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Best prepaid home internet plan
100-200 Mbps
$30 – $45 per month
Best prepaid internet plan for Cox customers
$50 per month
Best 5G prepaid home internet for rural areas
72 – 245 Mbps
$60 per month
Fastest prepaid home internet provider
300 – 2,000 Mbps
$50 – $120 per month
What is the best prepaid home internet plan?
When it comes to prepaid internet service, your options could be limited. NOW Internet is CNET’s pick as the best-prepaid internet plan overall.
NOW Internet offers two prepaid plans with maximum download speeds of 100 or 200 megabits per second. The service comes with no credit checks, no contract requirements, free equipment, unlimited data and straightforward, pay-as-you-go pricing. You’ll find additional details about the service and other potential prepaid internet options below.
More prepaid internet options would certainly be ideal. Since the end of the Affordable Connectivity Program, many Americans have struggled to afford home internet. There are a few alternatives to consider for cheap internet, but prepaid service is, unfortunately, not likely to be one of them. Here’s how the prepaid services compare.
Best prepaid internet plans
4 Internet providers
SORT BY
Cable
100-200 Mbps
$30 – $45 per month
Our take – NOW Internet powered by Xfinity offers two speed tiers: 100Mbps starting at $30 a month and 200Mbps for $45. No credit check, deposit, or contract is required to sign up for service. Either plan is sufficient for web browsing and online shopping, light streaming and online gaming on a limited number of devices. Free Wi-Fi equipment rental — a modem/router combo device — and unlimited data are included at no extra cost.
Cable
100-200 Mbps
$30 – $45 per month
Cable
100 Mbps
$50 per month
Our take – Cox’s prepaid internet plan, StraightUp Internet, is about as straightforward as it gets when it comes to signing up and paying for home internet service. No credit checks, equipment fees or term agreements are required, and the monthly price of $50 is offered at a flat rate with no price increases after a year.
Cable
100 Mbps
$50 per month
Fixed wireless
72 – 245 Mbps
$60 per month
Our take – T-Mobile’s Unlimited Mobile Internet offers five prepaid internet plans, all free of contracts and credit checks. Speeds range from 89 to 415Mbps in download and 6 to 31Mbps in upload. Don’t let the word unlimited in the plan name confuse you: There are still data restrictions. However, these data caps aren’t as restrictive as you might think. On that note, your monthly price can depend on how much data you sign up for. For example, plans start at $10 a month for 2GB of 5G and or 4G LTE data and can reach as high as $50 a month for 50GB of data. Whichever plan you choose, your equipment is included in your monthly price. In addition, you won’t be charged data overage fees once you exceed your data cap.
Fixed wireless
72 – 245 Mbps
$60 per month
Fiber
300 – 2,000 Mbps
$50 – $120 per month
Our take – Note: Verizon Fios prepaid internet is no longer available to new customers. Current customers can still manage their accounts.
Fiber
300 – 2,000 Mbps
$50 – $120 per month
Best prepaid home internet providers compared
Please note that the plans below show each provider’s cheapest available tier. The max speed is the top advertised speed for that given plan, but it might not be available in your area. Overall, the best selection for you — and the most cost-effective plan — might be a different tier that provides a faster speed at a higher price but a better value. To fully understand more about this value-based approach, check out CNET’s guide to examining the cost per Mbps.
| Plan | Starting monthly price | Max download speed | Cost per Mbps | Equipment fee |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cox StraightUp Internet Read full review |
$50 | 100Mbps | 50 cents | None |
| T-Mobile Unlimited Mobile Internet 2GB Read full review |
$10 | 415Mbps | 2 cents | None |
| Verizon Fios Prepaid 100 Read full review |
$50 | 100Mbps | 50 cents | $100 upfront |
| NOW Internet 100 | $30 | 100 | 30 cents | None |
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Source: CNET analysis of provider data.
Factors to consider when choosing a prepaid home internet plan
Prepaid home internet service is ideal for getting a quick and easy connection, but it isn’t for everyone. Here are some things you’ll want to keep in mind when shopping for prepaid internet service.
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Availability
Mostmajor ISPs don’t offer a separate prepaid internet plan. So, for example, if AT&T and Spectrum are the primary ISPs in your area, you won’t have the option of a prepaid home internet plan.
Costs
Consider the upfront and long-term cost of prepaid versus standard service to determine which is the better value. You could possibly get a cheaper plan from an ISP with no upfront costs.
Speeds
Will 100 to 200Mbps be enough speed for your needs? Unless you’re already a Verizon Fios prepaid customer, that’s the fastest you’ll get from a prepaid home internet service. For a few dollars more per month, it’s possible to get faster speeds than you’d get from a prepaid plan.
Payment options
With prepaid internet, your service ends abruptly when the prepaid period is over. Consider enrolling in auto-renew payments — it’s available from both Cox and NOW — to avoid any unexpected service disruptions.
How we chose the best prepaid internet plans
Selecting the best prepaid internet plans began the same way we at CNET evaluate all of the best internet providers: by seeing what’s available. In the case of the best prepaid home internet, the choices are much more limited than, say, the best fiber internet providers or even the best rural ISPs.
Cox and NOW Internet are the only two national internet providers to offer separate prepaid internet plans. Verizon Fios no longer offers its prepaid service to new customers and CenturyLink has a prepay option, but it’s just a different way to pay for standard service. AT&T, Kinetic, Mediacom, Spectrum and others do not offer a standalone prepaid plan.
After narrowing down the options, we considered speeds, pricing and service terms such as fees, data caps and contracts, along with customer satisfaction reports to determine the overall value of each prepaid internet plan.
That’s a similar approach to how we review and evaluate all major internet providers across the US, even though the category of prepaid internet is much more limited. See our guide to how CNET reviews internet providers to learn more.
The bottom line on prepaid internet
Prepaid internet is separate from low-income internet plans in that there are no qualifications such as credit checks or deposits to sign up. The lack of high speeds and overall value are often a drawback to prepaid internet, but you may consider slower speeds a fair trade for simple, cheap internet service. NOW Internet service is our pick for the best prepaid internet, but Cox’s StraightUp Internet may suit your needs as well if NOW Internet is unavailable.
Prepaid internet FAQs
What is prepaid home internet?
Prepaid internet is a pay-as-you-go internet service that allows you to pay for the next week or month of service ahead of time to avoid fees and other conditions that come with most standard internet plans. Prepaid internet plans typically require no credit check, deposit or term agreement.
Why get prepaid home internet?
Prepaid internet is best for those who would rather skip the common conditions of signing up with an internet service provider, such as credit checks and term agreements. Speeds are often lower than you’ll get with standard internet plans — Cox and NOW Internet prepaid plans come with maximum download speeds of 100Mbps and 200Mbps, respectively — but the ease of signing up and lower fees may make prepaid service the more sensible option for some households.
Do I have to qualify to get prepaid home internet?
Cox and NOW Internet do not require any special requirements or qualifications to sign up for prepaid service. Your address and initial service costs are often all you need to get started.
What is the cheapest way to get internet?
Prepaid internet is most likely not the cheapest way to get internet. Prepaid internet is often more expensive than standard internet plans when considering cost per Mbps or the speeds you get for what you pay. Prepaid internet can come with lower initial costs, particularly if the provider would otherwise charge a deposit or deny service due to low or unestablished credit or outstanding balances from a previous account.
How can I get Wi-Fi without a provider?
Unless you connect to a free public network, you can’t legally get home Wi-Fi without an internet provider.
An internet connection and router are needed for Wi-Fi. You can purchase a Wi-Fi router on your own, but without an internet connection to your home, there will be no internet for the router to connect to. You need an internet provider to supply that internet connection.
Is NOW Internet unlimited?
Yes. NOW Internet is the only prepaid internet plan available to new customers that includes unlimited data. Comparatively, prepaid service from Cox and T-Mobile comes with a monthly data cap of 1.25TB and 2GB to 50GB, respectively.
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