T-Mobile is one of the major cellular carriers in the US.
T-Mobile's prepaid plans are designed for those who don't qualify for postpaid T-Mobile plans, want more flexibility, or who don't need all the features of a post-paid plan. Prepaid plans do NOT include the added perk of having fees and taxes included in a plan's base price, as T-Mobile Postpaid plans do.
Currently, T-Mobile offers several prepaid plan options:
- T-Mobile ONE Prepaid Domestic Only
- T-Mobile Simply Prepaid
- T-Mobile Prepaid Pay-as-you-go
- Simple Choice Prepaid Mobile Internet
For Our Comparative Pricing Grid:
Guide to Cellular Data Plan Pricing
Table of Contents
- Testing Status
- Smartphone Plans
- Data Only Plans
- Simple Choice Prepaid Mobile Internet
- Retired Plans
- Thoughts & Analysis (Member Only)
- Prepaid Policies (Member Only)
Testing Status
We are not currently testing any T-Mobile Prepaid (direct) plans.
Current Smartphone Plans
T-Mobile prepaid currently offers three prepaid plan types, none of which include taxes and fees in their pricing:
- T-Mobile ONE Prepaid Domestic Only: Unlimited, domestic on device data with 3G speeds hotspot data. Unlimited domestic talk/text. 1st line is $50; Each additional line is $30.
- T-Mobile Simply Prepaid: 10GB of high-speed 10GB data. Unlimited domestic talk/text. 1st Line: $40; Each additional line is $30
- T-Mobile Prepaid Pay-as-you-go: Purchase 500MB LTE Data for $5/ day or 1GB data for $10/ week. 30 minutes of talk & 30 texts - each additional is 10 cents per minute/message (sending and receiving) Single line only, starts at $3/month.
Policies & Perks
- Carrier Networks Used: T-Mobile
- Carrier Relation: Direct, prepaid
- Plan Types Available: Phone
- Device Types Permitted: Phone
- Device Purchase Required: No, but can purchase a device
- Mobile Hotspot Use:
- T-Mobile ONE Prepaid Domestic Only: Unlimited 3G speeds.
- T-Mobile Simply Prepaid: 10GB of full LTE speed per month then slowed to 2G speeds (~256kbps).
- T-Mobile Prepaid Pay-as-you-go: Allowed for any purchased data pass.
- Throttling: Hotspot data on ONE prepaid plans is throttled to 3G speeds.
- Network Management: 50GB for all plans
- International Roaming: "Not for extended international use; you must reside in the U.S. and primary usage must occur on our U.S. network. Service may be terminated or restricted for excessive roaming."
- T-Mobile ONE Prepaid Domestic Only: 5GB of data in Canada/Mexico available for +$5/month
- T-Mobile Simply Prepaid: 5GB of data (from data bucket) in Canada/Mexico available for +$5/month
- T-Mobile Prepaid Pay-as-you-go: None
- Domestic Roaming:
- T-Mobile ONE Prepaid Domestic Only: 200MB/month
- T-Mobile Simply Prepaid: 50MB/month
- T-Mobile Prepaid Pay-as-you-go: None
- Plan Period: Monthly
- Data Roll Over: No
- Overage Charges: None
- Streaming:
- T-Mobile ONE Prepaid Domestic Only: Includes Music Unlimited. Subject to Data Maximizer (480p) restrictions. A daily ($3) pass can be purchased to enable HD video.
- T-Mobile Simply Prepaid: Includes Music Unlimited. Subject to Data Maximizer (480p) restrictions, but these can be turned off.
- T-Mobile Prepaid Pay-as-you-go: Subject to Data Maximizer (480p) restrictions.
- Unlimited: Yes, with ONE Prepaid
- Lines permitted per account:
- Extras: Music Unlimited which means that audio streaming doesn't count against your high speed data limit, is included on ONE and Simply plans.
Data-Only Plans
Currently there is a single data-only prepaid option.
Simple Choice Prepaid Mobile Internet
This is a tiered data only plan for hotspot devices, tablets, and wearables. After the capped data amount is reached, speeds are slowed to 2G. This plan is eligible for Data Passes ($30/3GB of extra data per month).
Available Plan Data Buckets:
- 2GB: $10 + taxes&fees
- 6GB: $20 + taxes&fees
- 10GB: $40 + taxes&fees
- 14GB: $55 + taxes&fees
- 18GB: $70 + taxes&fees
- 22GB: $85 + taxes&fees
Policies & Perks:
- Carrier Networks Used: T-Mobile
- Carrier Relation: Direct, prepaid
- Plan Types Available: Data Only
- Device Types Permitted: Hotspots, Tablets, Wearables
- Device Purchase Required: No, but can purchase a device
- Mobile Hotspot Use: Yes, all
- Throttling: Full speeds available up to data allotment then data is slowed to 2G speeds for balance of service period.
- Network Management: 50GB (not applicable)
- International Roaming: Fine print: "Not for extended international use; you must reside in the U.S. and primary usage must occur on our U.S. network. Service may be terminated or restricted for excessive roaming."
- 5GB/month of high-speed data use permitted in Canada & Mexico.
- Domestic Roaming: None
- Plan Period: 30 Day
- Data Roll Over: None
- Overage Charges: None
- Streaming:
- Video streams at 480p (SD) via Data Maximizer, but this feature can be turned off at anytime for HD streaming.
- Plans include Music Unlimited which means that audio streaming doesn't count against your high speed data limit.
- Unlimited: None
- Lines permitted per plan:
- Extras: None
Simple Choice Prepaid (Retired)
In late March 2017, T-Mobile retired their popular Simple Choice Prepaid plans. Customers on those plans will be grandfathered until they change/end their payments on their plan.
Testing Status: We do not keep a T-Mobile Prepaid Plan
The Rest of this Review is:
Member Only Content
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Purchasing Options
T-Mobile Prepaid Ratings
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Overall Ratings
Quick Take
T-Mobile is the carrier to watch, and a worthwhile consideration as a secondary network for RVers and cruisers. Their prepaid plans however don't include all the alluring perks of their postpaid options.