Best Visible plans in 2023: Pricing, phone options, and more

Verizon is an excellent carrier if you want a leading network and almost any phone you can imagine. However, you’ll have to sacrifice your wallet to afford Big Red. Looking for access to their network without paying a premium? You might want to give Visible a try. In this guide, we take a closer look at the Verizon-owned carrier and compare Visible plans and phone options.

The best Visible plans at a glance

Visible keeps things pretty simple, offering just two plans. Here’s a quick breakdown of what each plan offers, and who they are for:

• Visible Plus is the best plan for most. This is the plan to get for most. You get unlimited access to Verizon’s LTE and 5G network, including the faster ultra wideband network. The biggest difference between the base plan is you get less deprioritization and a faster overall network experience. Unlike many unlimited plans out there, Visible Plus is truly unlimited. You could consume 100GB in a month (I have!) and still have access.
• Visible is great for those who don’t need reliable data access. Basic Visible service is cheap and works well for calls and texts. However, your data experience can vary quite a bit. If you’re outside of a congested area, you can get reasonable speeds but Visible’s base plan is pretty deprioritized over others on Verizon’s network. If you mostly stick to Wi-Fi or live in a less congested area this is perfectly fine. Find it is too slow for you? You might want to pay a slight premium for Visible Plus.

Which Visible plan do we recommend?

With only two plans to choose from, let’s keep this simple. We recommend Visible Plus unless you’re okay with somewhat aggressive deprioritization during congested times. As someone who has used both plans, I can tell you I often had trouble getting more than 5Mbps in the city with Visible, but Plus consistently doubles or even triples these speeds most of the time.

Visible Plus

Now, we come to the new kid on the block. That’s right, Visible’s second plan. Visible Plus takes everything that’s great about the original plan and expands it just a little bit. It adds 5G Ultra Wideband access on top of the Nationwide option, and it guarantees premium network access. Of course, if you live outside of a major city this might not be that much of a draw. However, Visible Plus is the better bet for travelers and those with international friends as it allows calling to over 30 countries and texting to over 200.

As expected, Visible Plus is more expensive at $45 per month. The good news is that’s a fixed rate — you’ll pay $45 per line no matter how many lines you have. You’ll also still get mobile hotspot to your heart’s content and spam protection from those pesky robocalls. Even better, you can currently get it for just $35 a month. No word on exactly how long this promotion will last. It was supposed to end a month or so ago, but Visible keeps extending it. 

Pros:

• Truly unlimited data
• International access in Canada, Mexico, and a few other select countries
• Access to Verizon’s 5G Ultra Wideband for city dwellers
• Unlimited hotspot access

Cons:

• Customer service is online only 

Don’t want to pay the premium? Visible offers all the same features in the base plan, minus premium prioritization and Ultra Wideband, though you get basic 5G and the full LTE network. 

Visible vs the competition

Since Visible isn’t really an MVNO, comparing it to other non-MVNO competitors makes sense. To that end, we’ve set it head-to-head with Metro by T-Mobile and Cricket Wireless. Each is wholly owned by another one of the Big Three, and they share similar structures. Google Fi makes the cut because even though it’s an MVNO, it relies on T-Mobile and UScellular for service and is a unique hybrid option.

You can find all of our prepaid favorites on the list of the Best prepaid and no-contract plans in the US as well. Check out the table for more details:

Metro by T-Mobile

Although Metro is technically a separate carrier, it’s wholly owned by T-Mobile and acts as an MVNO on the network. That means it can offer its own unique set of plans with varying talk, text, and data at great rates.

Highlights:

• 10GB 4G LTE data from $40 per month
• Hotspot data included on unlimited plans
• 100GB Google One storage with unlimited plans

Google Fi

A single carrier doesn’t own Google Fi, and that’s good news for you regarding service. The hybrid MVNO uses T-Mobile, Sprint, and UScellular towers to switch to the best signal available constantly. Fi supports an absolutely massive list of phones, covering options from many major US manufacturers and HUAWEI and even Red Hydrogen.

As for the plan, Google Fi’s Unlimited Plus is a tremendous international option. You can call over 50 countries and territories for free, and contact with other areas can start at just one penny. Each line gets unlimited data up to 22GB, a Google One membership, and full-speed hotspot tethering. If you plan to stay local to the United States, you can save $10 per month on the Simply Unlimited plan.

Highlights:

• Impressive phone support
• Plenty of international connection
• Google One membership included

Cricket Wireless

Cricket’s most expensive option, the Cricket More plan, packs the best Cricket has to offer, along with 15GB of a monthly hotspot. You can text 37 other countries, and you can even use your service in Canada or Mexico as long as it’s less than 50% of your overall usage.

Many of the best Cricket features are available as add-ons, so it’s easy to run your bill up by a few bucks. However, that’s the secret to unlocking Cricket’s full potential. Options include more hotspot data, better international access, and extra data on select plans.

Highlights:

• Customizable service with add-ons
• 15GB of hotspot included

Visible alternatives that run on the same network

Several other MVNOs rely on the same Big Red network, though they don’t have the same close relationship. Check out the table below for our favorite options:

US Mobile

US Mobile is a unique Verizon MVNO in that you can build your plan just how you like it. In fact, everyone in your entire family can customize a plan. You pick your talk, text, and data, and US Mobile gives you a price. There’s even a brand-new unlimited plan that costs just $40 per month for the first line. The unlimited plan offers your choice of subscription services for free with 2, 3, and 4 line plans.

Red Pocket

You may not be as familiar with Red Pocket, but it’s an effective way to save money, thanks to its variety of plans. There are plenty of limited service options to choose from, all the way up to unlimited access. Red Pocket runs on all of the Big Three networks, but you’ll lock into a carrier when you sign up.

PagePlus

PagePlus is similar to Red Pocket, with varying tiers of limited and unlimited service. The pricing structure is about the same, but PagePlus warns on its website about using more than 60GB of data per month. You can also opt for pay-as-you-go minutes, data add-on cards, and international add-on cards.

Total Wireless

Total Wireless has some single-line and family plans, and each includes unlimited talk and text. The data is also unlimited, though you have to pay more for unlimited high-speed access. Total’s basic unlimited plans offer just 1GB of high-speed data before you fall back down to 2G speeds.

Best Visible phones

Frequently asked questions