How we rank phone deals
Every phone deal on BestPhonePlans is ranked on one number: what it costs over 36 months — plan, phone, tax and fees, less every credit. Here is exactly what goes into it.
The one number: the 3-year total
Carriers advertise the size of a credit. We rank on what you pay. The 3-year total adds up everything a deal costs you over 36 months:
- The plan, every month for 36 months, at its price after the carrier’s own taxes and fees where the carrier states them
- The phone, at the price the carrier charges for it
- Sales tax on the phone for the ZIP code, and any state fees
- Activation fees
- Less every credit the deal gives within the term — bill credits, instant discounts and refunds
- Less any service credits on the bill
- Less what your old phone is worth, when the deal leaves it with you — sold yourself or traded to the maker, whichever pays more
What ranks a deal, and what never does
Deals are ranked by their 3-year total, cheapest first, and by nothing else. A deal with a smaller credit on a cheaper plan often ranks above a bigger credit that needs an expensive plan.
The size of a credit never ranks, sorts or breaks a tie. Commissions never do either: some carriers pay us when you sign up through our links, and that never changes your price or where any deal ranks.
For more than one line, deals are ranked on what the whole household pays, so a cheap phone on an expensive plan doesn’t win by looking cheap per line.
How offers are checked
Every offer is captured from the carrier’s own published terms and checked against them, and each card shows the date it was last checked.
An offer not checked in 14 days is flagged; one not checked in 30 days is dropped from every list until it is checked again. Offers are dropped once their end date has passed.
Where a carrier doesn’t state something — how long the credits run, a plan price — we say it isn’t stated and rank the offer after those we can price. We never fill a gap with a guess.
What each kind of page assumes
Your own results: priced for exactly the answers you give — your phone, your current carrier, your lines, your trade-in and your ZIP.
Carrier pages: priced for one example situation, stated on the page, so every carrier’s page compares with the others.
Phone pages: every offer at the biggest trade-in credit it advertises, with no sales tax, so one national page doesn’t carry one ZIP’s tax. Your phone may earn less; your results will say exactly what it earns.
Plan prices assume you sign up for AutoPay where the carrier gives a discount for it; without it, those plans cost more each month.