Which US phone plan fits an international student?

A US phone plan for an international student starts with a prepaid line, not a travel eSIM. The prepaid line gives you a US number for the bank, the university and the employer, and it does not require the credit history a postpaid plan asks for. The cheapest row that covers a student's first month is Tello's 10GB plan with 300 minutes at $14. If you need unlimited data, Visible and Total MAX 5G BYO both start at $25. If you call India or China every week, Straight Talk Silver is the row that names both countries and prints unlimited international calling at $45.

The student matrix

Every row here is prepaid. The credit-check, SSN and ID split is on getting a US phone plan without an SSN, because a carrier not printing a credit check is not the same as a carrier accepting any ID.

What actually matters for a student

A US number, not just data. A travel eSIM such as Saily gets you online on landing day, but it is a data profile, not a US phone number. The bank and the university need a number. The four routes are on SIM, eSIM or a US prepaid plan, and the bank side is on bank OTP abroad.

Campus Wi-Fi changes the data number. A student who is on campus Wi-Fi most of the day can live on 10GB. Unlimited data matters for the commute, the hotspot and the apartment. Tello's 10GB plan is the cheap row; Visible and Total are the unlimited rows.

Tax is part of the price. Visible and Cricket include taxes in the prices above. Total and Tello do not print a tax treatment on the pages we read. AT&T and Boost print taxes as extra. The state pages carry the local rate: California 26.21%, New York 33.96%, Texas 30.83%, Massachusetts 24.10%, Illinois 38.32%. A $25 plan is not $25 in every state.

Calls home are a separate line. Tello names India on its free list, with the landline and mobile split unverified. Straight Talk Silver names India and China and prints unlimited calling. The 100+ and 200+ country rows do not name India on the pages we read. The full comparison is on cheapest calls abroad.

Annual prepay is cheap but rigid. Infimobile's 15GB card is $108 for 12 months, about $9 a month. The cards print non-refundable, the T&Cs limit activation to the Authorized Areas, and the shop and the terms do not share an activation geography. Read those two files before you treat it as a year-long student plan.

The cheapest row by situation

The lowest monthly bill with a US number. Tello's 10GB plan with 300 minutes is $14. It includes 300 minutes shared with US calls, India on the free list, and 10GB of data. It is the cheapest row here that combines a US number, data and a call home.

The cheapest unlimited data. Visible is $25 with taxes included and a 5 Mbps hotspot. Total MAX 5G BYO is $25 with AutoPay, unlimited data and 200+ countries, but its tax treatment is unverified. Both are cheaper than a postpaid line and both are prepaid.

The cheapest unlimited calls to India and China. Straight Talk Silver is $45, includes unlimited data and 15GB of hotspot, and prints India and China by name. It costs more than Tello, but the India and China calls are unlimited rather than 300 shared minutes.

The cheapest 30GB bucket. Boost is $10 for the first 6 months and $25 after, with 30GB of premium data and then 512 Kbps. AT&T's prepaid exclusive is $25 for 30GB, but the 30GB runs at a maximum of 3 Mbps. The Boost row is the faster of the two; the AT&T row is the one with AT&T's network.

The cheapest year. Infimobile's 15GB card is $108 for 12 months, about $9 a month. It is the lowest monthly equivalent on this page, with the activation and refund caveats above.

Before you land

• Check that your phone is carrier-unlocked and supports a second eSIM profile.
• Buy a data eSIM for the flight and the first day, but keep it separate from the US number you will use for the bank and the university.
• Choose a prepaid line, not a postpaid one, if you do not have an SSN or a US credit history.
• Check the tax rate for your state before comparing a $25 plan with a $25 plan.
• Turn on the bank's email or app approval channel before you fly, while the account is still ordinary.

What we do not claim

We do not publish which ID each carrier accepts. The carrier pages we read do not state it, and a university arrival page is not the carrier's rule. We do not test campus coverage. The carrier's map and the state page are the place to check. We do not call a data eSIM a phone number. And we do not treat a promotional price as the renewal price.

Questions

Can I get a US phone plan without an SSN?

Yes, on the prepaid side. The carrier pages on getting a US phone plan without an SSN print no credit check for the prepaid rows. The ID a store accepts is a separate question and is unverified on the pages we read.

Which plan is cheapest for a student?

Tello's 10GB plan with 300 minutes is $14 a month and includes a US number, 10GB of data and 300 minutes shared with US calls. Visible and Total MAX 5G BYO are $25 for unlimited data. The cheapest row depends on whether you need unlimited data or a call home.

Which plan should I choose if I call India every week?

Straight Talk Silver at $45 prints unlimited calling to India and China and includes unlimited data and 15GB of hotspot. Tello's $14 plan gives 300 shared minutes to India on its free list, which is cheaper if 300 minutes is enough.

Can I use a travel eSIM as my student number?

A travel eSIM is a data profile. It does not give you a US phone number that a bank or a university will accept. Use it for data on landing day and keep a prepaid US line for the number. The four routes are on SIM, eSIM or a US prepaid plan.

Should I prepay a year with Infimobile?

The 15GB card is $108 for 12 months, about $9 a month. The cards print non-refundable, and the T&Cs limit activation to the Authorized Areas. Read the terms and the refund form before you prepay. The full page is on Infimobile prepaid.

What about Mint Mobile?

Mint's plans page lists 6GB, 17GB, 23GB and Unlimited, with free calling to Mexico, Canada and the UK. India is not in that line. Prices vary by term and by the headline offer on the page, so the Mint row lives on Mint Mobile plans rather than in this matrix.

Where the rest of the decision lives

The data-first comparison is on US phone plans with the most data. The calls-home comparison is on cheapest calls abroad. The named-plan comparison is on compare US prepaid plans. The state pages carry the local tax and the universities: California, New York, Texas, Massachusetts, Illinois.