With the release of new phones, like the iPhone 13, and the upcoming Black Friday’s phone deals, phone plans are hyping up. People are excited to get a valuable phone plan for their new phones.
But, if you decide to hold with your previous phone, it’s fine to look for better options. In this case, knowing the cheapest phone plans for 3 lines would help to choose one.
Just let me warn you, choosing a plan isn’t that easy. You need to keep in mind which phones are compatible with which carriers, the coverage and speed cap in your area, and where you live.
After testing and analyzing for some time, I have found quite a few carriers provide handy perks with their plans at a reasonable price. And, I’m listing the top 5 among them for your convenience.
Our Top 5 Picks At A Glance
| Mint Mobile | Tello Economy | T-Mobile Connect | Verizon | US Mobile |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Overall Best- 4GB Price: $15/month | Cheapest One – 1GB, Price: $10/month | Most Reliable – 2.5GB, Price: $15/month | Large Coverage – 15GB, Price: $45/month | Best Alternative – 1GB, Price: $12/month |
| Pros: Affordable, Reasonable Data Cap | Pros: Cheapest, Flexible uses, Unlimited calls, and text | Pros: Unlimited talk and text, Cheap Overall, Yearly 500MB boost | Pros: Large data cap, Great speed, Large Coverage | Pros: Cheap, Unlimited text and talk, Free Trial |
| Cons: No monthly options, Change after three months | Cons: Limited Coverage, Limited data | Cons: No other perks, Stops when hitting the cap. | Cons: Expensive | Cons: Limited data, Comparably low |
| Get The Plan | Get The Plan | Get The Plan | Get The Plan | Get The Plan |
Top 5 Cheapest Phone Plans for 3 Lines 2023
1. Mint Mobile
Despite being introduced a few years back, Mint Mobile has become pretty popular. It is one of the best among the budget-friendly carriers. Even the ultimate plan from Mint Mobile is among the cheapest.
Even though this plan’s 4GB data cap isn’t a large amount, enough if you don’t heavily use social media sites, streaming sites, and such. But, using low data-intensive sites like Google Maps and Light version of some social media apps is fine.
Anyways, Mint Mobile is a mobile virtual network operator (MVNO), which means it piggybacks on another mobile provider, here T-mobile. So, it uses a T-mobile network, which has 62% coverage. This is a good thing and a bad thing at the same time.
However, before choosing this carrier, I would recommend coverage-ability. It won’t be a good option if you are living in a rural area or moving nationwide.
This plan is overall the cheapest phone plans for 3 lines option I have found so far with a large data cap. So, keep one thing in mind that you need to charge for an entire year after the first three months.
2. Tello Economy
Tello Economy is the cheapest plan with unlimited talk and text. The $10/month plan is the most suitable one for budget plus convenience. It includes unlimited talk and text with 1 GB of data.
Yes, the data may not be large enough for most people, but if little less data-intensive browsing and using Google Maps navigation is fine.
Although you secure Tello’s Economy Plan at $10 cost per month, for the first six months, it comes at $7.5/month.
In my test, Tello provided a steady internet connection while I was at my house. I could youtube without buffering. But, while driving, I lost data connection with the help of Google Maps navigation quite a few times. In the end, I needed to pull over my car to open google Maps in a backup phone.
So, before selecting the cheap phone plans for 3 lines, check their coverage map and additionally check RootMetrics for extra data speed in your local.
3. T-Mobile Connect
T-Mobile Connect plan has similar perks to Mint Mobile. As I mentioned earlier, Mint Mobile utilizes T-mobile’s network. So, you get a better speed and coverage with it.
This plan is also a pretty decent one, in my opinion. It’s a month-to-month plan, which doesn’t require buying any additional contract.
And, the nice thing is there is no ‘activation fee’ or other fees either. But, the price ( $15) doesn’t include tex. So, overall it will cost you around $16.38/month.
I prefer big carriers, despite their price being high, because they are compatible with a vast range of cell phones and have ample coverage. Although, you have to check its speed if you are living in a countryside area.
T-mobile Connect is a ‘prepaid plan; there is no credit check. And, the plan offers 5G speed, but you don’t require to purchase a 5G phone for that.
The plan gives you 2.5GB data per month with a half GB data boost annually. But, the biggest disappointment with it is, as you use up your allotment, you won’t get any data for the rest of the billing cycle. On the other hand, other carriers just slow your speed after you reach the monthly limit.
4. Verizon
Verizon 15GB plan is by far my most favorite plan. Although it, the most expensive plan on the list of the cheapest phone plans for 3 lines, I love this for some reason.
As you know, Verizon is the speedest and largest coverage carrier in the USA. So, you don’t need to be too worried about its speed and coverage.
The 15 GB data would be plenty for many users. And you can use the data at full speed until reaching the limit. After that, you can have an unlimited 2GB of data. But it’s too slow to browse anything.
Without that, This Verizon plan includes 5G internet nationwide. So, you won’t get speed downfall while traveling.
The only issue I got with it is pretty expensive. Usually, the plan is $50, but with a $5 autopay discount, it costs $45. Verizon’s prepaid discount doesn’t stop here. Stay with this prepaid plan for three months; you can save $5 more. And, staying with it for nine months, you will end up paying $35 a month for the same 15GB of data. Not to mention having the perks of Verizon.
5. Us Mobile
Us mobile is another carrier that is famous for providing the cheapest phone plans for 3 lines. Their plans start with only five dollars for ultimate talk and texting.
Anyways, the offer I listed is the 12 dollar plan. But, to tell you the truth, I’m not entirely satisfied with what it offers and what it took. Firstly, although it says to cost $12, with factoring in auto-pay discounts, taxes, and fees, it cost me around $16.50.
Then, the data cap is low, which is only 1GB. Moreover, for a hotspot, you need to pay an additional 5 dollars.
But, the reason to add this to the list is its extensive coverage and internet speed. They use the network of both Verizon and T-mobile. So, users enjoy some coverage benefits from the two largest USA carriers.
However, I won’t recommend it until you don’t have any other options.
How To Choose A Phone Plan
As I already added the top cheapest phone plans for 3 lines for you, should you just choose one? No! Do you remember what I said at the beginning of the article? Choosing one phone isn’t that simple as you think.
Hey, don’t panic about it. You just require to consider some points and check some details.
Network Coverage: It doesn’t matter how good, the expensive, or cheap plan you choose if you end up on a network with lousy cell service.
One thing you can do is to visit the carrier’s website and look for their coverage maps, which show you if they have any cell phone towers near your neighborhood.
Your Data Consumption: How much data do you actually use? Most of us don’t know this question before we buy our plan. Thus either we end up with no data before the billing cycle finishes or leave abundant data after the month.
So, knowing your consumption of bytes is quite essential. For checking your previous month’s data consumption, there are quite some ways. You can either check the setting or some apps for a more accurate outcome.
Read Terms: Before buying a plan, read every detail from the carrier’s website. See what perks they are giving in what condition. Sometimes, they offer you some perks but, it has some hidden requirements.
For example, with USA mobile, you can share your whole data on the hotspot. But, for that, you need to pay an extra $5.
Final Verdict
After tasting with over twenty cheap plans, I found these are the cheapest phone plans for 3 lines. There are some others with a cheaper cost, but they didn’t perform well in my test.
Don’t get overwhelmed with all the information. You can just pick one of them as you like, give it a try, and change if you don’t like it. And, ultimately, you will find the most suitable plan for you.
