Visible vs. AT&T: Which carrier is better?

Visible and AT&T are two popular prepaid carriers that offer high-speed, premium data to users. Visible is known for their non-complicated, budget-friendly plans, while AT&T is one of the “big three” in wireless. Each carrier has its positives and negatives, but which offers better phone plans? Let’s put them head to head and see which brand comes out on top. 

In this article, we plan to discuss the ins and outs of both carriers and what they offer. We’ll also cover:

• What the coverage of both carriers looks like
• How prices of their plans compare to how much data you get
• The features each carrier offers for their plans 

Coverage & Reception - How do Visible and AT&T Compare?

Visible is on the Verizon network, while AT&T is one of the major phone networks.

Visible is a mobile virtual network operator, or MVNO. This means that they purchase service access wholesale from one of the three major networks that own infrastructure across the country – AT&T, Verizon, and T-Mobile – giving customers service at a much cheaper price. Visible is an MVNO of Verizon. 

MVNO - What Should You Know:

A common aspect of MVNOs you should know about is they are more likely to subject users to data deprioritization and throttled speeds. Data deprioritization is “the temporary slowing of data speeds for certain customers in order to give priority to other customers.” Which means that those who are direct customers of the “parent” company will get network priority when you’re in a high traffic area like a concert hall or sports stadium, or when there’s network congestion.

Throttling is also more likely to occur with MVNOs and “the dramatic slowing of your data speeds to the point that it becomes almost unusable.” This will happen when you go over a certain number of gigabytes of data for the month, which is referred to as a “data cap.” You’ll see this number displayed somewhere on your carrier’s website. Your normal speeds will slow down until the start of your next billing cycle.

Often, the quality of coverage comes down to your area. One carrier’s coverage may be better in New York, while another’s coverage may be better in California. It’s important to compare between providers on a coverage map of your specific city. Ookla’s coverage map allows you to see where cellular towers are located and which company owns them. This coverage map provides information about coverage from 2G to 5G for several providers.

Verizon has the most nation-wide 4G LTE coverage out of every wireless carrier in the country which is no small feat. Covering over 70% of the country, Verizon has had it’s footprints all over the map giving reliable coverage to even the most rural of areas when it comes to LTE.

As for AT&T, they are very much considered to be the “middle of the pack” when comparing it directly to Verizon and T-Mobile. Their 4G LTE sits comfortably between the two, behind Verizon but ahead of T-Mobile, and their 5G network is above Verizon but below T-Mobile, so you know at least that you’ll be nestled in between the other two providers with a AT&T phone plan.

Another good way to look at your coverage options is to go directly to the source and see what the Visible and AT&T coverage maps look like from the websites themselves, then you can see the Visible Wireless Coverage Map here and the AT&T Coverage Map here.

Plan Options - A Close Look at Visible vs. AT&T

Visible offers truly unlimited data, and AT&T offers premium data.

Like most plans you’ll see on the market, both carriers offer unlimited talk and texting options with any plan you choose. Both carriers also offer premium data, which does not slow down no matter the amount of network traffic. They also deprioritize data, which you know means you’ll have slower connection speeds in high traffic areas like concerts venues and sports arenas.

Visible Plans

Both Visible plans offer unlimited data. 

Visible only offers two plans – Visible Base and Visible+. Visible+ offers more features as well as premium data. Both plans offer a hotspot, with that data coming from your overall plan data. As an MVNO on Verizon’s network, Visible is on QCI tier 9. Visible+ has higher priority for its 50GB of premium data, which will be further explained below. 

It’s also important to note that Visible is a single line carrier – meaning you can only have one phone on an account. If you’re buying a plan for your family or with your significant other, you need to make separate accounts with separate plans for everyone. 

If you purchase your phone from Visible, your device will be locked for the first 60 days after activation. Both plans they offer renew monthly, and taxes and fees are included with the advertised price. As you can see there are a lot of Pros and Cons with Visible Wireless, so it’s always good to read up before you sign up!

Visible Base

This plan is always deprioritized.

As we said before, like most plans you’ll see on the market, Visible’s base plan has unlimited talk and text. 

Visible Base also has unlimited data with no cap – meaning you have truly unlimited data that never slows down no matter how much you use. However, the Visible base plan is always deprioritized. Your data and connection will slow down at any point of high traffic in your area, so you have access to Visible’s high-speed data no matter how much you use, but they can’t guarantee that it will stay consistent at all times.

The plan also includes unlimited mobile hotspot data. Again, your data is deprioritized and may slow down in times of high network traffic. 

This plan has two payment options, you can either pay monthly or annually. 

The Visible Base Monthly plan is $25 per month (taxes and fees included) and the Visible Base Annual plan is $275 a year (taxes and fees included, save $25 with this payment option).

Visible+

This plan gives you 50GB of premium data, then unlimited deprioritized data. 

Visible+ gives you access to Verizon’s 5G Ultra Wideband network, which is their network for premium data. As such, the 50GBs of premium data you get with this plan will not slow down no matter how much network traffic in your area. After you use the 50GB, your data is unlimited – but subjected to the same deprioritization as the Visible Base plan. The mobile hotspot is also premium data for the first 50GB at speeds up to 10Mbps, then is deprioritized after. 

This plan has two payment options, you can either pay monthly or annually. 

The Visible+ Monthly plan is $45 per month (taxes and fees included) and the Visible+ Annual plan is $395 a year (taxes and fees included, save $145 with this payment option). At this rate, you get the 50GB of premium data at $0.90 per GB.

AT&T Plans

AT&T offers premium data with some of their plans. 

AT&T only offers one limited plan. The rest are unlimited plans with varying amounts of premium data.

If you purchase your phone from AT&T, your device will be locked for 60 days after activation. We’ve done a deep dive on AT&T before, including Everything You Need to Know About AT&T Transfer PINs which is super helpful when looking at devices.

The plans they offer renew monthly, and taxes and fees are not included with the advertised price. 

AT&T 4GB℠

This plan is the smallest one AT&T offers.  

Each month, you get 4GB of full speed data and hotspot access included. Once you reach that limit, both your data access and hotspot access stop. Access begins again at the start of the next month. It’s important to note that this plan charges overage fees if you use more than the allotted amount. 

The plan costs $60 per month at full price, and $50 with the Autopay discount. With this plan, you get 4GB per month for $15 per GB. 

AT&T Value Plus℠ VL

This plan gives you unlimited data. 

Value Plus gives you unlimited, but deprioritized, data. With this, you’ll have full speeds the entire month because the plan doesn’t have any data cap. Speeds will only slow down for high network congestion. It does not offer hotspot access. 

This plan costs $50.99 ($60) per month at full price, and $50 with the included Autopay discount. 

AT&T Unlimited Starter® SL

This plan gives you unlimited data. 

AT&T offers deprioritized unlimited data with this plan. Like their Value Plus plan, your speeds won’t slow down because of any data cap – only because of high network congestion. This plan also offers 5GB of hotspot data, which slows to 2G speeds once you run out. With 2G speeds, users can still send texts and emails or browse the internet. However, it’s difficult to stream video or play games without access to WiFi. 

This plan costs $65.99 ($66) at full price, and $55 with Autopay. 

AT&T Unlimited Extra® EL

This plan gives you 75 gigabytes of high-speed data. 

Unlimited Extra is great for heavy data users as it gives you 75GBs of high-speed data per month, with unlimited deprioritized data after use. High-speed data is, for most of the time, high-speed, however you may experience occasional slower speeds when the network is busy, but not as frequent as their previous plans. You also get 30GB of hotspot data per line per month, which slows down to 2G speeds after that cap. 

This plan costs $75.99 ($76) per month before the $10 Autopay discount, and $65 per month after. You get 75GB per month for $1.01 per GB at full price. 

AT&T Unlimited Premium® PL

This is AT&T’s biggest and best plan they have to offer. 

Advertised as their “best plan” – Unlimited Extra is the first, and only plan to offer premium data with AT&T’s services. No matter what, whether it be the amount you use or the network traffic, your speeds will not slow down. They also give 60GB of hotspot data with this plan, and speeds slow to 2G once you run out for the month. 

This plan costs $85.99 ($90) per month before the discount, and $75 with Autopay. 

Features - A Close Look at Visible vs. AT&T

While both carriers offer pretty good deals for their customers, there are some differences in the features and benefits that may entice you to pick one over the other. If you’re a frequent traveler, talk to your international friends and family a lot, or are looking for a bit more “perk” with your plan then this section will break down all of that juicy info so you can know what you’re potentially gonna get.

Both carriers offer similar features with their plans. 

If you’re looking for a plan with more included features, such as international connection or domestic roaming data, it’s best to compare carriers with what they offer. 

Domestic Roaming Data

Visible and AT&T both offer domestic roaming data on their plans. 

Mexico & Canada Connection

Visible offers talk and text in Mexico and Canada. However, Visible does not include roaming data for Mexico and Canada with Visible Base. Visible+ includes 2GBs of roaming data per day that slows down to 2G speeds after you use it each day.

AT&T includes talk, text, and data in Mexico and Canada included with all of their unlimited plans. 

International Connection

Visible does not give you international roaming data, but you can buy it with their Global Pass. Though, Visible+ gives you international talk and text, Visible Base does not offer this feature. The Global Pass is an add-on with their plans, you can get these benefits:

AT&T offers international text, but calling and roaming data capabilities require an additional add-on which costs $12 a day.

Video Streaming Quality

Visible’s plans stream at 480p Standard Definition. All AT&T plans with the exception of Unlimited Premium stream at 480p Standard Definition, and Unlimited Premium streams at 4k Ultra High Definition. 

Streaming Services

Visible and AT&T do not offer this feature. 

Cloud Storage

Visible does not offer this feature. AT&T offers an add-on for cloud storage.

Device Financing

Visible has partnered with Affirm which is a financial company and through them you can “Buy Now and Pay Later” with select phones and Smartwatches. You can get APR financing through Visible’s deal with Affirm- (note that you may need to make a down payment, so be aware of that before you look into the program). Then once you’re done paying off said loan, the device(s) are yours. More information you need on Visible and Affirm can be found here.

If you buy a phone from AT&T, the carrier allows you to pay for your device in installments over time. 

WiFi Calling

Both carriers offer WiFi calling, which allows you to send and receive phone calls over a WiFi connection rather than cellular reception. 

Spam Protection

Visible offers spam protection on both of their plans, which blocks spam calls and protects you from potential fraud. AT&T offers AT&T Active Armor on all of their plans, which blocks spam calls. 

Free Trial

Visible offers a 15 day free trial. AT&T does not offer this feature.   

Customer Service 

Visible does not have physical stores, leaving all of their customer service to online support. AT&T offers stores across the country.  

Visible is a digital-only carrier, meaning they only offer customer support online. Visible offers 24/7 chat support from a live agent. AT&T offers thousands of brick-and-mortar stores across the country, and you can find one near you with their store locator. You can also call (800) 901-9878 on Mon. through Sat. from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. ET. 

The Verdict

Visible offers the better deal.  

When it comes to price per GB, Visible offers a much better deal on their plans compared to AT&T. They also offer many of the same features included, so Visible is the better option between the two carriers. However, if you’re looking for absolutely unlimited premium data, AT&T’s Unlimited Premium plan is a great option if you don’t care about the size of the price. 

We’d recommend checking your data usage before committing to a plan.

Want to compare other carriers?

Really.com helps users compare between features, coverage, price, reviews, and more!

We’ve compared Visible with other carriers before: Visible vs. Total by Verizon: Which carrier is better?

And if you want to compare and contrast Visible and AT&T to over 1,200 other phone plans so you know you’re getting the service that’s right for you, then make sure to check out the REALLY compare page which allows you to look at pricing, coverage, what phone plans are available, current deals and steals, and how you can make the most of your potential phone bill.