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How much data does your family use?
Pick what each person does on their phone in a typical day. We turn it into gigabytes a month using the rates Netflix, Spotify, Zoom, and AT&T publish, and suggest a plan tier.
People on the plan
How much does Person 1 do each day?
- Person 14.8 GB
- Person 24.8 GB
About 9.7 GB of cellular data a month for the household.
Suggested: Basic
Everyone is at or under 5 GB a month, which Verizon calls light use, so a plan that may slow down when the network is busy is usually fine.
Where these numbers come from
- Video, data saver: Netflix mobile "Save Data": about 6 hours per GB. Source
- Video, phone default: Netflix mobile "Automatic": about 4 hours per GB. Source
- Video, hd: Netflix "High" setting, high definition: up to 3 GB per hour (an upper bound). Source
- Music & podcasts: Spotify "Normal" quality on phones ≈ 96 kbit/s → 96,000 × 3,600 ÷ 8 = 43.2 MB per hour. Source
- Video calls: Zoom 1:1 720p video: 1.2 Mbps up and 1.2 Mbps down → 2.4 Mbps × 3,600 ÷ 8 = 1,080 MB per hour. Source
- Browsing & feeds: AT&T's data calculator: 0.015 GB per hour of surfing the web (rate read from the calculator's own script). Source
- Online games: AT&T's data calculator: 0.012 GB per hour of online gaming (rate read from the calculator's own script). Source
- Monthly totals use a 30-day month and count only the share of use away from Wi-Fi. Real use varies by app and settings. Treat this as a ballpark.
- Tier thresholds: Verizon: light use is "less than 5 GB" a month. Source. T-Mobile plans page footnote: "Essentials 2.0 customers may notice speeds lower than other customers and further reduction if using >50GB/month, due to data prioritization." Source
Know your tier? Compare the 36-month cost of every plan for your family →