SwitchNinja Editorial Standards

FCC Broadband Facts Labels

The FCC requires all carriers to publish standardized "Broadband Facts" labels disclosing price, data limits, speed, and fees. These are the authoritative pricing documents — we use them to verify plan prices, not marketing landing pages.

Carrier Plan Enrollment Pages

We check the actual plan signup page — not the homepage banner — to confirm the price, autopay requirements, line count pricing, and any conditions that affect the advertised rate.

Network Performance Data

Network quality scores (1–5) are derived from independent testing reports by RootMetrics, J.D. Power, Ookla Speedtest, and Opensignal. We update these scores when major annual or semi-annual reports are released.

Monthly

Full verification pass

All 10 carriers and 30 plans checked against official sources. Prices, data limits, hotspot allowances, and features confirmed or corrected.

Same-day

Announced carrier changes

When a carrier publicly announces a price change or new plan, we update the database the same day and push the change to the live site immediately.

As needed

Article and comparison pages

Articles and compare pages are reviewed whenever a carrier featured in that content changes pricing or plan structure. All article pages show a visible "Last verified" date.

Semi-annual

Network quality scores

Network quality scores are updated when RootMetrics, J.D. Power, Ookla, and Opensignal release their major annual or semi-annual reports.

Google Fi — excluded from all comparisons and articles

Google Fi's hybrid network model (T-Mobile primary + US Cellular backup + Wi-Fi calling) and per-GB flexible pricing make fair comparison difficult. Effective cost varies widely based on usage patterns, which would require a separate comparison framework. We exclude it rather than represent it inaccurately alongside flat-rate plans.

Consumer Cellular — seniors article only

Consumer Cellular targets senior users with AARP discounts, simplified devices, and US-based support. It does not compete on the same value dimensions as general-purpose MVNOs. We include it only in the seniors article where the audience and use case align — adding it to the main quiz or other comparisons would produce misleading value comparisons.

Promotional intro pricing — never used as the plan price

When a carrier advertises "$15/mo for 6 months, then $35/mo," we use $35/mo — the price you'll actually pay long-term. Promotional pricing creates temporary rankings that mislead users who will be on the plan for years. We display standard published prices only.

Phone-specific or device bundle pages

We don't publish pages like "Best plan for iPhone 15" or "Verizon phone deals." Device availability, trade-in values, and bundle pricing change constantly and require device inventory data we don't maintain. Our focus is plan-level comparison, not device sales.

How does SwitchNinja verify cell phone plan prices?

We use FCC Broadband Facts labels and carrier enrollment pages — the official documents carriers are legally required to maintain as accurate. We check every plan monthly and update same-day when carriers announce changes.

Why only 10 carriers?

We cover the carriers we can verify and maintain accurately every month. We'd rather cover 10 carriers accurately than 50 carriers approximately. Adding carriers we can't maintain at that standard means publishing data we can't stand behind.

I found something outdated. How do I report it?

Email hello@switchninja.app with the page URL and what you believe is incorrect. We check flagged data against official carrier sources within 48 hours and update immediately if confirmed.