Choosing the perfect phone plan can be harder than it seems, and it is more so when you are a student either heading off to college or beginning high school. This is the time when you are short on money and excessive calling, texting or browsing can hurt your balance more than you think! Not to worry though, as the leading phone service providers offer a variety of back-to-school plans during the fall, for parents and teens to pick one easily. You can choose after comparing the plans and considering your budget.

We have sorted out some of the best plans for students from different providers:

T-Mobile : For $160 a month, this phone service provider offers unlimited text, data, and talk (in T-Mobile One) for a family of four. T-Mobile is one of the best networks and there’s a great advantage for students going abroad – it offers 2GB data in more than 140 countries. But the hotspot is limited at a 3GB speed and video streaming gets curbed at 480p (unless you pay up an extra $10 per line). There’s no denying that it’s a great plan for students as they only have to pay up $40 for what is an unlimited pack with great coverage.

MetroPCS : This is one of the cheapest phone service providers that offer a plan of 6GB LTE data coupled with unlimited text and talk time. The prepaid price comes to $40 a month. You should know that MetroPCS uses the network of T-Mobile which is its parent company and is consistently ranked among the best networks in the country. Here are some more features:

• Data maximize feature allows you to reduce the resolution in your streaming videos so that you don’t exhaust the allotted data pack soon.
• Your data won’t be deducted from the allotted 6GB amount if you stream Pandora, iHeartRadio, Spotify and Apple Music.

But MetroPCS’s tech support leaves a lot to be desired from. So if you need help that could take a while. Overall, this plan is most suitable for kids who just want to stream music and don’t use their mobile for primary Internet connection.

Republic Wireless : This is one of the top phone service providers offering 2GB of LTE data along with unlimited text and talk time for a price of $30 a month. It relies on T-Mobile and Sprint’s network coverage on the go but Republic will try to open up your Wi-Fi by default if it finds the connection. This automatically saves your data and also provides good coverage with T-Mobile. Yet, to be fair, this plan is best for price-conscious college goers who live on campus where Wi-Fi availability is aplenty.

Sprint : It offers unlimited text, talk, and data for $50 per month. You can also put your phone on hotspot and tether duty for up to 10GB a month. But, Sprint’s 4G coverage isn’t always enough, even though it is improving. There’s also the factor that the $50 offer could revert back to $60, once the offer period ends on September 30, 2018. Regardless, it can’t be denied that an unlimited pack will make everyone relaxed about their data worries.

The above plans have been collated from some of the most popular and best phone service providers in the country today. Hopefully, it will aid you in your research to get an optimum plan.