Best unlimited data plans in 2023

Finding the best unlimited data plan means making sure the cost of having all that data at your disposal won't put a serious dent in your monthly budget. Fortunately, you can find several unlimited plans that cost less than you might think. And even some of the pricier plans pack in enough perks to deliver serious value to subscribers. 

Best unlimited data cell phone plans at a glance

1. Best unlimited plan overall: Visible 2. Best unlimited plan discounts: Mint Mobile3. Best unlimited value from a main carrier: T-Mobile 4. Most flexible plan: Verizon5. Cheapest plan from a big carrier: AT&T

We monitor all the different plan options available through the best phone carriers as part of our effort to help you find the best cell phone plans overall. That includes comparing different unlimited plans to see which carrier offers the cheapest plan and which ones pack in more perks.

T-Mobile certainly has the widest variety of plans with its Magenta offering standing out among the best unlimited data plans for its balance of price and perks. Verizon offers flexibility by letting you include various add-ons, depending on whether you want more hotspot data, more streaming services, more travel perks — or even all of the above.

Among the major carriers, AT&T offers the cheapest no-frills plan, but if you look beyond that the Big Three, you can find even more affordable options from the likes of Mint, Visible and Tello.

If you're in the market for a new phone, the best cell phone deals usually require you to sign up for unlimited data to get a premium discount on your handset. You'll want to make sure that any plan you sign up for is the right one for your needs. And our guide to the best unlimited plans can help you with that decision.

Besides making sure to choose a carrier that offers good service in your area — check out our guide to the fastest wireless networks in addition to asking friends and family about coverage — consider both price and perks. With the best unlimited data plans from major carriers ranging in price from $60 to $90 per month, pick the plan that fits in your budget or turn to a discount carrier like Mint or Visible. Also consider what benefits each wireless carrier includes with their different tiers of unlimited data.

Wondering if you need unlimited data? Unless you’re streaming video and music fairly regularly, you probably can get away with a tiered data plan, like the ones offered by AT&T and Verizon.

While we have a separate guide to the best family cell phone plan options, most of the unlimited plans featured here allow you to add extra lines, usually at discounted per-line rates. The exceptions are AT&T's Value Plus Plan, Tello's $29 option and the Visible Plus plan. Mint's approach to family plans is to offer the same discounted rate for each line of data, so unlimited plans would cost $30 per line, assuming you commit to the full year of service.

That depends. While you do technically get unlimited data on all of these plans, many of them will impose a restriction somewhere in the plan to limit you slightly. 

AT&T reserves the right to start throttling data at 50GB for Unlimited Extra; Unlimited Starter customers can be throttled at any time. Unlimited Premium customers no longer have to worry about caps, though, as AT&T has removed that limitation from its most expensive plan. Verizon is able to slow data after 30GB are used by Unlimited Plus customers; speeds can slow whenever there's network congestion for the Unlimited Welcome plan. T-Mobile lets you use 100GB of data before throttling can begin, though if you opt for the more expensive Magenta Max plan, there's no cap on data usage at all.

Get your service from a discount carrier, and you run the risk that your speeds will be slowed in favor of other customers on the parent carrier's network. Visible guarantees customers who sign up for its Visible Plus plan 50GB of premium data free of throttling. Xfinity Mobile slows speeds after you use 20GB of data on its standard unlimited plan, but under the Plus and Premium tiers, those caps rise to 30GB and 50GB, respectively. Mint now caps its unlimited data plan at 40GB — it used to be 35GB — while Tello's 25GB cap is the lowest of the plans we've included here.

There could also be limits on the quality of video you can stream — some plans restrict video streaming to 480p, requiring you to pay more for HD video streaming. Many plans also impose limits on hotspot data, only allotting a limited amount of high-speed hotspot data. This isn't really as big of an issue as it sounds. For the average person, hotspotting is simply an added benefit and you won't really lose out too much by being limited on it.

Get instant access to breaking news, the hottest reviews, great deals and helpful tips.

Cisco Showcases Vision to Simplify Networking and Securely Connect the World

News Summary:

LAS VEGAS, June 6, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- CISCO LIVE -- Cisco CSCO is on a mission to simplify IT, today announcing its vision for Cisco Networking Cloud, an integrated management platform experience for both on-prem and cloud operating models. 

Building a Better Future for Cisco Customers and Partners Managing networks in today's era of connecting everyone, everywhere is hard. According to Cisco's State of Global Innovation report, 85% of IT professionals indicate they value simplicity in their IT systems. Simplicity becomes increasingly important with the advancement of cloud, IoT, Wi-Fi + 5G, AI/ML, and security. With so many technologies and applications coming together, it can be difficult for IT staff to deliver a consistent, unified experience whether in the office, at home, or on the go.

A simplified IT experience influences customer satisfaction, employee retention, and competitive differentiation. Cisco recognizes the struggles with fragmentation, lack of visibility, security threats, and time-consuming integration that get in the way of delivering better experiences. It understands that the journey to simplification is defined by each operator's business objectives, functional needs, and preferred consumption model. Whether the use cases require on-premises delivery, cloud-enabled delivery or anything in between, Cisco is meeting IT where they are.

The Vision for Cisco Networking CloudAs part of its journey to simplification, Cisco has been working to create a simpler network management platform experience to help customers easily access and navigate its platforms to manage all Cisco networking products from one place. Featuring cloud-driven automation, rich network insights, and innovation through its partner ecosystem, Cisco Networking Cloud will accelerate the delivery of unified experiences and drive measurable business outcomes.

"Today we are sharing our vision and first steps to eliminate networking complexity and securely connect the world," said Jonathan Davidson, Executive Vice President and General Manager, Cisco Networking. "Only Cisco has the portfolio, experience, and partner ecosystem to bring together campus and branch, data center, compute, IoT, and SD-WAN to optimize outcomes using one networking management platform to deliver unified experiences."

From Vision to Value: Innovation Launching Today

Supporting Resources

About Cisco   Cisco CSCO is the worldwide technology leader that securely connects everything to make anything possible. Our purpose is to power an inclusive future for all by helping our customers reimagine their applications, power hybrid work, secure their enterprise, transform their infrastructure, and meet their sustainability goals. Discover more on The Newsroom and follow us on Twitter at @Cisco.

Cisco and the Cisco logo are trademarks or registered trademarks of Cisco and/or its affiliates in the U.S. and other countries. A listing of Cisco's trademarks can be found at www.cisco.com/go/trademarks. Third-party trademarks mentioned are the property of their respective owners. The use of the word partner does not imply a partnership relationship between Cisco and any other company.

SOURCE Cisco Systems, Inc.

© 2023 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved.