Best No-Contract Internet Providers of 2025
We found which providers will give you the fastest download speeds without long-term agreements.
Can I get no-contract internet?
The short answer is—yes, you can get internet without a contract. Our top no-contract internet providers all have low prices and allow you to bow out whenever you want.
Optimum offers fast packages, while Astound and AT&T have affordable fiber internet plans. And though CenturyLink and T-Mobile aren’t our first picks for no-contract internet, they may have some affordably priced, gigabit-speed internet in your area.
We’ll also cover additional prepaid no-contract internet plans if you need something short-term or want to avoid hoops like internet plans that require a credit check. Read on for an in-depth look at the no-contract internet plans these providers offer, and find the most flexible internet plan for you.
Best no-contract internet plans and providers
| Plan | Price | Max download speed | Data cap | Details |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| AT&T | $55.00–$245.00/mo. | 100–5,000 Mbps | 1 TB–unlimited |
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| CenturyLink | $50.00–$75.00/mo. | 100–940 Mbps | Unlimited |
|
| Optimum | $40.00–$280.00/mo. | 300–8,000 Mbps | Unlimited |
|
| Astound | $30.00–$175.00/mo. | 300–5,000 Mbps | Unlimited |
|
| T-Mobile 5G Home Internet | $35.00–$70.00/mo. | 87-415 Mbps | Unlimited |
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Data effective as of publish date. Not all offers available in all areas.
With Optimum, you’ll have affordable no-contract cable internet plans that come with excellent minimum download speeds. Although Astound has limited availability, it still offers some of the cheapest internet plans around.
AT&T and CenturyLink have excellent fiber internet plans. CenturyLink also has decent, if occasionally inconsistent, DSL networks, while T-Mobile has great pricing and inconsistent availability. With all three providers, you’ll also have peace of mind since there are no scheduled price increases.
Keep scrolling for details on the best no-contract plans, or check your ZIP code to double-check which internet service providers (ISPs) offer service in your area:
Editor’s choice: AT&T Fiber
Pros
- Excellent internet plan prices
- Fiber internet support
Cons
- Limited fiber availability
AT&T is one of the biggest ISPs to adopt no-contract pricing, and we’re always fans of simpler monthly bills. AT&T also finished in the top 10 on our annual customer satisfaction survey, so you won’t have to worry about serious customer service problems.
If you’re in an area with AT&T Fiber coverage, we’d recommend AT&T’s fiber internet plans. AT&T 5 Gig Internet is one of the fastest fiber internet plans from a nationwide ISP, and you’ll get equal upload and download speeds of up to 5,000 Mbps on a wired connection.
We always recommend fiber internet when it’s available because you’ll get best-in-class performance compared to cable or DSL internet. AT&T’s 300 Mbps and 500 Mbps fiber internet plans offer excellent performance for their prices and they’re great fits for most households.
As of August 2023, AT&T has started to migrate its DSL customers off of its DSL network. If you still want AT&T internet but don’t live in an AT&T fiber area, check out AT&T Internet Air. At the same price as AT&T’s old DSL plan and with nearly the same download and upload speeds, Internet Air offers up a solid alternative—if you’re okay with slightly slower speeds.
Fastest: Optimum
Pros
- Contract buyout up to $500
- Affordable price
- Reputation for reliable online gaming
- Free equipment
Cons
- Limited fiber availability
If you want no-contract internet because you hate to be tied down, Optimum offers tons of freedom and great download speeds for the price.
Optimum will give you up to $500 to escape your current contract and switch to its plans. You won’t have to worry about going over a data allowance—something that can cost you a lot in hidden fees with other providers.
Optimum is also one of the best ISPs for gaming, thanks to its low latency and jitter. Now, if only this author lived in the greater New York region where you can get this deal, their headshot ratio would be peachy keen.
We’d recommend the Optimum 300 plan, which offers excellent 300 Mbps download speeds for only $40 per month. It’s a great deal on fast speeds—the average internet cost is $50 per month.
Best value: Astound
Pros
- Incredibly affordable prices for gig speeds
- No data caps
Cons
- Limited availability
Astound offers internet service in several large cities, and its gig plan is a steal wherever you live. It runs $60 monthly, and we’d recommend it if your neighborhood has Astound coverage.
With Astound, you also don’t have to worry about going over a data cap while you’re cruising with such high internet speeds. With Astound’s unlimited data, you can stream videos to your heart’s content.
Astound’s biggest issue is its extremely limited availability, with coverage in only six cities (Chicago, Philadelphia, Boston, Washington, DC, New York City, and the Lehigh Valley region). If you don’t live in an Astound area, but you want those fast speeds, you’ll be out of luck.
Cheapest: CenturyLink
Pros
- Simple flat-rate pricing
- Excellent fiber internet plans
Cons
- Unpredictable DSL availability
- Lackluster customer service
With CenturyLink you get simple pricing and great fiber internet plans, along with a dated DSL network and spotty fiber availability.
CenturyLink charges $55 per month for its Simply Unlimited Internet DSL plans and $50 to $75 monthly for fiber internet coverage.
We’d recommend CenturyLink’s fiber internet plan if it’s available at your address. The plan offers excellent maximum upload and download speeds of 940 Mbps, along with a free combo modem/wireless router.
But if CenturyLink hasn’t installed fiber in your neighborhood yet, you’ll be limited to the ISP’s DSL plans. As with most DSL networks, CenturyLink’s Simply Unlimited Internet plans have hit-or-miss options because your download speed depends on CenturyLink’s support in your neighborhood.
Based on your address, you could be paying $55 for a 100 Mbps plan or a 15 Mbps DSL plan. We’d only recommend CenturyLink DSL if you don’t need super-fast internet and qualify for at least CenturyLink’s 40 Mbps DSL plan.
Also, CenturyLink landed well behind AT&T in our annual customer satisfaction survey. If you run into technical problems, be prepared for longer customer wait times (or learn how to troubleshoot your CenturyLink connection).
Most flexible: T-Mobile 5G Home Internet
Pros
- Unlimited data
- No contracts
Cons
- Inconsistent availability
- Variable download speeds
T-Mobile’s home internet service uses its 5G cellular data network to deliver internet to your home. We love T-Mobile’s straightforward pricing, as its base Rely plan costs only $50 monthly. If you bundle it with an eligible T-Mobile plan, the carrier drops an additional $10 off the monthly price tag (or $20 if it’s bundled with T-Mobile’s higher-tier 5G Home Internet plans).
But as with other 5G internet services, download speeds can vary depending on T-Mobile’s 5G coverage and network traffic in your area. And unlike cable or fiber internet providers, T-Mobile’s availability varies widely depending on your address.
What to look for in no-contract internet providers
When you’re looking for a no-contract internet provider, you’re likely to run into some jargon. Let’s break down what these phrases mean.
Prepaid internet plans
Providers including Xfinity and Cox have launched prepaid internet plans along with their standard contract internet plans.
Prepaid internet plans offer no-contract flexibility, so you’ll pay month by month and won’t be locked into a lengthy service agreement that includes credit checks or annual price hikes. But we’d recommend prepaid internet plans only if your household has basic internet needs like web browsing or checking emails.
Prepaid plans typically come with low download speeds meant for households that need internet on a budget. For instance, Xfinity Prepaid Internet has weekly and monthly pricing, but the plan comes with speeds up to 200 Mbps. At these speeds, your internet will slow down if more than a few people are streaming 4K videos or downloading files.
Download speeds
Download speed refers to how much information you can download every second. The higher the number, the faster your browser can open a webpage.
The FCC set 100 Mbps download speed as the standard for broadband internet. But if you have smart home devices or a lot of people using the internet in your home, you’ll want more than the broadband standard.
A plan with a 200 Mbps download speed is more than enough for most households, but you can get plans as fast as 1,000 Mbps.
Upload speeds
Upload speed refers to how much information you can upload every second. The higher the number, the faster you can upload pictures and videos to the internet.
The FCC set 20 Mbps upload speed as the standard for broadband internet. Unless you’re uploading large pictures and videos to the internet (or a lot of little ones at once), you probably won’t need more than that.
Data cap
A data cap—or data allowance, as many ISPs call it so it doesn’t seem like a bad thing—is how much information your ISP allows you to upload and download every month.
There are usually penalties for going over data caps, such as fees or slower internet speeds.
But most data caps are about 1,000 GB (or 1 TB), which is more than three times what the average US household needs. Unless a data cap is under 500 GB, you probably won’t have to worry about it very often.
