All the Brands Owned by Tracfone and Which One is the Best Deal
Tracfone Wireless was acquired by Verizon in 2021 and that included not only the Tracfone brand, but a number of other companies under the 'Tracfone Family' of brands.
Which brands does Tracfone own, and now Verizon? And which brands are the best deal? Let's find out now.
List of Brands Owned by Tracfone Wireless
Tracfone owns several other brands, including:
- Straight Talk: Sold exclusively at Walmart and StraighTalk.com, they offer a wide variety of plans, focusing mostly on unlimited options ranging from $35 (w/ 10GB data) to $65 (w/ unlimited data) per month. They also offer some basic phone plans, international calling plans, and even home phone and WiFi bundle options.
- Net10 Wireless: Available from a variety of retailers both in stores and online, Net10 has plans for $20 to $65 per month, with their cheapest plan coming with 2GB data, and their top level plans featuring unlimited data.
- Total by Verizon (formerly Total Wireless): Recently rebranded after Verizon acquired Tracfone, Total offers plans starting at $30 per month for 5GB data, and going up to $60 per month for unlimited data and a host of extras (like Disney+). They offer some (very small) discounts for additional phone lines and are available from a number of online retailers and on their website.
- Simple Mobile: Like the other brands above, Simple Mobile has unlimited talk and text plans with a range of data options starting at $25 for 3GB data, and going up to $60 for unlimited data.
- Page Plus Cellular: Airtime is primarily available on their website, Page Plus has unlimited talk/text plans starting at $30 for 3GB data, and going up to $55 for unlimited data. They also offer several options for buying minutes that can be used for a certain period of time (similar to how Tracfone basic airtime cards work). They have service for as low as $10 for 166 minutes that will last for 120 days. They also offer a monthly plan for $12 that adds 500 talk, 500 text and 100mb data per month.
- Walmart Family Mobile: Operated in cooperation with Walmart and using T-Mobile's network, Family Mobile offers unlimited talk and text plans with various amounts of data. $25 per month comes with 5GB data, and $50 per month features unlimited data. They also offer discounts through Safelink benefits, a government benefit program.
- GoSmart Mobile: Using T-Mobile's networks, GoSmart has some relatively cheap plans starting at $15 for unlimited talk/text and 250MB data and going up to $55 for unlimited talk/text/data. However, they only offer 3G speeds for the data, except for Facebook, which gets access to LTE speeds. This is pretty slow for many online activities like streaming video, or downloading things.
- Clearway: Offering no frills, value oriented wireless service for businesses, Clearway doesn't even have a website, but has a wide range of monthly plans. They offer everything from data only plans, to plans with unlimited talk, text and 100GB data.
- SafeLink Wireless: A government-supported program that provides free cell phone service and a limited number of free minutes and texts to eligible low-income customers.
Tracfone also offers their own range of service plans, with some providing unlimited talk, text and certain amount of data, and others giving specific amounts of talk, text and data. Take a look at our recent post on the Cheapest and Best Plans from Tracfone to learn more.
Which Brand is the Best Deal?
Straight Talk, Net10, Total, and Simple Mobile all offer somewhat similar plans and prices. With their low end giving unlimited talk and text and a certain amount of data, and their high end plans going fully unlimited in most cases. They are each a pretty good deal for those who use a lot of data, and probably a little bit better deal compared to Tracfone (especially considering that Tracfone doesn't offer any unlimited data plans)Total by Verizon has a lot of extra features, that also comes at a somewhat higher price. For those that plan to use all the bonuses (like unlimited talk and text to Canada and Mexico), it can be a good deal. Tracfone, by contrast, does not offer any kind of extra frills or bonuses with their service plans.
Page Plus Cellular is somewhat like Tracfone in that it can be a really low cost method of maintaining cell service with a specific amount of talk, text and data.
So which is the best deal? It all depends on individual usage and requirements. There are ways to have really cheap service with Tracfone or Page Plus, but they come with very limited amounts of data and no other extras. For simple, monthly service, several of the brands offer unlimited talk and text with several GB data for $25-$35 per month which is a great deal.
Leave a comment (or post on our Facebook page) your pick for the best deal from Tracfone.
Will Verizon Keep All These Brands?
You, like us, might be thinking, that's a lot of different brands under one company, and now that Verizon owns Tracfone, will they work to consolidate these brands? That is very likely.Verizon has already rebranded Total Wireless to Total by Verizon with updated plans and prices, and it is likely they will slowly work to do the same with some of the other brands to help align them with Verizon's overall strategy.
There are already significant rumors that Verizon may shut down certain other brands, like Net10. However, they have announced they will keep it alive until at least November 2024.
When the FCC approved Verizon's acquisition of Tracfone, it came with some conditions for consumer protection, and some of those related to maintaining the current offerings for at least a few years. It is likely that once this time period ends, we will see some major changes in many of these brands.
One of the larger changes would consist of brands that use AT&T and T-Mobile's networks forcing users to switch to Verizon. This may occur for Tracfone users after November 2024.
We hope the information was useful, and please leave a comment with any thoughts or questions.
For more on the basics of Tracfone, visit our Beginners Guide.
Also take a look at our List of the Best Tracfone Smartphones under $100!
Take a look at the Latest Deals and Sales on Tracfone devices and also our Tracfone Promo Code page!
Join our Facebook page where we post the latest news, deals and other information. Plus, if you have specific questions you can send us a message.
Finally, learn how to Make your Airtime Last Longer and also check out our recent post on How Data works with Tracfone.
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