Verizon has the most 4G LTE coverage in the country, besting the likes of AT&T and T-Mobile. That said, you often get what you pay for, and Verizon is known for having many of the priciest plans around.
Luckily, Verizon offers both prepaid and postpaid phone plans, meaning you could potentially save on your service by opting for a cheaper plan. Verizon prepaid plans use the same network coverage as postpaid plans, even their 5G network, if you have a 5G-capable device. Still, these plans don’t have all the bells and whistles of the Verizon postpaid plans (especially the unlimited).
Get Verizon coverage for half the price
Before opting for a prepaid or postpaid Verizon plan, you may not realize that you can get the exact same coverage as you would from a Verizon plan by going with a much cheaper MVNO, a smaller carrier that operates on Verizon's network. Visible offers unlimited everything with Big Red's 4G and 5G coverage for just $25/month. We especially love that you can opt for 50GB up to the fastest 5G speeds, plus spam-blocking and global calling benefits, for just a few bucks more.
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Visible
$25 Visible Plan
$25.00/mo
Taxes & Fees included
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Compare Verizon prepaid and postpaid plans
When deciding whether to go with a Verizon prepaid or postpaid plan, there are four things you’ll need to consider:
- Price: Set your monthly budget before comparing Verizon plans.
- Perks: Some plans include great perks, such as discounted streaming subscriptions and high mobile hotspot allowances.
- Plans: You’ll want to decide whether you want a limited data or unlimited data plan, as well as what other features are important to you.
- Phones: If you want to purchase a new phone via monthly installments, you’ll have to go with a Verizon postpaid plan since you must buy phones outright with a prepaid plan.
Not all Verizon plans are created equal, so we’ll be breaking down each one based on how well they perform in the four categories overall below.
Verizon prepaid vs. postpaid pricing
| Plan Name | Price | Family Plan? | Plan Type |
|---|---|---|---|
| $35 Prepaid Smartphone Plan | $35 | No | Prepaid |
| Prepaid Unlimited | $50 | No | Prepaid |
| Prepaid Unlimited Plus | $60 | No | Prepaid |
| Unlimited Welcome | $65 | Yes | Postpaid |
| Unlimited Plus | $80 | Yes | Postpaid |
| Unlimited Ultimate | $90 | Yes | Postpaid |
Verizon’s prepaid plans tend to run a lot cheaper than its postpaid plans—excluding things like family plans and multi-line discounts. The lowest price you can hope to pay for a Verizon postpaid plan is $65/month for a single line (with AutoPay), whereas the starting point is much lower for prepaid, at just $35/month (with AutoPay). On the opposite end of the spectrum, the most expensive postpaid plan from Verizon costs $90/month for one line versus $60/month for the most expensive prepaid plan.
Despite these high prices for the Verizon postpaid plans, the greatest value may still come in the form of these plans—due primarily to multi-line discounts when adding lines. For example, Verizon’s Unlimited Plus plan drops from $80/line down to just $35/line when you have 4 lines, with similar discounts for the other unlimited plans.
This may not mean much to you if you don’t need more than one line, in which case, prepaid plans might be more enticing—strictly from a price standpoint. Prepaid plans also have discounts in the form of a Loyalty Program, which takes effect at both month 4 and month 10 of your prepaid tenure. This, in addition to a $5/month discount for using AutoPay and prepaid pricing, starts to make even more of a convincing case for a single line.
When it comes to prepaid versus postpaid pricing, if you see yourself needing multiple lines for you and your friends or family, postpaid plans will give you better savings overall, particularly if you need 4 or more lines. Alternatively, if you need a single line and want to save money on your monthly bill, prepaid plans might make more sense.
Verizon prepaid vs. postpaid perks
When it comes to perks, Verizon’s prepaid and postpaid plans vary quite a bit—with postpaid catering towards entertainment, and prepaid really only offering Mexico and Canada privileges and hotspot allowance with select plans.
Postpaid plans, on the other hand, include various discounted perks that you can sign up for, such as:
- Apple One
- Disney Bundle (Disney+/Hulu/ESPN Select)
- Walmart+
- Apple Music Family
- Smartwatch Data & Safety
- +play Monthly Credit
- Verizon Cloud Storage
- 3 Verizon TravelPass Days
They aren’t slacking in the international department either, featuring talk, text, and data in Mexico and Canada and unlimited international texting. Plus, you’ll get some nice hotspot allowances with Verizon's top-shelf postpaid unlimited plan. You’re best suited to lean towards postpaid plans if you plan to take advantage of any significant perk discounts Verizon offers. And as it stands, it’s no contest between Verizon prepaid and postpaid perks—postpaid blows prepaid out of the water.
Verizon prepaid vs. postpaid plan features
Diving into some more specific features of Verizon plans, there are a few things to be mindful of when comparing prepaid and postpaid options—things such as data thresholds, streaming quality, and international features.
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Verizon
Unlimited Plus
$70.00/mo
+ Taxes & Fees. Price includes AutoPay & Paperless discount.
+ $40 Upfront
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Verizon
15GB Prepaid Phone Plan
$35.00/mo
$45 without AutoPay | AutoPay discount applies after 1st month
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Data deprioritization vs. throttling
As for data thresholds, there are two types to note:
- Deprioritization: temporarily slowed speeds during times of network congestion
- Throttling: a soft cap on data, with speeds usually slowing to 3G or 2G once your plan’s threshold has been met
Data deprioritization thresholds are most often found in unlimited plans. Verizon's postpaid Unlimited Plus features truly unlimited data that doesn't slow down regardless of how much you use. On the other hand, its postpaid Unlimited Welcome only offers deprioritization data that can slow down at any time, like during peak network congestion. Its prepaid Unlimited Plus and Unlimited Ultimate packages, however, offer truly unlimited priority data that doesn't slow down regardless of how much you use. Should this happen, your data deprioritization threshold will reset at the beginning of the next billing cycle.
Conversely, throttling thresholds are often reserved for limited data plans. Once you use your monthly data allowance, your data speeds will slow to almost unusable speeds for the remainder of the month. You’ll likely be able to handle basic email and web browsing, but beyond that, you won’t have much luck using any data-based applications. Still, it’s better than having your data cut off entirely or accumulating data overage charges.
Streaming quality
Most carriers will have streaming quality limitations depending on plan tier, and the same is true for Verizon. Unlimited Welcome includes Standard Definition (SD) streaming, while Unlimited Plus and Unlimited Ultimate come with 4K UHD streaming capabilities. You only need to consider streaming quality if entertainment perks are extremely important to you —otherwise SD-quality is perfectly suitable for most circumstances.
International features
All Verizon plans include international features to some extent, but the plan type and plan tier will determine which features you will get. For instance, the $35 Prepaid Plan includes unlimited minutes to locations like Puerto Rico, Guam, and the U.S. Virgin Islands but requires you to pay an extra $5/month for minutes to Mexico and Canada.
Verizon also includes additional international perks, such as text messaging to over 200 destinations and roaming in Mexico/Canada on postpaid unlimited plans. International data roaming lets you limited 4G LTE data when in Mexico and Canada, with unlimited roaming at 2G speeds thereafter.
Verizon prepaid vs. postpaid phones
Verizon has one of the largest phone selections available from any carrier on the market, and while you have access to all these devices, the way you pay comes down to the type of plan you choose—prepaid or postpaid.
Verizon prepaid plans don’t allow you to pay for phones in monthly installments, which means you’re left to bring your own phone or pay for a new one at full price. This can be a deal breaker in the event you don’t want to pay the full amount of the phone upfront, but the added flexibility of not having monthly device payments is something to consider.
Verizon offers incentives in the form of discounted and even free phones to new customers who switch to one of their postpaid unlimited plans. If you need a new phone and prefer the installment approach, your best bet is to stick with plans of the postpaid variety.
Chris Holmes
Staff Writer
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