A cellular iPad, a hotspot in the car or a backup connection for when the home internet dies doesn't need a phone plan. The cheapest data-only plan I found costs $10 a month, and you can get 100GB for $55 with taxes included. So why do so many people still pay $20 or more to bolt a tablet onto a phone plan they barely use it with?
How I picked these plans
I split this guide in two. Standalone plans work on their own with no phone line required, which suits backup internet, a kid's tablet or a hotspot you only use on trips. Add-on plans need a phone line with the same carrier but can cost a lot less if you're already a customer.
Every figure comes from the carrier's own pages, checked on November 5, 2026, and where a carrier's own numbers disagree I've used the less flattering one. Taxes and fees are extra unless noted, and this guide gets refreshed every month.
Heading abroad? Our travel guide covers international data.
Standalone data plans (no phone line needed)
T-Mobile Prepaid Mobile Internet: best for light users
T-Mobile's prepaid data plans start at $10 a month for 2GB and step up to 5GB for $20, 10GB for $30, 30GB for $40 and 50GB for $50. T-Mobile says these are regular prices, not intro rates, and there's no annual contract.
Hotspot use counts toward the same allowance at full speed. Once you've used it up, speeds drop to 128kbps, which is fine for a message but not much else. These plans work in tablets and hotspots, not phones or watches.
Taxes and fees are extra, and T-Mobile lists a device connection charge of up to $25 per line. If you're buying this as an emergency backup, note that T-Mobile suspends accounts after 365 days without use.
Verizon Prepaid hotspot and router plans: best for backup internet
Verizon Prepaid sells four data-only plans for hotspots and routers: 5GB for $40, 25GB for $60, 100GB for $80 and 150GB for $100 a month. The two bigger plans include 5G Ultra Wideband, which is the main reason to pick Verizon here.
Verizon says video streams at up to 720p on hotspot and router devices over 5G and 4G LTE, and up to 4K on Ultra Wideband. Once you hit your cap, speeds drop to 3Mbps on Ultra Wideband and 600Kbps elsewhere, and you can't buy extra high-speed data mid-month.
Each additional hotspot or router line saves $30 a month, and the first line on the account can be a phone, tablet, hotspot or router. AutoPay discounts don't apply to these lines, and taxes and fees are extra.
Cricket Simply Data: best value for big data buckets
Cricket's Simply Data plans cost $35 for 20GB, $55 for 100GB and $90 for 150GB a month, and Cricket includes government taxes in those prices. Cricket says they're not introductory rates and there's no contract.
The catch is hardware. Cricket says Simply Data only works with the Moxee Mobile Hotspot and select compatible devices you bring yourself, and video streams in standard definition. Extra data costs $10 per 5GB, there's no AutoPay discount and Cricket charges a $25 activation fee in stores.
AT&T Prepaid and DataConnect: best on AT&T
AT&T Prepaid's data plans cost $35 for 15GB, $55 for 50GB and $90 for 100GB a month, with 5G included and extra data at $10 per 5GB. There's also a 20GB plan for $20 a month when you pay $240 for a year upfront.
Postpaid customers get AT&T DataConnect at $55 for 50GB or $90 for 100GB with AutoPay and paperless billing, or $10 more without. AT&T says it works on tablets, hotspots, laptops and LTE cameras, and overages cost $10 per 5GB.
iPad owners who only need data now and then can grab AT&T's Unlimited Day Pass for $3 a day, regardless of their phone carrier. AT&T says it needs an unlocked, eSIM-capable iPad, and your first day is free.
Add a tablet to your phone plan
Cricket Simply Tablet: cheapest unlimited tablet line
Cricket's Simply Tablet plan costs $15 a month for unlimited data, with video in standard definition. It's the cheapest unlimited tablet line I found from any carrier.
You need a Cricket Unlimited phone plan to get it, starting with the $40 Simply Unlimited plan, and you can add one tablet line per Unlimited phone line. Cricket says you have to activate it in a Cricket store, and activation can cost up to $25.
Google Fi data-only SIM: free tablet data for Fi customers
Google Fi lets you add a data-only eSIM to a tablet or laptop at no extra cost on its Flexible and Unlimited Premium plans. You can add up to four per line, and the device needs to be unlocked and eSIM-compatible.
There's no separate allowance, so tablet data comes out of your plan. That's up to 100GB of high-speed data per person on Unlimited Premium ($65 a month for one line) or 15GB on Flexible ($20 a month plus $10 per GB), then 256kbps. Fi says you can't use a data-only SIM as a hotspot, and it doesn't work with the Unlimited Standard or Essentials plans.
Verizon tablet and hotspot plans: best if you're already on Verizon
Verizon's postpaid tablet plans cost $20 a month for Unlimited and $25 for Unlimited Plus with a 50% discount, or $40 and $50 without it. Verizon says the discount needs a phone line on Unlimited Plus, Unlimited Ultimate, Get More, Do More or One Unlimited for iPhone.
Unlimited Plus includes unlimited 5G Ultra Wideband data, 100GB of premium hotspot data and video up to 1080p, according to Verizon. The cheaper Unlimited plan gets 50GB of Ultra Wideband before it may slow down, 15GB of hotspot data and 720p video.
For a dedicated hotspot, Verizon's postpaid plans run from $10 a month for 15GB to $60 for 150GB with the discount, or $20 to $80 without. The two cheapest tiers can't be the only line on an account.
T-Mobile: $5 tablet lines on its top plan
T-Mobile lists watch and tablet lines for $5 a month as a perk of Experience Beyond 2.0, its top plan. Our perks guide covers what else Beyond includes.
T-Mobile's new T-Mix plans are now on sale, and T-Mobile lists watch and tablet lines at $5 a month on the top Loaded tier, which starts at $105 a month for one line before discounts. T-Mobile's plans page doesn't list the offer on the cheaper Standard and More tiers.
Who doesn't sell data-only plans
Visible, Mint Mobile and US Mobile don't list a data-only or tablet plan on their plan pages right now. If you want a cheap phone plan with a generous hotspot instead, our budget guide and unlimited guide are the better place to start.
Verdict
For a tablet you use a few times a month, T-Mobile's $10 prepaid plan is the easy pick, and AT&T's $3 Day Pass is even simpler for iPad owners who only need data now and then. If you're already on Cricket or Google Fi, adding a tablet costs $15 a month or nothing at all.
For backup internet, Cricket's 100GB plan at $55 with taxes included is the best value on paper, as long as you're happy with its limited hotspot choice. Verizon Prepaid's 100GB plan costs $25 more but adds Ultra Wideband, which matters if you're relying on it for real work.
T-Mix is still new, so it'll be worth seeing how its $5 tablet lines and these after-cap speeds hold up in real-world use. Pay for the data your device actually uses, not the phone plan you're stapling it to.
