Online Safety
06.27.25
Even though summer just started, back to school is already just around the corner, which means shopping lists, schedule changes, and the never-ending internal debate: Is it time for your child’s first phone? If you decided this is the year, then the next thing you have to figure out is what kind of service to get on that phone. The easiest option would be to add your child to your existing service and expand it into a family plan. But if that’s not an option, or you’re looking to find a better service to accommodate expanding needs, we put together a list of the best family phone plans you can find right now, so you can get the one that keeps everyone happy and connected.
STOP! Paying for phone service
With TextNow, you get unlimited talk & text, plus essential data, for $0/month. Stay connected without paying a penny on your phone bill. Get started with the app.
Summary: Best Family Phone Plans
| Category | Provider | Plan | Price/Month | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Best Overall |
|
Total 5G+ Unlimited | $120 for 4 lines | |
| Best for Unlimited Data |
|
Gold Unlimited | $140 for 4 lines | |
| Best for 5+ Lines |
|
By the Gig | Starting at $83 for 7 lines | |
| Best for Customizing |
|
Family | Starting at $32 for 4 lines | |
| Cheapest Family Plan |
|
Essentials | $105 for 4 lines*
*With AutoPay discount | |
| Best from "Big 3" (AT&T, Verizon, or T-Mobile) |
|
Experience More | $170 for 4 lines*
*With AutoPay discount |
Best Family Plan Overall
Total Wireless
Price $120/month for 4 lines (maximum $135/month for 5 lines)
Network Verizon
Phone Plan Total 5G+ Unlimited
Data Unlimited
Perks Disney+ Premium subscription included
Our Take For $30/line, you get a lot of value out of this plan, with fast, prioritized data that won’t slow down no matter how much streaming they do. Plus, you can enjoy a premium Disney+ subscription, no activation fees, and 50% off when you bring your own phone (or $200 off any new phone you purchase).
Pros & Cons Pros:
- Prioritized unlimited data with no slowdowns.
- Price guarantee for 5 years.
- Prepaid (no contracts or credit checks).
- Verizon coverage may not be suitable in your area.
- Limited to 5 lines.
Best Unlimited Date Family Phone Plan
Straight Talk
Price $140/month for 4 lines (maximum $175/month for 5 lines)
Network Verizon
Phone Plan Gold Unlimited
Data Unlimited
Perks Walmart+ subscription included
Our Take Take advantage of unlimited data for the whole family, plus discounts and perks for the shopping you already do at Walmart for less than $50/line.
Pros & Cons Pros:
- Prioritized unlimited data with no slowdowns.
- 30GB of mobile hotspot included.
- 100GB of Cloud storage included (back up your photos & videos at no extra cost).
- Verizon coverage may not be suitable in your area.
- Limited to 5 lines.
Best Family Plan for 5+ Lines
US Mobile
Price Starting at $83/month for 7 lines
Network Your choice of Verizon, AT&T, or T-Mobile
Phone Plan By the Gig
Data 2GB – 200GB (shared)
Perks None
Our Take US Mobile’s “By the Gig” plans allow multiple lines to share a data allowance, making it more flexible for some members to use more while others who are mostly on Wi-Fi use less, so you don't have to pay for individual unlimited data plans.
Pros & Cons Pros:
- Hotspot included.
- Only pay for data you actually need/use.
- Can add 20+ lines.
- Can switch between networks (Warp, Light Speed, or Dark Star).
- Figuring out the right data limit may take some trial and error.
- Hotspot data is taken from overall data allowance (not separate).
Best Customizable Family Plan
Tello
Price Starting at $32/month for 4 lines
Network T-Mobile
Phone Plan Tailored plan
Data Choice of levels from no data to unlimited*
*Data speeds reduced after 35GB
*Data speeds reduced after 35GB
Perks None
Our Take If you’re looking to fulfill different needs for different members of the family, whether it be limited data, unlimited data, or no data at all (talk & text only), Tello is one of the few services that will allow you to choose a different plan for each line.
Pros & Cons Pros:
- Only pay for data you actually need/use.
- Affordable.
- Mobile hotspot only included with Unlimited Data plan (limited to 5GB).
- Limited to 4 lines.
- No multi-line discounts.
Cheapest Family Phone Plan
T-Mobile
Price $100 for 4 lines*
*With AutoPay discount, limited time offer.
*With AutoPay discount, limited time offer.
Network T-Mobile
Phone Plan Essentials
Data 50GB of premium data*
*Data speeds reduced after 50GB
*Data speeds reduced after 50GB
Perks None
Our Take This is a great way to enjoy premium data on T-Mobile’s extensive network without paying more than $100. Surprisingly, it’s one of the cheaper options when you apply the AutoPay discount, giving you all the perks of a postpaid plan at prepaid plan pricing.
Pros & Cons Pros:
- Prioritized data on T-Mobile's network.
- Affordable.
- Mobile hotspot not included.
- No additional perks like Netflix, Apple TV+, or roaming included like in its other unlimited plans.
- No price guarantee.
Best Family Phone Plan from "Big 3"
T-Mobile
Price $170 for 4 lines*
*With AutoPay discount.
*With AutoPay discount.
Network T-Mobile
Phone Plan Experience More
Data Unlimited
Perks Netflix Standard (with ads) and Apple TV+, as well as access to T-Mobile Tuesdays.
Our Take This is the most affordable plan out of T-Mobile's 3 that also includes streaming subscription perks and unlimited premium data that won’t get deprioritized.
Pros & Cons Pros:
- Prioritized data on T-Mobile's network.
- 5-year price guarantee.
- 60GB of high-speed mobile hotspot included.
- Roaming available in 215+ countries.
- Discounted price only available with AutoPay using a debit card or bank account.
- Online set-up limited to 5 lines only. If you're in need of more, you would need to contact T-Mobile directly for support.
Methodology: How We Picked the Best Family Phone Plans
Family 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 plan, where one account owner has access and controls the billing. To pick the best ones, we looked at:
Cost: Is it beneficial to activate the multi-line discount vs. finding individually priced plans?
Data quality: Is the data limit and 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 alleviate 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 makes planning your monthly budget, and making any account changes, significantly easier.
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: In this type of plan, rather than each line having its own data allotment, there is one set amount of data that is shared across all lines. For example, if you have 60GB of data to share between 4 lines, each line can either use 15GB, or one can use 30GB, while the other three use 10GB each, or any other combination that would add up to 60.
Best for: Families that are light data users or want to teach younger children how to use data responsibly.
Unlimited data family phone plans: In this type of plan, each line gets its own unlimited data (plus talk & text). Whether the data will slow down after a certain limit depends solely on the plan details from the chosen provider.
Best for: Families who are heavy data users or simply don’t wish 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 wish to limit data on certain lines.
Furthermore, 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.
Pros & Cons of a Family Plan
Type of Family Plan
Pros
Shared Data Family Plan
- Can be cheaper on average.
- Teaches responsible data usage (for new/younger phone users).
Unlimited Data Family Plan
- No need to monitor data usage.
- Each user can enjoy their service fully without being cut off or incurring overage charges.
Mix-and-Match Family Plan
- Customizable to everyone's needs.
- Only pay for the data that is actually needed by each user.
Cons
Shared Data Family Plan
- Run the risk of running out of data for the whole family.
- On a postpaid plan, can also run the risk of incurring overage fees.
- Heavier data users may resent the restriction of watching their data closely.
Unlimited Data Family Plan
- More expensive.
- You may not need unlimited data for each line, resulting in overpaying for service.
- Less control over younger members’ data usage.
Mix-and-Match Family Plan
- Less common; only a few carriers offer it.
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:
Log into your account on the T-Life app or through T-Mobile.com, go to “Add a line,” and follow the prompts.
Note that all lines must be on the same plan tier (so, for example, if you have the T-Mobile Experience Beyond plan, the additional lines will also need to be on that plan to receive the multi-line discount).You’ll be asked to either bring your own device or purchase a new one from T-Mobile to activate the new line(s).
If someone already has a T-Mobile line and you want to move it onto your account, you’ll need to perform a Change of Responsibility. To complete this, simply call T-Mobile's customer service to start.
How to Add Lines to Your AT&T Plan:
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.You’ll be asked to either bring your own device or purchase a new one from AT&T to activate the new line(s).
If someone already has an AT&T line and you want to move it onto your account, you’ll need to perform a Change of Responsibility. To complete this, you can call AT&T’s customer service or start the process online through the Transfer of Billing portal.
Unlike most family plans, AT&T also 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:
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.Pick to bring your own device or purchase a new one from Verizon to activate the new line(s).
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 more 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 collectively need will help you determine what type of family plan you should opt for. If your family consists of 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.
Activating more lines means paying more per month for phone service. Family phone plans are a great way to minimize this, as they offer multi-line discounts, but there are still some large ranges to work with (anywhere from below $100 for the whole family to over $300). Set a realistic budget, either for each line or for the total monthly payment, so you can narrow your search to what is affordable. This is also likely where you’ll decide on sticking to an existing service or starting with a new one.
Check out phone deals or BYOP compatibility.
If you’re looking to add a new line for someone who is also getting their first phone, then you will want to look around for the best phone deal. Many phone providers will have promotions for new phones, or if you’re set on a certain provider or certain plan but can find a better phone deal elsewhere, you can always buy an unlocked phone and bring it with you to activate service.
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, head over to the provider's website (or go to a store where applicable) to purchase your desired plan and the subsequent SIMs for activation. If you buy a phone alongside the plan, the SIM will come automatically 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
Got questions or comments? Send us a note at [email protected]!
