Need a tablet plan? Two providers stand out from the competition

While all three major US wireless providers offer optional tablet plans for both prepaid and postpaid customers, official tablet support is actually much less common in the prepaid world. That’s why I was excited when I stumbled upon a Reddit thread claiming that Straight Talk now has tablet plans. Apparently, I wasn’t the only one interested, as the post quickly rose to the top of the hot list on the No Contract subreddit.

As it turns out, Verizon actually announced these changes for Total Wireless and Straight Talk customers back in February, but the news seems to have flown under the radar for many. While Total and Straight Talk differ in plan structure and marketing, the new tablet plans are universal across both Verizon Value brands.

There are two plans on offer: a base plan with LTE speeds for $50 a month, or a 5G plan for $60. That’s certainly steep for a stand-alone tablet plan, but the good news is you’ll save $40 if you sign up for (or already have) a phone plan with either carrier. That brings the price down to just $10 and $20 a month, respectively.

Aside from 5G support, the base plan also offers just 5GB of hotspot access versus 30GB with the 5G plan, and 720p streaming instead of full 1080p.

Normally, Straight Talk and Total adding tablet plans wouldn’t be newsworthy this late after the fact, but I’ll be honest: there’s really no better option out there if you want unlimited tablet data. While Verizon, AT&T, and T-Mobile all offer prepaid and postpaid tablet plans, you’ll typically pay more — and you won’t find truly unlimited options in most cases. For example, T-Mobile prepaid starts at $10 a month for 2GB of data and tops out at 50GB for $50 a month, plus taxes and fees.

In fact, the only official unlimited tablet plan I could dig up was the Cricket Simply Tablet Plan, which gives you unlimited data on AT&T’s network for $15 a month, though it does require a phone plan. That said, this plan doesn’t include hotspot access and is limited to SD speeds. It’s possible there are others out there from smaller or more obscure providers, but the point is your official options remain limited.

What about just using an e-Sim data plan from elsewhere?

The truth is, you don’t necessarily have to use an official tablet plan, as many prepaid eSIM plans will activate on a tablet just fine. Of course, you might be potentially violating terms and conditions, and you may need to jump through a few hoops to get it working, depending on the carrier, plan, and device you use.

You’ll also find that most eSIM plans supporting tablets (even unofficially) end up costing more if you want unlimited data, or you’ll pay a similar price for less. For example, some users have reported getting Visible Basic to work on select tablets.

To be fair, this would provide a similar experience to Total and Straight Talk, but you’d have to jump through hoops, like activating on another device, and you could risk having your account flagged for abuse. You’d also pay a bit more, as Visible Basic is $25 a month.

If you don’t need unlimited data or don’t mind the extra steps, many eSIM plans from US Mobile and other carriers could work and might even save you money. The same could be true for prepaid or postpaid tablet service from the big three carriers. But if you want unlimited, you’ll be hard-pressed to find a better deal without a bigger commitment.