Many of the basic, budget plans from the big three carriers have lower prioritization and less features than some prepaid alternatives.

When it comes to finding a prepaid phone plan, traditional carriers like AT&T, Verizon and T-Mobile aren't your only options. Here are our picks for the best prepaid phone plans this holiday season.

The new plan is much cheaper than Verizon’s current unlimited talk and text prepaid ... AT&T’s GoPhone service offers the same unlimited options and costs $50 per month. Virgin Mobile ...

Mint Mobile is great for multi-month prepaid plans. For just $15/month ... Verizon's basic unlimited plan does drop to $50 but not until month ten, and that doesn't include the mobile hotspot ...