Verizon is one of the most popular carriers in America, with a strong network and fairly extensive coverage in almost every corner of the country. It also doesn’t exactly come cheap. Looking for a way to get Verizon service for less? There are quite a few prepaid carriers based on Verizon, but today we’re going to focus on one of the newest, Mediacom Mobile.

Mediacom Mobile formally launched in mid-July, offering Mediacom subscribers a way to get cheap phone service directly from the carrier. Let’s take a closer look at Mediacom Mobile vs. Verizon.

If you’re looking for a low price, Mediacom Mobile appears to be the cheapest deal on paper, starting at just $40 per month, compared to $65 per line for one line on Verizon’s cheapest plan.

Of course, there’s more to it than that. For starters, you’ll need a Mediacom Xtream home internet plan, a home phone plan, or a cable subscription in order to sign up for the company’s mobile offering. Your actual prices will vary from region to region, though many regions offer a basic plan starting at $19.99 per month for the first year. It’s also worth noting that adding more lines significantly reduces Verizon’s pricing, with rates dropping to just $30 per month per line for four lines.

That’s actually cheaper on paper than Mediacom Mobile’s unlimited plan, until you remember that Verizon doesn’t charge taxes and fees, while the former does. But when you factor in those fees, the price for families is likely still comparable or a few dollars cheaper.

On the other hand, the new Mediacom Mobile service does not offer discounts on family plans. If you have a large family, you may be better off going with Verizon. You may be wondering what Verizon’s prepaid deals are and how they compare in terms of value, but honestly, in most cases you’ll find Mediacom cheaper for individual lines and Verizon’s postpaid deals cheaper for families.

Of course, there’s more to a good value than just the actual price tag. Verizon’s postpaid options offer a few extras that you won’t find on Mediacom Mobile’s plans. First, you get truly unlimited data on most of Verizon’s plans (Welcome can technically throttle you occasionally, but we’ll get into that a bit later in this post). Second, you have the option to add perks to Verizon’s plans for $10 each, which includes extras like a Disney Plus bundle, Apple Music Family, Netflix plus Max Bundle, and more.

Verizon also offers unlimited calling and texting in Mexico and Canada, with its mid-range and top-tier plans giving you 30-60GB of LTE/5G while you’re visiting those two countries. You can even text for free within the U.S. to over 200 countries with any Verizon postpaid plan.

Ultimately, we’d say these two plans are pretty much equal in value. Sure, if you only need one or two lines and already have a Mediacom subscription, the new mobile plans are worth it. For everyone else, Verizon simply offers better benefits and can even match the same level of value if you have a large enough family or group of friends to split the bill with.

As mentioned, Mediacom Mobile uses Verizon’s network, so you can expect fairly similar coverage. That said, it won’t be identical. Verizon has a fairly reliable network, but it’s not infallible and there are definitely dead zones. Postpaid Verizon users have the benefit of roaming plans to fill in any gaps in coverage, while Mediacom Mobile doesn’t have that same advantage.

This is where the two carriers start to diverge significantly. For one, Verizon’s postpaid plans get top priority during times of congestion. Mediacom Mobile clearly does not, so you’ll likely see degraded service during mobile traffic spikes. Whether it’s bad enough to notice likely depends on the city or region you’re in and how congested your local cell phones actually are.

That’s not the only downside to Mediacom’s offering. Mediacom Mobile’s By the Gig plan almost sounds like a more expensive version of Google Fi’s Flex plan, but the catch is that you can only purchase 4GB of additional data on top of the 1GB that comes with it. After that, speeds drop so low that checking email is the only thing you can do. Even Mediacom’s supposedly unlimited plan has pretty clear limits, as it says you’ll see speeds drop to 1 Mbps down and 512 Kpbs down after using 20GB of data.

In short, if you use a lot of data and need the fastest possible speed, you’re better off with Verizon.

Verizon offers virtually every major phone offered in the US, with a wide variety of devices from Apple, Samsung, Google, and Motorola. That includes flagships like the Galaxy S24, Pixel 9, and iPhone 15, as well as more modest devices like the Galaxy A53, iPhone SE, and Pixel 8a. There are also usually various free phone promotions going on. For example, you can get the Pixel 9 for free from Verizon right now , but that’s just one of many similar offers.

Mediacom Mobile isn’t even competing with this at the moment. For one thing, it doesn’t have a phone store yet. The website says that’s coming soon, but for now the only way to get access is to bring your existing device over to the network.

It’s also less likely to offer free phone promotions or other perks when it eventually launches its store. And as for what phones they’ll ultimately sell? Mediacom doesn’t go into specifics, but does mention that it’ll have the latest Samsung and Google devices. Hopefully that means flagships, too, and not just budget devices.

If you’re comfortable bringing your own device or waiting for the store to go online, Mediacom Mobile isn’t a bad choice. However, you’ll definitely get better phone deals directly through Verizon.

If you’re okay with a postpaid plan, Verizon is actually the better deal for those who prefer to buy phones through their carrier. This is especially true for families, as Verizon actually becomes comparably priced once you add multiple lines.

Of course, if you are an individual user or just a small family with young children, Mediacom Mobile will definitely save you money. Just remember that you will need at least one other Mediacom service to qualify. If you are the type who switches back and forth between ISPs to take advantage of special sign-up rates, you may not want to tie your mobile line to Mediacom’s internet, landline, or cable service.

Who am I and why should you trust me?

My name is Andrew Grush and I am a decade-plus veteran of Android Authority. In fact, my experience in the mobile industry goes back a few years. In that time, I’ve tested a ton of different carriers, including all three major ones (and the defunct ones like Sprint), as well as a slew of prepaid carriers. As a result, I have a pretty good idea of ​​what to expect from both postpaid and prepaid carriers in the US market.

While I have a lot of expertise, I pride myself on being the type of person who never gives up and is always trying new things. That goes for carriers too. I’ve used T-Mobile, Verizon, AT&T, Visible, Google Fi, Cricket, US Mobile, Mint Mobile, and several other carriers for extended periods of time, on and off, over the years.

When I write about prepaid and postpaid services, you can be sure that I have real-time experience and insights. In this case, I don’t have Mediacom Mobile myself, but I am a Verizon subscriber and am very familiar with MVNO practices and policies.