Finding a $600 annual savings is a gem, especially when you are not giving up the value of the services you receive

Mobile phone service is a commodity. Carriers don’t want you to realize that this is the case, and they cram “value services” like Hulu, Disney+, and ESPN+ on top to give the appearance that you are getting more.

If you are like me and need phone service without all the fluff, you are overpaying from one of the major carriers. When you are on a financial journey to independence, minor tweaks in your budget can make a big difference in your savings rate or the rate at which you can wipe out debt.

Today, we discuss how to save $600 or more annually on each line of mobile service, all while retaining the same Verizon phone signal you receive for a premium.

What is Visible

Visible is Verizon’s no-frills digital-only mobile service company. That’s right, Verizon owns Visible and provides the network. That’s the same great network you pay for today as a Verizon customer. The same network that Verizon spent $52.9 billion to add C-Band spectrum at auction in 2021to create an expansive 5G footprint.

The Visible business model differs from Verizon in several key areas:

  • No stores
  • No contracts
  • No hidden fees
  • Prepay only
  • One line of service per account
  • Party Pay — reduces the monthly payment by $15 when you join a group of four or more members. You don’t even need to know these people, and there are groups with tens of thousands of members, reducing your risk of dropping below the threshold for maximum savings to next to zero.

Comparing Plans

Verizon offers four plans with price points that change based on the number of lines on the account. For this exercise, we will be comparing a single-line account. The value of savings per line will reduce if you have more than one line, but the savings are still significant.

Verizon Plans

  • 5G Start — $70/line plus taxes and fees. This is a basic plan with 5G and unlimited data. The plan does not include any mobile hotspot data.
  • 5G Do More — $80/line plus taxes and fees. Includes 5G, 50GB premium network access, then unlimited data, and 25G mobile hotspot data. This plan also includes a number of connectivity discounts that Verizon claims a value of up to $35.99/mo. Your mileage may vary on these. They include discounts on connected devices plans, TravelPass, and Verizon Cloud storage. I valued the addons for this plan at zero dollars.
  • 5G Play More — $80/line plus taxes and fees. Includes 5G, 50GB premium network access, then unlimited data, and 25G mobile hotspot data. This plan also includes a number of entertainment discounts that Verizon claims have a value of up to $18.98/mo. These include Hulu, Disney+, ESPN+, and Apple Arcade or Google Play Pass. I also value these addons at zero dollars. There are other ways to get these services for less, including a newly announced $240 entertainment credit from American Express. Not to mention that you are effectively paying for these services with each line on your account. A family can use a single Hulu account.
  • 5G Get More — $90/line plus taxes and fees. Includes 5G, Unlimited premium network access, and 50G mobile hotspot data. This plan includes all of the extra features from the Do More and Play More plan, plus Apple Music for a claimed value of up to $64.98/mo. Once again, I place a personal value on these features at zero dollars.

Visible Plan

There is only one plan available, and it’s $40/mo, or $25/mo if you join a Party Pay group with four or more members. Joining a Party Pay group is super simple, and you do not need to know anyone in the group. The Reddit_Upvote party has more than 50,000 members, and you can join even if you don’t use Reddit. There are also no added taxes or fees, and the out-the-door price is $25/mo.

You get unlimited 5G and 4G LTE data and unlimited mobile hotspot with your plan. Your data traffic is tagged with lower priority than a customer paying a Verizon product premium. However, you are still riding the Verizon network, which has been heavily invested in to increase capacity and footprint. The mobile hotspot is also throttled to 5 Mbps, but you can accomplish quite a bit with that throughput.

The Savings when you swap Verizon for Visible

For this exercise, I will use the 5G Start plan. While it doesn’t have hotspot data in the plan, it is also the only Verizon plan without addon features with debatable value.

The Verizon 5G Start plan will run $70 plus tax and fees each month. These fees vary by service location, so I will estimate the fees at $5/mo. Your Verizon service price out-the-door for one line of service is $75/mo.

Your Visible price is $25/mo when you sign up for Party Pay.

Monthly savings, back into your pocket, is $50. This can be a nice boost to help you focus on beating down debt or investing for your future. All the while, you retain the same Verizon phone signal you had before on your phone.

Final Thoughts

Visible is a mobile network service owned by Verizon and focuses on a digital service model. If you need a store or a bunch of added features, Visible may not be for you. If you are like me and need reliable phone service, then Visible is a perfectly viable alternative to Verizon.

Finding a $600 annual savings is a gem, especially when you are not giving up the value of the services you receive. There are so many good ways to put that savings to work for those of us on a journey to financial freedom.

If you are considering swapping to Visible, you can receive your first month of service for $5 by using my referral link here. This is a referral link, and by using this link to sign up for service, I will also receive a month of service for $5.