AT&T and Verizon are two of the largest wireless carriers in the nation. With millions of customers and widespread coverage, knowing which carrier offers the best plans to meet your needs can be difficult.
Although they have different offerings, neither service clearly wins when comparing the two. After our thorough hands-on testing of AT&T and Verizon, we think Verizon offers slightly more value for the price, given its stronger coverage and available plan add-ons.
That said, it's VERY close, and we’ve found the positives and pain points for each kind of customer:
- AT&T is the best carrier for customers looking for a (slightly) cheaper plan or widespread 5G coverage.
- Verizon is best for customers who need reliable nationwide coverage and want plan customization and perk options.
Let’s dive into the details of AT&T and Verizon to learn which carrier is right for you.
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We've been around since the birth of the iPhone. Along the way, we've learned how to spot the best deals for your wallet (and your sanity). We spend our days researching informative guides and writing insightful reviews on every kind of wireless plan, distinguishing what matters from what doesn't. We played around with these plans before recommending them, ensuring they're worth your hard-earned money.
Want to know more? Check out how we review every cell phone plan we rank.
Get to the point: AT&T vs. Verizon carrier snapshot
If you want to know what it’s like to be a customer of one of these carriers, check out our hands-on reviews of AT&T and Verizon. Our mobile experts have used these services for years and know the best plan options available. That said, here’s the quick answers you need to know to make a decision right now:
| AT&T | Verizon | |
|---|---|---|
| Plan prices | $50-$90/month | $65–$90/month |
| Mobile hotspot data | 3–100GB | 0-60GB; 100GB available |
| 5G networks and speeds* | 5G: 53–304Mbps 5G+: 167-474Mbps |
5G: 35–143Mbps 5G Ultra-wideband: 195–634Mbps |
| Family plan discounts | As low as $30/line | As low as $30/line |
| Plan customization | No | Yes |
| Perks and extra | None | Available as add-ons |
| WhistleOut rating | ||
| Shop plans | Shop plans |
*Typical download speeds
The bottom line:
As operators of two of the three major U.S. cell networks, AT&T and Verizon are both EXPENSIVE (and we know you can find equally good plans for way less). But for those premium prices, Verizon offers slightly better value. You get more basic inclusions in Verizon's plans; its 4G LTE network is better in more parts of the country; and you have the option to add on extra perks if you want them.
That said, AT&T does undercut Verizon in two areas: It offers a single, trimmed-down unlimited plan that is the cheapest option of the whole lot, and its basic 5G network is larger than Verizon's. That said, Verizon's 5G UW network (its top-tier high-band spectrum) is faster than AT&T's... where you can find it.
The better carrier for you depends on your priorities, but we give the slightest edge to Verizon.
Reviews and ratings: How we scored AT&T and Verizon
At WhistleOut, we review all carriers using the same five criteria: price, value, speed, coverage, and customer service. Each is evaluated on a 5-star scale to calculate the carrier's overall rating.
- – Price: 3.5 out of 5
- – Value: 3.5 out of 5
- – Data speeds: 4 out of 5
- – Coverage and network reliability: 4 out of 5
- – Customer service: 3 out of 5
- – Price: 3.5 out of 5
- – Value: 4.5 out of 5
- – Data speeds: 4.5 out of 5
- – Coverage and network reliability: 5 out of 5
- – Customer service: 3.5 out of 5
AT&T's rating details
AT&T offers excellent data speeds and coverage, but it struggles with high prices that impact its value. Our Staff Writer Kevin Kearney—who was an AT&T customer for 15 years—noted that he never had issues with losing his signal and saw fast data speeds above 200Mbps, but still felt like he was overpaying for what AT&T offered. The carrier is more expensive than other MVNOs on the AT&T network and doesn’t include as many perks as other major carriers like T-Mobile or Verizon.
You can read about Kevin’s experience and see the results of his speed testing in our AT&T review.
Verizon's rating details
Verizon is also incredibly expensive, but there’s a bit more value in the plans because of the nationwide 4G LTE coverage, lightning-fast 5G data speeds, and plan customization. Our Senior Staff Writer Angelo Ilumba has been a Verizon customer for over 10 years. In his network testing, he’s seen data speeds in excess of 800Mbps on Verizon’s 5G network. He also valued the ability to customize plans by building your own perk loadout, though he also noted that Verizon’s options still cost too much, even with no extras included.
Check out Angelo’s Verizon review for his full rundown of the carrier and his speed testing results.
AT&T vs. Verizon: Plan prices and value
Both carriers offer a variety of plans at similar price ranges. AT&T offers 3 postpaid plans that range from semi-budget to premium. The barebones Value 2.0 plan starts at $50/month and the carrier tops out at the Premium 2.0 plan for $90/month.
Verizon offers just three options, all of which are considered premium postpaid plans. Verizon’s Unlimited Welcome plan starts at $65/month, and its most expensive Unlimited Ultimate plan is $90/month. You should also note that Verizon doesn’t include perks with its plans. Things like streaming services, extra hotspot data, and international roaming are still available, but they cost an extra $10/month each as add-ons.
That said, AT&T no longer offers perks at all—not even as add-ons.
Compare specific AT&T and Verizon plans
Check out the postpaid unlimited plans offered by AT&T and Verizon below:
| AT&T | Verizon | |
|---|---|---|
| Select plan | ||
| Mobile data | ||
| Coverage | ||
| Hotspot | ||
| Speeds | ||
| Price | ||
| Shop plans | Shop plans |
*Subject to deprioritization
Premium unlimited data plans
If you need a lot of data and value hotspot capability, both of these carriers have you covered, but AT&T is the slightly better option based on price. Verizon’s Unlimited Ultimate plan includes unlimited premium data and a 60GB mobile hotspot for $90/month. AT&T’s Premium 2.0 plan offers better specs—unlimited premium data and 100GB hotspot—for the same price.
AT&T loses when looking at plans on the cheaper end of the spectrum. Verizon’s Unlimited Welcome plan starts at $65/month and includes unlimited 5G data. Note this is not premium data (so it can slow down during deprioritization), and there’s no mobile hotspot included. AT&T’s Value 2.0 plan offers 5GB of high-speed data and a 3GB hotspot, and is priced lower at $50/month, but your speeds will slow after you use up your 5GB of high-speed data.
Getting a mobile hotspot for just $.99 more per month is not a bad deal. However, our AT&T tester, Kevin, had Unlimited Starter SL (which has since been discontinued but can be compared to the Value 2.0 plan) as his everyday plan and ended up deciding to switch from AT&T after doing some thorough evaluation of its price and inclusions.
Kevin's experience on AT&T's Entry-level unlimited plan
Kevin determined that even though his AT&T plan included a hotspot, its lack of other features made the premium price not worth it in the end.
"Overall, AT&T’s service is reliable, and all of my plan features work as advertised. Still, despite the strengths of AT&T’s service, its limited hotspot allowance and high monthly payments no longer made sense for my situation or my wallet."
Read his full AT&T review to see his speed test results.
Plan perks
If perks are important to you, Verizon is your only option. AT&T eliminated many of its perks, meaning you’ll no longer find streaming subscriptions or cloud storage attached to its plans.
Verizon offers multiple perks, but the carrier also changed how customers pay for them. Instead of them coming standard, Verizon offers a customizable perk system. Each perk is an extra $10/month on your bill, and you can choose as many—or as few—as you want. Verizon perks include the following:
- Netflix & Max (with ads)
- Disney Bundle (Hulu, Disney Plus, ESPN+)
- AppleOne
- Apple Music Family
- YouTube Premium
- Walmart+ membership
- 100GB of mobile hotspot
Family plans
Both Verizon and AT&T offer outstanding discounts on their postpaid family plans. (Truthfully, a large family plan is one of the only ways to make these plans affordable and competitive with MVNO offerings.) But if you look closely at the final price per line, you'll see that Verizon's family plans offer slightly better value than AT&T's.
With AT&T, you can pay as little as $30/line with a typical four-line family plan on the base-level Value 2.0 plan. AT&T’s Unlimited Your Way family plan also allows customers to mix and match lines from its premium postpaid plans.
Here’s how AT&T’s family plan discounts work per number of lines:
AT&T Unlimited Your Way monthly price per line
| Value 2.0 | Extra 2.0 | Premium 2.0 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 line | $50/month | $70/month | $90/month | |||
| 2 lines | $45/line | $60/line | $80/line | |||
| 3 lines | $35/line | $55/line | $65/line | |||
| 4+ lines | $30/line | $40/line | $55/line |
Verizon also offers a customizable family plan with its myPlan premium offerings. Like AT&T, you can mix and match any of its three postpaid plans.
Here’s how Verizon’s family plan discounts work:
Verizon myPlan family pricing
| Unlimited Welcome |
Unlimited Plus |
Unlimited Ultimate | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 line | $65/line | $80/line | $90/line |
| 2 lines | $55/line | $70/line | $80/line |
| 3 lines | $40/line | $55/line | $65/line |
| 4+ lines | $30/line | $45/line | $55/line |
At four lines, AT&T's Value 2.0 and Verizon's Welcome plan cost the same. The key difference is how each handles data. Value 2.0 gives you 5GB of guaranteed high-speed data before speeds slow down. Verizon's Welcome plan offers unlimited high-speed data, but it's always subject to deprioritization when the network is congested.
If you regularly use more than 5GB of high-speed data, Verizon's Welcome plan is worth a look. But if saving money is the priority, an MVNO is worth considering before committing to either carrier. In our network testing, we've found that deprioritization on major networks rarely causes noticeable slowdowns in practice, which means you can often get the same reliable experience through an MVNO at a fraction of the price.
Get the same coverage for half the price
If paying $90/month on your phone plan sounds too expensive, you're not alone. Many people don't realize you can get the same coverage as you would from a Verizon or AT&T plan by going with a much cheaper MVNO (mobile virtual network operator). These carriers use the same towers but don't have to pay for the upkeep costs, thereby passing the savings on to you.
Interested in Verizon's network? Consider Visible, which offers two unlimited monthly plans for just $25 or $45. Without the heavy price tag, you'll still get the best coverage in the country, plus unlimited hotspot data.
AT&T vs. Verizon coverage and speeds
Coverage is incredibly important when picking a phone plan. The good news is you’ll have excellent service no matter which carrier you choose. That said, Verizon offers better 4G LTE coverage, while AT&T is the more dominant carrier for 5G coverage.
4G LTE coverage
Source: Verizon
Verizon is the undisputed king of 4G LTE. Covering 70% of the country, it has a larger network than both AT&T and T-Mobile. Our Verizon tester, Angelo, experienced typical 4G LTE speeds consistent with Verizon's published range of 35-143Mbps, which was plenty fast enough for him to browse and stream on his smartphone. Because 4G LTE is still the predominant network in the U.S., Verizon's perpetual dominance—especially its better quality in more rural and remote areas compared to its competitors—give it the leg up in terms of consistency and speed no matter where you travel to.
Angelo's experience on Verizon's Unlimited Plus plan
Angelo rarely had network dropouts and saw consistent speeds on Verizon's network. He got between 50-100Mbps on 4G LTE and topped out at over 800Mbps on the 5G UW network.
"Besides the rare times I'm in seriously rural areas, I never have trouble with Verizon speeds. I've played games, binged shows, and doomscrolled without ever noticing lagging service."
Read his full Verizon review to see his speed test results.
AT&T isn't too far behind, with 68% of the nation blanketed in its 4G LTE waves. Still, if you live in a rural area or spend a lot of time traveling between cities, Verizon has a slight leg up. Just make sure to use our plan finder tool to check the coverage in your area to see what’s best.
5G coverage
Source: AT&T
Coverage-wise, AT&T offers a much larger 5G network than Verizon. AT&T covers 29% of the country compared to Verizon’s 12%. That said, there is a twist. While Verizon’s 5G coverage is much more limited, it’s also generally faster.
Verizon relies on ultrawide-band 5G towers in urban areas to provide its service. While the signal doesn’t travel as far, it’s incredibly fast. AT&T relies much more on mid- and low-band 5G. This helps extend its coverage area but at the cost of faster speeds. If you spend all your time in urban areas, Verizon is likely the better option. Suburban and rural customers will be better off with AT&T.
You can check our 5G coverage and speed guide for all the details on the AT&T, Verizon, and T-Mobile 5G networks. Keep in mind that while we’re focusing specifically on AT&T and Verizon in this comparison, the nation’s largest 5G network belongs to T-Mobile.
Customer service
The quality of customer service will probably not be what helps you decide this battle. Neither carrier’s customer service is considered great. In our hands-on reviews, both of our testers complained about substandard customer service options and going days without help.
In his Verizon review, Angelo said, “If I were rating Verizon's customer service based solely on its online support, I'd give it a giant zero.” However, he did note that contacting Verizon’s customer service on the phone was more helpful, even if it took time to connect with an agent.
On the other hand, Kevin had a frustrating experience with AT&T’s customer service over the phone. He noted, “AT&T has exceptional customer service—when they finally get around to calling you back.” It took three attempts calling over multiple days to finally get a human agent. Its customer service attempted to call him back at two in the morning and at another point tried to schedule a callback several days away. After two weeks of trying, he finally connected with a helpful agent who answered his questions.
Bottom line: Is AT&T or Verizon better for you?
Because each carrier's offerings are extremely similar, deciding between AT&T and Verizon comes down to what your individual needs are.
If your biggest concern is finding a cheaper phone plan, AT&T is the better option. AT&T also offers a larger 5G network with strong coverage, meaning it's a great choice for people in rural and suburban areas who want a 5G signal. Just remember that AT&T doesn’t offer much in the way of perks, but it does include mobile hotspot with all three of its premium unlimited plans.
If you value perks and plan customization, you should pick Verizon. While Verizon is generally more expensive, it offers a selection of optional perks that include streaming subscriptions, international roaming, extra mobile hotspot data, and store subscriptions. Verizon also has the nation’s largest 4G LTE network, meaning you’ll have excellent coverage. While the carrier has the smallest 5G network, its ultrawide-band speeds mean that when you do find a 5G signal, it’ll likely be the fastest speed available in your area.
Switch to AT&T or Verizon
If you’ve made your decision and are ready to switch, we can help walk you through the process. You’ll generally need to make sure your phone is paid off, unlocked, and any outstanding bills are up to date. Check out our AT&T switching guide and Verizon switching guide for complete instructions.
FAQs: AT&T vs. Verizon
Is AT&T or Verizon best for rural areas?
Verizon has an edge in rural reliability, due to its extensive 4G LTE network, but AT&T isn't far behind. If you're looking for 5G coverage in a rural area, AT&T's network is more expansive, making it the better choice. To determine which carrier has better coverage in your area, use our interactive coverage maps.
Does AT&T or Verizon offer more hotspot data?
Who has faster 5G speeds?
Verizon's 5G ultra-wideband network is faster than AT&T's 5G+, but it is less available. Comparing standard 5G networks, though, AT&T is slightly faster and has a broader footprint than Verizon.
Which carrier is cheaper, AT&T or Verizon?
AT&T's cheapest plan is just $50, compared to Verizon's $65/month base plan, making it the more affordable option.
Does Verizon or AT&T have better perks?
Verizon offers better perks than AT&T, thanks to its customizable perk system, whereas AT&T doesn't offer additional perks like discounted streaming.
How WhistleOut rates cell phone plans
WhistleOut evaluates phone plans based on the following criteria:
- Price & value: Not all cheap plans are “bad,” and not all expensive plans are worth it. We look at everything a plan includes and compare it both to other plans from the same carrier, as well as similar plans from competitors in the market, to determine whether the value is consistent with the price.
- High-speed data: Also called “premium” data, this is how much data you get at full 4G/5G speeds before they can or will slow down. The more guaranteed high-speed data the plan includes, the better experience you’ll generally have—but there’s also usually a limit to how much you actually need, and we ensure that you’re not overpaying for data that will go unused.
- Coverage & network reliability: The breadth of each carrier’s 4G LTE and 5G networks determines your reception and service. Particularly in the case of 5G, some carriers offer far more robust coverage than others, which affects how their phone plans perform in different parts of the country.
- Plan extras and perks: In addition to the basics—talk, text, and data—some plans throw in freebies like hotspot allowances, cloud storage, entertainment subscriptions, or service discounts.
Our mobile experts tested AT&T and Verizon for at least a month each, in addition to leveraging proprietary data and real-world customer feedback. We compared the two carriers by analyzing their coverage, cost, and plan options. We considered plan-specific elements, including perks, premium data allowances, and mobile hotspot allocations. After performing hands-on testing and extensive research, we picked the best carrier we felt meets the needs of most people where we were able—in some areas, each carrier stacked up equally. We only compared Verizon vs. AT&T; no other carriers, big or small, were included in our examination.
Visit our guide to choosing a phone plan to learn more about cell phone carriers and plans and find the one that best meets your specific needs.
Lauren Hannula
Managing Editor
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