Best Phone Plans for Kids and Teens July 2025

Our best phone plan for families with teens for July 2025 is T-Mobile's Experience More, which offers streaming subscription perks and unlimited premium data that won’t get deprioritized or slowed. For families with kids, the best overall is Total Wireless's 5G+ Unlimited, with a reasonable per-line cost and a Disney+ Premium subscription included.

Cell phones have become an integral part of managing family life. Parents want to keep track of the kids and communicate on the fly — not to mention coordinate activities, transportation, and more. Kids and teens want to stay in touch with friends, play games, stream entertainment, and more.

In fact, Common Sense Media reports 43% of tweens (ages 8-12) and 88%-95% of teens have smartphones. When you’re ready to add a phone line for your kid or teen, here are great options — including choices for family plans, unlimited data, talk & text only, and more.

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Summary: Best Phone Plans for Kids and Teens

Best Overall for Families With Kids

	Total Wireless
Price	$120/month for 4 lines
Network	Verizon
Phone Plan	Total 5G+ Unlimited
Data	Unlimited
Perks	Disney+ Premium subscription included
Our Take	A great overall choice for families with kids thanks to its $30 per-line price, plus a Disney+ Premium subscription on top of prioritized data that won’t slow down no matter how much streaming the kids do. Other incentives: no activation fees, 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). Cons: Verizon coverage may not be suitable in your area. Limited to maximum of 5 lines.
Other Family (Multiple-Line) Plans	If you're looking for a family plan that will fulfill multiple users' needs, check out our full guide to the best family phone plans.

Total Wireless

Price $120/month for 4 lines

Network Verizon

Phone Plan Total 5G+ Unlimited

Data Unlimited

Perks Disney+ Premium subscription included

Our Take A great overall choice for families with kids thanks to its $30 per-line price, plus a Disney+ Premium subscription on top of prioritized data that won’t slow down no matter how much streaming the kids do. Other incentives: no activation fees, 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).

Cons:

Verizon coverage may not be suitable in your area.

Limited to maximum of 5 lines.

Other Family (Multiple-Line) Plans If you're looking for a family plan that will fulfill multiple users' needs, check out our full guide to the best family phone plans.

Best Overall for Families With Teens

	T-Mobile
Price	$170 for 4 lines* *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 for deals and freebies.
Our Take	This earns best overall for families including teens because it’s the most affordable choice at T-Mobile's 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. Cons: Discounted price is only available with AutoPay using a debit card or bank account. Online set-up limited to 5 lines only. If you need more, you must contact T-Mobile support.

T-Mobile

Price $170 for 4 lines*
*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 for deals and freebies.

Our Take This earns best overall for families including teens because it’s the most affordable choice at T-Mobile's 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.

Cons:

Discounted price is only available with AutoPay using a debit card or bank account.
Online set-up limited to 5 lines only. If you need more, you must contact T-Mobile support.

Best Talk & Text Only

	TextNow
Price	Starting at $0/month
Network	Nation's largest 5G network
Phone Plan	Free Essential Data
Data	Up to 1GB for essential apps (maps, rideshare, email)
Perks	TextNow partners with multiple brands to provide exclusive offers, discounts, and rewards.
Our Take	TextNow provides free unlimited texts and calls using the largest 5G network in the country, keeping you in touch with your child without breaking the bank. You have the flexibility to buy a data pass as needs arise, including hourly, daily, and monthly.
Pros & Cons	Pros: Economical choice for easy family communication. Access to essential apps (email, maps, and rideshare) for free with flexibility to add data as needed. Exclusive deals and discounts from popular brands in-app. Cons: Additional cost for data passes ($0.99/hour, $4.99/day or $39.99/month). No eSIM support.
Other Talk & Text Plans	If you want talk & text only plans that skip the data, check out our guide to the best no data plans.

TextNow

Price Starting at $0/month

Network Nation's largest 5G network

Phone Plan Free Essential Data

Data Up to 1GB for essential apps (maps, rideshare, email)

Perks TextNow partners with multiple brands to provide exclusive offers, discounts, and rewards.

Our Take TextNow provides free unlimited texts and calls using the largest 5G network in the country, keeping you in touch with your child without breaking the bank. You have the flexibility to buy a data pass as needs arise, including hourly, daily, and monthly.

Pros & Cons Pros:

Economical choice for easy family communication.
Access to essential apps (email, maps, and rideshare) for free with flexibility to add data as needed.
Exclusive deals and discounts from popular brands in-app.

Cons:

Additional cost for data passes ($0.99/hour, $4.99/day or $39.99/month).
No eSIM support.

Other Talk & Text Plans If you want talk & text only plans that skip the data, check out our guide to the best no data plans.

Best Unlimited Plan for Teens

	Boost Mobile
Price	$15/month for 3 months, then $25/ month
Network	Boost, with additional coverage from T-Mobile and AT&T
Phone Plan	Boost Unlimited
Data	Unlimited Data will be throttled (slowed) after 35GB
Perks	None
Our Take	This is a low-cost way to give teens a standalone plan so their data consumption doesn’t affect family members.
Pros & Cons	Pros: No contract, so you have flexibility to change your approach as needed. Plan is customizable. 35GB of high-speed data is generous, and the throttled speeds after that may incentivize teens to develop some good data-use habits. Cons: A separate plan means a separate bill to manage. Network speeds may be deprioritized.
Other Unlimited Data Plans	Need an affordable unlimited data plan? Check out the full guide to the best unlimited data plans.

Boost Mobile

Price $15/month for 3 months, then $25/ month

Network Boost, with additional coverage from T-Mobile and AT&T

Phone Plan Boost Unlimited

Data Unlimited

Data will be throttled (slowed) after 35GB

Perks None

Our Take This is a low-cost way to give teens a standalone plan so their data consumption doesn’t affect family members.

Pros & Cons Pros:

No contract, so you have flexibility to change your approach as needed.
Plan is customizable.
35GB of high-speed data is generous, and the throttled speeds after that may incentivize teens to develop some good data-use habits.

Cons:

A separate plan means a separate bill to manage.
Network speeds may be deprioritized.

Other Unlimited Data Plans Need an affordable unlimited data plan? Check out the full guide to the best unlimited data plans.

Best for Parental Controls

	AT&T
Price	$143.96/month for 4 lines* *Requires AutoPay and paperless billing discounts; Secure Family adds $7.99/month to cost
Network	AT&T
Phone Plan	Unlimited Starter SL
Data	Unlimited Data speeds may be slowed when the network is busy.
Perks	None
Our Take	Among the Big 3, AT&T offers the cheapest way to get a comprehensive list of safety features, including location services, alerts, SOS, access controls, and usage monitoring. You can even add people on other wireless plans to your Secure Family group.
Pros & Cons	Pros: AT&T’s Secure Family allows up to 10 member profiles and 30 devices, plus has a robust explainer and FAQ online. Your Secure Familiy group can include people on other wireless plans, and they get the full suite of features. 5GB hotspot data per line per month. Cons: Data may be deprioritized. Somewhat expensive, topping $150/month when you add the Secure Family feature.
Other Big 3 Options	If you want parental controls but prefer the Verizon network for coverage in your area, check out the best Verizon phone plans. Parental controls are available on its postpaid plans.

AT&T

Price $143.96/month for 4 lines*

*Requires AutoPay and paperless billing discounts; Secure Family adds $7.99/month to cost

Network AT&T

Phone Plan Unlimited Starter SL

Data Unlimited Data speeds may be slowed when the network is busy.

Perks None

Our Take Among the Big 3, AT&T offers the cheapest way to get a comprehensive list of safety features, including location services, alerts, SOS, access controls, and usage monitoring. You can even add people on other wireless plans to your Secure Family group.

Pros & Cons Pros:

AT&T’s Secure Family allows up to 10 member profiles and 30 devices, plus has a robust explainer and FAQ online.
Your Secure Familiy group can include people on other wireless plans, and they get the full suite of features.
5GB hotspot data per line per month.

Cons:

Data may be deprioritized.
Somewhat expensive, topping $150/month when you add the Secure Family feature.

Other Big 3 Options If you want parental controls but prefer the Verizon network for coverage in your area, check out the best Verizon phone plans. Parental controls are available on its postpaid plans.

Best for Customizing

	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
Perks	None
Our Take	Tello wins for flexibility: Each line can have its own amounts for data, talk and text, plus its own content filter (or none). You can change levels from month to month, too, adjusting to your child’s needs and your budget.
Pros & Cons	Pros: Web Guard lets the accountholder filter web content per line, choosing from three levels of automated screening. No contract or credit check. Cons: Limited to 4 lines. No multiline discount.

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

Perks None

Our Take Tello wins for flexibility: Each line can have its own amounts for data, talk and text, plus its own content filter (or none). You can change levels from month to month, too, adjusting to your child’s needs and your budget.

Pros & Cons Pros:

Web Guard lets the accountholder filter web content per line, choosing from three levels of automated screening.
No contract or credit check.

Cons:

Limited to 4 lines.
No multiline discount.

Methodology: How we picked the best phone plans for kids and teens

Needs vary widely, depending on the ages and number of kids or teens you want to cover. What you choose as a first phone plan for a younger child is likely different from what you’d offer to an older teen. With that in mind, we looked at:

Cost and value: Price is important, but so is value for the price, including perks and ease of managing a family plan or several separate plans.

Data: How much data does each child need, and do you want to limit it directly through account controls or indirectly based on a plan’s data cap?

Coverage: What network will work best in your area plus other areas where your child or teen spends time for ease of contacting them?

Support for parental controls: Parents may want features that let them locate their child and/or a lost device, set usage limits, limit web access, get route info and SOS alerts, and more.

Each of these factors is considered with its own weight, helping us determine the best picks for a variety of needs.

Beginner’s guide to phone plans for kids and teens

How to pick a phone plan

Selecting a phone plan to accommodate a blend of kid, teen and adult needs gets complex. Cut through the noise by setting a top priority first, which will help you winnow down choices:

Ease of managing everyone’s phone plan: If this is your top concern, consider a family plan so you have a single account — and a single billing date to manage.

Cost: You might want to choose a separate plan for your child or teen, versus stepping up to a family plan. Or consider prepaid plans as a cheaper alternative to feature-heavy postpaid plans.

Parental controls: Postpaid plans are far likelier to offer an integrated suite of location tracking, usage limits, safety features and more. But they also tend to be more expensive than prepaid.

Age-appropriate access: If you just want communication with a younger child while limiting the ability to go online, consider a talk & text only plan or a cheap phone plan with very limited data.

These factors interact, of course — you might want parental controls but have a cost ceiling too. Still, deciding the most important element helps you narrow your options.

Types of phone plans for kids and teens

Expanding your existing service by moving up to a family phone plan may be the easiest way to set up phone service for a younger child. A single plan makes for ease of billing, lets you track usage, and you may even pay a lower per-line cost. Or, if your child’s needs are very simple, you could consider getting them a separate talk & text only (no data) plan.

With teens, different options come into the mix. If they’re heavy data users, you might need an unlimited data plan to ensure there’s enough data to go around. Or, you could put them on a separate prepaid phone plan, which gives you the flexibility to switch plans and carriers as their needs evolve.

Phone plans for kids — what to consider

Handing a phone to a younger kid or tween is a big step for both parent and child. AT&T partnered with the American Academy of Pediatrics to create a quiz to help parents determine when kids are ready for a phone. A lot depends on the child’s ability to take care of belongings and follow rules, balanced by the parent’s need for communication and safety concerns.

Not ready to hand your child a smartphone? You could opt for a dumbphone (some still exist), or a phone designed for kids like Bark, Gabb or Pinwheel. Note, however, that these may require purchasing a phone plan through them, and the cost is often not competitive with a cheap prepaid plan or a family plan.

You could also consider starting with a wearable designed for kids. The Big 3 carriers (AT&T, T-Mobile and Verizon) all offer a kids smartwatch that allows talk, text and location services but stops short of full smartphone capabilities.

Phone plans for teens — what to consider

As kids age, their social sphere expands — and so does their desire for data to scroll social media, stream entertainment, etc. At the same time, parents may want to help teens prepare for adulthood by practicing responsibility for data usage or phone plan payments.

Caps on high-speed data can help your teen learn to monitor and manage their own data usage: Even unlimited data plans typically slow down after a certain amount of use per billing period, providing a built-in incentive. Show your teen how to monitor data use on their phone.

If you’re focused on teaching personal finance skills, AT&T’s SplitPay feature lets each line on a multiline plan pay their share rather than the account holder paying for all the lines. That's a good way to teach teenagers money management while you still maintain control of the overall phone service.

Parental controls and considerations

Parental controls for phones can offer peace of mind by letting you see a child’s location and track their travel, filter content, limit usage amounts and times, and more. Some also help kids learn about safe browsing by offering explainers when a website is blocked or a potential scam is flagged.

But parental controls have notable gaps and downsides:

Wi-Fi calling and texting may evade filters, as will VPN use.
Offline apps (like standalone games) and previously downloaded content fly under usage limits.
You may need to adjust your child’s phone settings to get some features to work, which can be laborious — and can potentially undone by a tech-savvy kid later.
Watchdog groups have raised concerns about the amount of data collected on kids’ online activities by parental control apps.
A child's growing desire for privacy and autonomy may cause family conflict, especially in the teen years.

Parental controls from the Big 3 (AT&T, T-Mobile, Verizon)

With that in mind, if you want parental control features built into a plan, most likely you’re looking at a postpaid plan. Here’s a comparison of offerings from the Big 3:

	AT&T	T-Mobile	Verizon
Offering	AT&T Secure Family with Companion app on child’s device	FamilyMode, Family Allowances, FamilyWhere, Web Guard	Verizon Family with Companion app on child’s device
Available on	AT&T postpaid and prepaid plans, Cricket Wireless plans	T-Mobile postpaid plans	Verizon postpaid plans
Features	Location tracking, alerts, check-ins, SOS. Block internet, Wi-Fi or cellular data. Block websites, apps, app purchases. Screen time limits and usage alerts. Battery status and tampering alerts. Lost device sound.	Location tracking, alerts, check-ins, SOS. Website and app filters. Time limits, scheduled downtime, ability to grant extra time as reward; usage insights. Lost device sound and last known location. Ability to block deletion of the app.	Location tracking, alerts, Safe Walk with SOS. View call and text activity. Crash detection, driving insights. The Plus (paid) version adds More alerts. Family view of driving insights. Roadside assistance. View web and app activity, manage screen time, block content, pause internet, restrict access.
Cost	30 days free, then $7.99/month	$10/month	Free for basic version; Verizon Family Plus $14.99/month
Pros & Cons	Pros Up to 10 member profiles and 30 phones and tablets. Accountholder can invite people on other wireless networks to join Secure Family. Robust FAQs and explainers online. Cons Not as comprehensive as Verizon’s suite of family services.	Pros Covers up to 12 lines on an account. Can add $20 Home Base device to extend features to home Wi-Fi. Cons Gets expensive if you extend to home internet. Home Base works only with compatible routers.	Pros Up to 10 lines. Cons Expensive for the fuller Plus version. Crash detection does not call 911.

Parental controls from prepaid plans

A few prepaid plans offer some features to parents:

Mint Mobile Kids: Free. Notify Mint that a new line is for a minor and you’ll be able to track data use, change the plan level if needed, and get alerts if the plan is changed. Note that you can switch to a higher data amount at any time but need to wait for renewal in order to lower it.
>>Read More: Mint Mobile Review 2025.

Boost Family Guard: $10 a month. Boost’s branded app offers location services, alerts, content filters, time limits. Parents can turn off internet access and also grant rewards.

Google Fi: Free. The Google Fi app lets parents limit data usage and restrict calls and texts to specified contacts. (This is in addition to Google Family Link, see below.)

Tello: Free. Web Guard lets the accountholder on a family plan filter web content for some lines, choosing from three levels of automated screening.

Parental controls via operating systems and apps

You can also opt for parental controls built into popular operating systems, or you can buy an app.

Apple Screen Time: Free for iOS users. This lets adults manage kid accounts with Family Sharing to set time limits and check screen time, restrict content, track location, etc.

Google Family Link: Free for Android users. Allows adults to set age parameters on content, track location, manage screen time and privacy.

Popular apps include Bark (which can be used independent of a Bark phone and service plan), Qustodio, Norton Family and many more. Prices and features vary.