Verizon may not be the leading phone carrier when it comes to customer satisfaction, but it’s certainly trying to woo customers with its recently announced $30 Simplicity plan. As its name suggests, this new Verizon plan is intended to be simple and affordable. For a flat rate of $30/month per line for new customers, the Simplicity plan includes unlimited 5G ultra-wideband data, unlimited talk and text, international roaming, satellite texting, 10GB of mobile hotspot data, call screening, Verizon Family savings, Verizon Dollars monthly cash back, and discounts on smartwatch and tablet service.
If this all sounds too good to be true, you might be surprised: most of the time, it’s not. If you look at the phone carriers with the best cheap plans, you’ll see that some offer perks like unlimited calls and texts with 5GB of monthly data for as little as $15/month. Verizon’s pricing isn’t exactly mind-blowing in comparison, but it seems reasonable when you factor in the added benefits and the carrier’s award-winning wireless network. The only real catch is that new customers who qualify for a switching discount get the $30/month rate, but existing customers must pay at least $45/month per line for the Simplicity plan.
Is Verizon’s Simplicity plan better than other plans?
Simplicity is Verizon’s new standard plan, but comparing it to the carrier’s existing myPlan options isn’t straightforward, as myPlan deals vary in price depending on how many lines you add. The myPlan Unlimited Ultimate costs $85 per month, while Unlimited Plus costs $70 and Unlimited Welcome costs $55. Prices decrease as you add lines, dropping to $55, $40, or $25 for four lines, respectively. Simplicity costs $30 (new customers) or $45 (existing customers) per month, regardless of the number of lines in the account. Note that rates for new customers expire after 36 months.
The lower price of simplicity comes with trade-offs. The Ultimate and Plus myPlan plans offer unlimited top speed data, while Simplicity offers 500 GB uncapped each month, after which speeds are slowed to 4 Mbps. Access to hotspots is more limited with the new plan, as is international roaming. Elsewhere, videos stream at up to 720p on Simplicity while comparable myPlan options offer a maximum resolution of 4K.
Comparable plans from AT&T and T-Mobile more closely reflect Verizon’s old myPlan pricing structure, which encouraged adding additional lines. AT&T’s Extra 2.0 plan is the most comparable in terms of features and undercuts existing Verizon customers’ Simplicity price when adding four lines ($40 versus $45/month per line), but jumps up to $70/month for a single line. Similarly, T-Mobile’s Essentials plan costs $30/month per line for four lines and $60/month for a single line. Notably, Simplicity has the advantage over both in terms of monthly limits on uncapped data speeds, offering 500GB versus 100GB (AT&T) and 50GB (T-Mobile).
Ultimately, Verizon’s new Simplicity plan makes its strongest case to individuals. But given Verizon’s ranking as one of the most reliable phone carriers, it could also be an attractive option for families.
