Directly Compare Cell Phone Plans

I'm old enough to remember that one of the arguments for deregulating the phone industry back in the 80s was to create an environment for more competitive, fair pricing. But what did we get? A bunch of phone companies that offered inscrutable rate plans which were virtually impossible to compare side-by-side.

Things have gotten better in recent years, but modern cell phone plans are still often tough to compare directly. Billshrink has given it a shot, though, with a cell phone plan comparison chart.

This is a very handy chart, which breaks it down for you in (fairly) simple terms. What does Verizon, AT&T, Sprint, and T-Mobile charge for 450 minutes/month? 900 minutes? Unlimited calling? It's all here. There are also entries for text, data, and smartphone variations.

Of course, this simple chart doesn't talk about rollover minutes, termination fees, the terms of various free in-network calling deals, signal quality, or other details, so it's only handy as a starting point for your research. But it's a very good starting point nonetheless.