Best Prepaid Phone of 2024: Value Picks for Cheaper Plans

Finding the right price is key: A benefit to getting a prepaid phone plan over postpaid is that by buying your service upfront, you won’t otherwise be stuck on a contract nor do you need to get a credit check in order to sign up for a cellphone plan. However, it does mean that you are unlikely to receive a deep discount off of your next device when you aren’t bringing over an existing one, since many phone carriers offer hefty device subsidy incentives when signing up with a new postpaid plan or renewing an existing one. This means that device cost is going to be a very important issue when buying a phone to use on a prepaid plan, because you could be footing the entire bill. 

Target your most important needs: You’ll want to decide whether you need a cheaper device that covers all of your essential functions or if you are OK with springing for a more expensive device with more capabilities. 

Remember to shop around: While many US phone purchases are made through a phone carrier, most prepaid phone plans include a bring-your-own-device option. This means you don’t have to buy your handset from a prepaid phone carrier to sign up with them, which is helpful if you have one already or especially if you find a deal at another store for the same device. After purchase, you will instead sign up for a plan with your prepaid carrier and follow their directions for setting up your device with their service. 

Make sure you buy a compatible device: Even though you don’t have to buy your phone from a prepaid carrier, you do need to make sure the phone you purchase is compatible with it. For instance, if you are buying a phone to use on Mint Mobile, you’ll want to make sure that it’s a device that’s compatible with T-Mobile’s network. Same with Cricket, running on AT&T. Same with Visible, running on Verizon. Most prepaid carriers will tell you what networks their service runs on, and that will help you match up what device you need from there.