Best Cheap Internet Providers
Based on In-Depth Reviews

Internet service is expensive. Together with poor call center service, disappointing data transfer speeds, and a lack of plan variety, this is one of the most common complaints lobbed at Internet service providers by consumers. It’s also an oft-repeated and genuine claim that nonetheless fails to explain the nuances of Internet service pricing in America. After all, in countries where broadband is more affordable, customers also enjoy better performance—and the U.S. enjoys one of the highest mean download speeds in the world.

Typically, though not exclusively, where broadband is expensive, it is also slow and unreliable. The opposite is also largely true, although there are exceptions in both cases. —Cable.co.uk

Unfortunately, the U.S. just so happens to be one of those exceptions. Americans pay an average of $67.69 per month for broadband Internet service. On the one hand, this isn’t bad at all. Although it means we rank 119 out of 195 countries in terms of price, we do so with an above-average mean download speed of 32.89 Mbps. Customers in many countries pay just as much—if not more—for speeds that trail behind ours. In countries where customers pay significantly less on average, they may also have sluggish download speeds, by comparison.

On the other hand, $67.69 is still expensive when compared to the price of Internet service in other highly-developed countries. Take France and Japan, for example, where broadband Internet service costs $31.14 and $37.15 per month, respectively. The mean download speed in France is 30.44 Mbps—just 2.45 less than the U.S. and at less than half the cost. In Japan, the mean download speed is 42.77 Mbps, which amounts to $0.00023 per Megabit, or $0.23 per Gigabit. Cheaper service and comparable or faster speeds can also be seen in Hungary, Spain, Canada, Romania, Taiwan, Singapore, and several other countries.

Arguments that our speed merits the average cost of our Internet seem to fall flat when we compare ourselves to other highly-developed countries. But what of the U.S.’ large size and its vast variety of landscapes? Take a look at Russia and India, then. Their Internet may not be as fast as ours, but they still rank within the top 100 countries with the highest mean download speed. Coupled with their dramatically lower average costs—$9.77/mo for Russia and $28.23/mo for India—compared to us, the price and performance of their Internet access seems to align much better than our do.

Perhaps the question shouldn’t be why Internet service in America is so expensive. Rather, the question we should be asking is, why are Americans paying so much for so little? Why are Americans paying an average of $67.69 per month for broadband Internet service when those in some countries get similar service for so much less. Commenting on the North American region, Cable.co.uk stressed that a lack of competition in the marketplace is what drives up the price of Internet service in America.

The Game of Monopoly: Lack of Competition, Lack of Innovation

It’s no secret that a few Internet service providers have monopolized the industry. While saying there’s no competition would be an overstatement—after all, there are a number of regions where various ISPs regularly compete for business—many Americans are highly limited in choice. In some regions, just two ISPs are competing for customers; in others, a single ISP may be available in the area. Some regions don’t have any options other than requesting satellite Internet service, which is expensive and often slower than high-speed DSL, cable, or fiber.

Lobbying in federal and state legislature while acquiring smaller ISPs has allowed some very big players in the industry to carve up large swathes of the U.S. for themselves. When there are just two large ISPs fighting for a region, all they need to do is differentiate themselves just enough from the other to gain more customers—which is often done by superficially reducing prices. Where a single, large ISP holds the entire market hostage, you can forget about seeing any positive change, barring any massive outcry or legal action against the provider

With the repeal of net neutrality, the situation is positioned to worsen. Laxer regulations regarding transparency and providers’ ability to manipulate traffic as they see fit—with no real federal supervision—may lead to ever-increasing prices. Net neutrality had its detractors but, as a whole, many experts agreed that some level of regulation was needed to avoid large ISPs from further monopolizing the market and discriminating against any Internet traffic they did not like or favor.

Regardless of what is to come, it’s important to understand the situation because consumers have the power to elicit change. Whether you are limited in your choice of an Internet service provider or not, make sure to keep tabs on who you are subscribed to. Carefully read your contract before signing up and make constant speed tests if you feel they are not delivering on what they have advertised. Contact your provider and make your case with evidence. At the end of the day, large ISPs have no reason to improve, unless their customers take a stand against bad service and policies. 

Do You Need Broadband?

Broadband speeds in the U.S. are currently classified by the FCC as connections with a download speed of at least 25 Mbps. 

Many lives have changed with the proliferation of Internet access: freelancers can work exclusively online, many have discarded cable TV for streaming services like Netflix and Hulu, and some don’t even play videogames offline anymore. This is part of the reason why broadband is so often recommended—people who depend on the Internet or use it frequently need the bandwidth.

Who’s Available in Your Area?

Those who live in areas where a single Internet service provider is available probably know who they are already. Those moving into new areas or who are in regions with more competition will benefit from looking them up and comparing them online. To do this, there are several websites that can give you results based on your address. These websites also tend to have valuable information regarding the Internet and Internet service providers. We recommend you use the sites BroadbandNow, HighSpeedInternet, and AllConnect to search for ISPs near you. These three sites have valuable articles and guides pertaining to bandwidth usage, data caps, net neutrality, and other Internet-related topics

How to Save on Internet Service

1.    Compare Prices

If you live in an area with more than a single provider, you should always keep an eye on the other guys in the market and see what they’re offering. This is especially true if you aren’t entirely satisfied with your current service provider. When looking at other providers, don’t just stop at their advertised plan prices. Consider their data caps, if any, their equipment and installation fees, the full price of their plans after the promotional period, if they offer free 24/7 tech support or charge for it.

2.    Downgrading Plans

As families get smaller or people’s jobs and Internet usage habits change, the amount of bandwidth you need can lower dramatically. Remember that bandwidth is not a direct indicator of speed, but of capacity. Things such as gaming and watching non-4k HD video don’t even require broadband Internet if a single person is using the connection. Review your bandwidth usage whenever your situation at home changes. If you don’t have guests over often, are single, or don’t use streaming services, consider downgrading your plan to save money.

3. Purchasing Your Own Equipment

Buying the equipment required for Internet access might seem expensive up-front. It’s usually several times over what you’d be paying monthly for leasing it. However, it can be one of the best ways to save on the price of your Internet service—if you’re happy enough with your current Internet service provider to envision staying with them for a long time. Additionally, if you ever do change providers, there’s always a chance that the equipment you bought from the first can be used by the next.

4. Signing up for Paperless Billing and Auto-Pay

Internet service providers usually advertise their prices with paperless billing and auto-pay discounts included. The customer still has to manually opt for these services to get discounted billing, however. Double check if these services are enabled once your service is set up.

5. Negotiating with Your Provider

It might seem like a losing battle, but picking up the phone to call your ISP and negotiate a lower rate is already half the battle. Threatening to cancel service, using test results to persuade them to lower your rates, and asking for any available discounts are some of the ways you could go about this. 

What to Watch Out for When Choosing a Cheap Internet Service Provider

Data Caps

Alright everyone, say it with me: Fixed Internet service should NOT have data caps. Despite what a few, large Internet service providers may want you to believe, no, data caps are not necessary to manage network congestion. They are nothing more than stealthy price hikes designed to discourage cord cutting and price gouge customers. 

“That there's no financial or technical justifications for fixed-line usage caps is a point made time and time again, and really can't be repeated often enough,” wrote Karl Bode in one of his articles for TechDirt. Arguing against the implementation of data caps by large ISPs, Bode explains that the way these providers pay for the bandwidth they lease to customers makes data caps useless for anything else other than punishing the consumer. 

Bode also refers to a blog post by CCG Consulting, a consultancy firm for small communication carriers, where the firm breaks down how ISPs buy the Internet access which they then sell to us. CCG explains that providers face two main costs: transport and raw bandwidth. The former has the potential to be quite expensive—but only if the provider operates a long distance from a major population center. Additionally, the cost is fixed and does not increase based on customer usage. The same can be said for bandwidth. CCG tells us that the more bandwidth, or raw data, a provider buys, the cheaper it gets. Providers pay for the data they bought regardless of whether customers use it or not, which means this operates as a fixed cost as well. It also doesn’t vary based on usage.

Essentially, data caps are unnecessary for large Internet service providers: They are implemented to skew the market rather than create “fairness” among customers. Data caps are a part of the growing trend among large ISPs to take advantage of the now repealed net neutrality laws. We advise consumers to avoid ISPs that implement these caps on fixed Internet service or to at least tread carefully around those that do, if they are your only option(s).

Upselling

If you’ve ever been on the receiving end of a barrage of deals and offers from your salesperson, you know what upselling is—and how unbearable it is. Through upselling, the person working with a customer tries to coax or persuade them into buying a product or service of a higher cost. This technique is notorious in the cable TV and Internet service provider industry for its popularity among large telecommunication companies.

An example of this tactic is how ISPs try to convince customers into bundling their Internet service. This is especially common now with the trend of cord-cutting, which threatens the revenue telecom companies make from phone and cable TV service. The argument is that, since bundles include these services at highly discounted prices, why purchase them, too? 

The issue with this is that many customers simply do not need phone or cable TV service anymore, due to cell phones and the popularity of streaming services. Regardless, many consumers that don’t need these services get them anyway under the impression that it’s a “great deal”—in fact, they are spending more money on services they will not be using frequently or at all.