Straight Talk is an easy choice for someone who wants to get connected quickly and easily. It is possible to get a multiline unlimited plan for a good price. Cricket Wireless plans make sense for most people with enough data for a phone and solid savings. If you have good AT&T network coverage, Cricket is a great pick since it has removed speed limits and increased the size of its smallest data plan.
Cricket Wireless is owned by AT&T and is the go-to option for people that want to stay on the network without signing up for a long-term contract. Cricket has modernized its plans by giving every plan access to nationwide 5G coverage. It is a great choice for many families.
Straight Talk allows you to choose the network that makes the most sense for you, whether you want better coverage of a network that works with your phone or not. If you sign up for an unlimited plan, AT&T will not include hotspot data. Straight Talk allows you to use a network that works for you.
Cricket Wireless | Straight Talk Wireless | |
---|---|---|
Network | AT&T | AT&T, T-Mobile, and Verizon |
5G | Yes | Yes |
Multi-line | 5 | 2 |
AT&T has good coverage nationwide, making it a good choice for most people. While AT&T has earned a reputation for strong nationwide coverage, it doesn't offer nearly the same level of 5G coverage as T-Mobile. If speed is not a concern to you, the coverage on AT&T should be adequate.
RECOMMENDED VIDEOS FOR YOU...
Straight Talk has a T-Mobile sim that will give you the best 5G experience.
Straight Talk uses a phone network. Straight Talk and Cricket won't have the same roaming agreements as the big three networks, so it's worth keeping an eye out for that. If you see your phone dropping to roaming on a postpaid carrier, you may not want to stick with that network when you switch to a pre-paid service.
Cricket's plans are similar to those of other carriers with unlimited talk, text, and 2G speed data. The cheapest plan comes in at $30 per month. You will get 10GB of data if you go up to $40 per month. If you use auto-pay, this plan is $5 less.
Cricket has two plans that reduce the quality of your video streaming. It can not make up more than 50% of your monthly usage in Mexico and Canada. Texting to 37 countries is included.
The $60 per month plan removes the speed limit and adds 15GB of data. The upgrade to premium data will keep the data speeds high even with heavy usage. You can get free access to the show with ads and 150 gigabytes of cloud storage.
If you have a compatible phone, you can get access to the 5G network on all Cricket plans. There are multi-line discounts on all plans. You can save more with Cricket if you want to bring your whole family.
5GB | 10GB | Unlimited (Core) | Unlimited + 15 GB Mobile Hotspot (More) | |
---|---|---|---|---|
Data | 5GB | 10GB | Unlimited | Unlimited (Premium) |
Hotspot | None | None | None | 15GB |
International text | None | None | 37 countries | 37 countries |
Video streaming | Full | Full | 1.5Mbps (480p) | 1.5Mbps (480p) |
Extras | N/A | N/A | N/A | HBO Max (with ads) |
Cricket has a partnership with Boingo and LinkNYC. Cricket phones will be able to automatically connect to these access points for free and data used while connected will not count against your Cricket plan data. Boingo has coverage in airports, sports arenas, and even military bases. LinkNYC has a lot of points in New York City that have been converted from pay phones tousb charging.
Straight Talk keeps things simple. The Basic plan at $30 per month is a good option for a backup phone or someone who just wants to make calls and texts. If you stick to wi-fi for data, you can get by with 100MB of data, 1500 minutes, and unlimited texts.
The majority of Straight Talk users will sign up for the Bronze, Silver, or Gold unlimited plans. Bronze comes with 10GB of high-speed data, which can be used in a hotspot, and calls to Canada and Mexico. $35 per month is a reasonable amount of money.
If you use more than 60GB in a month, Silver and Gold will take the data to unlimited. Most people will not do this. The Siler plan has 5 gigabytes of data while the Gold plan has 15 gigabytes. Siver and Gold are both $55 per month. You can save $5 per month with auto-refill.
You can get an international version for $60 that comes with unlimited mobile-to-mobile calling to Mexico, China, Canada, and India.
The Platinum upgrade takes the data up to 20 gigabytes. Your video streams will be upgraded to 720p.
Straight Talk supports all four major networks, so any unlocked phone will work. Straight Talk has a website where you can check it out. Before you switch, you may need to contact your carrier to make sure your phone is unlocked. Any phone that has been paid off is eligible.
Cricket will work with most unlocked phones and you can check your phone to be sure. Before you switch carriers, you need to make sure your phone is unlocked.
If you want to get a new phone, you can either buy an unlocked phone from a site like Amazon or get one from the carrier. Straight Talk and Cricket both offer a wide range of devices, with more expensive phones available with financing from Cricket. If you buy an Apple product on Amazon, you need to get it with a Cricket subscription.
Straight Talk has a lot of options for customers and it's easy to switch with a lot of network support. Straight Talk is the most hassle-free option if you need to get connected. Even with limited speeds, Cricket's plans make a lot more sense for most people. If you have an unlimited plan, multi-line savings is a great choice. You have to decide if the extra speed is worth it.