You can’t get any big discounts like you would with other cell phone plans from bigger companies, but their Multiple Lines option is great for those trying to save a few dollars with friends or family.
Prepaid minutes ranging from $20–$200 Choose a low-data or unlimited data plan for a monthly price of $9–$29
Tello’s prepaid plans are an excellent option for those who only use their phones to make calls and just want to pay for minutes they’d use within 90 days. (Your “pay as you go credit” expires after three months.) You can pay as low as $20 for 2,000 minutes or as high as $200 for 20,000 minutes. If you’re someone who wants unlimited minutes and texts but only uses the internet or your apps a few times per month, Tello also has a plan for you. You’d still be saving a good chunk of money if you were to get Tello’s unlimited everything plan. For $29 per month, you can get unlimited talk, data, and texts. But Tello’s unlimited plan is average compared to other cell phone companies. Companies that charge about $40 for unlimited everything include Mint Mobile, Visible, and US Mobile—three services with the best prepaid plans. Tello uses T-Mobile’s data network (a reliable network), so we can safely say Tello is not a bad choice. Tello makes it easy for you to customize your cell phone plan. You can choose how much data you want (ranging from 500 MB to unlimited) and how many minutes you want to use each month (100 to unlimited). All of the data plans come with unlimited text. You can get 5 GB of data with unlimited call and text for $19 per month. Not bad at all. This plan is best for those who want to save, but like we said above, Tello’s unlimited everything plan is a steal compared to other mobile companies. It’s the same story with Tello’s new $29/month pricing for its unlimited plan. Tello dropped its price by $10/month, which makes it one of the most affordable unlimited plans on the market. You might be thinking, is all that data necessary? It’s essential if using your cell phone for many hours per day is part of your job. If you’re not sure how much cellular data you need, check out our data guide to help you. You can choose a prepaid cell phone plan ranging from $20 to $200. And those 2,000–20,000 minutes are good for 90 days (then they expire). But there’s a little bit of a catch—a good catch. You can use your “Pay-As-You-Go” balance for US calls, texts, and data, as well as for international calls and texts. The number of minutes and texts you can use internationally vary with each country, but this provider gives you free minutes to 60+ countries. We highlighted above how Tello’s unlimited data plan compares to other cell phone providers, but how do the prepaid plans compare? Tello’s prepaid plans allow you to order minutes for just $20, and you can use these minutes for 90 days. Other cell providers charge at least $50, and you’ll need to pay it monthly. We also like Tello’s unique prepaid plans that allow you to call and text your family from countries such as Nigeria, Peru, or Ukraine. So Tello is perfect for those who need a burner phone, make international calls, or if you need a temporary phone while staying in the US. Add up to four people to one account, and you can choose how much data and minutes each member receives. (All plans have free unlimited texts.) The prices below are for each person. For example, if you, your spouse, and your two kids want unlimited everything, your monthly bill will be about $116. In the table below, we’ve highlighted the cost of unlimited data plans for families with other mobile carriers. (Might as well set the bar high so there aren’t any surprises.) When you add four lines to your Tello service—and each line has unlimited everything—you’ll have a cell phone bill aroundtello $116/month. US Mobile and Visible still have Tello beat when it comes to unlimited family plans, but Tello still easily beats out the major carriers when it comes to price. Tello is available in most states, but it’s more favored on the East side of the US and not available for all rural dwellers. Make sure to check out the map below to see if your state and city are in Tello’s coverage area. Tello covers many big-name cell phones and ones we hadn’t heard of. If you’re bringing your own phone instead of purchasing a phone from Tello, make sure to check your phone’s compatibility here. We’ve had readers tell us that Tello wasn’t compatible with devices they just bought, so make sure to find out before purchasing an unlocked device. If you want to buy a new phone, you can always go directly through Tello. Here are some of the phones you can purchase. It has solid options and some as low as $25 with no activation fee. Once again, Tello aims for value at low costs. It offers a simple and straightforward service that doesn’t cause the typical confusion that some bigger companies bring by tucking in activation fees. You can hit them up 24/7 on the phone via talk or text, or you can chat with them online. The agents we chatted with answered our questions quickly and followed up with useful links. Much better than some of the automated chatbots that we’ve encountered across various services. Tello is great for high school and college students who get their own cell service for the first time and want to start with a more affordable option. It’s also ideal for anyone who uses their phone for talking and texting and not for trading pictures or browsing the internet.
Cell phone plans: We like how Tello offers both prepaid minutes and inexpensive monthly data plans. Tello charges $20–$200 for 2,000–20,000 minutes, or customize a data plan starting as low as $5 per month. Family cell phone plans: We like how Tello doesn’t charge a fee to add a line to your family plan. You can have a total of four people on a family plan, and each member can have their own data and minutes. But we can’t say Tello is the most inexpensive service for unlimited family plans. Cell phones and devices: Tello is all about saving money. So, not only do they offer low-cost plans, but they offer low-cost used phones that still work well. You could say Tello isn’t materialistic. Customer service: You get 24/7 support from Tello, and most customer service reviews are decent.
To research for this review, we began by using Whistleout to help determine which plans and phones are better than others. We then evaluated Tello based on its array of plans, price, data speeds, network coverage, smartphones, and more. Tello avoids hidden fees by using a prepaid monthly model that you can always choose to upgrade or downgrade without early termination fees.
