AT&T Introduces New Unlimited Plans

AT&T has kicked off the week with a major change to its unlimited mobile options. On November 3rd, the mobile giant replaced its current Unlimited &More plan with two new offerings, along with a third to be rolled out later this month.

The new plans are:

  • Unlimited Starter: $65 per month for 1 line
  • Unlimited Extra: $75 per month for 1 line

AT&T Unlimited Starter and Unlimited Extra Plans

Unlimited &More*NEW* Unlimited Starter*NEW* Unlimited Extra
Price1 line – $70/month
4 lines – $160/month
1 line – $65/month
4 lines – $140/month
1 line – $75/month
4 lines – $160/month
Data DeprioritizationAnytimeAnytimeAfter 50 GB (during congestion)
Hotspot DataN/AN/A15GB/month
FeaturesUnlimited talk & text (U.S., Canada, Mexico)

SD video streaming

Fraud and spam alerts
Unlimited talk & text (U.S., Canada, Mexico)

SD video streaming

Fraud and spam alerts
Unlimited talk & text (U.S., Canada, Mexico)

SD video streaming

Fraud and spam alerts
Entertainment ExtrasAT&T WatchTVN/AN/A

Data correct as of 11/6/2019

For a single line, Unlimited Starter is $65/month with a $10 autopay discount. That’s cheaper than the cost of Unlimited &More, but AT&T has dropped more than just the price: WatchTV, AT&T’s live and on-demand streaming television feature, is no longer included for free with your plan. It does, however, include unlimited talk, text, and data within the U.S., Canada, and Mexico, plus unlimited texting to over 120 countries and standard definition video streaming.

Unlimited Extra is just slightly more expensive than the previous Unlimited &More plan, coming in at $75/month for a single line. However, it offers additional benefits like 15GB of hotspot data and a really high data deprioritization threshold (that’s the amount of data you can use in a month before your speeds are potentially slowed).

Both plan prices drop with multi-line discounts: Unlimited Starter falls to $35 per line for four lines, and Unlimited Extra drops to $40, which was the same price as the Unlimited &More multi-line cost. Each of these plans is also eligible for AT&T’s 25% discount for active duty military, veterans, and first responders, as well as the soon-to-be-debuted Unlimited Elite plan.

AT&T Unlimited Elite

Unlimited &More Premium*NEW* Unlimited Elite
Price1 line – $80/month
4 lines – $190/month
1 line – $85/month
4 lines – $200/month
Data DeprioritizationAfter 22 GB (during congestion)After 100 GB (during congestion)
Hotspot Data15 GB/month30 GB/month
FeaturesUnlimited talk & text (U.S., Canada, Mexico)

HD video streaming

Fraud and spam alerts
Unlimited talk & text (U.S., Canada, Mexico)

HD video streaming

Fraud and spam alerts
Entertainment ExtrasAT&T WatchTV

Selection of premium movie or music service
HBO subscription
Free HBO Max upgrade (once available in 2020)

Data correct as of 11/6/2019

In conjunction with its Starter and Extra plans, AT&T announced a new premium unlimited offering, Unlimited Elite. This plan is likely to replace the current Unlimited &More Premium plan. Though not yet publicly available, the Unlimited Elite plan is expected to feature HD streaming and include 30GB of hotspot data per line.

Unlimited Elite is pricier than Unlimited &More Premium on all fronts, but it also offers double the amount of hotspot data and quadruple the data prioritization bandwidth. For data hounds, this is a good deal. The new Unlimited Elite also offers HBO, and then once it makes its 2020 debut, HBO Max.

Monthly PriceHotspot DataMexico & CanadaStreaming QualityEntertainment
AT&T Unlimited Starter1 line – $65
4 lines – $140
N/AUnlimited talk, text, and dataSDN/A
AT&T Unlimited Extra
1 line – $75
4 lines – $160
15 GBUnlimited talk, text, and dataSDN/A
Verizon Start Unlimited1 line – $70
4 lines – $140
N/AUnlimited talk, text, and dataSD6-months of Apple Music
Verizon Play More Unlimited1 line – $80
4 lines – $180
Unlimited – up to 15 GB 4G LTEUnlimited talk, text, and dataHDApple Music
Verizon Do More Unlimited1 line – $80
4 lines – $180
Unlimited – up to 15 GB 4G LTEUnlimited talk, text, and dataSD6-monts of Apple Music
Sprint Unlimited Kickstart1 line – $35
4 lines – $140
N/AUnlimited talk, text, and dataSDN/A
Sprint Unlimited Basic1 line – $60
4 lines – $100
500 MBUnlimited talk and text

5 GB of data
SDHulu
Sprint Unlimited Plus1 line – $70
4 lines – $140
50 GBUnlimited talk and text

10 GB of data
HDHulu

Tidal Music
T-Mobile Essentials1 line – $60
4 lines – $120
Unlimited 3GUnlimited talk, text, and dataSDN/A
T-Mobile Magenta1 line –$70
4 lines – $140
3GB 4G LTEUnlimited talk, text, and dataSDNetflix Basic

1 hour in-flight Wi-Fi

Data correct as of 11/6/2019

AT&T’s new lower price for the Unlimited Starter plan makes it one of the least expensive of all the major carriers—only Sprint and T-Mobile offer slightly cheaper options for a single line, and its multi-line discount places AT&T solidly within the lower third of bundle costs.

However, nearly all of the other carriers provide bells and whistles that, for the price, make their plans more far appealing. All of them include HD streaming and entertainment perks in at least one standard unlimited plan; AT&T includes neither. Their hotspot data allowance is relatively small compared to Verizon and T-Mobile’s unlimited offerings—even Sprint jumps all the way up to 50GB for its Unlimited Plus plan, compared to the 15GB in AT&T’s Unlimited Extra plan.