I recently tested TextNow’s Free Talk & Text Plan and unlimited data passes. TextNow uses T-Mobile's coverage to give customers service. Operating on T-Mobile’s network, TextNow bills itself as one of the nation's most low-cost and flexible wireless carriers. It also includes unique services you won’t find anywhere else like a free phone plan and the ability to purchase high-speed mobile data by the hour.
I would recommend TextNow to customers who simply want a basic talk and text plan, like seniors and kids. For that specific purpose, TextNow is unsurpassed. However, if you use a lot of mobile data, the carrier will probably not meet your needs.
My experience with TextNow was mixed. While it had excellent phone coverage through T-Mobile's network and solid customer service, my data speeds were frequently slow. Additionally, I’m an average data user and I ran out of high-speed data when testing the month-long pass.
Let’s dive into the details of TextNow and see if it's the right carrier for you.
Meet TextNow: Free talk and text with unlimited data passes
TextNow is unique because it offers a Free Talk and Text plan to all its customers. The plan itself is free, but you must purchase a TextNow SIM card for $4.99 to access it. This is the standard plan for your service. It includes unlimited texts, unlimited minutes, and a free essential app feature, but no high-speed data.
TextNow can offer its free plan by using unobtrusive apps inside its app. However, that means you must use the app for placing calls and sending texts.
TextNow Free Flex Plan
| Carrier | TextNow |
|---|---|
| Data | 550MB Data |
| Type | No Contract |
| Total Price |
$0 per month
+ $4.99 Upfront
|
| View Details |
If you need high-speed data, TextNow offers three “data passes” instead of plans. These passes are designed for flexibility, with time limits stretching from one hour to a month. TextNow claims the passes can save customers money by allowing them to purchase data only when they need it.
You can see the details of the three TextNow passes below:
TextNow unlimited data passes
| Hour Pass | Day Pass |
Month Pass | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pass length | 60 minutes | 24 hours | 30 days |
| High-speed data | 300MB | 2GB | 10GB |
| Talk & text | Included | Included | Included |
| Pricing | $.99/hour | $4.99/day | $39.99/month |
| View plan | View plan | View plan |
I tested all three of TextNow’s unlimited data passes and found the Unlimited Month Pass is closest to a traditional monthly prepaid phone plan. That said, it’s still a bare-bones option even by MVNO standards. For $39.99/month, it includes just 10GB of priority data, unlimited talk and text, and Wi-Fi calling. There is no mobile hotspot capability or extra perks of any kind.
TextNow Unlimited Month Pass Plan
| Carrier | TextNow |
|---|---|
| Data | Unlimited Data |
| Type | No Contract |
| Total Price |
$35.99 per month
|
| View Details |
TextNow family plans, phone options, and discounts
TextNow doesn’t offer family plans or multi-line discounts. If you want a family plan, each line will need its own account and must be paid for individually. The carrier also doesn’t sell devices, so you’ll need to bring your own phone if you switch.
Any discounts are usually for the TextNow SIM card. During my testing, I saw SIM cards as cheap as $1.99 with limited-time deals.
TextNow by the WhistleOut metrics:
Fact-checking the carrier's claims: TextNow
Here at WhistleOut, we review all carriers by the same five metrics. Each of these metrics is assigned a one-point star value to calculate the overall score of the carrier.
TextNow's metrics were:
- Price: 2 out of 5
- Value: 2.5 out of 5
- Data speeds: 1 out of 5
- Coverage and network reliability: 3.5 out of 5
- Customer service: 2 out of 5
I spent over a month testing TextNow’s service to thoroughly evaluate its performance in everyday scenarios. From purchasing and installing the SIM card to canceling the plan, I followed every step a customer might take. I tested all of the carrier’s plans, data passes, and the free essential data feature. Finally, I also measured network coverage and data speeds in various locations and interacted with their customer service.
This hands-on approach allowed me to use TextNow’s services as a regular customer would, ensuring my findings and recommendations stay tied to actual experiences and not just in what the carrier claims to provide.
Price
On the plus side, TextNow’s Free Talk & Text Plan is the cheapest phone plan on the market. The plan really is free. You will have to purchase a TextNow SIM card for $4.99, but you’d need to do that with most other carriers too.
TextNow’s prices only become a problem with its high-speed data passes. While the flexibility is nice, these passes make it very easy to overpay for data.
The Monthly Unlimited pass is the worst offender here. Offering just 10GB of high-speed data at $39.99/month, you’re paying roughly $4 per 1GB of data. That’s incredibly expensive and you can find other plans offering a lot more data at much cheaper prices.
For example, Tello's Unlimited Plan ($25/month) and US Mobile's Unlimited Starter plan ($25/month) also offer coverage on the T-Mobile network. Tello's plan includes 50GB of high-speed data, while US Mobile offers a whopping 70GB of premium. That’s over three times more data at cheaper prices than TextNow’s monthly pass. To put it into perspective, for 1GB of data, Tello is charging $.50 and US Mobile is charging $.35. You can find the specifics of these plans in the competition section below.
Score: 2 out of 5
Value
Like the price section above, the value of TextNow depends on whether you are using the free service or the unlimited data passes. The Free Talk & Text Plan is excellent and one of the best values on the market for a no-data phone plan since it’s free.
If you’re an average data user, the value of the unlimited data passes isn’t great. When you compare the cost of the passes to the included data amounts and plan features, you’re not getting a lot for your money. Remember, the TextNow data passes only unlock high-speed data for your plan. They don’t include anything else like a mobile hotspot.
Let’s be clear, despite the pricing, there is value to the TextNow data passes for some customers. If you barely use data during the month and spend most of your time connected to Wi-Fi, you can potentially save by using the hourly or daily passes. The problem is you can only use them a few times before they become more expensive than simply buying a cheap limited-data plan in the first place.
Score: 2.5 out of 5
Data speeds
I experienced quite a bit of deprioritization with TextNow. Deprioiritzation is when the network throttles your data speeds to prevent congestion and give priority to higher-paying customers.
You can see this in action in the screenshot below. I was connected to T-Mobile’s 5G UC (Ultra Capacity) network, which uses the carrier’s mid and high-band frequencies to provide the fastest 5G speeds. Yet, my download speed peaked at .67Mbps. A few minutes later it bounced back to around 100Mbps. This happened in both urban areas on the 5G network and rural areas with 4G LTE. While it only lasted a few minutes at a time, the phone was basically unusable when it happened.
When I wasn’t being deprioritized, TextNow’s speeds were fast and worked well in both rural and urban areas. That said, the bouts of deprioritization made the plan feel unreliable and were enough to tank this category.
Score: 1 out of 5
Coverage and network reliability
TextNow uses T-Mobile's network. By offering coverage through T-Mobile, it has access to the nation’s largest 5G network. I live in North Carolina, where T-Mobile offers decently robust statewide coverage, particularly in more urban and suburban areas—this is pretty representative of T-Mobile’s nationwide footprint overall. Although I had issues with TextNow’s data speeds, I generally always had a phone signal. Throughout my testing, the plan never dropped a phone call or failed to deliver a text.
Broadly speaking, you’ll have the best experience with TextNow in urban areas. That’s where T-Mobile’s service is strongest and where the bulk of its 5G towers are located. I never completely lost a signal in rural areas, but the mobile data did run slower in general.
Score: 3.5 out of 5
Customer service
TextNow has decent customer service, but it’s very limited. You can get help through a series of support articles, a chatbot, or a live online chat. There is no customer service number. Additionally, live agents are only available online from 10 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Eastern time. As an online carrier, there are no physical stores you can visit.
My first experience with the chatbot was a battle. The bot couldn’t answer my question and kept asking me to rephrase and try again. It didn’t even tell me that a live representative was an option. Instead, I read about the feature on TextNow’s website. As it turns out, you must specifically ask the bot to connect you with an agent.
I tested the live online chat feature twice and found the agents knowledgeable. That said, it did take over 10 minutes to connect with a representative at one point. While the representative was helpful and answered all my questions, customers who aren’t tech-savvy would probably like the option of a customer service number.
Score: 2 out of 5
Signing up for TextNow
Signing up for TextNow is easy. All I had to do was download the TextNow app, create an account, and order a SIM card. Once you activate the TextNow SIM card, it allows you to use TextNow off Wi-Fi. The carrier used my location to populate a list of phone numbers and allowed me to pick the one I wanted.
Once the SIM card arrives, install it and sign into the app. The Free Talk & Text Plan will work as soon as you connect to the TextNow network. Make sure you are using an unlocked device. If you bought a phone from a wireless carrier like AT&T or Verizon, it's probably locked and incompatible with other carriers, meaning it won't work with SIM cards from other carriers. Double check your phone is unlocked and keep in mind it may take a few minutes to activate your SIM card. In my testing, it took around an hour for the service to turn on.
Managing my plan
TextNow is an online-only carrier, so the app is how you’ll manage your entire plan. Overall, I found the TextNow app easy to use and well-designed. This is where you’ll go to make phone calls, send texts, purchase data passes, see your account balances, and monitor your data usage.
TextNow’s mobile app
The TextNow app is also how the carrier offers free service. Instead of charging you directly, it uses unobtrusive ads inside the app to cover the cost. However, this means you can’t use your phone’s native calling and texting apps with TextNow’s service. You must call and text within the carrier’s app only.
Buying unlimited data passes
When it’s time to purchase a data pass, you simply pick the right one for your needs in the TextNow app. You don’t need to be connected to Wi-Fi to purchase a data pass. The app can be accessed without a paid mobile data connection.
When you purchase a data pass the timer starts instantly, so the best practice is to only buy one when you need it.
Did I like TextNow?
I liked TextNow’s free service and short-term data passes, but wasn’t satisfied with the month-long pass.
Free Talk & Text plan
TextNow’s Free Talk & Text Plan is probably its most impressive offering. For just $4.99, it offers a free no-data phone plan. While it was strange at first to place calls through the TextNow app, it was routine after a few days. My phone calls and texts always worked well on this plan.
The free plan is perfect for seniors or a no-data phone plan for your kids. It would also be a cheap option for international visitors to the United States.
TextNow Free Essential Data
TextNow also includes a unique feature called Free Essential Data that offers limited data access with the free plan. It allows you to connect to important apps like email, maps, and rideshare platforms without purchasing a data pass.
The service is a solid addition to the free plan, just note that it’s not unlimited. You’re only allowed 350MB of essential data per month before it’s shut off and you must purchase a data pass.
Unlimited data passes
Generally, the shorter data passes work well for quick errands or a day trip. I used the hour passes at the grocery store and a restaurant and never ran out of high-speed data. All I had to do was open the app in the parking lot, select the hour pass, and it started working immediately. My testing of the day pass yielded similar results.
The month pass was also easy to purchase, but the 10GB allotment didn’t meet my needs for the whole month. Speeds are slowed if you exceed your data allotment. I’m an average data user who likes to stream videos and use social media, so I typically need 10-15GB of high-speed data. I treated the TextNow pass like any other prepaid unlimited plan and ran out of data toward the end of week three.
Average customers can make the plan last if they are conscious of their data usage. If you connect to Wi-Fi at home, work, and at public locations like cafes and restaurants, the month pass data allotment will probably last long enough to meet your needs.
Gaming and streaming
TextNow’s service worked well for both mobile gaming and streaming when I had fast enough speeds. That said, I don’t recommend using TextNow’s service for either of these activities unless you have to. Gaming and streaming can be very data-intensive and there’s not much data to spare on any of TextNow’s passes.
TextNow vs. the competition
TextNow doesn’t have much competition with its free talk and text plan or short-term data passes. Those are unique offerings. If they sound appealing to you as a customer, TextNow is the only place you’ll find them.
On the other hand, there are plenty of competitors offering monthly unlimited data plans on T-Mobile’s network. I already mentioned Tello’s Unlimited Plan and US Mobile’s Unlimited Starter plan above, so let’s dive deeper into their offerings compared to TextNow.
TextNow Unlimited Month Pass vs. competitor plans
| TextNow Unlimited Month Pass |
Tello Mobile Unlimited Plan | US Mobile Unlimited Starter |
|
|---|---|---|---|
| Data | 10GB | 50GB | 70GB |
| Mobile hotspot | None | 10GB | 10GB |
| Network | T-Mobile | T-Mobile |
T-Mobile, AT&T, or Verizon |
| Price | $39.99/month | $25/month | $25/month |
| Shop plan | Shop plan | Shop plan |
To put it plainly: TextNow’s Unlimited Month Pass is more expensive and you’re getting less for your money.
Generally, if you need a monthly plan and are an average data user, Tello and US Mobile will be better options. For just a standard data plan, Tello’s Unlimited Plan at $25/month is a great option. 50GB of high-speed data is plenty for most customers and it comes with a 10GB allotment of mobile hotspot data.
If you need mobile hotspot data but with more network options, US Mobile’s Unlimited Starter is the better option. It comes with 10GB of hotspot data for the same $25/month price. While offering more options for coverage if you'd rather have service through the Verizon or AT&T networks.
Recap: Would I recommend TextNow?
I would not recommend TextNow to the average wireless customer looking for a high-speed data plan. There are cheaper options out there with similar coverage and more features.
That said, I don’t think TextNow is designed for the average customer. Instead, the carrier is perfect for someone looking for a basic talk and text plan. The r/TextNow subreddit is full of people using the service as a cheap business line for their side hustle or as an emergency phone plan. Some people even said they used TextNow as their international plan when visiting the U.S. since you only have to purchase the SIM card once and will have free service from then on.
Talk and text plans don’t get any cheaper than free. I think it’s worth the one-time payment of $4.99 for a TextNow SIM card. Plus, the carrier’s Free Essential Data is a nice inclusion for access to your most important apps without purchasing high-speed data.
If you’re someone who doesn’t use much mobile data, TextNow’s flexible data passes also offer an affordable way to hook up with T-Mobile’s 5G network. You just need to monitor your usage and accept it may not always provide the fastest speeds.
Max McCaskill
Sr. Staff Writer
Find a better phone plan
Thousands of cell phone plans unpacked. All the facts. No surprises.
.png?w=280&h=280&usm=20&usmrad=0.8&fit=crop "Best Cell Phone Deals for June 2026: Get the New iPhone 17 for Free")
