Everyone has a cell phone today, and just about everyone I know doesn’t even keep an active landline any longer.
However, cell phone plans can get pretty expensive. What if you just need a cheap, basic cell phone plan for limited calling and for emergencies?
This is often the case if you’re paying for the service for a grandparent or maybe younger kids.
I’ve compiled the best basic prepaid cell phone plans under $10 in this write-up.
Because these plans are prepaid, you won’t have to be concerned with credit checks, long-term contracts, and some of the typical cell phone taxes associated with regular cell plans.
Plus, if you end up choosing a Wi-Fi capable smartphone, you can connect for data where available.
Many of the smaller companies below actually use the same cell towers as the better known ones.
Mobile Virtual Network Operators (MVNOs) in the United States lease wireless telephone and data service from major carriers such as AT&T, Sprint, T-Mobile, and Verizon Wireless for resale. I’ll list which MVNO is used by each company below also.
Here Are The Top 5 Cell Plans Under $10
T-Mobile
T-Mobile’s Prepaid Pay As You Go plan starts at just $3/month for any combination of 30 minutes of talk or 30 texts. Add additional talk and text at a low flat rate of 10 cents per minute/message (sending and receiving).
There’s also a prepaid option for data as well. For $5/day, you can get up to 500MB of 4G LTE data. Or, you can do the Weekly pass for $10, giving you up to 1GB of 4G LTE data.
If you have your own off-contract T-Mobile or an unlocked GSM phone, you can buy a prepaid SIM card to use.
Search Ebay for T-Mobile phones here.
H20 Wireless (uses AT&T GSM MVNO)
With H2O Wireless, you have several money-saving options. Most of the plans cost 5 cents per minute of talk or per text, 10 cents per MMS, and 10 cents per MB of data.
You can do as little as $10 prepaid that expires in 90 days or as much as $100 for 1 year.
Your older, off-contract AT&T phone will also work with an H2O Wireless prepaid plan.
Search Ebay for AT&T phones here.
Page Plus Cellular (uses Verizon MVNO)
If you want the reputable wide coverage offered by Verizon, Page Plus could be a great option for you. You can use off-contract Verizon phones here as well.
You can buy as little as 100 minutes for $10 that expires in 120 days and do this every quarter for $30 that entire year. Or, you can buy 2000 minutes for $80 that expires in 1 year.
Search Ebay for Verizon phones here.
Kajeet (uses Sprint MVNO)
Kajeet is primarily marketed for young kids and comes with built-in parental controls.
Options include an extremely low cost $4.99/month plan that only gives you 10 minutes. Each additional minute and text is 10 cents extra, and data is 4 cents/MB.
While the parental controls are a nice touch, this makes using an old off-contract Sprint phone not an option.
TracFone (uses MVNO for Verizon, AT&T, T-Mobile, and Sprint)
TracFone lets your purchase 800 minutes for $119.99 that expires in one year, or 400 minutes for $99.99 that also expires in one year. There are also several other options as well.
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