Establish Phone Lease For Free

If your budget is tight, a payment plan can be a great option, but if you don't want to manage another monthly payment, paying for the phone outright will better fit your needs.

After your lease ends, a charge will appear on your bill for the remaining purchase-option price of your device, plus taxes.

The main difference with leasing a cell phone compared to paying it off in monthly installments is that you won't actually own the phone at the end of your lease, unless of course you pay a buyout price. Let's take a look at what you'll be paying for a new iPhone XS on a lease versus an installment plan.

Leasing a smartphone offers the benefit of being able to upgrade to the latest models regularly without incurring contract fees. Keeping a smartphone at the end of a lease term may require paying a buyout fee to purchase it.

If you can be content using the same phone for two years or longer, your better off just buying your phones outright. Overtime, lease payments could add up to far more than you would pay for the phone upfront assuming you don't trade your phone in every year or two.

Leasing company owns the phone On the other hand, when you purchase a smartphone, it's yours. That means that you can decide what to do with it, including whether to keep it or sell it to someone else. You don't have that option with leasing, unless you decide to buy the phone later.

Leasing a cell phone can be a good idea if you like to upgrade to a new phone every year (or thereabouts) and don't necessarily need to own your phone. Leasing a phone can be cheaper than paying off a phone in full (whether outright or via monthly installments) and you'll be able to get a new phone every 12-18 months.