top
Entry Unlimited Welcome tier also lacks premium data allotment
Postpaid myPlan requires a credit check and possible deposit
1.3/5 Trustpilot from 7,200+ reviews

Visible

Best for: Budget shopper who wants Verizon's network for half the price

Pick Visible if you want Verizon's network at less than half the postpaid price.

Price for a Single Line: $25/mo
Customer Service & Trust: 4.2/5
Perks & Extras: Global Pass day-passes
Network Coverage & Reliability: ~99% population coverage

$25/mo all-in pricing with taxes and fees included
Promo codes cut $6-12/mo more for 26 months
Visible+/Pro tiers unlock genuine premium priority data for $10-20/mo more
No credit check required, fully prepaid

Base $25 plan uses standard, deprioritized data by design
Real complaints of ~5Mbps speeds during congestion on base tier
Single-line accounts only, no true shared-data family plan
No streaming bundle comparable to Verizon's perk stack

Cricket Wireless

Best for: A family of 3-4 lines wanting one shared account

Pick Cricket Wireless if you're adding 3-4 lines and want one shared, cheaper bill.

Price for a Single Line: $35/mo
Customer Service & Trust: 1.6/5 on Trustpilot, but real stores
Perks & Extras: HBO Max Basic included
Network Coverage & Reliability: #1 RootMetrics H1 2025

$25/line at 4 lines — a real family discount
Rides the same AT&T towers that won H1 2025 RootMetrics awards for best overall, most reliable, fastest
Full 5G AT&T access on every tier
$25/line at 4 lines on one shared account

$35/mo for a single line — $10 more than Visible
Data-capped Sensible plan drops to 128 Kbps after 10GB
Deprioritized behind AT&T postpaid during congestion
No premium-data upgrade exists at any price, even on the $55 top plan

Boost Mobile

Best for: Budget shopper who wants unlimited data with no credit check

Pick Boost Mobile if you want a cheap, no-credit-check unlimited plan.

Price for a Single Line: $25/mo
Customer Service & Trust: 3.9/5 Trustpilot, rated 'Great'
Perks & Extras: Global talk/text on all plans
Network Coverage & Reliability: AT&T network as of Nov 2025

$25/mo with 30GB premium data and global talk/text included
No credit check, no contract on any tier
Now running on AT&T's mature nationwide network instead of Boost's still-building infrastructure
30GB of premium (non-deprioritized) data included on the base tier

November 2025 migration caused real disruption and device-compatibility issues for some existing customers
Deprioritized behind AT&T's own postpaid customers after the allotment
Documented history of unilaterally cutting data thresholds
No streaming bundle comparable to Verizon's perk stack

AT&T

Best for: First responder or public-safety-adjacent worker

Pick AT&T if you need FirstNet-grade public-safety network investment.

Price for a Single Line: $50/mo
Customer Service & Trust: 1.2-1.3/5 Trustpilot, surprise charges
Perks & Extras: 210+ destinations
Network Coverage & Reliability: 98.3 RootScore

$50 entry price matches T-Mobile's cheapest tier
Multi-line discounts drop to $30/line at 4 lines
RootScore 98.3 beats T-Mobile's 97.3 on overall performance
Shares the U.S. Network Speed award with T-Mobile per RootMetrics H2 2025

Base tier excludes hotspot entirely
Deprioritized after just 22-50GB on the entry tier
Loses the headline Opensignal average-speed race by a wide margin
Base tier's coverage strength doesn't carry the same premium perks as top tiers

Best for price for a single line

Mint Mobile

Best for: Budget shopper who wants to cut their bill dramatically

Pick Mint Mobile if you're a light-to-moderate data user who wants T-Mobile-network coverage cheap.

Price for a Single Line: $15-30/mo
Customer Service & Trust: 3.0/5 Trustpilot, but no retail stores
Perks & Extras: Hotspot only
Network Coverage & Reliability: T-Mobile 5G UC access

As low as $15/mo unlimited on promotional terms
No credit check, no activation fees in most cases
Full access to T-Mobile's extensive 5G footprint
Guaranteed high-speed data up to 50GB/month before any dep. risk

Requires paying the full 3/6/12-month term upfront
Not Verizon's network — coverage mirrors T-Mobile's map, not Verizon's
Deprioritized behind T-Mobile's own postpaid customers during congestion
Real complaints about extended outages with slow support resolution

Google Fi

Best for: Pixel owner who travels internationally often

Pick Google Fi if you own a Pixel and travel internationally on a regular basis.

Price for a Single Line: $50-$65/mo
Customer Service & Trust: 1.3-1.4/5 Trustpilot
Network Coverage & Reliability: T-Mobile + US Cellular (Pixel only)
Head-to-head record: 0–2

Legacy Flexible plan offers per-GB pay-as-you-go pricing
Genuine dual-network switching still exists on supported devices
Full network-switching feature works great on Pixel phones
50GB high-speed international data in 200+ countries included

Same $50/mo as T-Mobile's base tier for the same underlying network
Secondary US Cellular partner is shrinking as T-Mobile absorbs it
Non-Pixel/iPhone users lose the signature switching feature entirely
'Unlimited abroad' use requires periodic return to the US

Compare every spec

Sort any column, tick products to go head-to-head · hover the edges or drag to see more

Show all specs best in column · tick up to 4 to compare


1US MobileScore 7.6	$25/mo	4.5-4.6/5 Trustpilot	30-day free trial	—	No 100GB soft cap on top tier, but real speed complaints	3–0	100 %	67 %
2T-MobileScore 6.8	$50/mo	1.4/5 on Trustpilot	3 streaming services + Wi-Fi	—	—	4–1	80 %	63 %
3Metro by T-MobileScore 6.8	$40/mo	Thousands of stores, weak online ratings	Amazon Prime included	Ultra Capacity 5G, most markets	35GB soft cap on entry tier	3–1	75 %	58 %
4Consumer CellularScore 6.7	$20-$35/mo	4.2/5 'Great' on Trustpilot	5% AARP discount	AT&T network (new activations)	—	2–3	40 %	47 %
5VerizonScore 6.7	$55/mo	1.3/5 Trustpilot, but 1,700+ retail stores	6+ streaming/perk options	5/8 RootMetrics awards	Up to 200GB premium data	3–1–1	75 %	53 %
6VisibleScore 6.6	$25/mo	4.2/5	Global Pass day-passes	~99% population coverage	Base plan deliberately deprioritized	2–3–1	40 %	44 %
7Cricket WirelessScore 6.3	$35/mo	1.6/5 on Trustpilot, but real stores	HBO Max Basic included	#1 RootMetrics H1 2025	No premium-data tier at any price	2–1	67 %	56 %
8Boost MobileScore 6.2	$25/mo	3.9/5 Trustpilot, rated 'Great'	Global talk/text on all plans	AT&T network as of Nov 2025	30GB premium data, then deprioritized behind AT&T postpaid	1–4	20 %	43 %
9AT&TScore 6.2	$50/mo	1.2-1.3/5 Trustpilot, surprise charges	210+ destinations	98.3 RootScore	~22-50GB threshold	2–4	33 %	42 %
10Mint MobileScore 5.9	$15-30/mo	3.0/5 Trustpilot, but no retail stores	Hotspot only	T-Mobile 5G UC access	Deprioritized behind T-Mobile postpaid	0–2	0 %	33 %
11Google FiScore 5.4	$50-$65/mo	1.3-1.4/5 Trustpilot	—	T-Mobile + US Cellular (Pixel only)	—	0–2	0 %	33 %

Popular head-to-heads

23 round-by-round comparisons — here are the top-ranked match-ups

T-Mobile vs US Mobile→

T-Mobile vs Consumer Cellular→

Verizon vs US Mobile→

Metro by T-Mobile vs Consumer Cellular→

T-Mobile vs Visible→

Visible vs Metro by T-Mobile→

Verizon vs Consumer Cellular→

Cricket Wireless vs Metro by T-Mobile→

AT&T vs US Mobile→

Build your own comparison →

How these are scored: our ranking method. We may earn a commission from links on this page — disclosure.