The secret to boosting the performance of your smartphone is choosing the right mobile phone plan. The seemingly endless options of phone plans offers in the wireless phone industry make decision making much more difficult. The cheapest smartphone plans may not suit your data needs, while expensive unlimited plans may not fit your budget.

Speed, coverage, reliability and cost-effectiveness are some of the factors you need to consider while choosing smartphone plans. Continual changes in the features and cost of smartphone plans by carriers is another factor that makes your decision even tougher. The choice of mobile data plan depends on personal variables like the place, usage of the phone, number of line connections and budget.

Considering the factors like usage, speed, coverage, and cost, here is a compilation of the best and cheapest smartphone plans:

Best overall plan
Verizon tops the list of carriers that provide best overall cell phone plans, scoring high on coverage, speed, and competitive pricing. They provide impressive data speeds by rolling out LTE advanced network technology. The company’s plans start from $160 for 4 lines and $75 for one line. Verizon’s early start and network build-out gives users solid 4G LTE experience that provides unmatched nationwide coverage and speeds.

Best heavy data users plan
T-Mobile’s One plan with an impressive feature set offers the best and cheapest smartphone plans for heavy data users.

Best family plan
With a host of features and extras to offer, T-Mobile’s family plan offers the best value across the board. The most popular option is the $160 plan per 4 lines, which provides features like unlimited talk, text, and data alongside mobile hotspot, free Netflix for the entire family and many more.

Best individual plan
Sprint’s $60 individual plan is undoubtedly the best choice for individual users. With competitive pricing, HD streaming video, cost-effective roaming features and unlimited access to Hulu, Sprint’s individual plan is hard to beat on a nationwide network.

Best Prepaid Individual plan
AT&T’s prepaid individual plan is definitely the topper in this category by offering most data for your money. The $50 monthly plan offers 8GB of LTE, HD streaming, and hotspot options. Additionally, unlimited talk time to Mexico and Canada is also offered in this plan.

Cheapest Plan
If you are looking for a plan under $30, then Republic Wireless offers the best plan which includes talk time, texting and data limits.

What may seem as cheapest smartphone plans may actually prove to be more expensive than similar plans that offer the same features. So, think through various factors before choosing a data plan for your smartphone. Before you decide to switch your mobile phone plan, make sure you check the carrier’s website for latest offers.