Monthly Plans:  

We rated Verizon Wireless number one on both our Cell Phone Providers and Mobile Broadband sites. The primary reason that the company is ranked so much lower in this review is the absence of monthly service plans. If one of VZW’s usage based plans fits your needs, it could still be a good choice for you to consider.

Usage Based Plans:  

Daily Plans

There are three daily usage plans offered by Verizon Wireless. The most basic, called Prepaid Core, costs $.99 per day used plus $.10 for all calls except for VZW to VZW mobile calls which are free. That can be a major advantage given the number of people using Verizon Wireless. Text (SMS) messages are $.10 each. The next step up, Prepaid Plus for $1.99 daily adds unlimited nights and weekends. Both anytime minutes and text messages are $.05 each. The most ambitious plan called Prepaid Unlimited Talk is $3.99 per day used but all calls are included in the charge. On this plan, text messages cost just $.01 each. Multimedia messages (MMS) for all Verizon Wireless’ prepaid plans, including Prepaid Basic, below, cost $.25. There are a couple of messaging bundles available as well. For $20 per month you get unlimited messaging to anyone in the U.S. or for $10 you can exchange unlimited messages with other Verizon Wireless phone plus get an additional 250 messages to any U.S. phone.

Pay-as-You-Go

Verizon Wireless’ pay-as-you-go program is called Prepaid Basic, which describes it well. Still, if you need the convenience and security of having a cell phone but don’t use it much, it could be a reasonable choice. On this plan all calls are $.25 minute and text messages cost $.20 each.