Verizon vs. T-Mobile: Which Wireless Provider Is Best for You?

Compare Verizon and T-Mobile head to head

T-Mobile and Verizon are two of the largest cellular carriers in the country. Both offer solid unlimited phone plans with lots of internet data, robust speeds, and 5G access. We like T-Mobile better because it gives you faster speeds on average and wider 5G coverage, but Verizon has cheaper prices upfront and a lot of extra perks (available for an extra fee) that come in handy for hotspot owners and Disney+ subscribers.

Pros and cons: Verizon vs. T-Mobile

Jump to: Unlimited plans | Family plans | Prepaid plans | Devices | 5G availability | 4G vs. 5G speeds | Coverage

Jump to:

• Unlimited plans
• Family plans
• Prepaid plans
• Devices
• 5G availability
• 4G vs. 5G speeds
• Coverage

Unlimited plans and pricing: Verizon vs. T-Mobile

Verizon plans and pricing

Verizon takes a unique approach with its cellular plans. Unlimited and Unlimited Plus come at a low price upfront, much less than what you’d pay for a T-Mobile flagship phone plan.

What about the perks?

From there, you can add on extra perks for an additional $10 per month each. The perks include subscriptions to the Disney Bundle, Apple One, or a Walmart+ membership. You can also get $25 per month off a 5G Home Internet or Fios home internet plan when you pair it with a qualifying unlimited phone plan.

T-Mobile unlimited plans and pricing

T-Mobile goes big on a cell phone user’s fundamental needs, namely speed and data. You also get some nice perks too.

The entry-level plan, Essentials, comes with 50GB of premium data. That means you’ll have a lot more data delivering you 30–70Mbps (and potentially even faster in some 5G markets) on a cheaper plan. Magenta doubles down with a more-than-generous 100 GB.

And then there’s the Go5G Plus plan. This is one of the only unlimited phone plans you can get that’s actually unlimited. There are no caps and no slowdowns, so you can stream and download on your cell phone all month long without worrying about throttled speeds.

What about the perks?

Go5G Plus and Go5G both come with Netflix plans (Standard for the former, Basic for the latter). Apple TV+ comes included with Go5G Plus, and you get a six-month trial with Go5G. On top of all that, you can get T-Mobile 5G Home Internet for up to $20 off per month when you pair it with one of these phone plans.

Family plans and pricing: Verizon vs. T-Mobile

You can add more lines to any of Verizon’s and T-Mobile’s unlimited plans in order to make it a family plan. The biggest benefit to this is it gives you a lower price per line with each additional line you add on—so you can invest in a better plan but also save money by splitting the bill with friends and family.

Verizon family plans and pricing

Data as of 6/29/23. Offers and availability may vary by location and are subject to change.

T-Mobile family plans and pricing

Data as of 6/29/23. Offers and availability may vary by location and are subject to change.

Prepaid plans: Verizon vs. T-Mobile

A prepaid account is a cheaper and easier to manage alternative to the big-boy unlimited accounts. You don’t get as much data and usually none of the extra perks, but you’ll get the basics for a bargain price.

We think T-Mobile has better prepaid plans because you don’t need to pay a hefty monthly fee upfront like you would with Verizon’s prepaid plans. But both providers have some solid options.

Verizon prepaid plans

Data as of 8/31/2021. Offers and availability may vary by location and are subject to change.

Verizon’s prepaid phone plans start off at a really high price, but the monthly bill drops off the longer you have the plan. On each plan, the monthly price drops by $5 once you enter your fourth month, and then it drops by $10 at the tenth month. So you can definitely get a cheap deal eventually, but the first several months will be steep—especially for what you’re getting.

T-Mobile prepaid plans and pricing

Data as of 6/29/23. Offers and availability may vary by location and are subject to change.

T-Mobile is more straightforward with its prepaid cellular plans—no steep starting prices or staggered price breaks here. You can get a cheap plan for a little bit of data and unlimited talk and text. Or for a little bit more, you can get a solid deal with Prepaid Unlimited, with decent data and hotspot options.

The Prepaid Unlimited Plus plan is basically a prepaid version of T-Mobile’s Essentials unlimited plan—but it’s not quite as luxe, since there’s no fixed premium data and fewer perks. If you go prepaid, we recommend sticking to the less pricey options.

Customer ratings: Verizon vs. T-Mobile

Verizon and T-Mobile both get decent ratings in public surveys and reviews from consumer-affairs institutions.

The providers got good ratings of 4.1 and 4.0, respectively, in the U.S. News and World Report’s pages on T-Mobile and Verizon. Meanwhile, a 2021 study by J.D. Power gave T-Mobile the highest score for customer care among the country’s major cellular carriers. Verizon came in just behind T-Mobile in second place.

Devices: Verizon vs. T-Mobile

Amazon.com Price (as of 6/29/23 10:15 MST). See full disclaimer.

Verizon and T-Mobile both support the iPhone 13, perhaps the most popular 5G phone out right now, which has a top-of-the-line camera and water-resistant body. Or you can go for Samsung’s Galaxy S21, with its robust Qualcomm Snapdragon 888 chip and stunning design.

There are plenty of phones to choose from, though, and you can pretty much have your pick so long as your device is unlocked for all carriers. A lot of phones available right now work on 5G wireless networks, and a solid affordable pick is the OnePlus’Nord N200. The budget phones won’t always get you the fastest 5G speeds possible, but they’ll usually have decent cameras and plenty of storage.

5G availability: Verizon vs. T-Mobile

Data from Opensignal’s 5G User Experience Report, January 2023.

Verizon and T-Mobile both support the iPhone 12, perhaps the most popular 5G phone out right now, which has a top-of-the-line camera and water-resistant body. Or you can go for Samsung’s Galaxy S21, with its robust Qualcomm Snapdragon 888 chip and stunning design.

There are plenty of phones to choose from, though, and you can pretty much have your pick so long as your device is unlocked for all carriers. A lot of phones available right now work on 5G wireless networks, and a solid affordable pick is the OnePlus’Nord N200. The budget phones won’t always get you the fastest 5G speeds possible, but they’ll usually have decent cameras and plenty of storage.

4G LTE vs. 5G speeds: Verizon vs. T-Mobile

Data from Opensignal’s Mobile Network Experience Report, January 2023 and 5G User Experience Report, January 2023.

T-Mobile has faster 5G speeds on average compared to Verizon.

T-Mobile has mostly emphasized building up low- and mid-band 5G in recent months, while Verizon has touted a version of millimeter-wave 5G that it has dubbed Ultra Wideband. As a result, T-Mobile has sprung to the lead with the biggest 5G network and decent average speeds. Verizon, on the other hand, has achieved stunning 5G performance in a handful of cities and sports and entertainment venues, but sees much more modest 5G speeds on a nationwide scale.

Coverage: Verizon vs. T-Mobile

Verizon and T-Mobile both have nationwide network coverage. T-Mobile’s network is a lot bigger than it used to be thanks to a recent merger with Sprint, but it’s still not quite as big as Verizon’s nationwide network. Both cell carriers see coverage drop off in some parts of Western states, including Nevada, Utah, and Idaho. But Verizon still has more coverage in those areas on the whole.

Final call: Verizon vs. T-Mobile

We really like both of these providers, but we’d choose T-Mobile. It covers all the bases when it comes to the fundamentals. It offers more 5G speed overall and truly unlimited data on its Go5G Plus plan. And you get some sweet perks too, including subscriptions to Netflix and Apple TV+ on some plans.

But Verizon, of course, has its own strengths—including a larger nationwide network and much faster Ultra Wideband 5G in some areas. You can also get a lot of perks from Verizon that you can’t get from T-Mobile. Weirdly, you have to pay extra for them, but even with an extra fee you end up paying about the same or slightly less for a phone plan. If you’re already signed up for those platforms, then this could be a way to save some cash.

FAQ about Verizon vs. T-Mobile

Which is better: T-Mobile or Verizon?

We think T-Mobile is a slightly better cellular carrier because it gives customers more data and wider 5G access, and you don’t have to pay extra for perks. But Verizon is great too, since it has a larger network and lower starting prices.

Is T-Mobile any good?

T-Mobile is a very good cellular carrier. Its phone plans give you unlimited talk and text and the upper-tier packages give you a generous amount of data for the price. The Magenta Max plan is one of the only truly unlimited phone plans, providing high-speed data with no slowdowns or caps. It also has the largest 5G network in the country, giving you faster speeds and lower latency compared to 4G LTE networks.

More about Verizon and T-Mobile

• Verizon Wireless vs. AT&T Wireless
• T-Mobile 5G Network Availability and Coverage Map
• Best Mobile Hotspots
• Best 5G Hotspots
• Best Hotspot Data Plans

Sources

1. Francesco Rizzato, Opensignal, “5G User Experience Report,” April 2021. Accessed August 24, 2021.
2. Sascha Segan, PC Mag, “T-Mobile Finally Reveals Its ‘Ultra Capacity’ 5G Map,” July 28, 2021. Accessed August 24, 2021.
3. Sascha Segan, PC Mag, “Testing Verizon’s 5G at the Jersey Shore: Super Fast, but That’s Only Half the Story,” June 15, 2021. Accessed August 24, 2021.
4. Jon Brodkin, Ars Technica, “Verizon ‘Leads’ All Us Carriers in mmWave 5G Availability at 0.8%,” April 28, 2021. Accessed August 24, 2021.
5. Federal Communication Commission, “Wireline Competition Bureau Seeks Comment on the Implementation of the Affordable Connectivity Program,” November 18, 2021. Accessed November 30, 2021.

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