Straight talk vs Net10 Comparison. Are you confused about which is better net10 or straight talk for you? Here we compare net10 and straight talk services and let you decide which plan suits you the most.
Prepaid phones will help you save some money if you choose the right service and plan as per your needs. So the first thing to do is figure out your needs and usage requirements.
Coverage, Operation & Support
Both Net10 and straight talk are from the same company that owns Tracfone. However, Walmart pitched it to Tracfone and they liked the idea so they created a service of their own, called Straight Talk. Hence regarding the net10 vs straight talk coverage, operation, customer service, and other policies are almost identical. We have seen some customers having a bad experience with the straight talk support compared to Net10 but it would be probably because the Net10 is having a less customer base than Straight talk.
Straight Talk lower price has attracted a lot of customers to join them. However, some customers prefer Net10 over Straight Talk because of its convenience. Net10 SIM’s and refill cards are sold in stores everywhere. But Straight Talk SIM’s and refills are only available at Walmart and on the Straight Talk website.
You might also want to check out this:
How to configure Straight Talk APN Settings for BYOP ?
How to setup Net10 iPhone APN Settings for Internet?
Calling Plans & Airtime Cards
NET10 offers mainly 3 types of plan – Family Plans, Pay As You Go Plan and 30 Days Monthly Plan
Net10 Family Plans further divided into 3 types, all of which allows national calls and unlimited text and data. There are no activation charges for it as well. These are the 3 plans.
| Number of people | Days | Cost |
|---|---|---|
| 2 PEOPLE | 30 Days | $90 ($85 on Auto-Refill) |
| 3 PEOPLE | 30 Days | $130 ($125 on Auto-Refill) |
| 4 PEOPLE | 30 Days | $170 ($165 on Auto-Refill) |
Net10 also have a Pay As You Go Plan slab which further lets you have a different choice as per your need. Pay As You Go plans will fit any budget plus your Airtime and Service Days Carryover. These plans come with international calls but no auto-refill feature. There have been 5 plans listed so far and they are:
| Airtime | Cost | Days |
|---|---|---|
| 1500 Minutes | $100 | 180 Days |
| 900 Minutes | $60 | 90 Days |
| 600 Minutes | $45 | 60 Days |
| 300 Minutes | $30 | 60 Days |
| 200 Minutes | $20 | 30 Days |
So which plan is right for you?
Well, the first thing to do is estimate how many minutes you are going to be using per month. Then look at the chart we have put forward for you to figure out which phone and airtime card to buy. You can also check out our complete StraightTalk Cellphone plans.
| Minutes/month | Carrier Plan | International Calls | Cost | Days | Total Cost per year |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 200 Minutes | Net10 | Yes | $15 (Auto Refill) | 30 Days | $180 |
| 500 Minutes | Net10 | Yes | $30 (Auto Refill) | 30 Days | $360 |
| 750 minutes | Net10 | Yes | $25 (Auto Refill) | 30 days | $300 |
| 1000 minutes | Straight Talk (All You Need Plan) | No | $30 | 30 days | $360 |
| Over 1000 minutes | Straight Talk* (Unlimited 1 month) | No | $45 | 30 days | $540 |
| Over 1000 minutes | Straight Talk* (International) | Yes | $60 | 30 days | $720 |
| Over 1000 minutes | Net10 | No | $50 ($45 on Auto Refill) | 30 days | $600 ($540 Auto-Refill) |
| Over 1000 minutes | Net10 | Yes | $65 ($60 on Auto Refill) | 30 days | $780 ($720 Auto-Refill) |
It should be noted that Straight Talk even though says the unlimited plan, it’s not truly unlimited. They impose some restriction to that as given below.
*30-day Unlimited Plans include 2.5 GB of high-speed data per 30-day cycle. After 2.5 GB, your data speed will be reduced for the remainder of the 30-day cycle. High-speed data is restored once a new 30-day service plan is redeemed at the end of the 30-day plan cycle. Other limitations, terms and conditions of service apply. Straight Talk reserves the right to terminate your service for unauthorized or abnormal usage.
We hope this was helpful for you to understand more about both networks. Let us know more on which plan worked for you and why you choose them and your experience with straight talk and net10.
Ross says
So you are implying that net10 is better than straight talk?
buzzmobile says
Well, Not exactly it all depends upon your requirements. Anyway as of right now, net10 seems to be preferred by some folks. (especially that’s the buzz we are getting in the forums when we had a chat with some of the members there).
Paul F. says
The Net10 program has an unlimited usage for $49./mo. I have been on it for 8 months, and I’m very happy with the service.
Raul says
I agree. I have been with Net10 for about 6 months and I love it. I don’t use up all my data, so the speed is awesome.
gIgI says
I just got with net10 8 days ago & I LOVE their service ^_~
I went to super WalMart they had other Sims str8 talk amongst which the customer reps PUSH to the hilt Θ_Θ like both reps kept saying you’ll save $5 bucks with str8 talk which DEFINITELY led me to choose net10 / I could tell the $5 difference meant the FINEST quality & I’m right! OMG this service is top notch / speed lightening ⚡ service / took a YouTube vid for me to configure however its up n runnin full throttle
Don Williams says
Did you miss the part of the article where they explained that they use the same network? Same speed. Same coverage. Try reading the whole article before posting next time.
Kym says
i have straightalk but wanna try net 10 im not sure yet
April says
I love net 10 I’ve used them for 5 years great service not like straight talk I get service everywhere.
brianna says
i have straight talk & it completley sucks im having issues with data & i cant recieve picture messages & ive already configured the APN. Any problems like that with net 10?
James doak says
if ur having trouble receiving picture text .. it is in ur setting in phone apn type must check off all options ….
Sharon says
I have Net 10. Service is good. I have the unlimited talk text and data for 50.00 per month. Talk and text is fine, but unlimited data is not true. After so much use, it is nearly non-existent. I stay on my phone a lot and before I switched, I called Net 10 and they assured me that it was the same at the end as the beginning. Thinking of going back to Verizon.
Nate says
If you read the fine print Net10 only provides high speed data up to a certain point (so many Gbs) then they throttle back your data speed. Most prepaid services are like this because it allows them to keep their costs with the major networks low. Plus it prevents people from using their services as WiFi hot spots.
Debbie Barden says
I have been using Straight Talk for two years; my husband has been on it for four years. We have not had any issues. I have had no problems receiving texts, picture messages, calls.
james says
I still need some help. I currebtly jave tmobile unlimited plan on my galaxy s3 and my contract is up. I use my phone a lot for business and personal use. I dont mind one that is a little more expensive if it is a lot better. Please help me.
Kuntre kuzzin says
I’ve been with net10 for 3 years and it gets a slow after 2.5-3gbs but it’s not bad no dropped calls and I have had all three Samsung notes so it works fine but if u have a problem with APN settings Google it cause there customer service really bad!
chema says
I have been with net10 for a year was using att sim card on my gs4…since i got a new htc m8 tmobile i didnt know it requiered a nano sim card i was in luck when i went to target and had to buy a sim card kit they didnt have a single nano anyways as soon as i got home i activated and transfered my number to the tmobile sim 30 mins later it started working if i have to compare the speed i gotta say both net10 att/tmobile are sligthly the same but hands down tmobile is faster …. i had straight talk before cant really say much about them since i only had there service for less then 6 months . but honestly thery were ok
now net10 there customer service is ok sometimes i call sometimes i use the chat…on the chat instead of asking if i have a other question they just disconnect thats so freaking rude if i knew one of them personally i did pimp slap them so hard! lol in others were other reps are nice.
dee says
What apn settings work for u?
Jarrel says
Im very concerned! I use my cell for business and ive started the porting process for straight talk on the 18th. It is now the 20th and my phone has not been activated. The straight talk customer care dose not seem to know what they are doing if you have them venture from a script. They keep telling me to wait 48hrs…. its been 48hrs and 27mins WTF. Im going to get bold and try net10. I understand they share the same parent company, but maybe (hopefully) hey have a better system and can get me activated. If I get the same treatment from net10 Im gonna have to give up on the prepaid services, drop a heavy deposit and get a service that is expensive, but actually works. Wish me luck and good luck to anyone who has straight talk issues.
listen jarrel: says
Not a good idea to try net10, same company same indian-like chinese-like behavior and customer service. Both are retarded cell phone companies
Chadwick says
I can say Net10 truly sucks for customer service. I have people call I never recieve calls I changed my number sim apn settings. Sucks cant receive mms messages. Im truly unhappy been with them 3 years but the price you cant beat it.
chan says
I have 2 phones through Straight Talk (one gs2, one gs3) and 3 Phones through Net 10 (all gs3). All of our Net 10 phones lose service on a regular interstate travel that we do, but the Straight Talk phones keep service most of the way with just a few brief dead spots. If the service from the two companies is basically the same (which I thought it was and this site confirmed), then why would this happen? Is it a setting? As I have started to pay more attention to this situation, our Net 10s lose service as we travel way before the Straight Talks. I hesitate to call customer service because they are hard to understand and their help is fairly limited. Any insight here would be so helpful!
james42519 says
what service with them? they both can use at&t/tmoble/verizon/sprint so it all depends on what the phone uses. the network is the same you are just using different towers depending what type of sim or cdma it is. here is a map for straight talk but net 10 is the same thing. network a is at&t. network t is tmobile. network v is verizon. network s is sprint. cellularmaps.com/st.shtml
james42519 says
looking online straight talk has 2 different galaxy s3. use different networks depending on model. i would bet the s2 and s3 are both using verizon though. wonder if the net10 verzion you have uses sprint for some reason.
The SCH-S968C is a 3G-only model for Verizon and the SCH-S960L is for Sprint LTE.
joe says
BOTH STRAIGHT TALK AND NET10 ARE Bad; They almost indian-like or chinese-like in design and implementation and both have bad customer service.
William Matteson says
I have had Net10 for ages, since they first came out. I used to love their service, and when it works it’s fine, but heaven help you if something goes wrong. Their customer service these days SUCKS. SUCKS HUGE.They double-billed me last month and, after having them call me back so I wouldn’t have to be on hold for a half hour I was then put on hold, talked to one rep. who confirmed that it happened then shuffled to another waited another half an hour on hold then had to explain myself to her again. She couldn’t quite grasp what had happened and ONE HOUR later the issue was finally resolved, though the other issue I had (I didn’t receive my full allotment of minutes.) never was fixed.
james42519 says
they are the same comany… straight talk, net10, tracfone, safelink wireless, total wireless, simple mobile, Telcel América, pageplus are all owned by América Móvil.
james42519 says
they are the same thing…
they are both owned by tracfone so how can one be better then the other besides price. they use the same networks so there is literally no difference between them
james42519 says
you call any of there numbers and you get the same thing. they even ask if you are using net10, straight talk, tracfone.there is no difference. this is all the same company
Connie Wilborn Siler says
I have had net10 for 10 years.. Never had a problem with the service, except my area does not get in a good connection at times.. I love NET10.. Considering Straight Talk as the phone is cheaper, but not sure if I can have the same Net10 service and phone number.
buzzmobile says
Thanks for sharing your experience. :)
Rick Hendrix says
james42519
you call any of there numbers and you get the same thing. they even ask if you are using net10, straight talk, tracfone.there is no difference. this is all the same company.
I Agree with you