Google Fi has increased the price of its Simply Unlimited plan for customers that have 3 or more lines. Customers with three lines will now pay $90/month, while four-line customers will pay $100/month. Taxes and fees cost extra.
All new Google Fi subscribers will be immediately subjected to these rates. Current subscribers will see their rates change starting on April 4th.
Google Fi's Simply Unlimited data plan had always been oddly priced. The old pricing structure offered 3-line customers a cheaper plan than two-line customers. The old pricing was as follows:
- 1 line: $50/month
- 2 lines: $80/month
- 3 lines: $75/month
- 4 lines: $80/month
- 5 lines: $100/month
Although the pricing structure was odd, it earned my top pick for the best value family plan for accounts with four lines. I may have to rethink that with the new pricing changes which I have highlighted in bold down below. Pricing has changed by up to $25 more per account for multi-lines.
Google Fi's Updated Multi-Line Pricing
- 1 line: $50/month
- 2 lines: $80/month
- 3 lines: $90/month
- 4 lines: $100/month
- 5 lines: $125/month
Google Fi's Simply Unlimited plan includes unlimited talk, text, and data and uses the T-Mobile network for coverage with roaming on UScellular. However, after 35GB of high-speed data gets consumed during a billing cycle, data speeds are reduced to 256Kbps until the next billing cycle kicks in. Videos stream at a resolution of 480p and 5GB of mobile hotspot usage is permitted per line. Full-service roaming is included while traveling in Mexico and Canada at no extra charge.
A price of 4 lines for $100 has been a pretty common industry offering. However, carriers and carrier-owned prepaid brands typically offer truly unlimited data plans at that price point and that leads me to question the value now provided by Google Fi's updated plan. As an example, Metro by T-Mobile offers 4 lines for $100, as does Visible by Verizon. T-Mobile's postpaid Essential plan is also available at 4 lines for $100. Google Fi does at least offer priority data, something the other plans lack. Priority data means your data speeds won't slow down when the network is congested compared to other customers who don't have priority data.
Didn’t realize that Google Fi has completely abandoned its “network switching” concept (other than roaming), and is now essentially a pure T-Mobile MVNO.
Always thought that Fi’s network switching idea was clever but not all that meaningful, but it did sort of differentiate the carrier from its competition. No long having it is probably one reason why the Google Fi subscriber base seems to be languishing well below that of other T-Mobile MVNOs, including Mint Mobile.
I think the headline is wrong. Did you mean $25 / MONTH ?
Great, concise update as always Joe!
Thanks for keeping us all in the loop.