The Cheapest Spectrum Internet Plans

Spectrum has a spectrum of prices (ba-dum-tiss!) ranging up to $80, but the most affordable Spectrum Internet plan is called Spectrum Internet®. Here’s a glance at the details.

This Spectrum Wifi plan from Charter Spectrum gives you download speeds of up to 300 Mbps.* While your upload speeds won’t be nearly that high (because Spectrum uses mostly cable internet technology), they should still be fast enough for gaming, Zooming into a meeting, and other normal activities.

These speeds are pretty darn good for an ISPs lowest-tier plan. And we are big fans of unlimited data (some other ISPs, like Xfinity, have a cap on how much data their customers can use). But, if we’re being honest, the price is still a bit higher than we’d like to see, especially after the promotional period ends.

Spectrum Internet® recently added regional plans for Ohio, North Carolina, and New York. Now Spectrum's truly cheapest plan is exclusive to those in North Carolina. Meaning if you happen to live in North Carolina, you can get up to 300Mbps speeds for $10 less a month than Spectrum's Ohio and New York plans. You lucky ducks.

The downside to Spectrum’s lack of long-term contracts is that your price can go up after the first year of promotional pricing. Just how much will it go up? Generally, Spectrum’s Internet plans go up by a whopping $21 a month after the promo period ends. That’s a hefty increase (but you may be able to negotiate it down if you try).

The best way to understand how good (or not good) Spectrum’s prices are is to look at the competition. We’ve put some of the cheapest plans from other popular ISPs in this chart so that you can see for yourself.

As you can see, Spectrum is not the cheapest internet provider in the chart. It’s pricier than Xfinity, about the same as Verizon, CenturyLink, and T-Mobile, and a bit more than AT&T Internet. That said, the options in your particular area probably look a little different than those in this chart.

So, we suggest using this zip code tool to compare all of the best internet plans that are available in your home.

If even these cheap plans look a little out of your reach, don’t worry—we’ve got some solutions that may help.

Charter Communications (which owns Spectrum) participates in a couple of very cool programs that help low-income families get affordable access to high-speed internet.

One of these programs is called Spectrum Internet® Assist, and it offers a low price on a 30 Mbps* internet plan, including free equipment rental and no data caps.

If you don’t qualify for these low-income programs, be on the lookout for Spectrum deals, especially during big holiday sales. Sign-on deals and other Spectrum internet plan bargains can help you stretch your pennies.

Spectrum only has two other Internet plans besides the one we discussed above.

These plans offer up to 500 and 1,000 Mbps* internet speeds, which is nothing to sneeze at. Plus, your term is for 24 months instead of 12 months. But the prices are, once again, a bit on the high side unless you're one of the lucky residents of New York, North Carolina, or Ohio.

If you can afford the higher price tags, the Spectrum Internet® 500 Mbps and Internet Gig plans are powerful. For example, with 1,000 Mbps internet, you could easily run multiple high-demand online games, several HD streams, and a Zoom call at the same time and still have some bandwidth to spare.

Charter owns more than just Spectrum Internet®. The company is also a big TV provider (it purchased Time Warner Cable back in 2016). That means you can easily bundle your TV and internet (and even phone service) together to make billing more simple and gain access to Spectrum's bundle perks, like a free internet modem and antivirus software, to name a couple.

Here’s a look at some of the cheapest Spectrum TV® and Internet bundle deals.

Getting high-speed internet and cable with over 125–150 channels for a little over $100 a month is a score. At least, we think it is.

You can learn more about these deals and others in our full review of Spectrum bundles.

Why not go all in with Spectrum? You can sign up for Spectrum Mobile® to get unlimited talk, text, and data. And when you bundle with internet, you'll get a Mobile Unlimited plan free for 12 months.

We’ve written about how to get cheap internet in another article, but we wanted to include a few tips about how to pick the right Spectrum WiFi plan here. We think these are the three most important steps.

       1. Consider how much speed you need

It’s always better to have too much speed rather than not enough. But still, not everyone needs the fastest plan. Consider the daily internet needs of your household and get a plan that fits (more families will need somewhere between 100-500 Mbps).

       2. Compare prices

Some internet service provider promotional prices can look deceptively low. Others can look wildly high. But the only way to really figure out the best deal is to directly compare prices using charts (like the ones in this article) and other comparison tools. Don’t forget to look for hidden fees and price hikes in the fine print!

       3. Keep your eye out for better deals in the future

Once you’ve chosen your Spectrum Wi-Fi plan and signed up, keep your eyes peeled for a better deal. Spectrum doesn’t require an annual contract, so if another provider with a better deal pops up in your area, you can always switch from Spectrum Internet service to something else!

Thanks for sticking with us through this review of the cheapest Spectrum Internet plans. We hope it’s helped you find the perfect plan (and save a few bucks!).