Best Family Phone Plans for 2026

The best family phone plan is one that keeps everyone happy and connected — and is also a cheap family phone plan that doesn't bust your budget or make you pay for extras you don't need.

Our current top pick for the best family phone plan is Total Wireless, with its affordable $120 for 4 lines plan. We like T-Mobile's Essentials as the cheapest family phone plan, and also have picks for the best family phone plan for 5+ lines, for customizing each line, and more.

Summary: Best Family Phone Plans

How we picked the best family phone plans

Family phone plans, or multi-line discounts, are not as common as single-line plans. While you can find more affordable options by simply purchasing a separate line on a cheap phone plan for each member of your family, that makes billing more complicated: They will all be on their own billing schedules, and you may not have full account access to be able to monitor or make changes. We only considered plans that would function as a true multi-line or family phone plan, where one account owner has access and controls the billing. To pick the best family phone plans, we looked at:  

• Cost: Is it beneficial to activate the multi-line discount vs. finding individually priced plans? 

• Data limit and quality: Is the amount of mobile data and the data priority high enough to satisfy multiple lines? 

• Perks: To make the cost of a larger family plan worth it, are there enough perks or additional features that can let you cut costs elsewhere?  

Each of these factors is considered with its own weight, leading to a score that helps us determine the best picks.  

Beginner's guide to family phone plans

What is a family phone plan?

A family phone plan is a multi-line wireless plan that allows several people — typically from the same household or family — to share one account under a single bill. Each person gets their own phone number and usually their own data allotment, unless it’s a shared data plan. The benefit lies in being able to group all lines into one account with one billing schedule, which means it's easier to plan your monthly budget and manage account changes.

Although they're called family phone plans, you can pull together a non-family group to share a multi-line plan such as an unlimited data plan for 2 people in order to save money.

Types of family phone plans

All family plans have a standard of shared billing with multiple lines, but depending on what works best for your family, you can choose from these different types of plans:  

• Shared data family phone plans: Rather than each line having its own data allowance, there is a set amount of data that serves all lines. For example, if you have 60GB of data to share between 4 lines, each line can use 15GB, or one can use 30GB, while the other three use 10GB each, or any other combination that would add up to 60GB. Best for: Families that are light data users or want to teach younger children how to use data responsibly.  

• Unlimited data family phone plans: Each line gets unlimited data (plus talk & text). Whether the data will slow down after a certain limit depends on the plan details from the chosen provider. Best for: Families with heavy data users or who don’t want to worry about monitoring data usage regularly.  

• Mix-and-match family phone plans: In this type of plan, each line gets to choose its own plan. For example, the parents could have unlimited data, while the kids could have limited data plans (capped at a set number of GBs.) Best for: Families who only want to pay for the data that they’re using or want to limit data on certain lines.  

Also, you will first need to determine whether you’re looking to sign up for a prepaid plan or a postpaid plan. There are pros & cons to each, but it will really depend on whether you’re willing to sign a contract, if you can pass a credit check, and how flexible you’d like to be with making changes to the plan.  

>> Read more: Best Cell Phone Plans for Kids and Teens

Pros & cons of family phone plans

How does a family phone plan work?

When you sign up for a family plan initially, you will add all the lines needed at the same time. You will determine the primary account holder, who will be billed and whose account log-in will allow them to view the details of all the lines on the family plan.  

If you already have your own individual phone plan through a carrier and wish to add more lines to it – rather than setting up a whole new service all together – you may be able to do that through your online account (varies by carrier).  

How to add lines to your T-Mobile plan:

1. Log into your account on the T-Life app or through T-Mobile.com, go to “Add a line,” and follow the prompts. Note: All lines must be on the same plan tier (for example, if you have the T-Mobile Experience Beyond plan, the additional lines have to be on that plan to get the multi-line discount).  
   
2. Bring your own phone or purchase a new one from T-Mobile to activate the new line(s).  
   
3. If someone already has a T-Mobile line and you want to move it onto your account, call T-Mobile's customer service to perform a Change of Responsibility.  

How to add lines to your AT&T plan:

1. Log into your account on the AT&T app or through AT&T.com, go to “Add a device” or “Add a line,” and follow the prompts. Note that with AT&T’s Unlimited Your Way plans, you can mix and match different lines on different unlimited tiers.  
   
2. Bring your own phone or purchase a new one from AT&T to activate the new line(s).  
   
3. If someone already has an AT&T line and you want to move it onto your account, call AT&T’s customer service to do a Change of Responsibility or go online to the Transfer of Billing portal.  

Unlike most family plans, AT&T offers a feature called SplitPay, where each line can pay their share (rather than the account holder paying for all the lines). This would be a good opportunity to teach teenagers money responsibility, while ultimately still maintaining control over their phone service.  

How to add lines to your Verizon plan:

1. Log into your myPlan account on the Verizon app or through Verizon.com, go to:  
   Website: Plan -> Get a new device or Bring your own device  
   App: Devices -> Add a new line.  
   Note that the myPlan system allows you to mix and match plans.  
   
2. Bring your own phone or purchase a new one from Verizon to activate the new line(s).  
   
3. If someone already has a Verizon line and you want to move it onto your account, you’ll need to complete a Transfer of Service via the My Verizon app or through their account on the website.  

How to pick the best family phone plan

There are a few factors to consider before picking the best family phone plan, including whether you’re simply adding lines to an existing plan or starting the whole family on a new service. Follow this simple checklist:  

• Find out how much data you need.  
  Figuring out how much data you all need will help you determine what type of family plan you should choose. If your family has heavy data users (more than 20GB/month), you will want to focus on unlimited data family phone plans. Conversely, if you all have good access to Wi-Fi, or if you'd like to specifically limit the data usage of some lines, you can look into shared data plans or mix-and-match family plans.  

• Set your budget.  
  More lines means paying more per month for phone service. Family phone plans minimize this because they offer multi-line discounts, but there is still a large range of costs (anywhere from below $100 for the whole family to over $300). Set a realistic budget, whether for each line or for the total monthly payment, so you can narrow your search to what's affordable. Keep in mind that MVNO phone plans, from companies that lease space on the big cell networks, tend to be less expensive.

• Check out phone deals or BYOP compatibility.  
  If you’re adding a line for someone who is also getting their first phone, then you'll want to look for the best phone deal. Many phone providers offer promotions on new phones, but you can always buy an unlocked phone and bring it with you to activate service. That's often the less expensive way to go, which you can test with this free phone bill calculator. 

How to activate a family phone plan

To activate, each line will need a SIM card – whether physical or an eSIM – from the provider you choose.

To get that SIM, go to the provider's website (or visit a store where applicable) to purchase your desired plan and the SIMs for activation. If you buy a phone alongside the plan, the SIM will come with the phone, so you won’t need to make an extra purchase.   

>> Read more: How to activate a SIM card

Frequently asked questions about family phone plans