Prepaid Cell Phone Services

Updated June 10, 2022

Scroll to the bottom for the latest update.

January 19, 2014
I have been looking at what services are available here in the US. There are many reasons as to why people choose these types of services, for me it's plain and simple. I just don't use the phone to talk much. I also usually just talk to a handful of friends every now and then so my needs are very basic and not to mention budget. Now, most of the world pretty much seems to use these. I think we're finally catching up with these here. I also want a very flexible plan that doesn't expire or takes my number if I forget to add any money. So I thought I put down a list of what I find as I now need to find something more flexible for my use. In any case you should be able to transfer your current number to any service now. Just click on the red links to go to their websites and read about them.

PagePlus - Uses verizon's network
https://www.pagepluscellular.com/
Pros
 - I just found this one and it looks like you can go for at least 120 days without recharging your cards.
- Seems to use the Verizon network from what I read

Cons
Not all phones may work on it, but it should be easy to check.

H2O - Uses At&t's national gsm network (Not recommeded)
https://www.h2owirelessnow.com/mainControl.php?page=index
Pros
- I am also looking at this one as it looks like an affordable service.
-I have ordered a sim card to test out, they were only a few cents so we'll see.
- Uses the ATT network (This may be a good or bad thing depending on where you are)

Cons
- Reading many of the reviews the only thing seems to be bad customer service and their data plans cutting you off.
- I have had a chance to use the web from the phone and your money seems to drain pretty fast. I only used it briefly a few times to check my mail and read for moments at a time and the 30 dollars were almost gone and I don't think that even lasted a month. It seems to last fine if you only use it for calling. The web didn't feel as fast most of the time either. It does work, but I won't be using the phone for that anymore.
- Their android app is pretty basic and every time I tried to look at my account it always asks for my number which is very annoying as I still can't remember the new number. So far it looks like at least it works when you are not connected to the internet which I'll need to add more money. So it's hard to know exactly how much you have left on this system. The net10 phone always showed me the exact amount of minutes I had left which was good to know. You do get that information but only after each call which is the other annoying thing about the H2O network. It keeps making that chaching sound every time you make a call or use the web.


Update: November 3, 2014
Today I got a nasty surprise. My phone was empty and I had just made a local call yesterday as I normally do and saw that I had money left on my account. I called H2O wireless and I explained to the tech how my phone was empty all of the sudden. I hardly even call anyone and normally just use it for local calls. In any case the guy on the other side asked me if I had called international because there were some international calls. He didn't tell me where but I don't have anyone to call internationally, hell I barely even call anyone locally. He also said something about using the Internet and I told him that I didn't even use that either. Eventually he sort of understood as I got a bit more furious since he kept trying to say that I had called international. In short he couldn't do anything about my funds just going missing from one day to the next. By the way the few texts and calls I made barely used the amount I had so I knew there was something fishy going on there, but no matter what happened they couldn't do anything about it.  In short, what I read about customers service just getting dropped is apparently true so I don't recommend this company as their service can't help you. Oh and that's the other thing, just trying to get in touch with anyone there is another story. Also there is no way for you as the user to actually track what you have used, you only get to see the leftover amount after each call and no way to go back and look. I still like the way net10 did theirs as you always see what is left of your amount. So now I have to go find me another company because there is no way I'm going to give this company any more of my money. I wouldn't mind using them again if their service wasn't like that, but I rather look elsewhere since there are way too many unknowns with their service. The service works just like any other, but not being able to track your usage better and the support that can't help you make it an easy choice to go find something else.

Net10 - Uses various national carriers depending on where you live. I have been using their prepaid cards for some time now. It worked for my needs, but there are a few cons with their service.
http://www.net10wireless.com/#/

Pros
-Works fine once you set your phone on-line.
-My support emails were always answered

Cons
-Their phones have always been locked, I could not even used my old sim card on my new net10 phone when I upgraded the phone. Now I can't use the service with my new android phone.

-After 30 days, if you haven't used your minutes, you can't use the remaining minutes until you add a new card. This sucks if you just don't use the phone much and only when needed.

-Not very flexible on their plans. You either have the prepaid or monthly service on smart phones.

Update: November 3, 2014
Ptel - Uses the T-Mobile network. Since H2O decided to take my leftover money out for no reason, I thought I do a new internet search for a new company to try. I found this one and they also have a pay as you go service. So I went back into amazon and order me a sim card from there as you can usually find these cards for a few cents. Once I get it I'll just go to their site and add some money to it and see how it goes. This is actually what I like about these services, they are very simple to get setup with not contracts or anything else. Sometimes the only problem may be transferring your old number from another pay as you go service. If that's the case I don't mind changing it to a new one because sometimes you can get some bad numbers anyway. So I'll be trying out their service and hope it works without any problems. Like anything else, you can't find a good one until you have tried them which can go both ways, but I don't mind as I'm not attached to any number.
https://www.ptel.com/

I finally got my sim card from amazon for the ptel network. You basically have to go through the online as usual, but I was trying to port my old number to them and I got an email from them saying that H20 didn't recognize my account. So I thought okay no biggie, I'll go back and log into the ptel site and although I got a link to make a password, when you go to their login page it asks for your number and password which at this point is pretty useless to me even though I created that earlier. I can't put in the number I was trying to port in since they were not able to do that yet and their system only asks for a number instead of my email and a password.  I got a hold of them through their online chat, but unfortunately logging in is a no go until I have a number. This basically puts me back to square one until they either port my number or assign me a new one which I said would be okay if they can't port my old one. Yeah it sucks, but this is not as easy as you would think unfortunately. So now I'm just waiting for them to see what they are going to do. I was told that it may take from 2-72 hours to port a number so who knows. At least you can get a hold of them through the web which was nice.

Number porting update...
So after going back and forth on the emails I was told I needed the sim card number from my h2o card so they could ask for the number to be ported and released by h20. I send it over and now I have to wait. In the meantime I have been without a phone. I could have just asked for a new one but I wanted to see what the process for this was like. In short it would be faster to just change numbers, but I'll keep on waiting to see what happens as I really don't use the phone much anyway.

Update: November 14, 2014
I finally got a number assigned since I could not get my old number transferred. The good thing is that the number works. The bad thing is that I got a number from someone with bad credit and I keep getting all these collector calls. Another bad thing about this company is the website. They ask for the cell number and the password I created. I still can't access that page even with the number so this is a huge problem which needs to be changed to using an email instead of a cell phone number as that is creating a big problem since no matter what I can't get in. I guess I would need to create another new account with the new number which I don't even want to bother with now. It's just too much hassle. If they use an email address instead, then you can keep using the same account for whatever you got. As of now I think the website is not helpful in that sense. At least they do answer their chat and emails so you can get a hold of them that way. The service seems to work fine so far, but until the calls stop, who knows. Maybe I will have to get a new number again.

Republic Wireless - Uses the sprint network and the Moto X phones which is nice, but they also use their own firmware which means you can't take the phone and use it on other networks. That goes for any sprint phone if I remember correctly anyway as they use a different type of network. I had them when they first came into the market and unless they use unlocked cell phones now, you won't be able to take them anywhere else.
https://republicwireless.com/


Go Red Pocket - I just found this site for more prepaid plans, but I don't see a paid as you go plan which is what I'm looking for, but I'll add it here as I want to add any other companies I find to get a good list going.
http://goredpocket.com/

Update: May 29, 2017
US Mobile
https://www.usmobile.com/
Today I'm just updating the pages a bit, so if you're looking for a pay as you go service, I have found this one to work for me. I don't use the phone much but their service allows me to purchase what I think I will need every month. So you can basically tailor their phone service to you. Since I hardly use the phone I pay a small amount and chose from all the different options. If you need to have web access, you can also add that to your choices or leave it out altogether. As simple as that. Now this service would be perfect if I could roll over my unused time. Their service has been great and I have had no problems other than getting a number of someone who apparently owed money. This apparently is the downside of using a pay as you go service, you can get stuck with a bad number in terms of that. However, there is one thing you can do, just block any numbers on your smart phone and that will take care of any annoying calls. Well, I hope this helps you at least find something that you can use without breaking the bank. Ting I think was the other one I was looking at first, but usmobile had the better pricing at the time I was looking around. I haven't looked back since but use whatever works for you.

Update May13, 2020
I am still using US Mobile, but I have found that they don't support the "Hot Spot" feature. I found out accidentally since I no longer have the internet at home and contacted them to find out whether I could use the hot spot on my phone. That's when I was told that that is not allowed. So now I'm looking at other options. I also have terrible service where I live which means I can barely use the internet on the phone, I say barely because my signal is practically non-existent.

Transferring or keeping your old number. You will need to contact your carrier and get this information from them first as I am finding out. Your old number still needs to be active or this won't be possible. https://www.usmobile.com/help/knowledge-base/how-to-find-your-carrier-porting-information/

Mint Mobile - Just another service provider I have found that does support the hot spot feature of your phone. The website leaves a bit to be desired because I have to keep clicking on the filter feature if I hit the back button while checking out their phones. The plans are very different though. By the time I priced out the sim card for their service it was like 50 dollars with all the taxes they listed. With any of the other carriers, these are either free to only a few dollars. You also have to pay in advance to get any savings. So this is out of the question.
https://www.mintmobile.com/

Update: September, 5 2020

Hello Mobile  

https://hellomobile.com/

I started looking for a new service provider that had a more affordable, but unlimited internet service that I could use with phone tethering or hotspot. Unfortunately usmobile didn't have this and I was told by one of their reps that they didn't even support this feature. Since I no longer have internet at home due to only being able to have a single line which the previous home owner wanted to use, I had to look for other options. Phone tethering was my next option until I can see if I can get a router that works the same way. Since I finally got a new phone that supports this, it was time to look. I found hello mobile which is also more affordable than the other main carriers and I have decided to give them a try. So far the service seems to work just like my usmobile service. Because of the new phone I get a little better signal. I still have to test the tethering but so far the service uses the same t-mobile as usmobile. Also, the sim card is free and you only pay the service that you choose. Nothing else, simple. I have had one issue, this has to do with the help. I'm supposed to be able to keep my old number but this has been a challenge, first trying to get a hold of them as the system has quite a few automated menus. The other problem has been their online system not accepting an address with a fraction after the house number. Third, not being able to pay with a credit card that is not attached to whatever address you have the sim mailed to. Everyone is different and I'm sure this was a special case, but it's just something I found to be a bit of a headache. I understand the reasons for this, but we also had a very good reason why the card is not attached to the address I was shipping the card to. So this created a bit of a problem and I'm not sure I'll be able to keep my number yet. Other than that, the service seems to work as they say. Also, this company is located in Florida just like USMobile. Since they are an online company I have no problems using them. They work throughout the USA.

Update: October 1, 2020

I finally got a chance to use this service and so far hello mobile is working well. US mobile made it hard to transfer my number to hello, but it eventually got done. I had an easier time moving a number from metro pcs to hello mobile so it just depends on the company. I had been a good customer so there was no reason for them to make it difficult but they did. Either way, I have also tested the hotspot feature of my phone and that worked great since I don't have internet at home. This allowed me to get my desktop online for basic things like email and browsing. So far everything is working well here in the middle of a large city. I can't say how this will be out side a big city though.

Update: June 12, 2021

So I have been using hellomobile for a little while. So far the service has worked fine. I'm still trying to get them to fix the other address with a fraction number on it. They have also updated the sim cards for some reason. I'm not sure if they changed carriers or what, but now I'm having a few issues. The first one is that when I was fixing my friends phone, I called and my number showed with the name of someone else. When I send text images to another hello mobile, it shows the sim card number that is not my number, although they have the correct number for my phone. So I am waiting to see if this get fixed as I have contacted them. The new sim cards are supposed to support the new 5G which my phone doesn't support but it's good to know that if I get something that does, I can just swap it from the old phone to the new one. Unfortunately my signal has gotten worst at home where I was using the hot spot so now I can't even use the desktop to update my 3D printer software. So the adventure goes on until I can sort these few things out.

Update: June 10,2022

Well, it is time to make an update on this service. They stopped supporting the hotspot for some reason which is something I occasionally needed. They also never did update their system to allow you to edit/update your address. And the last problem I experienced was the fact that their system would not let me pay my bill. It kept stating that someone had already used my card. In short, as someone in IT, I did let them know about their issues so that they could hopefully fix their problems. This never happened and their online support is no good since they can't do anything to fix the actual problem anyway. The service worked but it got really frustrating trying to simply pay the bill and the system not allowing me to do that. In any case after trying time after time, I decided that it was time to look for a new service provider. I gave them plenty of time to fix their issues and they simply ignored me so this is where this ends. As mentioned above even with a new 5g phone, the service in my area is pretty spotty. 

 Tello

I decided to get a new tello service. If the unlimited service is something you don't need, you can get a lower price service and move up or down according to your needs which I find useful. They also allow you to use your phone as a hotspot. Keep in mind that it will slow down if you go past your limit depending on what service you get. So you just have to order online, and wait for the new sim to arrive. I'll let you know how things go once I get this set up. I always like the simple no fuss setup and so far their website seems pretty straight forward where I can take care of any problems without having to talk to anyone. Well see.

Tello update June 16, 2022

I have finally set the tello sim and service up. It took about three days to get the new sim. Then all I had to do was activate it on their website and add the old service information on the same page to bring my old number in. I did have to get that pin from the previous provider. Once that was done, everything started working right away which was nice. I also need the hotspot since I also fix family and friends computers and many times I need access to the internet which they may not have. I got a chance to use the hotspot with my desktop since there is no internet there and this service worked beautifully. I still didn't see too many bars on the phone but the service did not break up once even there and kept me connected on my desktop so that I could get an att device setup. So I'm very happy to say that I really enjoy this service. Not to mention I didn't have to set up anything on the phone. Just put the card in, activate it, restart the phone once I think and it was good to go. Unlike hello mobile. This service provider definitely feels much better than the previous provider. So all in all, I think it's a win win. 

Nowadays it's very important that the service providers also support and allow the hotspot specially if you fix computers because you don't always have internet access available, and this makes a world of difference in getting a driver or whatever you may need. Another important aspect is that carriers need stop that multiple lines in order to get any discount. Some only need one line not multiple lines which is very annoying, hence the reason I like to do these reviews.