TracFone Wireless vs. Straight Talk – A Detailed Comparison

Having been around a good deal of time, TracFone Wireless and Straight Talk have garnered quite a following, especially because they have managed to provide affordable plans for regular use. So, which one is better?

Over the last two decades, mobile phone carriers have grown in leaps and bounds where numbers and even services are concerned. TracFone Wireless was actually one of the pioneers of budget mobile carriers, setting the pace for other MVNOs. Straight Talk came a bit later, but it was also able to create a name for itself as far as dependability, affordability and coverage go. While there are a good number of similarities between the two, their differences are what piqued our interest.

When to use TracFone Wireless

Even though it is a pioneer in the budget mobile carrier category, TracFone Wireless comes with services and features that are pretty uncommon. It is best suited for persons that are not too big about talking long hours on the phone, on texting and even on surfing the internet. Most of its plans are limited where these services go, but they are quite cheap, and coverage is pretty commendable. It is unlikely that an internet-hungry teenager would feel at home with TracFone Wireless.

When to use Straight Talk

Easily one of the most popular budget mobile carriers around, Straight Talk has created a name for itself as an affordable and highly dependable solution for most users. However, there is a catch to it. Straight Talk only provides affordable services to individual users, offering only three plans from which to choose. This means that persons who are looking to operate a family bundle, or to operate more than one line at a time cannot use Straight Talk.

TracFone Wireless vs. Straight Talk Feature Comparison

Feature	TracFone Wireless	Straight Talk
Network Type	MVNO	MVNO
Number of Plans	15+	3
Monthly Subscriptions	$15 – $199	$35 – $55
Mobile Hotspot	Not Available	Not Available
Action	View Plans	View Plans

 TracFone Wireless vs. Straight Talk – What criteria did we use to evaluate them?

To determine which one of the two mobile carriers makes a better option, we narrowed down our research to the number of plans available to both individual and family users, and the kind of money they have to pay for the plans. In addition, we sought to find out the kind of data each user gained access to, and whether or not the speeds provided are ideal, especially in this technology-dependent day and age.

TracFone Wireless vs. Straight Talk – A Detailed Review

TracFone Wireless review

As earlier mentioned, TracFone Wireless was one of the main market entrants where budget mobile carriers are concerned. It has proven an affordable and convenient option for many users, particularly because it comes with many plans to choose from. So, what makes it so cheap?

Being that it is an MVNO (Mobile Virtue Network Operator), TracFone Wireless depends entirely on major mobile carriers such as AT&T, T-Mobile and Sprint for network transmission. This eliminates tower maintenance fees, allowing for affordable plan rates and services.

When it comes to choice of plans, TracFone offers users more than 15 options, and each plan comes with a different feature. The main downside is that not all of them come with unlimited call, text and data, and a good number of them enforce data throttling when the limit provided is exceeded. Below are a couple plans.

TracFone Wireless Plans (Smart Phone Only)

Plan	Number of days	Monthly Subscription	Key features
$15	30	$15	500 minutes, 500 texts, 500Mbs data
$20	30	$20	Unlimited call, unlimited text, 1,000Mbs data
$35	60	$17.5	750 minutes, 1,000 texts, 1,000Mbs
$50	90	$16.7	750 minutes, 1,500 texts, 2,000Mbs
$125	365	$10.4	1,500 minutes, 1,500 texts, 1,500Mbs
$25	30	$25	Unlimited calls, unlimited texts, 2,000Mbs
$30	30	$30	Unlimited calls, unlimited texts, 3,000Mbs

TracFone Wireless Pay as You Go Plans

Plan	Number of days	Monthly subscription	Key features
$19.99	60	$6.67	60 minutes, 60 texts, 60Mbs
$29.99	90	$10.0	120, minutes, 120 texts, 120Mbs
$39.99	90	$13.3	200 minutes, 200 texts, 200Mbs
$79.99	90	$26.67	450 minutes, 450 texts, 450Mbs
$99.99	365	$8.33	400 minutes, 400 texts, 400Mbs
$159.99	365	$13.33	1,000 minutes, 1,000 texts, 1,000Mbs
$199.99	365	$16.67	1,500 minutes, 1,500 texts, 1,500Mbs

Looking at the plans above, you will notice that plans vary from cost to services provided, and thatthey are not exactly the best for people who are constantly on the phone calling, texting and even surfing the internet.

Feature	TracFone Wireless
Number of available plans	15+
Network Type	MVNO
Mobile Hotspot	Not Available

Pros

• Multiple plans to choose from
• Pretty affordable
• Commendable coverage

Cons

• Not ideal for heavy phone users

 Straight Talk Review

Because of its incredible coverage, reliability and affordability, Straight Talk has created a niche for itself where high data demands are concerned, and had become one of the most used budget mobile carriers around. Just like TracFone Wireless, Straight Talk does not depend on its own towers for internet transmission, making it pretty affordable to users.

Here, however, is the deal with Straight Talk – there are only three individual plans from which to choose, and there are none at all for family users. For this reason, it becomes impossible to have more than one line on the sameplan, and each one has to be paid for separately. You will notice that each plan comes with its own data limit, and once exceeded, speeds drop from 4G to 2G speeds, making it nearly impossible to stream content as you desire. Below are the plans.

Straight Talk Individual Plans

Number of lines	Data Provided	Monthly Subscription Fee
1	Unlimited calls and SMS + 3 GB data	$35
1	Unlimited calls and SMS + 25 GB data	$45
1	Unlimited calls and SMS + 100 GB data	$100

Aside from data throttling, users of Straight Talk also experience data deprioritization, meaning that they experience slower speeds when they are I areas that are heavily crowded, and when they are surfing the internet during peak hours of use.

Feature	Straight Talk
Number of available plans	3
Network Type	MVNO
Mobile Hotspot	Not Available

Pros

• Comes with three individual plans
• It is pretty affordable
• Great coverage

 

Cons

• No family plans
• Datathrottling and deprioritization

 TracFone Wireless vs. Straight Talk – How do they compare?

Number of available plans

With Straight Talk, users only gain access to three plans, and they are all restricted to individual use. On the other hand, TracFone Wireless comes with more than 15 plans to choose from, making it a better mobile carrier than Straight Talk.

 Data Prices

Even though TracFone Wireless comes with multiple plans which have different data provisions, you will find that the amount of data provided for most plans is nothing to write home about. For instance, to gain access to an annual 1,500Mbs, you would have to part with $200.

With Straight Talk, however, you will find that data provided versus the amount of money parted with are pretty proportional, making it a better carrier than TracFone Wireless.  

Mobile Hotspot

In case you are looking to gain access to LTE hotspot to catch your favorite series on, you will be disappointed to learn that neither TracFone Wireless nor Straight Talk provides this service, and this places them both on equal footing in this regard.

Conclusion

TracFone Wireless is undoubtedly the better option when it comes to number of plans, but you are going to notice that the plans do not have much to offer. Straight Talk, on the other hand, comes with only three plans, and they provide incredible text, talk and data plans for what would be considered friendly prices. These features make Straight Talk the better option.

FAQs

1. Can I get subsidized smartphones from TracFone Wireless?

Yes, you can.

2. Does TracFone come with good coverage?

Yes, it does.