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I'm not who you were replying to but I was curious so I looked around. I found some plans similar to your current one (but better?) as well as his.

TextNow:
$2.99/mo: unlimited calling and texting, no cellular data
$19.99/mo: unlimited calling and texting, 1.5 GB cellular data then unlimited data at 2G speeds

FreedomPop:
Free: 200 minutes, 500 text messages, 500 MB data (CDMA) or 200 MB data (GSM)
$10.99/mo: unlimited text and talk, 500 MB data
$24.99/mo: unlimited text and talk, 2 GB data
$9.99/mo prepaid for 12 months: unlimited text and talk, 2 GB data

I'm not necessarily recommending them (I have no experience with either and I haven't looked into either company in depth), I just thought they might be of interest to you. There are downsides to cellular resellers (MVNOs). Some of them are ad-sponsored (maybe avoidable if you can bring your own phone), many haven't been around long, most don't use AT&T or Verizon's towers so they have worse reception outside cities, not all offer 4G data and when they do it might be throttled, and many MVNOs just seem kind of sketchy.

But if they fit your needs they can save you hundreds every year.

I'm not who you were replying to but I was curious so I looked around. I found some plans similar to your current one (but better?) as well as his.

TextNow:
$2.99/mo: unlimited calling and texting, no cellular data
$19.99/mo: unlimited calling and texting, 1.5 GB cellular data then unlimited data at 2G speeds

FreedomPop:
Free: 200 minutes, 500 text messages, 500 MB data (CDMA) or 200 MB data (GSM)
$10.99/mo: unlimited text and talk, 500 MB data
$24.99/mo: unlimited text and talk, 2 GB data
$9.99/mo prepaid for 12 months: unlimited text and talk, 2 GB data

I'm not necessarily recommending them (I have no experience with either and I haven't looked into either company in depth), I just thought they might be of interest to you. There are downsides to cellular resellers (MVNOs). Some of them are ad-sponsored (maybe avoidable if you can bring your own phone), many haven't been around long, most don't use AT&T or Verizon's towers so they have worse reception outside cities, not all offer 4G data and when they do it might be throttled, and many MVNOs just seem kind of sketchy.

But if they fit your needs they can save you hundreds every year.

I don't know where you are looking but I still see $0.99.

https://www.freedompop.com/off...

Maybe you are looking at their GLOBAL sim? Works in several EU countries as well as the North America?

Looks like they'll sell you a SIM card if you want to pick your own phone. As others have said, they apparently started as a Sprint PCS virtual operator, but if they've switched to SIM cards they probably use AT&T or T-Mobile, both of which are significantly higher quality.

https://www.freedompop.com/pho...
https://ringplus.net/

I bought an unlocked dual SIM GSM phone for $29. I use it with a T-Mobile account that costs $10 per year (after paying $100 the first year). It works well for answering phone calls when my FreedomPop Samsung Galaxy phone (no monthly charge) is away from Sprint coverage.

Now it it possible to get an unlocked Blu phone for $20. Or, if you think that is too expensive, $18.

An advantage of the less-capable phones: More than thirty days of stand-by time. ($74)

One of the nice advantages of being heavily involved with technology is that you can feel comfortable saying no to technology. I've met people who felt they had to have the latest iPhone because other people bought the latest.

I am not, of course, saying anyone else on Slashdot would make the same choices.

I highly recommend FreedomPop. They have an inexpensive hotspot and give you up to 200MB free.Here is a link to their 4G hotspot.

One thing Google has continuously failed miserably at is customer service. Unless they are going to invest some time/money/energy in improving their track record in this regard their wireless plans had better be dirt cheap/free. You already have Republic Wireless and FreedomPop sitting at that level. And I switched to Ting two years ago despite them being on the Sprint network because they have great rates for all but the most voracious data consumers and the best customer service of any company I have ever done business with. Next month they'll be adding the T-Mobile network to their offerings and they just started offering Internet in a couple of locations. I'll be watching to see if Google gets the customer service aspect down.

Verizon requires you to have a data plan to even use (e.g.) an iPhone. Even if you never use the data service. If Verizon considers your phone a "Smart Phone", they require you to have and pay for a data plan to use it. My understanding is that the other carriers have the same policy. The people that are buying these phones are paying these monthly fees.

The environment is more complicated since the last time you looked into cell phone plans. I don't blame you, because you have better things to do, but you might be able to save money with a smartphone, now.

There's decent activity in Mobile Virtual Network Operators (MVNO), companies that rent capacity on the carriers' networks. Most of them have conventional plans that work with any phone from that carrier. If your usage falls into particular patterns, those plans can be cheaper than the carriers' own plans. But with a smartphone, a company can offer radically different plans:

Republic Wireless has plans starting at $10, or $5 if you have good WiFi and don't need to do calls away from your home/work/car hotspot, ever. Their cheapest phone is only $149, so it doesn't take long to start saving money compared to a typical carrier. Republic Wireless is what I use.

FreedomPop has plans starting at $0, as long as you don't use more than 200 minutes a month, or $10.99 for unlimited voice and texts. Their cheapest phone is $99. I'm not confident in their service quality, and I don't like their overage-based business model, but it doesn't get any cheaper than free.

There are options from most of the carriers. I'm doing the Republic Wireless $10 unlimited talk and text, but with no data. Having a 4G phone with no data sucks, but the price is compelling, and I should be able to add a prorated data plan for the times when I expect I do need it. Having WiFi calls when I'm at a place with no cell reception is also nice. However, counting the phone, my bill is higher than if I had been able to keep my dumbphone on somebody's T-mobile family plan.

Ting is a great choice for Sprint, Airvoice is a great choice for AT&T, PagePlus is decent for Verizon.

One interesting option is FreedomPop, but they seem to be in beta. Earlier versions of FreedomPop phones had poor performance and very poor voice quality, but they're supposedly improving. It would be interesting to see if they go anywhere with that.