TextNow: What Are the Pros and Cons?
- Free plan available that includes unlimited talk & text, with some data
- Good for low usage customers
- Good for travel in Canada and Mexico
- No plans available for high data users
- Online only brand, no stores for in person support
Phone Plans
How TextNow Plans Work
TextNOW is an MVNO that previously operated on the Sprint network. The company was founded in 2009 in Ontario, Canada and originally operated as a text messaging app. In 2013 the company expanded into the USA where it began to offer phone service as a Sprint MVNO ((Gigaom)). In 2016 TextNOW added T-Mobile as a network partner, however, service on T-Mobile was discontinued in the middle of 2019. In 2021, due to T-Mobile’s acquisition of Sprint, TextNow once again became a T-Mobile MVNO. In June of 2021, TextNow announced the availability of a free plan on the T-Mobile network.
TextNOW does not offer MVNO service in Canada due to the company’s inability to find a willing partner to sell it network access ((Techvibes)). Instead, it offers an app available on both iOS and Android that allows free calling and texting over Wi-Fi and data networks.
Unlike a majority of MVNO’s, TextNOW uses what it calls “Elastic Calling Technology” to monitor and select the best network to use for service. With Elastic Calling, phone calls and text messages are automatically routed over Wi-Fi or the parent network’s data pipeline. Phone calls can even be routed through the parent network’s cellular voice network. TextNOW automatically transitions to use whichever type of network is providing the best service, and it can even change from Wi-Fi to a cellular voice network mid-call without the end user having to do anything on their end.
TextNow offers a free basic phone plan that comes with what it calls “Free Essential Data.” Free Essential data is free data that can be used with select email, calendar, maps, and rideshare apps over a cellular data network. The free plan comes with 350MB of high-speed data that can be used with those apps, and 650MB of data at reduced speeds before data is shut off until the next billing cycle. Subscribers have the option to add hourly, daily, and monthly data top-ups to their Essential plan if they’d like. Data top-ups are priced like this:
- Hourly Pass – 300MB of high-speed data then unlimited 2G, $0.99
- Day Pass – 2GB of high-speed data then unlimited 2G, $4.99
- Monthly Pass – 10GB of high-speed data then unlimited 2G, no ads, includes roaming in Canada and Mexico, $39.99
To use TextNow you must use the TextNow app.
TextNow
This wireless plan's guide is part of BestMVNO's comprehensive coverage of TextNow. See BestMVNO's coverage of the latest TextNow news or visit the links below to sign up for service, or configure your APN settings.