The 2026 Price Lock Index
A promotional rate, a price guarantee and a flat price are three different promises, and only one of them is a commitment. Here's what each provider is really offering.
Five years is now the longest common price lock: Xfinity, T-Mobile 5G Home, Mint, and Verizon Fios and Frontier on 1 Gig and faster all offer one, and Astound's Price for Life goes further. But the strongest protection isn't a lock at all — it's a plan that never had a promotional rate to expire, like prepaid or flat-price plans where the advertised number is the standing number.
What each provider commits to
Three promises that sound identical
A promotional rate is the opposite of a price lock: it's a discount with an expiry date, and the step-up is the plan working as designed. A price guarantee is a real commitment for a stated term — two, three, sometimes five years — after which the rate moves to standard pricing. Flat pricing makes no time-bound promise at all but has no promo to expire, so nothing is scheduled to change.
Those distinctions decide what you should compare. Against a promo, compare month 13. Against a guarantee, compare the standard rate you'll land on. Against flat pricing, compare today's number and know it can still be raised — just not on a timetable already written into your contract.
What every lock excludes
Why Mint's is the strongest wording
Five years is unusually long, but the reason we rate it highest is specificity: the commitment names what it protects — talk, text and 5G data on Mint's network — and states plainly what it doesn't, which is taxes and fees. Most guarantees are vaguer than that, and vagueness is where increases live. It applies to eligible plan bundles, so confirm your exact plan qualifies before you count on it.
For the price and fee changes providers have made this year, see our 2026 price increase tracker.
The catch is that Mint asks for the term up front, so a five-year promise sits alongside a habit of paying twelve months at a time. That's still a good trade for anyone who can float it. More on how prepaid pricing works.
How to hold a provider to it
What a lock is worth over three years
Take two offers for the same speed. Offer A is $50/mo for 12 months, then an $80 standard rate. Offer B is $55/mo, locked for three years. The first looks cheaper on the order page and costs more by the end of year two.
That's $540 in favor of the lock. These are example numbers. Run your own with the regular rate printed on the Broadband Facts label, or see our three-year cost comparison for real plans.
A price lock isn't a contract
Most of the locks above come with no annual contract. You can cancel at any time, and leaving only ends the guarantee. Some plans still tie the price to a term agreement with an early termination fee, so check two lines on the label before you order: whether the price requires a contract, and whether it's introductory.
When your lock ends
Mergers and your lock
Two big deals closed this year. Verizon completed its purchase of Frontier in January 2026, and Charter completed its purchase of Cox in August, moving Cox markets to Spectrum plans on Sept 16. Existing Cox price locks continue on their original terms.
If your provider changes hands, keep your order confirmation and the first bill. They're your proof of the terms you were promised. Our 2026 price increase tracker logs changes as they happen.
The bottom line
Rank these by what they protect you from, not by the length of the number. A five-year guarantee on the wireless portion of a prepaid plan and a plan that simply never had a promo are both better than a two-year guarantee that lands you on an unspecified standard rate. And any lock that excludes equipment fees and taxes — which is all of them — can still let your bill climb while the provider keeps its word.
The 2026 Price Lock Index
What we found
- Five years is the new normal for the big names. Xfinity, Fios (1 Gig+), Frontier (1 Gig+), T-Mobile and Mint all lock for five.
- Only Astound offers a lifetime lock, and it costs $5/mo more than its 12-month promo.
- Spectrum and Brightspeed have the shortest locks among major wired providers: 12 months internet-only.
- 5G home locks range from one year to five. AT&T Internet Air promises 12 months, Verizon 5G Home three to five by tier, and T-Mobile and Mint five.
- Cox customers keep what they signed. New customers in former Cox markets now get Spectrum's 1–3 year bundle locks.
- No lock isn't always bad. AT&T Fiber and gFiber don't run 12-month promos, so there's no year-two jump to lock out.
Questions
Which internet provider has the longest price lock?
Astound's Price for Life keeps the plan price as long as you stay on the same plan, for $5/mo more. Among five-year locks: Xfinity, Verizon Fios and Frontier on 1 Gig and faster, T-Mobile 5G Home, Mint and Verizon 5G Home Ultimate.
Does a price lock include taxes and fees?
Usually not. Most locks cover the plan price only; taxes, fees and equipment charges can still change. Verizon 5G Home and NOW Internet price taxes and fees in.
Which 5G home internet service has the longest price lock?
T-Mobile 5G Home and Mint lock for five years, as does Verizon 5G Home Ultimate. Verizon's base 5G Home plan locks for three years and AT&T Internet Air for 12 months.
Is a price lock the same as a contract?
No. Most locks come with no annual contract, so you can cancel at any time and only lose the guarantee. The Broadband Facts label states whether a price requires a contract.
What happens when my price lock ends?
Your bill moves to the provider's standard rate. Some providers notify you first and some, like Kinetic, don't. Call before the end date to ask for a new offer, or compare other providers at your address.
Can existing customers get a price lock?
Sometimes. Locks are usually tied to current plans, so existing customers often get one only by moving to a new plan, which can change the price. Ask what the new plan costs after the lock before you agree.
Does moving or changing plans cancel a price lock?
Usually. Most guarantees cover one plan at one address, and moving, upgrading speed or adding services resets you onto current pricing.
- Plan pages and Broadband Facts labels from Astound Broadband, Xfinity, Verizon Fios, Frontier Fiber, T-Mobile 5G Home, Home MINTernet, Verizon 5G Home, Tracfone Home Internet, checked Oct 2026
- AT&T Internet Air, Kinetic, Spectrum (including former Cox markets) and Starlink plan pages and offer terms, checked Oct 17, 2026
Prices and offers change often; confirm at your address before you order. How we research
Jean founded ShopHighSpeed after trying to find one straight answer about business internet in his own town. He has been a Comcast and Verizon Fios customer, and ranks providers on what they actually deliver, not on what they advertise.
