How much mobile data do I actually need?

Shopping around for a phone plan comes with a slew of questions: what's the most affordable plan I can get, what network should I choose, how much data do I actually need? All fair questions, but before you even start shopping, the most important one you should start with is: how much data do you actually need.

The market these days ranges anywhere from "build your own plan 1GB at a time" to "get unlimited everything all the time." And of course, those two extremes come with two extremely different costs. So here's a simple guide to help you decide on which data plan works best for you.

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1. Understand how much data you use

According to an Ericsson report, the average mobile data usage in the U.S was 22 GB in 2024. But that doesn't mean that's how much you're going to need – it's important to understand what your personal average data usage is like, which will help you pick the right plan for your phone needs.

Luckily, most phones nowadays allow you to track your overall data usage. They also break down data usage by app, allowing you to see where exactly your data is used. To find out where and how you can find out this information, follow this step-by-step guide for both iPhones and Androids.

Find data usage in your Android settings

An easy first step to finding out how much data you need is knowing how much data you already use. You can find this out in your Android phone's settings:

1. Open your phone's Settings app

2. Tap Digital Wellness & parental controls

3. You will see a chart that shows your phone use today. If you tap on it, it will expand to a view where you can now swipe to the right to see previous days' views, and scroll down to find the specific breakdown of how much time was spent on each app.

Find data usage on your iPhone

On iOS:

1. Open your phone's Settings app

2. Tap on Screen Time -> See All App & Website Activity

3. Switch between day or week view.

2. Find out how much data your apps use

Another consideration is what kind of apps you use, and how much data each one of those apps uses. As we know, streaming (music, TV/entertainment) takes up a lot of data, but so can social media apps, especially if they're video-focused (Instagram, TikTok.)

You can use your phone settings to explore your data usage further, breaking it down by apps, or you can follow this general guide on how much data popular apps use:

If you know you're a heavy user of any of those apps, this guide can help you figure out just how much data on a daily you'd likely be using.

For example, if you know your commute to work is an hour long, and you use Spotify during it, depending on what quality you stream in, you can expect to use up to 150MB of data (there are 1,024 MB in 1GB.)

3. Adjust phone and app settings to save data

Now, just because you like to use data-heavy apps doesn't mean that you have to go and shell out $50+ on an unlimited data plan. If you're still looking to stay within budget, without sacrificing time on your favorite apps, you can simply adjust a few settings to save more data.

You can turn off certain apps so they don't use your cellular data, or you can toggle on the data-saving options from the settings' menus of your commonly used apps.

4. Prioritize Wi-Fi and Download Content In Advance

Another efficient way to save data is to prioritize Wi-Fi for data-heavy apps. This would mean that you don't watch YouTube (leisurely) or scroll through Instagram/TikTok unless you're connected to Wi-Fi.

The even more advanced way is to download content (this is more relevant to Spotify, YouTube, and other streaming apps like Netflix or Hulu) over Wi-Fi ahead of time, and then watch/listen to the downloaded content while out rather than streaming it directly.

5. Test Out Your Plan

After making these adjustments, test it out for a month or two – check if your data usage went down or stayed the same. It's important to check against real life scenarios – saving data in theory is easy, but in practice, not so much.

If you find you still need more data than you have, then your best bet would be to look for an affordable unlimited data plan.

How do I know how much data I need if I never had a data plan?

If your main source of connection right now is Wi-Fi and you're shopping around for a data plan, using your most used apps list is a great way to determine the right plan for you.

• Are your most used apps streaming-heavy? (Spotify, YouTube, online games, Netflix)

• Are your most used apps social-heavy? (Instagram, TikTok, Snapchat)

• Are your most used apps messaging heavy? (WhatsApp, Messenger, email)

If you answered yes to the first or second one, then you will be better off looking for the best value for an unlimited high-speed data plan.

If you answered yes to the third one, then you likely can get away with either a limited data plan that's within your budget, or even a talk & text only (no data) plan that will keep you connected with a phone number. You will still be able to access any other apps over Wi-Fi, or in some talk & text plans' cases, with limited data.

The reality is – you likely spend most of your time on Wi-Fi anyway, so why pay for extra data if you don't have to? Do your research, tweak your habits, and find a plan that works for both your data needs and your budget.

If you have any questions or comments, send us a note at [email protected]!