Additional no-contract internet providers to consider
- Cox Communications: There’s flexibility here, but it comes at a cost. Cox doesn’t require you to sign a contract to receive internet service, but it does encourage customers to sign a two-year agreement. Cox also offers low-cost internet options, which feature no contracts and no credit checks or deposits. The ConnectAssist plan is priced at $30 a month for 100Mbps in download speeds and comes with a free modem. For that streamlined approach, you’ll pay 30 cents per Mbps, which is higher than the average of all other plans Cox offers.
- Frontier Communications: You won’t have to worry about binding contracts for either Frontier Internet (DSL) or Frontier Fiber. Equipment fees are also included in the monthly price. For first-year pricing, Frontier Fiber customers will see an average cost of 6 cents per Mbps, while DSL customers can expect to pay $2.60 per Mbps.
- Mediacom: Xtream internet selections do not require you to sign a long-term contract. Across all three plans, you can expect to pay an average of 10 cents per Mbps during the first to two years of service; after that, the average cost per Mbps jumps to 17 cents.
- Optimum: No Optimum plans have data caps or contracts and they offer some of the best promo pricing for cable internet. Your first-year pricing for fiber plans will have an average cost per Mbps of just under 7 cents. The average cost per Mbps for cable plans is around 10 cents.
- Rise Broadband: This fixed wireless internet provider offers download speeds from 50Mbps to 1,000Mbps. All plans come with no data caps. Rise’s introductory prices vary by location, but the average cost per Mbps in the first year can be between 75 cents and $1. Rise Broadband also has a small fiber network, so if you’re eligible for that, the average cost per Mbps will be around 11 cents.
- Sparklight: Sparklight offers competitive introductory plans in select rural areas across the country. Although Sparklight’s pricing changes depending on the market, in the Alabama market, you can expect to pay an average of 15 cents per Mbps across all plans. Once the promo period ends, that average cost per Mbps jumps up to 18 cents, which isn’t a particularly expensive increase in prices for a rural provider. Note that Sparklight enforces a soft cap of 5TB, so there’s the potential for additional fees if you exceed your monthly limits.
- Starlink: Elon Musk’s budding internet service is unique among satellite internet providers because it doesn’t require a contract. Also, the average cost per Mbps of its standard plan (150Mbps) is just over $1, which is excellent for that connection type. The priority plan, which offers max speeds of 220Mbps, drops the average cost per Mbps to 6 cents. That’s pretty impressive for an internet technology known to fall on the pricier side. Starlink still requires a bit of a commitment: You must make a one-time equipment purchase of $349 to $699 (or a sizable $1,499 if you’re purchasing the priority plans). That’s a big chunk of change, which most cable and fiber internet customers get to avoid. Still, this could be a digital lifeline for rural regions of the country that don’t have access to those connections.
- Starry Internet: This fixed wireless provider uses millimeter-wave technology to offer a solution similar to 5G home internet. It offers no contracts, and the price includes equipment, installation costs and unlimited data. The average cost per Mbps for Starry Internet is 17 cents in the first year before it jumps up to 22 cents.
- T-Mobile 5G Home Internet: Similar to Starry, T-Mobile 5G Home Internet includes everything you need in your monthly price, with no contracts required. All equipment, installation fees and taxes are included at $50 to $70 a month (or $35 to $55 per month for eligible mobile customers). The cost per Mbps is difficult to pin down since speeds vary by address. T-Mobile says that most customers will have an average download speed between 87 to 415Mbps. When CNET tested T-Mobile 5G Home Internet, we hit a maximum of 132Mbps, and we’ve also received anecdotal evidence of customers hitting speeds of up to 300Mbps in some areas. Meanwhile, per T-Mobile, it’s possible some could potentially max out at 72Mbps. In other words, your speeds may vary and will depend on whether you’re near a cellular tower. CNET’s Amanda Kooser described having inconsistent speeds with T-Mobile.
- Verizon 5G Home Internet: Verizon 5G Home Internet (its 5G fixed wireless internet service) is also squishy because its download speeds, ranging from 50 to 1,000Mbps, aren’t guaranteed. Assuming the average of 300Mbps, the average cost per Mbps would be 17 cents. Verizon 5G Home Internet is an all-in price that includes taxes, fees and equipment.
- WOW: WideOpenWest, which prefers to go by WOW, aims to wow its customers by requiring no contracts and very competitive starting rates. This cable internet provider offers five different plan options, with a highly competitive average cost of just over 6 cents per Mbps across all plans.
- Xfinity: Xfinity doesn’t require customers to sign a contract to get its lowest price on internet service. However, those low prices are only guaranteed for a year. That said, if you choose their five-year price guarantee, you still have the option to cancel without penalty. Xfinity also offers a prepaid internet option that requires no contract and gives you 30 days of internet service for $45 a month. No deposit is required, and there are no additional fees or data caps. The maximum download speed offered is 200Mbps, meaning this service has an average cost of 22 cents per Mbps.
- Ziply Fiber: This company began offering service in 2020 after acquiring Frontier Communications networks in four Northwest states. It aims to simplify the purchasing process by skipping credit checks, data caps and term agreements. It offers DSL and fiber plans, with the average cost per Mbps at 13 cents for the promo period for the fiber plans and 21 cents after the first year.
No-contract internet providers compared
Please note that the plans below show each provider’s cheapest available tier. The maximum speed is the top advertised speed for those plans, but it might not be available in your area. Overall, the best selection for you — and the most cost-effective plan — might be a different tier that provides a faster speed at a higher price but a better value. To more fully understand this value-based approach, check out CNET’s guide to examining the cost per Mbps.
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Source: CNET analysis of provider data.
Factors to consider when choosing a no-contract ISP
The cost per Mbps
The most important factor in evaluating any ISP plan is the cost per megabit per second. A cost per Mbps between 10 and 20 cents is pretty good, but the most cost-efficient plans cost around 5 cents per Mbps or lower. It’s fantastic to avoid signing a contract (and escape the looming threat of early termination fees plus the freedom of switching providers at any time), but you should still do your homework.
We get this question quite often, as many assume they must pay for Wi-Fi separately from their internet service. That’s not the case, generally. You often get Wi-Fi when you sign up with an internet provider, as many will provide you with a gateway. That’s a combination of a modem (which connects your home to the internet) and a router (which takes that internet signal from the modem and broadcasts it wirelessly to the other devices in your home). Even if your ISP only provides the modem, you can rent a router or use your own. If you can get an internet connection at your address without signing a contract, you should have the option to have Wi-Fi at your home without committing to a contract.
Unfortunately, none of the major internet providers offer buy-now-pay-later plans. You can turn to ISPs like Xfinity and Cox, which offer plans that are free of contract through prepaid internet or low-cost internet plans.
