With T-Mobile killing legacy plans, Verizon is the only big US carrier I recommend in 2026

A year or two ago, if you told me that Verizon would be the carrier I would most recommend in 2026, I would have laughed in your face. And yet here we are halfway through the year, and that’s exactly what I’m doing. While AT&T and T-Mobile have become increasingly tone-deaf as of late, Verizon is running around with an almost un-carrier-level energy, attempting to win over fans with lower pricing and a new plan structure that focuses on upgrades to fill in any gaps.

I want to be completely clear up front: For most users, I recommend prepaid service hands down over postpaid. That said, if you have your heart set on the latter, Verizon is the carrier I feel is most worth the risk at this point.

Why I don’t recommend AT&T or T-Mobile postpaid service in 2026

Unless you have a grandfathered plan that isn’t going away, I really can’t see why anyone would want to utilize AT&T or T-Mobile in 2026.

AT&T’s current strategy is mostly focused on bundling home internet and pushing its broadband efforts, which might matter to some, but certainly isn’t enough of a reason to switch to its cellular plans. It even released new core cellular plans earlier this year, but these were more sidegrades or even a small step down.

T-Mobile’s story has been a little less even. It has done a few positive things, like introducing its Better Value Plan, which legitimately is a better choice for many families over the more expensive T-Mobile plans. It also launched two plans designed for loyal customers.

On the other hand, T-Mobile has also spent much of the year further reducing its retail stores and recently announced it is pulling many of its oldest (and most affordable) legacy plans and pushing customers toward newer options. It’s also weakened its price guarantees and moved away from inclusive tax and fees over the last year or so.

Bottom line, I wouldn’t recommend either AT&T or T-Mobile for their core postpaid plans as a new customer. The only way to really get a reasonably good deal from either one is to have a special plan like T-Mobile’s Better Value Plan or a grandfathered AT&T plan.

Why Verizon is still worth the risk

As far as great deals go? None of the big three offers great value, but I feel Verizon is probably closest to hitting the mark. Increasingly, customers are looking for a simple, no-frills experience that gets the job done without costing a fortune. And by that metric, Verizon’s Simplicity plan fits well.

Verizon Simplicity offers unlimited talk, text, and prioritized high-speed data for as little as $30/month per line, whether you bring one line or four.  Even with taxes and fees charged separately, this is much cheaper than any other postpaid plan out there. That includes entry-level tiers with deprioritized data. Of course, it’s not without its very real downsides either.

The $30/month rate is only for those switching from another carrier; otherwise, you’ll pay $45/month. Verizon Simplicity also no longer includes subsidized phones, though there are expensive add-ons that cost more in the long run but basically work similarly, and even give you the option to upgrade phones once per year. If you’re curious about the other gotchas Verizon might be hiding, be sure to check out my guide on why I’m personally skipping Simplicity.

But even with all that being the case, Verizon’s Simplicity remains the easiest plan to recommend among the non-legacy options offered by the big three right now.

Being the best of three bad options isn’t exactly impressive

Verizon might be the better option right now, but that’s only if you’re willing to overlook its past behaviors. It’s not exactly a company with a stellar record for treating its customers right. I understand that many won’t want to risk things with Big Red, and I can’t completely blame them.

The real truth, though, is that Verizon Simplicity only looks impressive when compared directly to its postpaid competitors. That’s not necessarily a completely fair comparison either, since many of those plans have subsidized phones, free phone offers, and other premium features that Simplicity doesn’t. Simplicity is honestly more like a “prepaid plus” experience in terms of features and pricing.

Stacked against Verizon’s own Visible, US Mobile, and the other big prepaid players? The fight becomes much closer and will depend mostly on how much you trust Verizon. As for me? Unless Verizon really impresses me before I finish paying off my family’s final device, I plan to switch to Visible.