The best 5G plans in the US: Which carrier is right for you?

Most carriers now include 5G in their unlimited plans, whether you live in a 5G area or not. Verizon, T-Mobile, and AT&T continue to grow their coverage, while smaller MVNOs are catching a ride on the coattails. While you can find speedy coverage in plenty of places, it all comes down to pricing. Here are the best 5G plans from all of the major US carriers.

Before you jump on the bandwagon, bear in mind that the fastest 5G is still only available in select areas of the United States. Unfortunately, that mainly refers to cities. It will be a while before smaller cities and rural areas get in on the 5G action. 

We’ve focused mainly on unlimited data plans in this rundown. While these tend to be pricier with the bigger carriers, there are plenty of more budget-friendly options. And let’s face it; if you’re considering upgrading to 5G, which can reach download speeds of over 1Gbps, you’re not going to want a plan that’s capped at 3GB.

Check out your options below.

Carriers offering 5G plans:

• Verizon
• AT&T
• T-Mobile
• UScellular
• MVNOs

After you’ve decided on your carrier — or maybe before you decide — you should probably take a look at your best options for 5G devices at the bottom of this page.

Editors note: We will keep this list of 5G plans updated as plans change and more launch.

Verizon 5G plans

Verizon’s 5G Ultra Wideband mobile service is some of the fastest coverage around, and Big Red claims it’s 10 times faster than other 5G networks. However, if you live outside of a major city, you will probably spend most of your time on the 5G Nationwide network. 

Check out this table for more on what Verizon offers on the postpaid side:

Verizon offers two main unlimited plans on the postpaid side: MyPlan Unlimited Welcome and MyPlan Unlimited Plus. The latter of these plans gets you mmWave 5G access, while the former sticks to the slower (but still very fast) nationwide network. The Welcome plan starts at $65 for one line, while the Plus plan starts at $80. Both plans have access to a variety of perks, though each perk will add $10 to your monthly costs. 

The Welcome plan doesn’t include hotspot access, but you can add it on for $10. Meanwhile, the Plus plan gives you 30GB of hotspot access. 

On the prepaid side, the cheapest plan to support 5G data is Verizon’s 15GB Prepaid option for $35 a month. Still, 5G uses a lot of data, so we’d recommend either the Unlimited Prepaid or Unlimited Plus Prepaid plan. These plans give you hotspot access and 5G data for $50 and $60 a month, respectively. The more expensive plan includes both 5G and mmWave 5G, while the cheaper version doesn’t support mmWave. 

There’s also a Verizon Ultimate tier, but it offers mostly the same features aside from 10GB high-speed international data and few other perks. It’s also really expensive, starting at $75 for a single line. 

AT&T 5G plans

New AT&T subscribers can choose from three unlimited plans, each of which now comes with 5G access. All three have unlimited talk, text, and data in the US, Canada, and Mexico. You also get free texting to over 120 countries, along with suspected spam and fraud alerts. AT&T is also following in Verizon’s footsteps with a few new fees. They’re meant to counteract inflation, but it would be surprising to see the fees go away even when the economy stabilizes.

AT&T’s Unlimited Starter plan costs $65 a month for one line, but it drops to just $35 per line with four connections. Of course, these prices include paperless billing and AutoPay discounts. You won’t get any premium data, and AT&T can slow down your data during times of congestion. The Unlimited Starter plan doesn’t include any mobile hotspot data, and you’re limited to standard definition streaming as well. 

The Unlimited Extra plan costs $75 a month for one line, or you can get a four-line bundle for $160. These prices are with a $10 discount for using paperless billing and AutoPay. 50GB of data usage falls under premium data, meaning that after this allocation, AT&T can throttle your service at any time if the carrier is getting too much traffic. This plan included SD video streaming, plus it throws in 15GB of high-speed mobile hotspot data per month.

The most expensive of the AT&T Unlimited plans is called Unlimited Premium. It costs $85 a month for one line or $200 for four lines. The Elite tier will throw in 50GB of free high-speed mobile hotspot data per month and unlimited premium data. Video streaming leaps to 4K UHD, too. 

Unfortunately, as other carriers add more and more streaming options to the mix, AT&T seems to be heading in the opposite direction. It’s stripped away both the HBO Max perk and Stadia Pro from new accounts.

Find out more about AT&T 5G plans via the button below.

T-Mobile 5G plans

T-Mobile claims to have more 5G coverage than AT&T and Verizon combined, with stronger signals covering thousands of miles rather than just city blocks. If T-Mobile didn’t already sound like your best bet for a 5G plan, it gets sweeter — 5G access is included free of charge on every T-Mobile plan.

A few prepaid plans are available from T-Mobile, including the Connect plan, which starts from as little as $15 per month. You’ll struggle to find a cheaper plan that offers 5G capability, but you’d burn through the 2GB of data quickly, so let’s focus on unlimited data plans. The one prepaid plan which offers unlimited data is $50 per month (not including taxes and fees). As unlimited data plans go, it’s pretty bare-bones — 3G hotspot is a good example of this — but you’ll get a 5G unlimited data plan that may only get slowed after using 50GB of data per billing cycle.

In terms of postpaid plans, you’ve got a range of unlimited data options depending on your needs. The headline plans are the Essentials, Magenta, Magenta Max, and Go5G plans. You can get a better breakdown of their postpaid and prepaid options via the ch

Hit the button below to get more details about the T-Mobile plans, all 5G ready.

UScellular 5G plans

UScellular is often left far behind the big three US carriers, but it powers the fourth-largest standalone US network with nearly five million subscribers. It doesn’t boast the largest 5G network around — access is only available in parts of Iowa, Wisconsin, and the midwestern United States. That said, UScellular is still a good way to go if you’re in one of those select locations. 

UScellular offers three main postpaid plans — Basic, Everyday, and Even Better if you want to get signed up while the 5G network continues to grow.

The Basic plan starts at $55 per month for a single line, though the price drops each time you add a line. It’s a simple plan with unlimited talk, text, data, and little else. You can stream in standard definition, but there’s no hotspot access or priority data available.

If you’d rather have the full power of UScellular behind you, either the Everyday plan or the Even Better plan is better. The Everyday option starts at $65 per month, and Even Better will run you $75, but both include hotspot, HD or Full HD streaming, and even a payback perk. As long as you can stay below 3GB per month, UScellular will kick $5 or $10 back to you, depending on your plan.

Check out the button below for some UScellular 5G information.

MVNOs

MVNOs usually offer simpler and more affordable plans without the long contracts of the big four carriers, but 5G access is still available if you know where to look. Here’s a quick summary of some MVNOs that offer 5G access.

Metro by T-Mobile

As part of the T-Mobile network, all Metro plans have access to 5G. Unlimited plans start from $40 per month, and all of them offer some integration with the ACP (Affordable Connectivity Program). On that plan and the $60 unlimited plan, you get 100GB of cloud storage with Google One. The $60 plan even includes an Amazon Prime membership.

Google Fi

Also on the T-Mobile network, Google’s Fi plans offer 5G coverage. Where these plans are a bit pricier than Metro, they’re also more flexible. One user can get a plan for as little as $20 per month, though you pay $10 per GB of data. The Unlimited Plus plan is $70 per month, but you can make big savings when adding more than one line. For example, it’s $150 per month for three unlimited lines. If you’re hoping to save some cash, the Simply Unlimited plan is $60 per month and skips international access.

US Mobile

US Mobile now offers 5G access baked into all plans at no extra cost. You can still build your perfect plan, but the unlimited options make better use of the premium speeds. Unlimited options start as low as $40 per month, and you still get the opportunity to choose streaming perks when you add two or more lines.

Mint Mobile

All Mint Mobile plans have access to the T-Mobile 5G network, and they couldn’t be simpler. You can choose from 4GB, 10GB, 15GB, or unlimited data, and the initial three-month plans start from just $15. You’ll be able to roam the United States, and Mint will keep you on 4G or 5G — whichever is stronger.

5G-ready phones

We used to have a list noting all the 5G phones that were available from major US carriers, but the list has grown a lot in the last few years. The vast majority of all new phones come with 5G baked in now, though there are a few exceptions, mostly on the budget side. If you don’t see a 5G indicator in the name or see it listed as on official feature, you may have to look elsewhere for a capable device. That said, basically any new mid-range or higher device you get from a carrier is absolutely going to have 5G support. Looking for more advice on what 5G phone to get? You can also check out our guide to the best 5G devices.