Contract free services are offered by some of the bigger contract-based carriers (like T-Mobile) and by carriers that solely offer service without a contract (like Simple Mobile, Boost Mobile, and h2O Wireless). Most of these smaller carriers are known as "Mobile Virtual Network Operators" or MVNO's. This is because rather than having their own network they actually use the network and wireless infrastructure owned by the four large carriers—Verizon, T-Mobile, AT&T, and Sprint. The advantage of this is that you get access to the reliable network coverage of a large carrier without getting stuck in an unfair and restrictive contract. A few "contract-free-only" carriers use their own network, such as MetroPCS, and Cricket Wireless.

You can see a complete list of contract free service providers and plans by using our Savings Calculator. By clicking on the "more info" link next to each result in the calculator, you will also be able to learn details about each plan so that you know exactly what you are paying for.

The reason we built this site to create awareness about contract free services and encourage people to use them is because we believe doing so will make you, the average cell phone user, better off in several ways:

1. Savings: Contract free plans are much cheaper than over-priced contract based ones. Over the standard two-year contract period, switching could actually save you hundreds of dollars in service charges. Although your exact savings will vary depending on your usage, in most cases the savings are so great that you end up saving even after paying full price for a contract-free phone. To figure out precisely how much you would save, we suggest you check out our Savings Calculator—it will give you a list of all the different contract free plans that are available, will compare your current usage and cost to these plans, and even calculate your total savings for you.
2. Freedom: Contract free means contract free. Once you begin using such a service you are never committed to your carrier for any period of time so you can change carriers or plans whenever you want, as often as you want. You get to control what network you want to use and when you want to use it. Not happy with your current carrier’s service or coverage? Find a carrier who has a cheaper plan just days after you bought a subscription from your current one? No problem. Since you are not on a contract you don’t have to worry about paying ridiculous contract termination fees to switch to another carrier. Just walk over to the other carrier and buy a month’s service from them. It’s that easy.
3. Convenience: Most contract free plans also don’t require any credit checks, so you don’t have to worry about having amazing credit history, filling loads of paperwork, or paying hundreds of dollars as a security deposit when getting a new service plan. It’s quick, easy, and hassle free.

If you buy an unlocked phone to go with the plan you will also be able to use it in any country, anywhere.

You would not be alone in thinking that. A lot of people think that a contract free service is more costly in the long run because, to use it, they have to pay full price for a contract free phone rather than a subsidized rate.

It is true that when you buy a contract free phone you have to pay full price rather than the subsidized rates that carriers offer for a locked phone on a contract. However, in the long run you still save money. How? Monthly plans on contract free services are almost always much cheaper than comparable plans on contract. So cheap, in fact, that the monthly savings add up to hundreds of dollars over the two-year period of a contract, offsetting the higher cost of obtaining the phone.

So while paying full price for a phone means that the initial cost of getting a contract free service is higher than a contract-based service, the overall cost is lower because you would break even in a few months due to the money you would save every month on service. After that, you would actually save money for each month you are using a contract free service (while being the proud owner of a contract free phone that you can use on any network in any country).

Still skeptical? You can check exactly how much you would save by switching to a contract free service compared to your current plan by using our Deal Calculator.

Actually, most of these carriers are the MVNOs we talked about above, so they just use the network of one of the larger carriers. Which larger carrier a particular MVNO uses is up to the MVNO. That means the coverage quality and reliability of an MVNO or contract free service provider is the same as that of the network of the larger carrier it relies on. Simple Mobile, for example, uses the T-Mobile network so its coverage quality is exactly the same as T-Mobile’s, while h2O Wireless used the AT&T network so their coverage quality is the same as AT&T’s.

The difference is that these MVNOs sell service on these same networks for cheaper than T-Mobile and AT&T themselves!

To see which large network each contract free carrier uses, just click on the "more info" link next to each result displayed in the Deal Calculator.

Not really. Remember, you are not signing a contract so you have no obligation to stay with them even for a month. If they raise their plan prices at the end of a particular month just don’t buy service from them anymore! Go to the site of a different, cheaper carrier, purchase a plan from them, activate it on your phone and you are good to go.

In fact, since the carrier is not tying you into a contract and knows that you have the power to leave it if you are not happy with its service or prices, it will be encouraged to keep you by offering the best service and prices possible. The last thing it would want to do is hike prices on you.

It might be hard to believe but not really. In order to make sure users of our site know what they are getting into we researched the differed plans and carriers as thoroughly as we could. The only things we could find that might be considered limitations are:

1. A couple of carriers such as Cricket Wireless and MetroPCS do not offer new activations in all zip codes yet so if you do not live in such a zip code you will not be able to switch to their service. However, you can still use their service in those zip codes. To check whether your zip code is eligible for an activation just go to their websites and click on the "Plans" link.
2. MVNOs that are owned by and use Sprint’s network – Boost Mobile and Virgin Mobile USA – have access to 3G speeds for their data plan but not Sprint’s "4G" speeds (though that means they are still as fast as Verizon, AT&T and T-Mobile 3G). If you are looking for 4G speeds, you could use Simple Mobile which uses T-Mobile’s network and can access 4G speeds wherever T-Mobile offers them (please keep in mind that to use such speeds you will also have to use a 4G capable phone).
3. This last one is maybe the most serious limitation—while Cricket Wireless and MetroPCS allow subscribers to use contract free phones on their network, these phones can only use their talking and texting services. Data is not offered for contract free or unlocked phones, even if the phone is capable of using data. For that, you will have to buy a Cricket Wireless or MetroPCS branded phone (though such a branded phone will be locked to their network so that will restrict your freedom to switch carriers if you ever want or need to).

Again, we have made sure to include all the details and limitations of each contract free plan in the "more info" link next to each result in the Deal Calculator. You can get specifics of each carrier and plan by clicking on the link.

To switch to a contract free service all you have to do is purchase an activation and a month’s worth of service from whichever carrier you feel is best suited for you. Since there is no complicated paperwork or contract to sign, it literally takes minutes. The exact steps for making the purchase vary slightly for each carrier so you should go to that carrier’s website and follow the instructions for purchasing a plan there. To save time, if you click on the "Go to site" link next to a particular plan in the results given by our Savings Calculator it will take you directly to the webpage for that plan.

If the carrier uses a CDMA (Code Division Multiple Access) network, like Verizon and Sprint do, then you will have to activate your specific phone for their network by giving the carrier your phone’s Electronic Serial Number, which is essentially your phone’s unique ID and is given to the phone by the manufacturer. The carrier will use this ESN to register your phone on the carrier’s network.

If the carrier uses a GSM (Global System for Mobile Communications) network then you don’t need to worry about activating your phone at all. The carrier will give you a SIM card (Subscriber Identity Module) that you just have to put into your phone’s SIM card slot and you will be good to go!

You should keep in mind, however, that most phones are usually built to work as a GSM or a CDMA phone, but not both. So, your phone will only work on the kind of network that it is built for. To learn more about using a contract free phone with your contract free service, you should check out our section on contract free phones below.

No. We have tried to make our results and information as comprehensive as possible, and we will keep adding to the list over time, but currently some carriers have been excluded from the results. Don’t get us wrong, it’s nothing personal! If a carrier has been excluded from the results it is because even though they do not require their subscribers to sign a contract they still require subscribers to purchase a phone from them. Even SIM free or unlocked phones—which would normally work on any carrier since they are "unlocked"—do not work on their network. As a result, using such carriers still restricts your freedom to choose your network. You cannot easily switch to using them as you cannot bring your old phone along with you and you cannot switch away from them as their phone’s will be locked to their network and useless elsewhere. It’s not exactly a contract but it might as well be.

To learn about the details of a specific carrier or plan all you have to do is click on the "more info" link next to each result in the Deal Calculator.

If you still have questions about contract free services and phones (and most people do) we would be more than happy to answer them for you. You can just email us at support@gsmnation.com, use our live chat service to chat with our customer support during business hours, or you can call us toll free at 1-800-695-1815 (+1-203-909-6565 for international callers). Check out our Contact Us page for our complete contact information.