US Cellular prepaid plans have ended, and a US Cellular prepaid account can no longer be refilled. T-Mobile, which bought US Cellular’s wireless business, says so on its page for US Cellular prepaid customers: “Your UScellular Prepaid service is suspended, and you can no longer replenish your account.”
Can I still add minutes or refill?
No. The same page says US Cellular customers “can no longer renew service”. A suspended phone can only call 911 and the 988 crisis line.
An unused refill card is not wasted, though. T-Mobile says, “if you have an un-redeemed UScellular Prepaid refill card, you can use it to replenish an active T-Mobile Prepaid account.”
What happens to my number
T-Mobile’s page gives two dates and no year, so treat them as urgent and check any message you received.
| Date on T-Mobile’s page | What it says |
|---|---|
| Through August 31 | “You can still switch your account to T-Mobile or another service provider” and keep your number |
| September 1 | “If you do not switch your service before September 1, you will permanently lose your phone number.” |
If you are reading this after those dates and never switched, call T-Mobile and ask whether the number can still be recovered. We cannot tell you that it can.
To move the number you need three things, T-Mobile says: your US Cellular account number, a port-out PIN, which is valid for four days, and an email address. Our guide to porting your number explains the steps.
What happens to my balance
It follows you to T-Mobile, within limits. “UScellular Prepaid customers with a positive account balance less than $1000 who switch to T-Mobile will have their balance automatically transferred to their new T-Mobile account within 1-2 billing cycles.” Larger balances are handled case by case.
The page does not say what happens to the balance if you move to a different company.
Where to go
T-Mobile’s page points to its own brands: T-Mobile Prepaid at “$45/mo. per line with AutoPay”, Connect by T-Mobile “starting at $15/mo. for one line”, Metro and Mint Mobile. You get a new SIM card when you move to T-Mobile.
You are not limited to those. The page itself says “T-Mobile or another service provider”. Prices across brands are on our cheapest phone plans page.
The last US Cellular prepaid plans
For the record, these were the prepaid plans on US Cellular’s site in September 2025, after the sale. An archived copy from February 2024 shows the same five prices.
Archive: 2025
| Plan | Price | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| 2 GB | $25 a month | Video at 480p |
| 5 GB | $30 a month | Video at 480p |
| 8 GB | $35 a month | Video at 480p |
| Unlimited | $40 a month | 15 GB of priority data and 15 GB of hotspot |
| Unlimited+ | $55 a month | 35 GB of priority data and 35 GB of hotspot |
| 3-month plan | $75 for 3 months | Unlimited talk and text, 4 GB of data a month |
| 12-month plan | $300 for 12 months | Unlimited talk, text and data, 15 GB of hotspot |
Auto Pay took $5 off each month. Two lines of Unlimited were $60.
So the “$35 prepaid plan” people remember was the 8 GB plan, and the $30 one was 5 GB. The archived page is in the Internet Archive.
How refills used to work
US Cellular called it refilling or replenishing, not adding minutes. Its site listed four ways.
Archive: 2025
- Quick Refill on the website, with only a phone number.
- A payment in My Account.
- By phone: “Dial #233 on your cell phone and follow the prompts to refill your account using a credit, debit or UScellular refill card.”
- In cash, at a US Cellular store or with a refill card from a retailer.
A refill had to be at least $5 and at most $200. Service renewed on an anniversary date, with three days’ grace.
None of these works now.
More on US Cellular
What happened to the company, and its older plans, are on our main US Cellular page.