Did you know that Americans pay an average of $50.17 monthly for their cell phone plans?
Prepaid or postpaid plans are the most common options for consumers looking for a new cell phone plan (also known as a contract plan). But if you’ve never had a mobile phone plan of your own or haven’t done any comparison shopping, you may not be aware of the specific advantages and disadvantages of each kind.
No worries. We’ve got everything you need to decide between prepaid and postpaid cell plans here in this guide. Keep on reading for our full breakdown of the prepaid vs postpaid plans.
Contents
What Is a Prepaid Plan?
It’s possible to utilize pre-paid mobile plans to make phone calls, send messages, or use mobile data in various ways, depending on the plan. Prepaid plans may be pre-loaded with a certain number of minutes, texts, or megabytes. Or, they can be pay-as-you-go (PAYG), in which case you only pay for the minutes, texts, or megabytes you use.
Data inclusions are the primary differentiator between plans and how much you’ll pay in prepaid plans with unlimited call and text. Pay-as-you-go plans are popular with those who don’t want any surprises of unexpected fees or penalties at the end of the month.
As a negative, you’ll need to re-purchase if you utilize all of your features before your plan’s expiration date (typically 28-30 days). You may wind up paying more money each year than if you were on a more costly or postpaid plan if you continuously use up your inclusions before they run out.
What Is a Postpaid Plan?
The benefit of having a postpaid cell phone plan is that you pay a set monthly fee. You get in return a certain number of minutes, messages, and megabytes of data that you may use throughout the billing period.
Retrospective billing works on the premise that customers may go above their plan’s limits if they so want and then be charged for it afterward. This means that even if you’ve over your monthly allotment, you may still use your phone. Keep an eye on how much data you’re using since if you don’t, your bill may be more than you anticipated.
Switching from Telstra, Optus, or Vodafone’s plans that charge extra for exceeding your data allotment will help you avoid the dreaded “bill shock.” These plans allow you to continue using your data even after you’ve used up all of your included data, albeit at a reduced pace.
Month-to-month and 12-month contracts are the two most common postpaid plan durations (some plans are also over 24 months or more). Only a few phone companies offer 12-month postpaid contracts. This makes monthly plans more typical (often with more data for your money than the month-to-month counterparts).
Prepaid vs Postpaid: Comparing and Contrasting
Mobile phone contracts that enable customers to buy minutes or airtime and then use them whenever they want are known as pre-paid mobile phone contracts. On the other hand, postpaid cellular network contracts require customers to refund their coverage at the end of each month and be handed the final bill.
For now, let’s take a look at each feature introduced or matched with one of the two phone plans.
Plan Duration
Postpaid plans are meant to outlast their prepaid counterparts. Prepaid plans are available for as little as a month, as opposed to the 30-day billing cycle of postpaid contracts.
With prepaid connections, you may choose between daily, weekly, month-to-month, and year-to-year subscriptions. As a result, prepaid has a clear advantage over postpaid since it provides users with a more excellent range of customization possibilities.
Customer Service Quality
Another well-known experience is VIP service. If you have a Postpaid cellular network contract, you will obtain a better and more accurate answer to your issues if you call customer support.
On the other hand, Prepaid customers face longer wait times for customer support calls and longer lines at branch locations. On the other hand, Postpaid clients get the VIP treatment when it comes to customer service.
Recharging the Connection
Using pre-paid plans necessitates that you first replenish your account. On the other hand, postpaid plans allow you to make and receive calls, messages, and different types of communications whenever you choose, with the added benefit of being charged monthly.
Prepaid plans allow you to pick from a wide range of rates and add-ons when recharging, and you may switch between various options each time you top-up. You’ll need to replenish your credit after your bought package expires if you want to use these services again.
Postpaid plans resemble contracts in many ways. Your mobile phone network charges you each month for the package you chose and automatically updated your plan additions on the first day of your billing cycle.
A postpaid contract allows you to continue using your telecommunications network’s services even after you’ve used up all of your allowances; the cost will be deducted from your next month’s payment. We return to postpaid plans for this round since they provide more flexibility and stability.
Changing and Switching Tariff Plans
If you have a prepaid package, switching to another tariff plan is as easy as completing a few simple steps.
However, postpaid plan users do not have this choice; they must switch to another plan, which is more complex and time-consuming than the former.
Recharging your phone is all that’s required to change your current prepaid service plan. When it comes to changing your postpaid plan, you’ll first need to contact a customer service representative. They’ll need a lot of information from you.
You’ll have to wait until the current payment cycle is complete before the new plan is active after it’s been updated. That’s a lot of work. Prepaid plans win this round because of their simplicity and ease of use.
Costs and Ease of Payments
However, clients on Prepaid mobile network services should keep an eye on the expiration date of their plan since they may recharge their cell phone sim card at any time.
Even though Postpaid plans cost somewhat more than Prepaid ones, they are more popular and provide a more significant number of benefits to customers. There is no expiry date or cancellation policy for postpaid packages, even if your telco will extend the time somewhat if you do not pay your payment on time at the end of each month.
However, if you’re trying to get the best of both worlds, you can always go with Boost Mobile and their wide variety of plans available on the market.
Adding a New Connection
Switching prepaid SIM services and plans is entirely flexible.
SIM cards may be obtained practically anywhere, from a shop to a roadside stand. Shopping malls’ main entrances also sell merchandise. A new phone card may be accepted at any moment if you want to change your phone number or if you lose your old one. Changing network providers is also a simple process.
You’re all set to go as you insert your new SIM card into your phone.
On the other hand, postpaid connections need several legal and technical adjustments to cancel, upgrade, or change plans. As a result, the winner of this round has already been compensated for its flexibility.
Data Usage
Most cellular service providers provide postpaid and prepaid consumers with different pricing and data plan choices, ensuring everyone can afford a plan. Prepaid plans often have a data cap. However, most postpaid connections allow unlimited data use.
If you don’t utilize all of your data in the allotted term with a postpaid plan, You may carry the remaining data forward. A postpaid plan with 30GB of data a month, for example, will roll over the remaining 10GB of data for the next month if you only use 20 of it in a given month. Prepaid plans do not have this feature, and once the validity of your package expires, You will lose all of the remaining data.
Prepaid vs Postpaid Plans: Simple and Clear
You might be getting frustrated with your current phone plan, or you’re in the search for the perfect one for the first time. It doesn’t matter where you lay on this broad spectrum. You’ll want to figure out whether you want to go for a prepaid or postpaid cell phone plan is key to higher satisfaction with your choice.
We hope that our guide on prepaid vs postpaid phone plans has made your search much more accessible. And, remember that there’s always more to learn when it comes to managing your cell phone finances. You should check out our technology and business section for all the extra tips and explainers that you could possibly need.
