Review: Visible by Verizon (Cellular Data Plans)

Visible is Verizon's own prepaid brand for smartphones offering unlimited data, including mobile hotspot use.

Plan Information

Visible's app-based phone plans offer customers unlimited high-speed on-device data, with unlimited mobile hotspot data (for a single device at a time) throttled to 5 Mbps. Video is reduced to 480p resolution for all plans (SD/DVD quality).

Visible data usage can be network-managed, depending on the plan.

The Visible+ plan offers limited roaming in Canada and Mexico, but Visible Basic plan does not.

Top Pick Notes: Visible is one of our Top Pick Data Plans because it is so affordable and offers unlimited mobile hotspot use off of a smartphone. It does have some limitations, such as mobile hotspot data being limited to one device and capped at 5 Mbps, high ping times (depending on the plan), low priority, and video throttling. So while it's not ideal as a primary internet option for someone with high demand or reliability requirements - the plan can definitely play a role in a mobile internet arsenal. 

Warning: As of June 2023, Visible has begun cracking down on unauthorized device use. For more details, see our story.

Currently Available Plans:

• Visible+: $45/month
• Visible Basic: $25/month

Retired Plan: 

• Visible Unlimited: $40/month
  • Customers who are still on the Visible Unlimited plan MUST migrate to a new plan by September 2023.  All service for Visible Unlimited will terminate on that date. 

Plan Specifications:

• Carrier Networks Used: Verizon
• Carrier Relationship: Direct subsidiary
• Plan Types Available: Phone
• Device Types Permitted: Compatible smartphone models
• Unlimited: Yes
• High-Speed Mobile Hotspot Use: Yes, for one device at a time and throttled to 5 Mbps
• Throttling: No (except for hotspot data)
• Network Management:
  • Visible+: All 5G UWB data is premium. 50GB of premium data per month on 5G NW and LTE
  • Visible Basic: All data use is deprioritized and subject to slowdowns in times of congestion
• Video Streaming Resolution: 480p
• 5G Access:
  • Visible+: 5G UWB and 5G NW
  • Visible Basic: 5G NW
• eSIM: Yes, for iPhones and select Android devices
• Device Purchase Required: No
• Plan Period: Monthly
• International Roaming:
  • Visible+: 0.5 GB/day high speed roaming in Canada and Mexico, unlimited at 2G speed
  • Visible Basic: none
• Domestic Roaming: None
• Data Roll Over: None
• Overage Charges: None
• Lines permitted per account: One
• Extras:
  • Visible+
    • Unlimited talk and text to Mexico and Canada
    • 500 minutes of International calling from US to 30+ countries per month
    • Unlimited texting from US and 200+ countries
  • Visible Basic
    • Unlimited talk and text to Mexico and Canada.

News, Videos & Status 

Testing Status

We tested the new Verizon plans against the retired Visible Unlimited Plan.

Members can see our findings in our Testing Forum: Visible+ versus Visible Legacy

Visible Videos

News Updates

• Visible Lowers Price of Basic Plan to $25 Posted on: August 1, 2023
• Visible Forcing Customers on Legacy Visible Unlimited Plan to Switch to New Plans Posted on: July 6, 2023
• Visible Cracks Down On Unauthorized Device Use Posted on: June 15, 2023
• Visible Revamps Plan Lineup And Retires Party Pay Posted on: August 17, 2022
• Visible Now Offers 15 Day Trial of Smartphone Plan via eSIM Posted on: January 6, 2022

Alternatives to Consider

Also consider some of our other top pick data plans:

All of our Top Pick Plans

Selecting Data Plans

Data Plan Spreadsheet

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Visible

You can purchase a device directly from Visible, or bring your own compatible device.

If you'd like to try Visible out, every customer gets a referral code to share - and here is ours. Using this will save you $20 off your first month, and gives us a $20 credit - which helps us offset the cost of keeping our lines in service for continued testing:

Referral code - Save $20, we get $20: tG8RD