Are Boost’s budget plans worth it?

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  Mulit-line savings

  AT&T

  AT&T’s network isn’t the fastest, but for many people, it’s the best choice with strong nationwide coverage, including some of the best rural coverage. AT&T’s plans are a bit on the pricey side unless you’re bringing multiple lines, but with tons of data and solid international options, AT&T can still be the right pick for some.

  Pros

  • Strong 5G coverage with vast rural LTE coverage
  • Truly unlimited data plans
  • Plans can be mixed and matched

  Cons

  • Expensive for a single line
  • Taxes and fees are extra

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  Get a phone and a plan

  Boost Mobile

  Boost Mobile has had an interesting past, changing hands a couple of times before finally ending up with Dish. Dish Wireless is working fast to expand its own 5G coverage with the AT&T and T-Mobile networks playing backup. Boost offers unlimited plans with bundled phones to make the most of its network.

  Pros

  • Strong coverage with AT&T and Dish 5G
  • Affordable unlimited plans
  • The Todo Mexico add-on great for travel

  Cons

  • Base unlimited plan gets no hotspot data
  • Taxes extra on some plans

For many, AT&T’s steep plan pricing can be a bit of a roadblock, but with the right plan and the discounts, it can still be a good option for buyers on a budget. AT&T also offers plans with premium features that Boost Mobile simply doesn’t match, such as truly unlimited data.

Still, Boost offers a simple set of plans with plenty of options, so most people can find a plan that works well for them. Boost is also a solid choice for someone looking to upgrade to a new Galaxy S24 series or the iPhone 15 series with plans that bundle in a new phone with annual upgrades.

Mobile carrier features

Most people focus on talk, text, and data for their mobile plans, but carriers have added extra features to sweeten the deal.

On AT&T, higher-end plans come with mobile hotspot data, HD streaming, and high-speed data that the budget plans don’t get. Plans also come with international features, including usage in Mexico and Canada with all postpaid plans. AT&T even has an add-on called Turbo to further improve the connection quality of its high-speed data.

It’s true that some of these add-ons and features feel like they should have been included anyway, but carriers need to set their pricier plans apart somehow. That leads to one of AT&T’s best postpaid features, which is plan mix and match. If you bring multiple lines to the carrier, there’s a good chance they don’t all have the same needs. With AT&T, you can mix and match postpaid plans on one account while still retaining multi-line savings.

AT&T also has a wide range of discounts for those in the military, first responders, nurses and physicians, students, teachers, and more. There may even be discounts through your workplace. If you’re signing up for AT&T, make sure you check for any discounts you qualify for.

Boost Mobile has long been the simpler option, but with Dish merging its Boost Mobile and Boost Infinite brands, the carrier is down to just five plans. All plans are technically unlimited with a minimum of 30GB of high-speed data, and 50GB on the top plan. Boost Mobile retains one of its most popular add-ons, Todo Mexico, under the name North America Connect with 5GB in Mexico and Canada for $10 per month.

Boost offers two plans bundled with phones that it calls Buy Now, Pay Later Plans. With these plans, you can pick either an iPhone 15 series device or a Galaxy S24 series device to pair with your new plan. It’s worth noting that the Buy Now, Pay Later feature requires a credit check.

Coverage and reception

AT&T builds and maintains its own network with vast LTE coverage and a growing 5G footprint. Its 5G coverage is made up of a combination of low-band spectrum, shared spectrum, and mid-band spectrum at 3.7GHz, very similar to Verizon’s C-band. This mid-band coverage, as well as mmWave 5G coverage in some big cities and venues, is called 5G+.

Boost has had an interesting few years, starting with its separation from Sprint, before leading Dish’s wireless ambitions. Dish is building its own 5G network to compete with AT&T, T-Mobile, and Verizon, but as you might expect, it’s taking a while to get fully off the ground. That said, Dish has made good progress on its 5G coverage, with many cities across the country benefiting from strong Dish 5G coverage.

In the meantime, Boost Mobile customers will use the AT&T network and Dish’s Boost Wireless network together, which means coverage should be very strong all over the country. With Boost Mobile, you should have no trouble staying connected to the network in most places. AT&T’s 5G coverage is still growing, so you’ll likely still see an LTE connection from time to time. Realistically, though, LTE is still plenty fast for most of what we do on our phones.

Phone compatibility

Phone compatibility is a strong point in favor of AT&T, with most flagship models supported, and solid support for less popular brands like Asus, OnePlus, and Nothing.

If you’re just looking to bring one of the best Android phones to AT&T, you have the pick of the litter, from the Galaxy S24 Ultra to the Pixel 8 Pro. If you want something a little less common, like the Zenfone 11 Ultra or Nothing Phone 2, AT&T is a fine choice. You can check AT&T’s compatibility list (PDF) to see if your phone is supported.

Since Boost Mobile uses the same network for a lot of its coverage as AT&T, you can expect most of the same phones to work without issue. Boost Mobile has a compatible phone list, but it’s quite out of data at this point. For the most part, any phone made for the North American market in the past couple of years should work without issue.

If you’re ready to buy a new phone, you can bring an unlocked phone to either carrier or buy one directly from the carrier. AT&T sells the most popular devices from brands like Samsung, Google, Motorola, and Apple, so you should be able to find something that fits your needs. AT&T has some solid discounts for trade-ins, as well as some buy-one-get-one deals that are worth checking out.

In addition to the phones bundled with some of its plans, Boost Mobiles sells some other cheaper devices, like the Moto G 5G (2024). Boost offers phone discounts on these cheaper models if you choose a premium plan, but you can also buy a phone with financing over 36 months.

Plans

Both AT&T and Boost Mobile offer strong wireless coverage, so the choice of which one to get comes down mostly to the plans. AT&T has a handful of postpaid and prepaid options, while Boost Mobile offers prepaid plans with a range of data sizes.

Boost Mobile’s plans stick to unlimited data with buckets of high-speed data, with other features like mobile hotspot data differentiating them. Boost doesn’t offer multi-month plans or multi-line savings, so the price you see is what you’ll pay. Some of its plans included taxes and fees, while the cheaper plans add them on later.

AT&T’s plans

AT&T has seven prepaid plans and five postpaid plans, so you’ve got a lot of options to get connected.

Starting with prepaid, the cheapest monthly plan comes with 5GB of data and costs $30 per month. Moving up to 15GB, you’ll need to pay $40 per month. Both of these plans support Rollover Data, so your unused data gets added to your next month. If you’re willing to pay for three months of service upfront, you can get an 8GB plan for $99, or $33 per month.

When it comes to unlimited prepaid plans, the data amounts can get a little murky. Starting with the 12-month Unlimited + 10GB hotspot data plan, it isn’t all that unlimited, with 16GB of high-speed data and 1.5Mbps after that. This plan comes in at $300 for a year or around $25 per month. Similarly, the $40 monthly Unlimited plan gets 30GB of data at a glacial 3Mbps and 1.5Mbps if you manage to use 30GB at these DSL-like speeds.

Moving up again, the Unlimited + 5GB hotspot data plan doesn’t have the same speed cap as the above plans, but speeds may slow on congested towers. Still, this should be plenty for most people. At $50 per month, this plan is expected to save compared to carriers like Visible and US Mobile. Lastly, Unlimited MAX + 25GB hotspot data gets 50GB of higher priority data, HD streaming, and 100GB of cloud storage for $55 per month.

Moving on to postpaid plans, AT&T’s cheapest and most underwhelming plan is its 4GB postpaid option. Like all other postpaid AT&T plans, you can save on multiple lines, and usage in Mexico and Canada is included. You’ll also need to sign up for paperless billing and auto-pay to get these prices. AT&T 4GB comes in at $50 for the first line but comes down to $40 with three or more lines.

Moving up, AT&T Value plus VL is one of AT&T’s most competitive options at $50.99 for a single line, which comes down to $30.99 with four or more lines. You don’t get any priority data or hotspot data, but 5G access is included; for a lot of people, it’s a great budget option. Above that, AT&T Unlimited Starter SL builds on the Value Plus plan with 5GB of hotspot data; for a single line, it costs $65.99, but with four lines, that drops to $35.99.

Hopping up to $75.99 per month, AT&T Unlimited Extra EL adds a lot of nice features. It comes with 75GB of higher-priority high-speed data and 30GB of hotspot data. The price is steep for a single line, but if you’ve got four lines, it comes down to $40.99 per line, which is a solid upgrade over Unlimited Starter if you need the data.

AT&T’s top plan is Unlimited Premium PL, which comes in at $85.99 for a single line. It comes with unlimited high-speed data plus 60GB of hotspot data. This plan also gets unlimited talk, text, and data in 20 Latin American countries. Even video streaming gets unlocked, so you can watch HD-quality videos without using a VPN. With four lines, the price comes down to $50.99 per month.

One thing to keep in mind with AT&T is that you can mix and match the plans, so if you bring the whole family, you don’t need to put everyone on the same premium plan. For example, you could put mom and dad on Unlimited Extra and the kids on Unlimited Starter.

Boost’s plans

Dish Wireless, the owner of Boost Mobile, tried the name Boost Infinite on a new set of plans, but as of July 2024, Boost Infinite has replaced Boost Mobile as we knew it. Boost Mobile now has just five plans with unlimited data, high-speed data pools, and a couple of plans that come with a phone. Auto-pay is required, or you’ll have to pay an additional $5 per month.

Starting on the low end, the standard unlimited plan comes in at $25 per month plus taxes and fees. You get 30GB of high-speed data that slows to 512Kbps after that. Hotspot data and international usage are not included. This is a pretty basic plan with enough data for most people and the option to finance a phone, though you’ll need to do a credit check first.

Unlimited+ takes the high-speed data up to 40GB, and hotspot data is shared with your primary pool of data. It comes in at $50 per month, but unlike the base unlimited plan, taxes and fees are included, so you know exactly what you’re paying before the bill arrives. This plan also gets a discount on a new phone, with up to $300 off on a device like the Motorola Edge+, or you can get something cheaper, like the Boost Celero 5G phone for just $10.

Unlimited Premium adds to this plan with 50GB of high-speed data and hotspot usage. This plan costs $65 per month and taxes and fees are included. North America Connect, which includes 5GB of data to use in Mexico and Canada, is also bundled in. You can also save up to $430 on a new phone, with the Galaxy S24 getting $200 off.

Infinite Access for iPhone and Infinite Access for Galaxy are one and the same except for the bundled device. The price you see is for the lowest end phone of the bunch, so the iPhone 12 and the Galaxy s24, but you can upgrade to a higher-end phone if you pay the difference. This plan looks most like the base unlimited plan with 30GB of high-speed data, but if you need a new phone, this could be a good choice.

Keep in mind that since you’re getting a phone using Boost Mobile’s payment plan, there will be a credit check with this plan.

Which should you get?

If you’re bringing multiple lines with your account, as a lot of people do, AT&T and its multi-line discounts will likely be better overall value for you. AT&T’s Unlimited Starter plan, for example, comes down to $35.99 with four lines. AT&T also allows you to mix and match plans, so if you want a higher-end plan, but your kids will be just fine on a Value Plus or Unlimited Start, you can set that up.

Don’t forget that you’ll need to sign up for autopay to get AT&T’s best prices. Also, don’t forget to check for other discounts, such as military, veteran, student, teacher, and medical professional discounts. Also, while it’s not the only carrier to suffer a data leak, it’s worth mentioning that AT&T has had its share of problems in this area, recently failing to protect its customer’s call data.

Boost Mobile’s plans offer straightforward pricing that doesn’t make you use discounts to get a low price. One of Boost’s three unlimited plans will work for most people, and while a lot of people don’t need that much data, at $25, Boost’s base plan is still a solid pick for lighter users. If you’re ready for a new phone, and you’d like an iPhone or Galaxy, Boost’s Infinite Access for iPhone or Galaxy could be a great option.