Straight Talk Tops, T-Mobile, Virgin Mobile in Prepaid Rankings

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It’s difficult keeping track of all of the cellphone pricing plan options out there, particularly prepaid plans that get less attention.

MyRatePlan.com, which specializes in comparing cellphone plans, has just released its annual ranking of what it considers to be the best prepaid plans available in the U.S.

For the second year in a row, Straight Talk’s Unlimited Plan lands at No. 1. The offering gives you unlimited voice, text and data for $45 per month. Straight Talk service can be used with almost any device, from a basic phone all the way up to a high-end smartphone like the Apple iPhone 5s or the Samsung Galaxy S4. Straight Talk also gives customers flexibility in that they can bring their own devices and avoid having to pay for a phone.

In second place is T-Mobile’s Simple Choice Plan. Now that T-Mo is out of the postpaid contract business, MyRatePlan says the Magenta Network offers some of the best value in a prepaid cellphone plan out of all carriers, including its “Big Four” brethren. Not only that, but for a limited time, T-Mobile is offering to pay customers up to $650 when they switch to T-Mobile and trade in their previous phone. Simple Choice gives customers unlimited voice and text, and they can choose between individual and family plans. Data buckets include 500 MB of data per month for $50, 2.5 GB of data per month for $60, or unlimited data for $70 per month. T-Mobile also offers free unlimited international data in more than 100 countries around the world. T-Mobile supports the newest smartphones and allows customers to bring their own devices.

Third place goes to Virgin Mobile’s Beyond Talk Plan. It consists of unlimited talk, text, and data for $55 per month. Virgin Mobile also offers the latest phones such as the Apple iPhone 5s and 5c, and the Samsung Galaxy S lineup.. Customers can also choose cheaper versions of the plan that limit the amount of voice minutes allowed, but still allow for unlimited data and text messaging.

“I predict in 2014 we will see a bigger number of customers switch to prepaid cellphone plans than any previous year,” explained Logan Abbott, president of MyRatePlan.

For its rankings, MyRatePlan takes into account criteria that include monthly cost; amount of  minutes, data and messages; service coverage; customer ratings; and expert opinions.

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