Home
News
You are here

New T-Mobile plan packs more value but stops short of being the cheapest

T-Mobile's Better Value plan offers premium features for an attractive price.

2comments

By Anam Hamid

Published: Jan 07, 2026, 9:28 AM

Add as a preferred source on Google

T-Mobile Wireless service

T-Mobile | Image Credit - The Wall Street Journal

T-Mobile has announced a new plan called Better Value, which is not its cheapest but gives you more for your money than the bare-bones Essentials plan.

Better Value offers a lot for the price

T-Mobile's new plan is its most value-packed.

Better Value starts at $140 a month for three lines, which comes out to $46 per line. Taxes and fees aren't included in the price, and AutoPay will have to be enabled to secure these rates. The cost will remain the same for five years.

Better Value is a premium plan and comes with the extras available on top-tier plans, such as unlimited international data, satellite connectivity, and entertainment perks.

T-Mobile is pitching it as the best value-driven plan for families. With bells and whistles such as scam protection and satellite connectivity factored in, AT&T and Verizon customers switching from comparable plans can save over $1,000, and T-Mobile's own customers on Essentials could see $50 in monthly value-added savings.

The plan comes just as competition is becoming cutthroat, with Verizon potentially revving up for price wars and AT&T hoarding spectrum to strengthen its network.

Taking a dig at rivals, T-Mobile's Chief Business and Product Officer Mike Katz said that while AT&T and Verizon keep asking customers to pay more for less, T-Mobile is going in the opposite direction.

The new plan will be available starting January 14. It's a limited-time plan, and existing customers must have been with T-Mobile for at least five years to be eligible for it.

Hunting customers from AT&T and Verizon

T-Mobile has been growing at a faster clip than its rivals. While the company has long touted its 5G lead and lower prices, those claims hold less water now. For starters, T-Mobile is no longer the only carrier to have a 5G standalone or pure 5G network, and its price advantage has begun to erode.

It's still more technologically advanced and more affordable than AT&T and Verizon, though. However, with its competitive advantage narrowing and the wireless market showing signs of saturation, a value-oriented plan like Better Value can help the company stay competitive.

New customers will have to bring at least two lines from their existing carriers, which is a sign that T-Mobile is aggressively going after AT&T and Verizon's customers. It had previously launched a digital tool to simplify and speed up switching.

Do you see yourself switching to Better Value?

No, my current T-Mobile plan is cheaper. No, my comparable AT&T/Verizon plan is cheaper. No, I don't need useless perks. Yes, it packs a lot of value. Yes, I am on a very old T-Mobile plan.

Is it really cheaper?

Wireless carriers like to argue that add-ons such as entertainment bundles essentially make plans cheaper, even if the monthly rates have gone up. Customers may not necessarily agree, though. After all, customers primarily sign up for wireless plans for connectivity services, and perks are an afterthought in many cases.

That's why it's interesting that T-Mobile isn't only trying to court AT&T and Verizon customers with Better Value, but also its own customers on Essentials, who pay $60/month for one line and $90 for three.

Essentials only comes with unlimited talk and text and 50GB of data, and is T-Mobile's cheapest plan. While Better Value might make sense for those who want hotspot data, undemanding customers will likely stick with Essentials and other older plans.

View Full Bio

Anam Hamid is a computer scientist turned tech journalist who has a keen interest in the tech world, with a particular focus on smartphones and tablets. She has previously written for Android Headlines and has also been a ghostwriter for several tech and car publications. Anam is not a tech hoarder and believes in using her gadgets for as long as possible. She is concerned about smartphone addiction and its impact on future generations, but she also appreciates the convenience that phones have brought into our lives. Anam is excited about technological advancements like folding screens and under-display sensors, and she often wonders about the future of technology. She values the overall experience of a device more than its individual specs and admires companies that deliver durable, high-quality products. In her free time, Anam enjoys reading, scrolling through Reddit and Instagram, and occasionally refreshing her programming skills through tutorials.

Read the latest from Anam Hamid