Quick answer
SwitchNinja scores every plan across 7 factors — price fit, data match, network quality, hotspot, international coverage, video quality, and phone status. Plans are ranked by total score. Affiliate commission rates are not a scoring input and never affect results.
Why scoring beats filtering
Most comparison tools let you filter by price or data amount. That gives you a list — it doesn't give you a recommendation. SwitchNinja is built around the insight that the right plan depends on how you weight the trade-offs between price, coverage, and features specific to your situation.
The quiz captures your priorities. The scoring engine translates those priorities into a ranked result. The plan at the top of your list is the one that fits the combination of your answers — not the most expensive, not the most advertised, not the one with the highest affiliate commission.
The 7 scoring factors
Price Fit
Up to 45 ptsThe single biggest scoring factor. We calculate the per-line price for your specific line count, then compare it to your stated budget.
- Well within your budget (15%+ under): 30–45 points — bonus for deeper savings
- At or near your budget ceiling: 20 points
- Slightly over budget (up to 15%): 8 points
- Meaningfully over budget: 0 points
Note: If you selected "$60+ budget" (premium preference), cheaper plans score lower — you told us network quality matters more than savings.
Data Match
Up to 20 pts / −5 penaltyWe match your stated data usage — Light (<5GB), Medium (5–20GB), Heavy (20GB+), or Unlimited — against the plan's data type and priority data threshold.
- Right-sized plan for your usage: 20 points
- Unlimited plan for moderate user: 7–18 points (still good, just more than needed)
- Limited-data plan for heavy user: −5 points (wrong tool for the job)
Network Quality
0–20 ptsEvery plan in our database carries a network quality score (1–5) based on independent testing from RootMetrics, J.D. Power, Ookla, and Opensignal. How much this score matters depends on your stated priority:
- "Network quality is top priority" — network score is multiplied by 4 (max 20 pts). A Verizon-network plan scores significantly higher.
- "Balance of both" — network score × 2 + 6 (max 16 pts). Good networks still rewarded, but not at the expense of value.
- "Price is most important" — network score is inverted. Budget carriers score higher here; premium networks are penalized.
Hotspot Value
Up to 18 pts / −8 penaltyOnly applies if you said hotspot is "Essential" or "Nice to have." If you said you don't need it, this factor is 0 for everyone — it doesn't hurt or help.
- 50GB+ hotspot included: 18 points
- 30–49GB: 15 points · 20–29GB: 13 points · 10–19GB: 10 points
- Hotspot included, GB unspecified: 5 points
- You said hotspot is essential, plan has none: −8 points
International Coverage
Up to 10 pts / −10 penaltyOnly applies if you travel internationally. Rewarded: full international data + talk/text (10 pts), MX/CA calling and texting only (7 pts). Penalized: you said yes to international and the plan has zero coverage (−10 pts).
Video Streaming Quality
Up to 10 pts / −8 penaltyOnly scores if you said video quality matters. HD streaming included earns up to 10 points. If you said HD matters and the plan caps video at SD quality, it loses 5–8 points — SD video at premium prices is a real trade-off worth flagging.
Phone Status
Up to 15 ptsReflects whether your situation aligns with the carrier type:
- Buying a new phone — Big 3 carriers (Verizon, AT&T, T-Mobile) score 15 pts. Device trade-in credits are only available through direct carriers, not MVNOs.
- Keeping current phone — MVNO plans score 12 pts. Bring-your-own-device is the MVNO model; they don't sell subsidized devices.
The silent tiebreaker: brand recognition
When two plans score identically on all 7 factors, we apply a small brand recognition tiebreaker (0–4 points). This is not a scoring advantage — it cannot move a plan over a competitor that scores meaningfully higher on real factors. It only resolves statistical ties where the user has expressed no preference between equivalent options.
This is deliberately small. A Tello plan that scores 85 on the real factors will always outrank a Verizon plan that scores 72, regardless of brand recognition.
Editorial pins: when and why we use them
For the quiz, the score alone determines the result. For our Best Plans category pages, we apply editorial pins to a small number of categories where the algorithm produces a technically correct but practically misleading order.
Example: the families category page uses a fixed answer set (4 lines, heavy data, $40–$60 budget). The algorithm scores per-line price well — but it can't fully account for the difference between a carrier that offers a genuine multi-line discount versus one that charges full per-line price for every line. We review and document those cases manually.
Editorial pin rule
Editorial pins are never applied based on affiliate relationships, commission rates, or carrier requests. They are applied when verified pricing data produces a meaningful correction to the algorithm's output — and they are reviewed whenever carrier pricing changes.
What we deliberately exclude from the formula
- Affiliate commission rates — not a scoring input at any level
- Paid placement — we do not accept payment to move a carrier up in results
- Carrier advertising spend — a carrier's budget for digital advertising has no bearing on their score
- Promotional intro prices — we use standard published prices, not limited-time sign-up offers that expire after 3 months
For full details on how we verify and maintain plan data, see our Editorial Standards page. For our affiliate policy, see the Affiliate Disclaimer.
Frequently asked questions
Does SwitchNinja favor carriers that pay higher commissions?
No. Commission rates are not a scoring input. The formula is applied identically to all 30 plans. Our top-ranked plan for a given set of answers has outranked plans with higher commission rates many times.
Why does a plan sometimes rank #1 even though it's not the cheapest?
Price is the biggest single factor but not the only one. If you selected "network quality is top priority," a plan on Verizon's network will earn 20 points for network quality. That can lift it above a cheaper plan on a lower-rated network — because that's what you said you care about.
Can I see the raw score for each plan?
Yes — after completing the quiz, each recommended plan shows the scoring reasons ("Runs on Verizon," "Well within your $40 budget," etc.). These are the actual factors that drove the ranking for your specific answers.
How often is the scoring data updated?
Plan prices and features are verified monthly. Same-day updates go live when a carrier announces a price change or new plan structure. All article pages carry a visible "Last verified" date.
SwitchNinja scores plans based on verified data at the time of our last review. Carrier pricing and plan details can change without notice — always confirm current pricing directly on the carrier's website before signing up. Our scores are one input in your decision, not a guarantee of availability or final price.
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