AT&T Wireless Review 2024: Plans and Pricing
Our experts explore how much you can save with AT&T’s family plans and explain why unlimited data is always better.
AT&T Wireless has more customers than any other wireless service—and for a good reason. Its plans and prices make it a tight competitor with Verizon Wireless and T-Mobile.
AT&T’s national network of retail stores also makes it easy to check out cell phones in person and compare pricing.
Like other national providers, AT&T offers a slight premium compared to internet provider-affiliated cell phone providers like Xfinity Mobile or Spectrum Mobile. However, bundling AT&T phone service with AT&T internet will save you $20 on your monthly bill.
Ultimately, while AT&T doesn’t offer any deals that make us clap our hands in joy, its prices and plans are par for the course. Keep on reading to learn more about our take on AT&T Wireless phone plans.
Want more AT&T Wireless deals?
When you pair an AT&T Unlimited Wireless plan with an AT&T internet plan, you’ll save $20 off your monthly internet bill. Check out our main AT&T deals page for even more AT&T phone and internet savings.
AT&T plans include unlimited high-speed data
| Package | Price (one line)* | High-speed data | 5G | Details |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| AT&T 4GB Plan | $50.00/mo. | N/A | — | |
| AT&T Unlimited Starter® SL** | $65.99/mo. | N/A | ✔ | |
| AT&T Unlimited Extra® EL† | $75.99/mo. | 75GB | ✔ | |
| AT&T Unlimited Premium PL† | $85.99/mo. | Unlimited | ✔ |
*Price with one line
**Unlimited talk, text, & data. Nationwide coverage. Also unlimited talk, text, & high-speed data in 19 Latin American countries.
†Unlimited talk, text, & data. Nationwide coverage.
Data as of post date. Offers and availability may vary by location and are subject to change.
We like AT&T Unlimited Premium PL best because it is the only fully unlimited data plan, which means you’ll never run into crawling internet speeds. AT&T Unlimited Premium PL is definitely worth the $10 upgrade from AT&T Unlimited Extra EL. The other AT&T Wireless plans come with a set amount of premium data, but AT&T Unlimited Premium PL truly is unlimited.
What’s premium data, you ask? Think of it as the amount of “fast lane” data AT&T affords top-paying customers. As with other phone providers, AT&T no longer hits your account with data overage fees (with the exception of the AT&T 4GB plan) if you spend too much time on TikTok or Spotify in a month. Instead, you’ll still have unlimited data, but AT&T splits it into regular and high-speed data.
With regular data, you’ll still get high-speed internet access, but it’ll be a lower priority on AT&T’s network—your data speeds may get slowed down if there’s high network traffic in your area. But with high-speed data, you’ll get full 5G speeds at any time of the day. Once you’ve eaten through all your premium data, you’ll be bumped down to the same speeds as everyone else, which will mean slowing during busy times of the day.
On Unlimited Starter, you won’t get any high-speed data, and with Unlimited Extra, you’ll get 75GB of high-speed data. AT&T Unlimited Premium PL also lets you stream in HD, which none of the other AT&T Wireless plans do. (Crummy job, other AT&T plans.) So you’ll be able to watch your favs in their high-def glory right from your smartphone.
AT&T customer satisfaction: decent for a national provider
Every year, we talk to thousands of real-life internet customers as part of the annual CableTV.com Internet Customer Satisfaction Survey. We also poll customers about their general experience with each provider’s customer support teams. When it comes to customer service, AT&T largely landed in the middle of the pack:
- 65% of AT&T customers found their customer service interactions to be highly enjoyable. (8th place overall)
- 69% of AT&T customers were highly satisfied with AT&T’s customer support. (9th place overall)
- 77% of AT&T customers who worked with AT&T recently felt they effectively met their needs. (7th place overall)
We also talked to our friends over at WhistleOut for more insights on AT&T’s service. In addition to regularly testing out cell phone providers in all sorts of conditions (including from 10,000 feet mid-air!), WhistleOut’s Sherri Riggs has been a lifelong AT&T customer:
Out of ten, I’d [give AT&T an] 8. Cost is manageable, generally have great speeds no matter where I am and seem to have service even when friends on other carriers do not. I’m on a family plan which significantly decreases the cost per line—if I were on an AT&T plan by myself, I’d almost certainly switch to a smaller carrier, but the family plan pricing makes it more than worth it. But I wish AT&T offered more perks, they used to give an (HBO) Max subscription for free, now they don’t. T-Mobile and Verizon both offer a little more in lifestyle and entertainment perks, but it’s just not a priority for AT&T.
AT&T Wireless prices: expensive, but discounts available
| Package | Price per line for 4 lines | Total price for 4 lines | High-speed data | 5G | Details |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| AT&T 4GB Plan | $40.00/mo. | $160.00/mo. | 4 GB | — | |
| AT&T Unlimited Starter SL | $35.99/mo. | $143.96/mo. | N/A | ✔ | |
| AT&T Unlimited Extra EL | $40.99/mo. | $163.96/mo. | 75GB | ✔ | |
| AT&T Unlimited Premium PL | $50.99/mo. | $203.96/mo. | Unlimited | ✔ |
Data as of post date. Offers and availability may vary by location and are subject to change.
For better or worse, AT&T’s pricing is in line with other national phone providers—a single Unlimited line will cost between $65.99–$85.99 per month, depending on your exact plan. But as with other providers, AT&T offers significant discounts when you’re going for a family plan. (That said, not so much on the AT&T 4GB Plan. That’s all the more reason to go for an unlimited plan.)
AT&T Wireless features: affordable plan alternatives, new Apple iPhones, and more
AT&T’s cell phone plans offer more than just cell phone service. Whether you’re looking for a new phone, cheaper prepaid plans, or hotspot coverage to help out your road warrior setup, here’s everything else you need to know about AT&T Wireless plans.
AT&T Wireless prepaid plans
If you’re in the market for a prepaid plan, you can choose from four monthly plans or two discounted multi-month plans. These plans are worth considering if you’re not looking for a family plan and you start to salivate at the term “rollover data.”
| Package | Price* | Data | 5G | Details |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| AT&T Prepaid 5GB | $30.00/mo. | 5 GB | — | |
| AT&T Prepaid 15GB | $40.00/mo. | 15 GB | — | |
| AT&T Prepaid Unlimited | $65.00/mo. or $50.00/mo. with autopay | Unlimited | — | |
| AT&T Prepaid 8GB 3-month | $33.00/mo. when you prepay $99.00 for 3 months | 8 GB | — | |
| AT&T Prepaid 8 GB 12-month | $25.00/mo. when you prepay $300.00 for 12 months | 8 GB | — |
*Plus taxes and fees.
Data effective as of post date. Offers and availability may vary by location and are subject to change.
AT&T Wireless has nationwide coverage, wide reliability
AT&T Wireless covers the vast majority of the continental US, Hawaii, and Puerto Rico. There’s also plenty of coverage in Mexico, Canada, and Alaska.
In theory, you can check out AT&T’s coverage map to see what service is like in your area. But you’ll have to be patient when you zoom in—the local map colors take a very, very, very long time to load. (We’re still waiting.)
AT&T Wireless cellphones and devices
With AT&T Wireless, you can bring your own device or pick one (or a few!) to go with your plan. AT&T offers installment plans on tons of new devices, including the Apple iPhone, Samsung Galaxy, and Google Pixel.
And if you want to step outside the realm of cell phones on your AT&T Wireless plan, you can also get installment plans on tablets, smartwatches, and hotspots.
Installment plans are a great way to get into a cool device right away—but keep in mind that AT&T offers the best deals only to “well-qualified customers.” We’re not psychics, but it sounds like a credit score check is in your future.
Bring or trade in your own device
You can check your existing device’s eligibility by using AT&T’s device ID tool. If your phone is compatible, you’ll receive a new SIM card when you sign up for an AT&T Wireless plan. We recommend backing up any important information on your phone before installing the new card.
AT&T offers a lot of different trade-in deals for customers upgrading their phones to newer models. Want an iPhone 15? With an eligible trade-in, you could get $1000 off your purchase. More of a Samsung person? (We get it.) You could get a new Samsung Galaxy S23 for up to $1000 off with an eligible trade-in.
Signing up for a new plan is a great excuse to upgrade, so definitely check to see what deals you can get before you commit.
AT&T Wireless hotspot options
| Package | Price (one line)* | Monthly hotspot data cap | Details |
|---|---|---|---|
| AT&T 4GB Plan | $50.00/mo. | 4GB | |
| AT&T Unlimited Starter® SL** | $65.99/mo. | 5GB | |
| AT&T Unlimited Extra® EL† | $75.99/mo. | 30GB | |
| AT&T Unlimited Premium PL† | $85.99/mo. | 60GB |
*Price with one line
**Unlimited talk, text, & data. Nationwide coverage. Also unlimited talk, text, & high-speed data in 19 Latin American countries.
†Unlimited talk, text, & data. Nationwide coverage.
Data as of post date. Offers and availability may vary by location and are subject to change.
If you’re working on the road or regularly road-tripping with your family, mobile hotspots can be a great way to quickly get multiple devices online. While AT&T’s introductory wireless plans have barebone monthly data allotments, they’ll be fine if you simply need hotspot access for yourself. If you regularly have to work on the road or travel with others, you’ll want to upgrade to Unlimited Extra or Unlimited Premium.
AT&T Wireless FAQ
How much does AT&T Wireless cost?
When you bring your own device, AT&T Wireless plans start at $50 per month for one line with 4 GB of data. Unlimited AT&T Wireless costs between $65.99 and $85.99 per month. The price of each line goes down when you get more than one.
Is AT&T as good as Verizon?
AT&T plans tend to be cheaper than Verizon plans, but AT&T has fewer perks—Verizon offers Hulu, Disney+, ESPN+, and more with most of its plans.
Does AT&T offer free phones?
AT&T will sometimes offer special deals for free phones. When we wrote this article, AT&T offered the Google Pixel 8 Pro for free when you got a new line or upgraded an existing one with an eligible unlimited plan.
Does AT&T have a 55-plus plan?
If you live in Florida, you can get AT&T Unlimited 55+, which comes with one line for $60 or two lines for $80 per month. That’s a $5 discount for one line, but a total of $40 discount for two lines.
To get this senior discount, you’ll need to visit an AT&T store to verify your eligibility for this offer. And again, this plan is only available to Florida residents, so if you live elsewhere in the US, here’s one more reason to be a snowbird.
How much does AT&T cost a month for one line?
One line can cost between $50 and $85.99 per month with AT&T Wireless. Check out our AT&T Wireless plans table for more information.
Does AT&T Wireless have an activation fee?
AT&T charges a $30 activation fee when you activate a new line or switch to a new device, although this fee could be as little as $20 in Puerto Rico on secondary lines or as much as $45 for subsidized devices committed to 1- or 2-year term contracts.
The good news? You can waive this fee if your employer offers an eligible employee discount or if you use an existing device and sign up online.
Why you should trust us
CableTV.com experts spent hundred of hours digging into AT&T’s services. We compare features, pricing, and promotions, and we offer our analysis to enhance and inform our readers’ buying experience. For more on our methodology, see our How We Rank page.
