5 carriers you should sign up for instead of AT&T

While Verizon and T-Mobile both like to make a lot of noise these days, AT&T has sort of fallen into a position where it’s not a bad network per se, but it’s hard to feel too excited about it. As the company puts more focus on wireless and wired internet services, the cellular network in many ways remains as it always has: very reliable and consistent where it’s strong, but with notable weaknesses in markets where it’s less invested.

It might be the quietest, but if you live in an area with solid AT&T coverage, there’s little reason to consider one of the other big networks. After all, AT&T customers are seeing price increases, weakening customer service, and other shifts that you’d find with Verizon and T-Mobile as well. That said, there are plenty of great alternatives to AT&T if you are willing to give prepaid a chance.

Let’s start with the most obvious replacement, even if not necessarily the best for everyone. Cricket Wireless not only runs on AT&T’s network, but it’s owned by it and operates quite similarly. You’ll find free or greatly discounted phones for new subscribers, device installment plans, in-store support, and even streaming perks on select plans. As you can imagine, that makes Cricket easy to recommend if you are generally happy with the AT&T network and don’t want any major changes to your coverage map.

Of course, it’s important to note that only its most expensive plan includes a higher priority network status. This means you’ll likely see much more noticeable speed and latency drops during times of congestion if you opt for Select Unlimited or Smart Unlimited.

Overall, Cricket’s pricing for its lower-priority unlimited plans isn’t bad, but you’ll likely find better deals with the same lower-priority plans from rivals like US Mobile and a few other brands. Even its higher-end plan is a bit on the higher side compared to some other AT&T alternatives, though not by a wide margin. You’ll also find prices drop significantly if you add additional lines. For example, you’ll pay just $32.50 per line if you sign up for four lines of Supreme Unlimited.

Bottom line is that Cricket will feel the most like AT&T postpaid, even if that means you won’t save quite as much as you might with an even cheaper provider.

US Mobile is a unique AT&T alternative as it is one of the only carriers around that offers support for all three major networks, with options that allow you to transfer networks if needed, or even the ability to run two networks on one device for a small extra fee. The company also offers fairly decent unlimited data packages with plenty of other extras like smartwatch support and great international roaming features.

If you’re looking for the very best US Mobile experience, you’ll want to go with Unlimited Premium. It’s just $44 a month (or even as low as $35 a month for the first year) and yet it offers a free smartwatch plan, free network transfers, and even a few streaming perks for those who have multi-line accounts. There’s also international calling and texting, as well as 20GB of international data a month, which should be more than enough to meet the needs of all but the most frequent of travelers.

US Mobile might not have in-store support, but it has above-average customer service for prepaid and offers plenty of features that make it feel close to what you’d get with postpaid, all while costing considerably less.

I will admit I don’t often recommend Consumer Cellular, but that has nothing to do with its quality or reputation. Simply put, Consumer Cellular tends to target senior citizens and those who are less tech-savvy in general by promising local, responsive customer service that is above and beyond what you’d typically get with prepaid and often rivals even postpaid. There’s also a small but growing network of 50 in-store retail locations, which isn’t a lot, but it’s a sharp jump up from the zero locations that it had just three years ago.

Consumer Cellular runs on the same priority as most AT&T postpaid plans and offers great customer service, which makes it a natural choice for those happy with AT&T’s network. Unfortunately, pricing isn’t as good even when compared to Cricket. In fact, if you care about unlimited data, we wouldn’t even consider this one unless you are at least 50 years old. Why’s that? Simply put, it only offers limited data (1-20GB) that range from $20-$45 a month (or as low as $16.66 to $25 per line for three) unless you meet the age requirement.

If you qualify, the Unlimited plan will run you $50 a month for one line or as low as $26.66 a month per line for three. This plan includes 50GB of high-priority data, after which you may see reduced speeds and latency during times of heavier congestion. That said, the target audience for consumer cellular customers will rarely run into this issue, and even if they do, speeds should be more than usable.

Honestly, Consumer Cellular is really only a good alternative if you are really uncomfortable with looking up troubleshooting online or doing a bit more back and forth with customer service. In that case, they do a much better job of hand-holding than any other option this list. That said, Cricket comes close and offers a better value. Also, while the service tends to advertise a lot of flip phones, you can still buy or bring your own smartphone as well.

Visible is the first option on my list that doesn’t run on AT&T’s network. While I wanted to focus on carriers that utilize the same network primarily, the truth is that AT&T has limited options that I’d actually recommend. For example, I considered Boost Mobile, but right now the network is a bit of a mess. Still, if you don’t mind giving Verizon’s network a try, you’ll find there’s a lot to love here.

One of the best things about Visible is that you’ll pay so much less than just about anyone else while still getting truly unlimited data, with rates as low as $19 a month or as high as $39, regardless of how many lines you bring. That makes Visible the best choice for those who only need one or two lines, but its pricing is competitive enough that it still holds up well against carriers that offer family discounts.

In most cases, I’d recommend Visible Plus or higher, as you’ll get higher priority speeds. That said, for those who live in areas with minimal congestion or mostly stick to Wi-Fi, Visible Basic is also worth considering.

I gave you a Verizon-based budget alternative to AT&T; now it’s time for a T-Mobile option. If you want to save money and don’t mind paying annually for service, Mint Mobile can be a great value and has excellent introductory promotions, typically. For example, right now you can get Mint’s Unlimited plan for just $180 upfront, which works out to $15  a month. If you’re unsure about Mint, you can also get 3 months of unlimited for just $15 a month ($45 upfront).

In the past, I would have hesitated to recommend Mint Mobile for anything but its limited data plans, but after its acquisition by T-Mobile, it finally lifted its data caps for unlimited data. You’ll still be throttled during heavier traffic after using 35GB, but in the past, you’d be stuck with slower speeds until your next billing cycle. During less congested hours, you’ll usually see the same higher speeds as always.

What’s the best AT&T alternative?

The truth is, there’s no one-size-fits-all solution to replacing AT&T postpaid—it really depends on what matters most to you. Any of the five options should easily do the job, as long as their potential downsides or sacrifices are ones that don’t turn you off.