Prepaid Pay As You Go (PAYG) Comparison Chart 


Last Update: 05/12/2012 09:09 AM

Prepaid is becoming more mainstream.  Many carriers are raising rates and adding fees.  If you use less than 150 minutes a month, PAYG can be very attractive.  All prepaid plans include voicemail and domestic long distance. PAYG is attractive if you do not use a lot of minutes or texts. If you do then there are unlimited prepays you can look at.  This chart does not compare those plans.

This chart contains what I consider the best deals in PAYG. You'll also find some of the "big guys" so that you can compare them, such as AT&T and Virgin Mobile.

Check out any special offers on my special offers page.  Many times you can get refills from 5-12% off!

^AA The recharge period is the number of days that the airtime is good for. If you recharge your account within this period your current account balance will carry over to the new period. Some plans include a grace period before losing minutes and phone number, but the phone will not work during that period.  For example, the grace period for Virgin Mobile is 60 days.
^BB This indicates whether you will be charged airtime when someone calls your cellphone and leaves a message on voicemail, This also includes retrieving voice mail deposits from a landline.
^CC SMS = Short Message Service (sending & receiving text messages)
^DD WAP = Wireless Application Protocol (surfing the web on the cell phone)


^AV1 A $1 monthly service fee is charged on the 8th of each month.
^AV2 For GSM there is a 20c/day usage fee for any day where the phone is used (voice or text)
^AV3 Voicemail is not active by default, you have to call to have it enabled.
^AV4 SMS is not active by default, you have to call to have it enabled.


^BW1 To get the low monthly rate you need to use the $50 one-year refill (102 minutes @ 50c/minute)
^BW2 Some users report being charged for voice mail deposits. If so, you need to call and get it corrected.

^BO1 You need to re-boost from the website using a credit/debit card in order to re-boost for $10 ($3.33/month minimum).
^B02 Boost Mobile airtime costs 20c/min. Direct connect costs $1/day for any day that you alert someone or DC someone, or someone alerts or DCs you. You are charged the $1 if someone alerts you even if your phone is turned off (effective 9/2006).
^BO3 Boost Mobile can be used in Baja Mexico for a surcharge of 10c/minute (same surcharge for DC). Boost DC will also work on Telus in Canada for a surcharge of 20c/minute (web works too), but voice does not work.

^CG1 AT&T is charging a monthly e911 fee in many states
^CG2 (deleted)
^CG3 $15 card expires in 30 days, $100 card expires in 365 days, all other cards expire in 90 days.
^CG4 AT&T should not charge for voice mail deposits or checking from a landline. However there have been issues over the years.
^CG5 Packages available:
    Messaging Packs: $4.99/200; $9.99/1000; $19.99/unlimited text
    Data Packs: $5/50MB; $15/200MB; $25/1GB (overages 0.2c/KB) DELETED FOR PAYG

^NT1 Although Net10 says they will port your number, many people have had problems doing so. Beware.
^NT2 You get an initial 300 minutes or airtime good for 60 days included with the phone..
^NT3 Sometimes you are charged for busy/no answers, sometimes you are not. It may be market dependant.

^PP1 There are some low cost starter kits on eBay starting around $1.00. If you port your number in then activation is free (follow the instructions on the webpage or call them directly).
^PP2 The monthly fee is deducted on the 25th of each month.
^PP3 The $80 card is a great deal (4c airtime), but is not available on the vendor website. Airtime good for one year.

^PT1 The monthly fee is deducted on the 13th of each month. 
^PT2 PlatinumTel requires Sprint MVNO type devices but some higher end devices are available (Blackberry/BIS and Android)
^PT3 PlatinumTel airtime rolls over for only one year.  This is different from other prepays. This is not the same thing as airtime expiration.  Your airtime can be extended, but any loaded airtime will only roll over for a max of one year.

^TF1 For the $5.99/month you keep service active but get no additional airtime.
^TF2 If you buy the pricy double minute card ($50, zero minutes), future airtime cards are 10c-17c (and if you use that many minutes you are better off with Tracfone's Net10 plan).
^TF3 Every airtime card you add extends the due date that many days. There is no limit to how far out you can extend the due date!
^TF4 Sometimes you are charged for busy/no answers, sometimes you are not. It may be market dependant.
^TF5 Older phone models have different texting rates.
^TF6 Some older CDMA phones have a 2x roaming rate (e.g. 2126, 2285, 5180i)
^TF7 Only newer model camera phones have picture messaging (MMS). It's also network dependant.

^TM1 Gold Reward Members airtime is good for one year, making the minimum monthly cost 83c/month. [you become a gold rewards member with the refill after you hit $100 or instantly with the $100 card]
^{TM2 <deleted>
TM3} T-Mobile Prepaid has roaming available in some locations around the USA at no cost. Check the T-Mobile Coverage Map Tool for details. Roaming in Canada costs 69c/minute.
^TM4 The $100 card expires in one year. All other cards expire in 90 days, except that for Gold Reward members, all denominations expire in 365 days.
^TM5 Text is 10c to send and receive. Same rates while roaming in Canada.
^TM6 PAYG is limited to the T-Mobile Prepaid WAP Deck which includes account info, downloads (extra cost), ABC, limited games. There are no data add-ons to the T-Mobile PAYG plan.  You can however switch to the $2/day plan (unlimited minutes, unlimited text, unlimited 2G data limited to download of approx 60 kbps/sec), or the $3/day plan (unlimited minutes, unlimited text, 200MB of high speed data then throttled to 2G).  These plans are charged on days when voice, text or data is used. A day is defined as 12:01AM - 11:59PM in the time zone of the city the phone number is based in.  Hard to say what happens for the 59 seconds before and after midnight.

^TR1 Tru is also an international SIM that works throughout the world.  Rates are competitive with other global SIMs but typically not close to the deal you would get when purchasing a local SIM in-country.  There are several Tru countries where you can pay $15/month to have great rates in those countries. Tru countries include the UK and Australia as of 1/2012. You can also add an additional phone number to the SIM by paying an additional $8/month.
^TR2 Tru is a UK company and any purchases are considered an international sale which will likely incur an additional fee on your credit card.

^VM1 $15 refill only good with the Pay Less Every 90 auto-refill (which gets you to the $5/month rate)
^VM2 Top-up at least $90 in a three day (72 hour) period and airtime is good for a year.