Best Family Cell Phone Plans

Raise your hand if you’re on a family cell phone plan.

You’re not alone. Almost 70% of American smartphone owners are on a family or group plan, according to a 2015 report from the Pew Research Center. And for good reason: It’s typically cheaper.

Going solo with your cell phone plan can cost $50 or more, but splitting the cost among four people in a family can bring the monthly price down as low as $25 before taxes, fees, device payments and add-ons like insurance.

Finding the best family cell phone plan for your needs is key to keeping costs down. And what works for other families won’t necessarily work for yours. Parents sharing their plan with two teenagers may need more data than those who split their data with adult children, for example.

We scoped out the best family cell phone plans in several categories, using a family of four as our model. Only plans that offer at least 6GB of data were considered. Prices do not include taxes, fees, cost of phones and other charges.

Best family plan for average users:
Sprint Wireless Data Plan (10GB)

Monthly plan price (four lines): $100 Price per person: $25 Data: 10GB shared Activation fee: $36 per line Bonus: An additional $15-per-month charge for each line is waived if you agree to pay for your phones over 24 months using Sprint’s Easy Pay program.

Learn More at Sprint's site

Why we like it:

This 10GB plan from Sprint Wireless offers just enough data to cover average users, who typically go through 2GB to 3GB per month. If you go over your data package, no problem. Sprint doesn’t charge overage. Instead, your data speeds will slow from the lightning fast 3G or 4G speeds you’re familiar with to much slower 2G speeds until your next billing cycle begins. The difference in speeds means uploading 30 pictures would take more than 20 minutes, instead of about 1 minute.

Best family plan for parents with teens:
T-Mobile Family Match

Monthly plan price (four lines): $120 Price per person: $30 Data: 6GB per line, 24GB total Activation fee: $15 per line Bonus: Binge On offers unlimited streaming from select video services, and rollover data can be used for up to 12 months.

Learn More at T-Mobile's site

Why we like it:

Teens can blow through a few gigabytes of data without batting an eye, thanks in large part to their affinity for social media and streaming video. This plan from T-Mobile helps minimize the impact of those activities on your family’s data package.

With Binge On, video streaming from services such as Netflix, Hulu, ESPN and Vevo doesn’t cut into your monthly data allowance. And, since each line has its own data package, Junior’s Instagram posts won’t eat up anyone else’s data. The plan also includes Data Stash, so unused data on each line rolls over to the next month. Customers can stash up to 20GB of data for up to 12 months. Like Sprint, T-Mobile doesn’t charge for data overage but instead slows your data speeds.

Best family plan for heavy data users:
Sprint Wireless Data Plan (40GB)

Monthly plan price (four lines): $120 Price per person: $30 Data: 40GB shared Activation fee: $36 per line Bonus: An additional $15-per-month charge for each line is waived if you agree to pay for your phone over 24 months using Sprint’s Easy Pay program.

Learn More at Sprint's site

Why we like it:

You won’t find a better value per gigabyte than the 40GB plan from Sprint Wireless. Users pay just $3 per gigabyte with Sprint’s current promotion, which waives the $15 monthly charge for each line if you agree to pay for your new phones over 24 months. If you manage to use more than 40GB, you’ll suffer through slower data speeds. But that beats overage charges.

Best prepaid family plan: Cricket Wireless Basic with Group Save discount

Monthly plan price (four lines): $80 Price per line (four lines): $20 Data: 2.5GB per line, 10GB total Activation fee: $25 per line when activated in store Bonus: Save $10 to $40 off additional lines, up to 5 lines total

Learn More at Cricket Wireless' site

Why we like it:

Want a family plan without the taxes, fees and years-long commitment? This plan from Cricket Wireless gives you all of that for a fraction of the price of traditional plans. A single line on Cricket’s Basic plan is $40 per month, but the carrier’s Group Save discount rewards you for more for each line you add to your plan. So customers receive $10 off the second line, $20 off the third, $30 off the fourth and $40 off the fifth.

Although going prepaid saves on monthly costs, it does have higher startup costs. Each phone must be paid for upfront, with prices ranging from $0.99 for a basic smartphone to $849.99 for the iPhone 6S Plus 64GB.

Kelsey Sheehy is a staff writer at NerdWallet, a personal finance website. Email: ksheehy@nerdwallet.com. Twitter: @KelseyLSheehy.

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Image via iStock.