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Google Fi's New "Bill Protection" Is Perfect if You Only Want an Unlimited Plan Sometimes


For the past few years, Google Fi has existed as a nice, cheap alternative to regular carriers thanks to its $10/GB pay-as-you-go pricing scheme. But with the return of unlimited data in 2017, Google Fi looks a lot less attractive. Now the company is finally firing back.

On Wednesday, Google announced Bill Protection, a new feature that combines unlimited data with the best of what Fi has to offer. Here’s what you need to know about the service and how it compares to the competition.

How Google Fi Bill Protection Works

Bill Protection, which is rolling out now for all Google Fi customers, takes the existing service and builds on it. You’ll still pay $10 for every gigabyte of data you use (plus $20 per month for Fi Basics), but once you hit 6GB the monthly price automatically caps at $80. After that you get unlimited high-speed data for free.

The only catch is that Google will throttle your data, slowing down speeds significantly once you hit 15GB. The company says this will only affect 1% of its current customers, though, and if it’s really an issue you can go back to paying $10/GB once you hit that limit.

How It Compares to Other Unlimited Plans

When it comes to price, Google’s new system isn’t cheap. By comparison, Sprint’s unlimited data plans start as low as $60 per month. AT&T is the same, with a cheaper unlimited plan for $60 and a more expensive AT&T Plus for $90. T-Mobile is just a little pricier—but still cheaper than Google—starting at $70 for unlimited data, and Verizon starts at $75 per month or $85 for the premium version.

Other carriers are also more generous when it comes to throttling your speeds. T-Mobile won’t slow down your connection until you’ve used 50GB of data that month (that’s more than three times what Google Fi offers). Meanwhile, AT&T and Verizon throttle at 22GB, while Sprint starts cutting speeds at 23GB.

Who It’s For

When you consider those numbers, Google Fi Bill Protection doesn’t exactly look great. At $80 it’s pretty pricey, and Google isn’t as generous as the competition when it comes to throttling. Still, there’s one area where Fi beats the other carriers: flexibility.

If you’re like me, you probably only use a few gigabytes of data in most months. In that case, Google Fi charges a fraction of the competition. So if you don’t use data on your phone that much but occasionally need to use a lot—maybe you travel for work a few times per year—then Bill Protection is perfect for you. But if you plan to use a ton of data each month, you’re probably better off with a regular carrier plan.