Xfinity vs. Optimum Internet

If you’re in the greater New York region, Xfinity mostly takes the win over Optimum thanks to its comparable internet plans and superior customer service. But Optimum has upsides like a growing fiber internet network and simpler national pricing compared to Xfinity.

Xfinity vs. Optimum internet pros and cons

Jump to:

• Deals and promotions
• Head-to-head comparison
• Packages and pricing
• Features

Deals and promotions

Xfinity internet deals

Xfinity’s best internet deals include student and military discounts. Check out our Xfinity deals guide for the latest Xfinity offers.

Optimum internet deals

Optimum’s offers regularly include a Visa gift card worth up to $300, free Wi-Fi equipment, a free month of internet service, and up to a year of free Max™ (formerly HBO Max). Visit our Optimum deals guide to learn about Optimum’s current offers.

Compare Xfinity and Optimum head to head

Data effective as of post date. Not all offers available in all areas.
*For the first 12 to 24 months.
**With a 2-year agreement.

Xfinity has the brand-name recognition compared to Optimum, and when it comes to value, it (mostly) wins out over Optimum.

With Xfinity, you’ll have thorough customer service, long guarantees, and a great optional modem/router. But Xfinity’s extra fees and complicated pricing agreements create more work than we’d like to see for an internet plan.

By comparison, Optimum’s internet plans come with lower fees and simple first-year pricing compared to Xfinity. Optimum also has a fiber internet network with fast upload speeds that’ll make it easier to transfer files and take Zoom calls.

Packages and pricing

Xfinity and Optimum’s internet packages offer similar download speeds, but there’s a lot of differences when you get into the fine print. Here’s what you need to know about Optimum and Xfinity’s internet plans.

Xfinity internet packages

Xfinity’s plans vary between its three regions (Northeast, Central, and West), while Optimum’s are mainly the same between its two regions (West and East).

Optimum recently expanded its reach to 17 new states (anywhere previously covered by Suddenlink), but its original territory of New York, Connecticut, and New Jersey intersected with Xfinity’s Northeast region.

If you live in that three-state footprint (although, watch out: it actually only covers very little of New York), or elsewhere on the East coast, like West Virginia, your plans will look something like the table below.

*For the first 12 months with a 1-year agreement.
**For 12 months with 1-year term contract. Includes $10/mo automatic payments and paperless billing discount. Taxes and equipment not included.
†For 36 months. No term contract. Includes $10/mo automatic payments and paperless billing discount. Taxes and equipment not included.

Data effective as of publish date. Offers and availability may vary by location and are subject to change.

Xfinity’s streamlined its plans in its Northeast region to better compete with competitors like Optimum. You’ll get a lengthy 24-month price guarantee on all four plans, so you won’t have to worry about a scheduled price increase after your first year. If you upgrade above the Fast plan, you’ll also get contract-free internet service and free unlimited data.

Outside of Xfinity’s Northeast region, you’ll be paying slightly more for internet service. But on Xfinity’s mid-range and higher-end internet plans, you’ll still get bonuses like two-year price guarantees, no contracts, free Wi-Fi equipment, and unlimited data. Unfortunately, Xfinity’s entry-level 75 Mbps and 200 Mbps plans still have contracts and data caps.

For most households, we recommend Fast. At $35.00 per month for the first two years with 400 Mbps download speeds, the plan has enough bandwidth for households who want to watch the latest episode of Yellowjackets or download the occasional PlayStation 5 game.

If you live in the Central (for example, Arkansas) or West (for example, California and Texas) regions, your options will look more like these two tables—click on each region name to view the corresponding table.

In any region, Xfinity’s upload speeds are pretty low compared to Optimum’s. Optimum’s lowest upload speed is 20 Mbps, and most of Xfinity’s cable plans can’t match it.

If you’re in the market for high-end speeds, Optimum has much better deals for its 2,000 Mbps ($100.00 monthly) and 5,000 Mbps ($165.00 monthly) plans, although their availability is super limited.

With pricing, your mileage will vary by region: while Xfinity’s Northeast 400 Mbps plan ($35.00 monthly) is better than Optimum’s 300 Mbps cable and fiber plans, the comparable Xfinity plans in the Central and West regions (starting at $50.00 monthly) aren’t as appealing.

So with that in mind, while we’d generally recommend Optimum over Xfinity, we especially recommend it if you live in the Central or West regions where prices are higher.

Optimum internet packages

Data effective as of publish date. Offers and availability may vary by location and are subject to change.
* For 1 year. Plus taxes, equip. charges and fees.
**Only available in Optimum West region.

Optimum’s cable internet plans offer decent value and speed options. Although Optimum lowered its cable internet upload speeds for less-than-clear reasons, you’ll still get faster upload times across the board compared to Xfinity. You’ll get the most from Optimum’s cable internet upload speeds if you’re regularly taking Zoom calls (you’ll get through that full day of calls, bud) or uploading files.

Optimum’s biggest advantage versus Xfinity is its growing fiber internet network. Although it’s not as widely available as its cable internet plans, Optimum’s fiber internet packages are affordable and priced in line with its standard internet plans. Xfinity’s only fiber internet plan costs $299.95 per month, which’ll put it out of range for most households.

Optimum’s fiber internet plans have equal upload and download speeds that’ll be a benefit if you’re regularly doing large cloud backups or uploading large files for work. Fiber internet offers the fastest performance compared to cable or DSL internet, and we’d recommend Optimum’s fiber internet plans if they’re in your neighborhood.

Our top Optimum internet pick is Optimum 300. At $40.00 per month for your first year with 300 Mbps download speeds, the plan has enough bandwidth to handle downloads, Hulu nights, or video calls for most families. If your neighborhood has Optimum fiber coverage, we’d recommend getting Fiber Internet 300 instead.

Equipment

Xfinity and Optimum offer their own modem/routers. Xfinity’s xFi Gateway ($15 per month, free with certain internet plans) integrates with other Xfinity services and hardware like the xFi Pods. If you’re planning to get additional Xfinity products, the xFi Gateway’s integrations could be a plus if you don’t want to worry about the installation process.

Optimum’s included Gateway 6 doesn’t have the level of hardware integrations like Xfinity. But—as with the xFi Gateway—the Gateway 6 comes with Wi-Fi 6 support, which provides faster Wi-Fi performance.

Both gateway devices are convenient options if you want someone else to take care of your internet equipment. However, we’d recommend buying your own Optimum-compatible or Xfinity-compatible equipment if you’d prefer to fully manage your home network.

Internet price after 12 months

Price increases after your first year of service are standard practice at most ISPs, and neither Optimum nor Xfinity cover themselves in glory here.

All of Optimum’s internet prices more than double after your first year, and the ISP’s non-promotional prices are higher than Xfinity’s pricing. Xfinity’s standard prices aren’t much better than Optimum, but Xfinity at least tapers off its price hikes starting with the Superfast Plan.

In addition to being a pain to deal with, Optimum’s second-year price hike essentially turns the ISP from an affordable to a premium internet service. Optimum’s entry-level Optimum 300 package increases from $40.00 to $109.99 monthly, making it a budget-breaking price hike for most households.

We’d also point out that Verizon Fios, a big Optimum competitor in the greater New York region, did away with second-year price increases on its internet plans. Internet plans without a surprise price increase? What a concept!

Data effective as of publish date. Offers and availability may vary by location and are subject to change.

Data effective as of publish date. Offers and availability may vary by location and are subject to change.

Customer satisfaction

Xfinity finished in seventh place during our annual ISP customer satisfaction survey. Xfinity’s customers were big fans of the provider’s internet performance and speed.

But Optimum didn’t fare as well as Xfinity, landing in 16th place out of 20 ISPs. Optimum dragged behind in every category, including internet speed, customer support, and value for price.

Data cap

Optimum doesn’t have a data cap, so you can stream 4K video or albums off Spotify to your heart’s content. We’re always fans of ISPs that give you unlimited data right off the bat. Especially in larger households, it’s easy to blow past a data cap if multiple people are regularly downloading large games or streaming video.

Xfinity’s standard internet plans also have unlimited data, so you won’t have to deal with overage fees. Xfinity’s budget internet plans still have a 1.2 TB data cap, but you can get unlimited data for an additional $30 per month. Xfinity won’t charge overage fees the first time data-capped customers exceed 1.2 TB of monthly data. Afterwards, it’ll cost $10 for every additional 50 GB of data you use with an overage fee limit of $100 per month.

Final take: Is Xfinity or Optimum better?

With Xfinity, you’ll have great customer support, but the ISP’s upload speeds are average. Xfinity’s narrowed the gap with Optimum thanks to add-ons like free unlimited data and two-year price guarantees, but we wish Xfinity would adopt them across all its plans. Optimum’s growing fiber internet network is a huge plus for customers, but its massive second-year price hikes are an equally big eyesore.

If you’re in the greater New York area, we’d recommend Xfinity over Optimum thanks to its longer price guarantees, better customer service, and lower prices. But if you’re looking for fiber internet or you’re outside of the New York region, there’s still a lot to like with Optimum internet.

Xfinity vs. Optimum internet FAQ

Methodology

Our experts crunched the numbers, rating Xfinity and Optimum on bang for your buck, reliability, features, and customer satisfaction. Then we matched up both providers head to head to give a clearer picture of their strengths and weaknesses. For more information on our methodology, check out our How We Rank page.