Verizon’s network is top of the line — and that performance comes with a price tag. Families with heavy data users should weigh their options before committing to a Verizon family plan.
AT A Glance
- Plans start at $70 per month for two lines.
- Strengths: First place network in speed and reliability.
- Weaknesses: Expensive, might not be able to bring your own phone.
Plan prices don’t tell the whole story
The prices Verizon lists for each of its five plans have two parts. There’s the monthly plan charge — what Verizon advertises — plus an extra monthly charge per device connected to the plan, called a device access charge.
Verizon allows up to 10 devices connected to one plan. It’s $20 per month to connect a mobile phone to your plan, $10 a month to connect a tablet or mobile hot spot, and $5 per month for any other mobile data device.
All plans include unlimited talk and text. We’ve listed the monthly plan price, to which you can add the applicable device-access charges to get an idea of what you’ll pay each month.
- Small (1 gigabyte): $30.
- Medium (3GB): $45.
- Large (6GB): $60.
- Extra Large (12GB): $80.
- Extra Extra Large (18GB): $100.
So, let’s say you had a Medium plan and wanted to connect two mobile phones and one tablet. Your total monthly cost would be $95 — $45 for the plan, $40 for both phones and $10 for the tablet.
If your phone isn’t a smartphone, you can get a no-data plan with 700 minutes and unlimited texts for $25 per month. You can still access the internet, too, for $1.99 per megabyte. Up to 10 basic phones can connect to the plan, at $20 per month per phone.
Current Verizon family plan deals
As of May 2016, Verizon is offering bonus data on all plans with 12GB of shared data and up. You get an extra 2GB added into your shared data allotment for every phone you add to the plan.
So, if you put four phones on the Extra Large plan, you’d add 8GB to the plan’s 12GB, resulting in 20GB shared among four lines. Your monthly cost would be $160, after adding the $20 per phone device-access charges to the plan’s $80 monthly price.
How Verizon’s family plans compare on prices
Depending on the category, Verizon and AT&T vie for most expensive family plans among the Big Four. T-Mobile and Sprint are going to get you a cheaper price almost every time, but you’ll have to weigh that against their lower-performing networks.
The table below compares family plan prices, assuming four smartphone users on a plan.
| AT&T | Sprint | T-Mobile* | Verizon | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| *T-Mobile's family plans do not share data; each line gets an equal amount of data accessible only by that line †Only offered if you're signed up for DirecTV or U-verse |
||||
| 1GB or less | $120 (300MB) | $100 (1GB) | n/a | $110 (1GB) |
| 2-3GB | $130 (2GB) | $110 (3GB) | n/a | $125 (3GB) |
| 4-6GB | $150 (5GB) | $125 (6GB) | n/a | $140 (6GB) |
| 8-10GB | n/a | n/a | $100 (8GB) | n/a |
| 12-15GB | $160 (15GB) | $140 (12GB) | n/a | $160 (12GB) |
| 16-20GB | $200 (20GB) | n/a | n/a | $180 (18GB) |
| 21-25GB | $235 (25GB) | $160 (24GB) | $160 (24GB) | $200 (20GB) |
| 26GB+ | $360 (40GB) | $180 (40GB) | $220 (40GB) | $380 (40GB) |
| Unlimited | $180† | $150 | $280 | n/a |
How Verizon’s family plans compare on features
Verizon is weak on features, especially when it comes to high-speed data perks. For this reason, families with heavy data users might want to check out T-Mobile’s family plans, which offer unlimited music and video streaming features, plus rollover data.
| AT&T | Sprint | T-Mobile | Verizon | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Unlimited 2G data | Yes | Yes | ||
| Unlimited video streaming | Yes | Yes | ||
| Unlimited music streaming | Yes | |||
| Rollover data | Yes | Yes |
Unlimited 2G: Verizon does not offer unlimited 2G data after you run out of your high-speed allotment. Instead, it charges $15 for every additional gigabyte of high-speed data you use, rounded up. So, even if you use only an extra 200MB of data one month, you’ll still be charged the full $15.
Unlimited video streaming: Offered only through Verizon’s go90 video app. Any video content streamed through the app doesn’t count against your monthly high-speed data usage.
Unlimited music streaming: Not offered.
Rollover data: Not offered.
Is a Verizon family plan right for you?
Verizon plans don’t come cheap, but its network is second to none in speed and reliability. Families with stream-happy teens, however, might want to check out the unlimited streaming features on T-Mobile before pulling the trigger.
Stephen Layton is a staff writer at NerdWallet, a personal finance website. Email: slayton@nerdwallet.com.
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