Last Updated on January 16, 2026 by Ewen Finser
Tracfone Wireless is a prepaid phone option owned by Verizon. They use Verizon towers to provide inexpensive service at slightly lower speeds than contract service. However, they do have a lot of basic plans that can be ideal for people who want simple talk and text but don’t really need additional services, features, packages, membership benefits, or hotspot data.
Tracfone is best for:
- Simple prepaid talk and text
- People who want live customer service options with their prepaid phone
- Options to add data to basic plans
They do have the option of adding Verizon Fios internet as a bundle, but beyond that, you’re not really going to find a lot of bells or whistles. So let’s take a deeper look together.
Tracfone Plans
When you look at Tracfone’s plans, it’s easy to get a little overwhelmed at first because they don’t have a separate page or a separate section for their actual phone plans versus the prepaid a la carte coverage.
So, to start, there are four main plans that they offer:
- Tracfone $15 Unlimited Talk and Text, 1GB of Data Hotspot Capable / 30 Days
- Tracfone $20 Unlimited Talk and Text, 4 GB of Data Hotspot Capable / 30 Days
- Tracfone $30 Unlimited Talk and Text, 10GB of Data Hotspot Capable / 30 Days
- Tracfone $50 Unlimited TalkTextData and 15GB HOTSPOT / 30 Days
The names are pretty clear on what you get and how much it costs. Out of all the plans I’ve looked at for prepaid phone options, Tracfone has some of the cheapest overall, and they absolutely have the least expensive plan if you don’t need a lot of hotspot data. If all you want is unlimited talk and text for a teenager, you need to be able to get a hold of while they are at summer camp, or grandparents that don’t like to text anyway, the $15 basic plan is great.
If you plan to use Hotspot data, you can still get the more expensive plans, but you will cap out at 15 GB of Hotspot data. Unlike some competitors, you can’t share that Hotspot data across other devices.
Now, in addition to these basic monthly plans, you can add things like minutes and data with prepaid plans, and each of these are designated by how long you have access to those prepaid minutes, texts, or data:
- Tracfone $125 – 1500 Minute, 1500 TXT, 1500 MB / 365 Access Days
- Tracfone $99.99 – 1 Year – 400 Minute / 365 Access Days
- TracFone $79.99 – 450 Minute / 90 Access Days
- TracFone $39.99 – 200 Minute / 90 Access Days
- TracFone $29.99 – 120 Minute / 90 Access Days
- TracFone $24.99 – 100 Minutes / 90 Access Days
According to the data listed on the Broadband facts section of their website, these “minutes” refer to the minutes of data you have available to you because all of their plans include unlimited talk and text. So this is just a way to add extra data to a basic talk and text plan. If you run out of data or if you just want to add a set amount of data minutes, you can use over the course of a year.
Personally, I don’t really find the appeal, and it mostly just makes my brain hurt to try and convert things to minutes, accounting for Mbps or latency, but some people might prefer this option.
Tracfone Costs
The most important thing to know about the costs for Tracfone plans is that savings are based on the number of months you purchase.
Each plan comes with the opportunity to set up:
- 1 month
- 3 months
- 6 months or
- 12 months
The savings generated are based on the more months you get. If I only need one month of 20 GB carryover data, it will cost $40 per month. But if I get 12 months, it’s only $32 per month.
Note: You will get bigger savings if you commit to more months at a time; however, if you pay for more than just one month at a time, you also have to pay for that whole time frame up front.
So, that same 12-month package only costs $384 total, which is equivalent to $32 per month, but if that’s what I want, I have to pay $364 at once. The upside, of course is that I’ve saved money and then I don’t have to budget every month for that plan (though I can).
Phones
Service isn’t the only thing that matters; you need to find a company that also has the right types of phones for your needs if you aren’t bringing one yourself. Even if you are, a service that includes clearance options or cheaper refurbished phones can be very important.
I was genuinely surprised that TracFone offered flip phones, smartphones, bring your own options, something I haven’t seen elsewhere, and hearing aid compatible phones. Anyone who might be purchasing a phone for elderly family members, as I did, will find that this is essential.
They also offer clearance items and refurbished phones that you can buy as well as promos that come and go, many of which involve discounts on phones.
Tracfone Discounts
There are some ways to save on plans, as mentioned.
Military and Veterans
Just as I was surprised that they offered hearing aid compatible phones as a distinct category, I was equally surprised that they offered 10% off for all military and Veterans on most of their plans. Way to go, Tracfone.
Auto-Refill
If you aren’t currently enlisted or retired, you can still save with the auto-refill option. Enrolling in auto-refill means that you provide a credit or debit card, and your plan gets automatically renewed every month until you stop. You can cancel it anytime, and it doesn’t come with any type of contract. It applies to basic phone plans and smartphone plans.
If you have multiple lines under the same account, every line gets enrolled in auto-refill plans, so every line gets multi-line discounts (but you can’t couple the multi-line discount with an auto-refill discount–lame).
Extended Service
As mentioned, paying in advance for longer plans gets you some of the best discounts with 10% off 90-day plans, 15% off 180-day plans, and 20% off annual plans. If you plan to use this service for a while, this could save you a pretty penny!
Lifeline Benefit
Eligible customers who qualify for the federal Lifeline benefit through tribal specific programs, veterans’ pensions, SNAP, SSI, Medicaid, or Federal public housing assistance can get a discount of $10.
Target Exclusive Discounts
Though this has absolutely nothing to do with the quality of the phone line or the affordability of the packages, if you shop in-store for a TracFone home internet plan at Target, you can usually get discounts, but they can’t be combined with things like auto-refill discounts.
So basically, if you happen to find yourself at Target and you decide you want Tracfone unlimited plans, you can save $5 per month, or you can just enroll in Auto-refill and get the same savings without having to stand in line at Target.
Tracfone Speeds
All their plans seem to have similar speeds, provided:
- 5G
- Typical Download Speed: 34-149 Mbps
- Typical Upload Speed: 6-37 Mbps
- Typical Latency: 42-63 ms
- 4G LTE
- Typical Download Speed: 9-69 Mbps
- Typical Upload Speed: 1-13 Mbps
- Typical Latency: 51-82 ms
This kind of goes hand in hand with coverage, and you have to use the coverage map on their website to verify where you live and whether or not you get access to 4G LTE or 5G. For what it’s worth, I looked up where I live and with comparable Verizon-owned prepaid options, I get 5G, but with Tracfone, I only get 4G max.
I think this really comes down to how you plan to use your prepaid phone and whether it’s going to function as a work device through which you have to do mobile work like emails, Etsy communications, or social media posts, versus a phone that you’re using just to catch up with friends and family via text.
Tracfone Value for Money
So, is it worth it when you consider the way the plans are set up? One of the things I didn’t find appealing was the complete lack of any other options for things like tablet data, a home phone line or even fringe benefits that a lot of prepaid options have today, like a Walmart Plus Membership or free Paramount Plus or free Peacock service.
Almost all prepaid cell phone plans come with some sort of benefit or even discounts on services and streaming apps, but Tracfone doesn’t.
And the thing is, unless you pick their cheapest, cheapest (like, no data) plan, you aren’t saving a ton compared to the alts out there that do give you extra features and savings. However, if a basic, straightforward plan is what you’re after, Tracfone certainly delivers.
Customer Service
Another important note is that you have an actual customer service phone line, you can call in addition to being able to use a chat function or mobile app. If you need help, you can call the customer service number and actually talk to a real person. In most cases, with a prepaid phone, this is absolutely not true. Most companies cut out the cost of maintaining live customer service agents in order to save money on a prepaid plan, so seeing this really is a breath of fresh air.
Summing Up
There are a few things that really stand out with Tracfone, namely the fact that if you don’t care about data, you can legitimately find some of the cheapest plans out there, and you can get live customer service help if you need it. I think there are plenty of circumstances where this is an ideal phone option, especially for people who only need their phone for talk and text, maybe need a second phone for elderly parents, business purposes, or teenagers in the house, and people who are simply on a tight budget.