If you’ve been following the news recently, you’ve probably seen all the headlines about inflation. From groceries to gas, it feels like everything’s getting more expensive these days. But is this true when it comes to home internet prices?
CableTV.com dug into our internet plan database and crunched the numbers to discover the full story. Here’s what we found out about internet costs.
Methodology
At CableTV.com, we’ve been covering home internet, cable TV, and streaming services since 2007. For this piece, we charted the prices for 71 internet plans across 24 major internet service providers (ISPs) since 2020.
We used the following criteria for our search strategy:
Plan type
For each provider, we tracked the prices for the same budget, midrange, and premium internet plans over time. Typically, we defined each tier as an ISP’s 100 Mbps, 300 Mbps, and 1 Gbps plan. If an ISP’s plans changed or didn’t fall within these tiers, we defaulted to how the provider had each plan priced at the time.
Sticker price
We used the advertised price for each plan as our data point. Of course, this isn’t the full picture when it comes to home internet costs. Many ISPs use promotional pricing, which increases your internet price after 12 months.
Given regional pricing and promotional period differences among ISPs over the past five years, it’d be more than challenging to keep non-sticker pricing consistent across all 24 ISPs in this study. Still, we think that sticker price is a useful historical indicator that shows what ISPs felt customers would pay over time.
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Is internet getting more expensive than ever? Here’s what we found out.
One fact was clear no matter how you sliced it: internet is getting more affordable for home subscribers. In the chart below, we’ve tracked internet price trends by technology type.
Home internet prices have been going down
As shocking as it may seem, average internet prices have actually gone down by nearly $15 per month since 2020.
| Year | Average internet plan monthly price* |
|---|---|
| 2020 | $67.03 |
| 2021 | $63.16 |
| 2022 | $57.91 |
| 2023 | $57.25 |
| 2024 | $52.86 |
*Excluding premium satellite internet plans.
Average home internet plan prices (by price tier among major ISPs)
| 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| AT&T (budget) | $50.00 | $35.00 | $55.00 | $55.00 | $55.00 |
| AT&T (median) | n/a | $45.00 | $65.00 | $65.00 | $65.00 |
| AT&T (premium) | $49.99 | $60.00 | $80.00 | $80.00 | $80.00 |
| Verizon Fios (budget) | $39.99 | $39.99 | $49.99 | $49.99 | $49.99 |
| Verizon Fios (median) | $59.99 | $59.99 | $69.99 | $69.99 | $74.99 |
| Verizon Fios (premium) | $79.99 | $79.99 | $89.99 | $89.99 | $89.99 |
| Cox (budget) | $59.99 | $59.99 | $49.99 | $49.99 | $50.00 |
| Cox (median) | $79.99 | $79.99 | $59.99 | $59.99 | $70.00 |
| Cox (premium) | $99.99 | $99.99 | $99.99 | $99.99 | $110.00 |
| Xfinity (budget) | $34.99 | $34.99 | $19.99 | $19.99 | $19.99 |
| Xfinity (median) | $64.99 | $44.99 | $39.99 | $25.00 | $35.00 |
| Xfinity (premium) | $84.99 | $84.99 | $79.99 | $60.00 | $65.00 |
| Spectrum (budget) | $49.99 | $49.99 | $49.99 | $49.99 | $50.00 |
| Spectrum (median) | $69.99 | $69.99 | $69.99 | $69.99 | n/a |
| Spectrum (premium) | $109.99 | $109.99 | $79.99 | $89.99 | $70.00 |
| Optimum (budget) | $39.99 | $45.00 | $39.99 | $40.00 | $40.00 |
| Optimum (median) | n/a | $65.00 | $59.99 | $60.00 | $50.00 |
| Optimum (premium) | $69.99 | $80.00 | $79.99 | $70.00 | $60.00 |
We’d attribute this trend to several factors. As ISPs and customers transitioned from DSL to cable and fiber internet, their networks became similarly well-established. Cable and fiber internet aren’t the new kids on the block anymore, and customers won’t pay a premium for commonplace technology.
In the past few years, increased competition has also massively reduced pricing. As part of our annual customer satisfaction survey series, we talk to thousands of real-life internet customers to learn how they feel about their internet plans.
5G home internet providers like Verizon and T-Mobile 5G Home Internet have become viable alternatives for former cable internet customers in terms of performance and price. According to J.D. Power’s 2024 Residential Internet Survey, wireless internet customers typically pay $72 monthly compared to wired internet customers, who have an average $81 monthly bill. As a result, the best ISPs have adjusted their pricing accordingly to keep customers around.
Hear from real home internet customers
[T-Mobile provides] a very reliable network at a pretty competitive price. They're certainly cheaper than my previous service provider, and I've noticed fewer service outages with them as well.
Home internet’s just another utility
Between school, work, and play, fast internet service has become increasingly essential for any household. These days, home internet isn’t a boutique service—it’s as important as phone, power, or electric service to keep your home operating smoothly.
CableTV.com’s historical pricing data for internet plans also reflects the acceleration of these trends post-pandemic. Since 2020, the number of premium internet plans offered by ISPs—which we’ve defined as costing more than $60 monthly—has decreased by nearly 17%.
| Year | Percentage of premium internet plans offered by ISPs |
|---|---|
| 2020 | 47% |
| 2021 | 45% |
| 2022 | 44% |
| 2023 | 40% |
| 2024 | 32% |
The downward pricing trajectory for gigabit and midrange internet plans, alongside increasing home internet demands, helped fuel this trend.
100 Mbps used to be enough bandwidth for most people, and faster plans were accordingly priced. For example, Xfinity’s 300 Mbps plan had a starting monthly price of $64.99 in 2020. But in 2025, you’ll quickly hit a 300 Mbps internet plan’s ceiling if more than a few family members want to watch 4K Netflix, manage their smart home devices, or take Zoom calls.
Thanks to factors like growing network capacity and the emergence of fiber internet, multi-gigabit internet has increasingly become the baseline for a premium internet plan by cost and performance. These plans sport transfer speeds of more than 2,000 Mbps and have price tags that regularly blow past the $150 mark.
Thankfully, these high-end plans have brought other prices down across the board. By comparison, Xfinity’s same 300 Mbps plan costs only $35.00 monthly today. (But some notable outliers have bucked these trends. Google Fiber’s 1 Gbps plan has had the same $70 price tag since 2012, which underlines Google Fiber’s sterling reputation and niche footprint.)
Customers are watching their bills (and spending more)
That said, there are always a few bad apples in the bunch, and it’s no different among ISPs. To pick a few examples, AT&T and Verizon’s prices are consistently higher than other fiber ISPs, while Cox is one of the few ISPs that has increased its prices over time.
For these customers, the upsides of faster internet performance or a lack of alternatives likely make them stick around as subscribers. However, it doesn’t mean they have to like the price they’re paying for internet service.
But as the Tech Policy Institute pointed out, customers have also been increasing the amount they spend on home internet. Average household internet spending increased from around $55 monthly in 2016 to more than $70 per month in 2022.
This likely reflects home internet’s continued necessity, as few households with dozens of internet-enabled devices want to skimp on bandwidth. Similarly, other subscribers may lack ISP alternatives when their bill increases after their promotional pricing period ends. In this scenario, customers will typically have to grin and bear these price hikes.
Hear from real home internet customers
[Cox has] a near monopoly in my area regarding speed, so they just raise the price nearly every year because they know you have little choice.
What it means for home internet customers
Take a breather from all the hype and headlines about inflation—average internet prices have gone down dramatically over the past five years. As fiber internet and cable internet alternatives become increasingly commonplace, your dollar will likely continue to go far, whether it’s from providers increasing download speeds or lowering prices to remain competitive.
Of course, ISPs aren’t a charity, and many continue to use methods like promotional pricing to raise your bill. But when it comes to the price of the internet plan, prices have gone down, and expect them to stay down, so shop around if your ISP’s prices have remained painfully stuck in 2020.
