Best Cheap Internet Packages for 2021

We’ve gathered up the best affordable internet plans from major providers across the US—each one costs $50 or less per month. Our top recommendation is Xfinity Performance Select because of its 100 Mbps download speed, high data allowance, and affordable price.

Jump to:

• Xfinity
• Verizon Fios
• Cox
• CenturyLink
• Mediacom
• Spectrum
• AT&T
• FAQ

Best cheap Wi-Fi plans

Data effective as of post date. Offers and availability may vary by location and are subject to change.
* for the first 12 mos. w/ 1-yr. agreement
^† w/ Auto Pay + taxes & equipment charges
^‡ for 12 months w/1-yr. service agr.
¶ for 12 months plus taxes & equip. fee. $10/mo equip. fee applies.
˚ For the first 12 months.
• For the first 12 months. Standard rates apply after year 1. No additional charge for modem; other equipment, install, taxes, fees & surcharges may apply. Speeds may not be available in your area.
§ Rate requires paperless billing and excludes taxes. Additional fees apply. Speeds may not be available in your area.

We’ve chosen widely available internet service providers (ISPs) that offer at least 50 Mbps on their less-expensive plans. You could save money if you stooped to lower speeds, but bandwidth matters, and a few saved bucks aren’t going to soothe the pain of a connection that buffers or drops out during your Netflix marathons. We want to get you cheap internet and cable, not a headache.

Unfortunately, “widely available” doesn’t always translate to “anywhere near you.” Pop your zip code in below, and we’ll tell you which providers service your area. No worries—we don’t keep your data or send it to anyone else.

Recommended cheap Wi-Fi providers

• Xfinity—Up to 100 Mbps for $34.99/mo. for the first 12 mos. w/ 1-yr. agreement
• Verizon Fios—Up to 100 Mbps for $39.99/mo. w/ Auto Pay + taxes & equipment charges
• Cox—Up to 30 Mbps for $39.99/mo. for 12 months w/1-yr. service agr.
• AT&T—Up to 100 Mbps for $45.00/mo. for 12 months plus taxes & equip. fee. $10/mo equip. fee applies.
• Mediacom—Up to 100 Mbps for $49.95/mo. for the first 12 months.
• Spectrum—Up to 200 Mbps for $49.99/mo. for the first 12 months. (Up to 100 Mbps in some areas.)
• CenturyLink—Up to 100 Mbps for $50.00/mo.^§

^§ Rate requires paperless billing and excludes taxes. Additional fees apply. Speeds may not be available in your area.

You shouldn’t have to pay through the nose for good internet, and these ISPs recognize that. Read on to learn about any standout deals, equipment, or add-ons you can get with these cheap internet Wi-Fi providers.

Xfinity bumped up its speeds in many areas of the US, which means you might be able to snag 100 Mbps for only $34.99 per month.* For the record, that’s an amazing price among cheap Wi-Fi plans.

And right now, Xfinity is pairing its internet-only plans with its new streaming device and service Xfinity Flex. Sign up with Xfinity Performance, and you’ll get a Flex unit and its companion voice remote for no extra charge.

Xfinity Flex is no Roku, but free stuff is rarely a bad thing.

* for the first 12 mos. w/ 1-yr. agreement

We can describe Verizon Fios Internet 200/200 in three words: fast, fast, and fast.

Since this cheap internet plan is fiber-based, your internet will run on some of the fastest and most reliable internet lines in the US. Forget about internet that slows down during peak usage hours—Verizon Fios will snatch the word “buffering” right out of your vocabulary.

And Verizon Fios boldly touts its matched download and upload speeds in the plan name—as it should. Many ISPs don’t even tell you what their upload speeds are because they’re so darn slow. But with Verizon Fios Internet 200/200, you won’t have to sit on your hands for hours waiting for a simple video or large photo file to upload.

Instead, you can look forward to getting all your cool Tik Tok videos online ASAP. Verizon Fios will put you this much closer to being the next big thing.

AT&T Internet could give you up to 100 Mbps for less than $50 per month^¶—but it might have only lower speeds in your area. Be sure to verify if you’re getting a good internet speed before you sign up.

If you’re lucky enough to live in an area where AT&T Internet uses a fiber connection instead of a DSL connection, you can trade up the AT&T Internet plan for the Internet 300 plan, which offers 300 Mbps for only $35 per month.^¶

Check the speeds you’ll get with AT&T Internet in your area before you decide on this cheap internet plan. But if the speeds are a good fit, we say jump on it.

^¶ for 12 months plus taxes & equip. fee. $10/mo equip. fee applies.

While this is the slowest of the cheap Wi-Fi deals on our list, you shouldn’t overlook it. The FCC recommends 25 Mbps or higher for broadband internet, and Cox Internet Essential 50 is a comfortable fit for that.

As long as you aren’t trying to support multiple streaming videos at once, this speed will work just fine if you have only one or two people in your home.

We recommend Mediacom Internet 100 even though there’s an even cheaper internet plan that offers 60 Mbps for $19.99 per month.˚ This is because the cheaper plan comes with a nasty little 200 GB data cap.

Mediacom Internet 100 comes with a 1,000 GB data cap instead. That’s much more reasonable—you can watch Netflix and scroll through Instagram without worrying about being penalized for going over your data allowance.

Don’t skimp with Mediacom. Our recommended plan may cost $30 more per month than the starter plan, but you’ll save yourself a lot of headaches (and overage fees) in the long run.

˚ For the first 12 months.

Spectrum Internet is the most affordable of Spectrum’s three internet plans. And even though this cheap Wi-Fi plan costs nearly $50 per month, you’ll save a bunch on Spectrum’s equipment.

In fact, Spectrum will even throw in a Wi-Fi router with your plan for zero more dollars. Since most providers lease those at about $10 per month, you’re getting some serious savings on cheap Wi-Fi.

CenturyLink’s Simply Unlimited Internet is among the more expensive of our best cheap Wi-Fi plans, but it’s still a solid choice—as long as you can get those 100 Mbps download speeds.

CenturyLink will hook you up with the fastest speed it offers in your area (up to 100 Mbps) for $50 per month^§. But if you’re in an area where CenturyLink offers only, say, 15 Mbps download speeds, you still pay the same price.

You should definitely check if CenturyLink offers a good internet speed in your neighborhood before you sign up.

§ Rate requires paperless billing and excludes taxes. Additional fees apply. Speeds may not be available in your area.

Ways to save on internet

If you want to pay even less for internet, here are some ways to lower your monthly bill.

Avoid overage fees

Many internet providers have data caps—and if you go over, you have to pay up big time. Read our data caps guide to see which providers have caps and how to avoid overage charges.

Buy your modem/router

Your internet provider may charge you $10 a month or more to rent your internet equipment. But some providers let you bring your own equipment instead. Check out our recommendations for modems and routers:

• Best CenturyLink-compatible modems
• Best Cox-compatible modems
• Best Optimum-compatible modems
• Best Spectrum-compatible modems
• Best Xfinity-compatible modems

Get government assistance

Programs like Emergency Broadband Benefit save low-income households up to $50 per month off internet. To learn more and see if you qualify, check out “Free and Low-income Internet Plans.”

Sign up for a slower internet package

This suggestion breaks our heart, but if you choose a slower internet plan, you’ll probably pay less on internet. To see if you can get by with slower internet speeds, check out our internet speed guide.

Our final take

Like anything else, you get what you pay for with internet service. That said, even though most US cities have only a couple of providers to choose from, cheap Wi-Fi deals are more attainable than you might think.

If it’s available in your area, fiber internet is our number one recommendation for optimal speed/price return, followed by cable internet. But if DSL is the only choice on the block, don’t despair: it still works just fine for being “old” tech, and it’s almost always the cheapest option available.

Our methodology

For this article, we reviewed all available internet plans from major internet providers. We narrowed the list down to those that cost less than $50 per month, offer at least 50 Mbps download speeds (a solid data rate for home internet), and have data allowances of at least 1,000 GB per month.

If you’d like to learn more about how we choose our top plans, check out our How We Rank page.

Cheap internet FAQ

Who is the cheapest internet provider?

Xfinity has a reasonably priced broadband internet plan with a 1,200 GB data cap—which is totally workable, even for Netflix lovers. This cheap internet plan, Xfinity Performance Select, is $34.99 per month (for the first 12 mos. w/ 1-yr. agreement) for 100 Mbps. That’s nice and fast.

There are certainly cheaper plans out there, but we don’t feel comfortable recommending anything with slower-than-broadband speeds and low data caps that you’re as likely to hit as Shaq’s head is a doorframe.

Save yourself that headache and go with a fast, reliable plan that’s not built to gouge you with extra fees.

Can low-income families get free internet?

Low-income families can often get assistance from the government to pay for their internet costs. Many ISPs even offer special discounted packages for low-income families, students, and seniors.

Check out our guide to low income internet plans to learn about how you can sign up for these plans—and which ones will save you the most money.

What’s the difference between Wi-Fi and internet?

Wi-Fi is internet service broadcast wirelessly, usually with an in-home router. Wi-Fi is a common term to replace internet, but it’s just the way many people access their internet service. The internet itself is this cool place we’re hanging out in right now.

How can I get wireless internet without cable TV?

If your internet provider used to require you to bundle your internet with cable TV, it almost certainly doesn’t anymore. You can call your provider and cancel your TV subscription—be sure to return your cable equipment so you don’t incur any extra fees.

And if you’re ready for a new internet provider, you can find other options in your area by entering your zip code below: