Have you ever heard of Republic Wireless and their cheap cell phone plans? If you haven’t, you definitely need to continue reading this Republic Wireless review, especially if you are paying anything over $50 a month for your current phone bill.
I first heard about Republic Wireless last summer when I was reading a Republic Wireless review on a possible cheap cell phone plan. I was shocked by how cheap their prices were, and they’re even cheaper now.
We spend around $25 a month on each phone from Republic Wireless and it comes with unlimited talk, text, and wi-fi. There are even cheap cell phone plans as low as $15 a month.
Yes, FIFTEEN DOLLAR CELL PHONE PLANS!
This is much better than the $225 we used to pay for our phone service each month through AT&T.
Yes, this is an affiliate post by the way. If you are interested in skipping my review but you want to try Republic Wireless right at this moment, please click on my affiliate link. It’s very appreciated and it helps me create other reviews just like with this Republic Wireless review! 🙂
Why is Republic Wireless so cheap and how can they offer such cheap cell phone plans?
I’m sure this is a question you are asking yourself right now as you are reading this review.
Republic Wireless IS really that cheap. It’s that easy to save money by switching to Republic Wireless. It’s not a scam, a joke, or something where they are going to jack the price up later (they are not like cable companies).
There is no catch, there are no contracts, no activation fees, no roaming charges, and you can switch your plan easily if you need to (up to twice a month).
So, how is all of this possible at such a cheap price?
I know if you are anything like me, sometimes a price so low can seem too good to be true. It only makes sense to want to look into it further.
Republic Wireless is able to offer such a great price on their phone plans because of the hybrid technology they offer. All of the phones on the Republic Wireless network use wi-fi as the default setting. This means that whenever you are near a wi-fi network, your phone will attempt to connect to it and use it. This makes it very cheap for both you and Republic Wireless.
This also means that if you are traveling internationally, you can use your Republic Wireless phone for the same low flat price!
Wi-fi is everywhere these days, so it’s not a hard thing for them to be able to do.
What happens when there’s no wi-fi around with my Republic Wireless phone?
You might be wondering, but what if I don’t always have wifi available? That’s no big deal because your phone will still work even if you are not in a wi-fi area.
This is because your cell phone will then connect to a cell network (a Sprint tower and if that’s not available then a Verizon tower) so that you can still make phone calls, send texts, and more.
Now, if you’re worried that you might lose wi-fi during a phone call, no need to worry about that situation either. Republic Wireless’ phones can switch seamlessly to a cell tower so your phone call doesn’t drop. Also, if the wi-fi you are currently using isn’t the greatest, you can switch your phone manually to use a cell tower (or the opposite way around as well). This way, you can always use what’s best for you.
The service is great and at the prices Republic Wireless offers it honestly can’t be beat.
What kind of cheap cell phone plans does Republic Wireless offer?
Republic Wireless has four different plans. They are all cheap and very affordable. I don’t think it gets much better than the plans they offer.
There is the $15 plan that is wi-fi only. You have unlimited talk/text/data with this plan over wi-fi with this plan. That is an incredible deal and for the most part it should be very easy to find wi-fi.
What Republic Wireless phones can I use?
If you sign up for Republic Wireless, you can bring your own Android phone or purchase a phone through Republic Wireless.
They have many different phones to choose from, such as the Samsung Galaxy, Moto, LG Stylo, Google Pixel, Motorola moto, and more.
Should you cancel your current contract and switch to Republic Wireless?
You can also use your old phone number, so you can’t use that as an excuse for not switching to Republic Wireless. When you switch to Republic Wireless, you can bring your old phone number with you, so no one will even know you switched phones and you won’t even be affected by the switch. It doesn’t get much easier than that!
However, one negative is if you cancel your current contract with a company such as AT&T, Sprint, or Verizon, you may have to pay a fee. This fee may seem large in the beginning, but when you think about how much money you could save over the course of a year, switching to Republic Wireless still wins hands down because of how cheap their service plans are.
Below are the different cancellation fees cell phone companies charge. It may vary slightly depending on when you started your contract, when your contract ends, and what type of phone you have, but this is what I found on online:
- AT&T charges $175 for a basic phone cancellation and a $325 fee for a smartphone cancellation. However, keep in mind that many AT&T plans are not on a contract nowadays so you may be able to leave for free.
- Sprint charges $200 for a basic phone cancellation and $350 for a smartphone cancellation.
- Verizon charges $175 for a basic phone cancellation and $350 for a smartphone cancellation.
What do I think of Republic Wireless?
I honestly think Republic Wireless is awesome and there is a clear reason I am writing this review. I have been a paying customer for a little over a year now, and their cell service is definitely improving.
I won’t lie, one year ago the cell service was not the greatest, but either was my AT&T service that I paid over $200 a month for. Now, Republic Wireless has fixed a lot of their problems they had in the very beginning, and they are definitely doing loops around AT&T and the other big cell phone networks because of their amazing pricing and service plans.
Let’s just think about it – $2,700 for cell phone service for one year for both me and Wes through AT&T, OR $600 a year ($25 multiplied by two phones multiplied by 12 months) for both me and Wes through Republic Wireless?
Yes, you might think $2,700 is a ton, but if you add up your monthly cell phone service over the year, I’m sure you are somewhat close to that number or perhaps even higher. Isn’t it insane how much cell phones cost us?!
So, even if you pay a cancellation fee (lets use a simple $250 as the cancellation fee), buy two Moto Gs for $149 each, and then pay for 12 months of the $25 service for two phones, your price would be around $1,150 for everything for the WHOLE ENTIRE YEAR. It would be even cheaper (of course) if you had a plan with only one cell phone.
That could mean a savings of $1,500 a year. You could use that money on savings, a vacation, retirement, whatever you want! You would save even more if you kept your phone past the first year. Your savings could then increase to around $1,800 a year.
And that savings amount above is for two phones. If you only need one phone and you choose the simple $5 plan, your cost could be as low as $209 for the year (one Moto G plus 12 months of service at $5). This means if you only get the $5 cell phone plan through Republic Wireless, your yearly cost could be just a little over $60 FOR THE WHOLE YEAR for the phone service.
What if you’re not happy with Republic Wireless?
Republic Wireless is also awesome because they have a 14 day guarantee where they will refund the price you paid for your phone AND the price you paid to use their service. So, you can try out their service for FREE.
I’m pretty sure you will be hooked anyways, but the guarantee is nice just in case you are not happy with the service. There is also no contract with Republic Wireless, so you can leave with no problem.
If you are interested in Republic Wireless, please click on my link. It’s an affiliate link but I promise this review was 100% my opinion.
How much do you pay for your cell phone service? Do you think you pay too much? Would you ever switch to Republic Wireless?
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I keep hearing about this from friends and my outrageous AT&T contract is up in November so I am seriously thinking about switching. How do you feel about the phone you use with them? Can you use most of the same popular apps? FB/Twitter/Instagram ect? Is the camera decent?
We aren’t in the US, otherwise I would definitely try Republic Wireless or Ting, or one of the other low-cost options. We pay around $150/month for two smart phones (I know, it’s cringeworthy) but sadly we are locked into contracts right now bad would need to buy out the phone. I’m not comfortable with doing that right now, especially since our phones are 1.5 years old. Thankfully Canada changed contracts to be max 2 years rather than the standard 3 years (though that did open it’s own can of worms on contract costs).
Does Canada have any low cost options? It seems like many of the cheap options in the U.S. are not available there.
I thought Ting was actually out of Canada. I’d check them out. Also, Ting reimburses up to $75 if you have to break a contract with another carrier.
We’re using Republic while in China. The web only plan doesn’t care where you are.
I’m glad to hear that you like Republic so much. Our cell phones are paid by our employers at present, but, I’m hunting around to figure out which cheaper service we’ll switch to once we quit the 9-5’s. Glad to know more about Republic–thanks!
When do you think you’ll be leaving the 9-5? Just wondering 🙂
The plan is to retire early and move to a rural homestead in three years (targeting fall of 2017). Not set in stone though as we might change our minds or have another opportunity crop up, but that’s the goal :). Thanks for asking!
Sounds awesome! We have a pretty similar goal 🙂
That’s so cool that you’re thinking of homesteading too!! Must be a St. Louis thing 🙂
I don’t think I’d every switch to Republic Wireless despite the delicious savings. Unfortunately, I travel a lot and it is pivotal that everywhere I go the service be as good as I can get it. Sadly, the large telecomm providers kind of have a stranglehold on the wireless networks, and I’m afraid how much data a RW phone would get would be bumped down, deprioritized under one of the major providers. I’m also not a big fan of the Moto phones (pretty much dedicated to getting the Samsung Galaxy S-whatever for as long as they continue that series), but that’s pretty marginal compared to the network thing.
That said, RW definitely seems like a good deal and kudos to you for finding a way to save so much money!
Thanks Taylor!
I feel the same way!! If there was any way to take my Galaxy over to this plan, I would really consider it. The savings are very tempting. I too am concerned about the network. I have a really nice phone and I can’t help thinking that I just couldn’t use it to the potential it was intended with Republic. Maybe when the kiddos are old enough for phones, this will be the plan we choose.
We made the switch to republic and couldn’t be happier with our service. We never have problems and my husband relies on his phone for his work. We’ve been trying to convince everyone we know to make the switch. I bet this company will be getting huge in the next few years once everyone starts finding them.
Yes, I think Republic Wireless will get huge as well. They are a great company and the cheap pricing is just amazing.
Whoo I’m in the process of switching right now!
I really can’t afford $300 on a phone but wanted the better camera & 4G capabilities of the Moto X. You can buy Republic Wireless phones refurbished!!!! They have an authorized dealer on eBay. $199 for Moto X and $99 for Moto G!! Great prices.
I’ll let you know how the phone is but I’m not too concerned. I’ll be getting the $10 plan, I currently pay $30 for less so it’ll save me a little over $200/year. I currently don’t have a contract so the switch is much easier for me.
I’m excited about switching though, glad it’s working out for you!
That’s awesome! Good job on saving money. $200 is still a good amount to save!
This is the first time I have heard of them. I am going to check this out as it seems like an extra great dreal! The major cell carriers over charge us so much these days!
Yes, I definitely recommend that you check out Republic Wireless. Their pricing is incredibly cheap.
I switched my cell phone service last year from Sprint to Ting. I researched Republic Wireless, but because we didn’t want to change our phones, we chose Ting. It piggybacks off the Sprint network, so we kept our phone numbers as well, and they credited us for breaking our contract with Sprint. Now, instead of paying $140 a month for our phones, we pay $41! It’s AWESOME!
That’s awesome!
I made the switch last January and I couldn’t be more pleased! I had to side hustle my way out of my contract and that was fine. I just couldn’t stomach paying $105 a month (WITH a discount) it pissed me off every month. So, I kicked Verizon to the curb.
Good job Michelle!
We’ve been with Republic Wireless for about a year and a half now, and love it! I have zero complaints about the service, and definitely not the price!
That’s awesome and great to hear Gretchen!
I switched to Republic Wireless in December, and couldn’t be happier! At the time they only had the Moto X. They’d announced the Moto G was coming, and I would have waited, but I dropped my old phone in the toilet, so waiting to save money wasn’t really an option. I’m on the $10 plan, which equals out to something like $12.63 per month, with all the taxes. Not having 3G data, I have to think a little more; I can’t always Google everything the instant I want to (if I’m not in WiFi range), or check FaceBook every second of the day.And sometimes I run into the moral dilemma when I’m out and about and come across an unlocked WiFi signal (that isn’t a business). But being a little disconnected isn’t a bad thing. I plan to bump up to the $25 plan whenever I’m traveling, so I don’t have to worry about the data disconnect.
Yes, being a little disconnect isn’t bad, especially at that cheap price.
Thats amazing!!! I am paying around $15 for my Internet Pack per month which offers 2 Mbps speed upto 50 GB and beyond that 512 Kbps!! 🙁 The plans you mentioned above are quite low as compared to plans in India!!
Yes, Republic is super affordable!
Yeah, it seems so!
We thought of switching, but the Sprint network in our area is pretty lousy. 🙁 If it just used Verizon towers only, it would probably be fine. Any thoughts on this? We’d love to switch if we knew we’d get good coverage.
It uses Sprint towers first, and then Verizon. I’m not sure how that’d work for you. I’d reach how to Republic and ask them. They have awesome customer service.
I’m currently still on a family plan (I pay my share, but it’s cheaper for everyone for me to stay on the plan and keep rates low). I will seriously look into Republic Wireless though, if/when I get kicked off my family plan. I hear so many rave reviews from PFers that it seems like a company worth checking out.
Yes, it is awesome!
Wow! RW sounds great!
We are on month-to-month with Verizon as our contract expired a couple of years ago. I have been thinking about going elsewhere, but Verizon by far has the best coverage in our area. If RW will switch to Verizon towers, I will seriously consider making a move.
We get a discount through my day job, but for my daughter’s basic phone, and two “allegedly smart” phones with shared 5 Gb data, our bill is roughly $170/month. I could probably cut back on the data, as my wife is usually at home, and uses wi-fi.
I must have a smart phone and data access for my DJ business. I pay for my phone and my daughter’s phone (since she works part-time for me) from the business. However, whatever account it comes out of, I’d rather pay less money!
Thanks for the information and review. I will check out your affiliate link.
Thanks Andrew!