I spent years assuming postpaid meant better service. It doesn't. After finally running the numbers I feel genuinely embarrassed about how long I waited to switch.

Here's the actual breakdown nobody lays out clearly:

The postpaid trap: Major carriers charge $60-80/month for plans most people don't fully use. That's $720-960/year. The service feels premium because of the branding and retail stores. The network underneath is identical to what prepaid customers access.

Prepaid vs postpaid mobile — what actually changes: The only technical difference is QCI priority levels. Postpaid customers get QCI 6-7, prepaid gets QCI 8-9. In practice this means slight deprioritization during peak congestion — concerts, stadiums, busy urban areas. For everyday use the difference is imperceptible.

Where the real gap is — annual prepaid: Monthly prepaid is the obvious comparison to postpaid. But annual prepaid is where the math gets genuinely interesting. Most people comparing prepaid vs postpaid mobile never look at the annual tier.

Current annual prepaid landscape:

Mint Mobile: $240/year (T-Mobile network, 5GB-unlimited) Visible: $300/year (Verizon network, unlimited) US Mobile: $210-390/year (multi-network, flexible) Infimobile: $75/year for 10GB, $125/year for 15GB (Verizon or T-Mobile)

My actual switch: Ported my number to Infimobile three months ago. Was on a $65/month postpaid plan. The port completed in a few hours, no issues. Currently paying $75 for the entire year on T-Mobile network — unlimited calls and texts, 10GB data monthly. Coverage is identical to what I had before in every location I regularly use my phone.

Honest limitations with Infimobile and annual prepaid generally:

Upfront annual payment (mental hurdle but math immediate) No unlimited data option on Infimobile — 10GB at $75/year, 15GB at $125/year Choose Verizon or T-Mobile at signup, locked for the year Slight deprioritization during peak hours like any MVNO

The numbers that actually matter:

PlanAnnual CostMonthly EquivalentPostpaid average$780/year$65/monthMint Mobile$240/year$20/monthVisible$300/year$25/monthInfimobile 10GB$75/year$6.25/monthInfimobile 15GB$125/year$10.42/month

The frustrating part: The prepaid vs postpaid mobile conversation online almost always focuses on monthly pricing. Annual prepaid barely gets mentioned despite being a completely different cost category. Infimobile at $75/year sits so far below everything else that it genuinely looks like a mistake the first time you see it.

For light to moderate data users — anyone using under 15GB monthly — the ROI on switching from postpaid is immediate. My $75 annual payment paid for itself in 5 weeks compared to what I was spending before.

Curious whether others have done this analysis and what held them back from switching. The prepaid vs postpaid mobile debate feels settled on price — what am I missing on the postpaid side that justifies the cost difference?

The Philosophical Etymology of Hobbit (1994)