TrueCost is our own measure: a phone's current street price divided by the number of months of security support it has left. It answers the question sticker prices cannot — what does this phone cost per month of safe use? It is the metric that exposes cheap phones near the end of their support window as the expensive purchases they actually are.

Why does a cheap phone sometimes have a high TrueCost?

Because the price has fallen precisely as the support window has closed. A phone discounted to $149 with eight months of patches remaining costs about $18 per month of safe use, which is worse than most flagships. The discount is not generosity — it reflects that the phone is near the end of its useful life, and TrueCost makes that visible.

Which phones have the lowest cost per month?

The ranking above computes it live from current prices and support dates. Winners are typically mid-range phones with long official commitments, and occasionally older phones from manufacturers with unusually generous windows. Phones whose support has already ended cannot be ranked at all, since dividing by zero remaining months is undefined — which is rather the point.

Cheapest phones to own (TrueCost) — September 2026

Data last verified 2026-07-20 · re-ranked automatically on every update

TrueCost is our signature number: street price divided by the months of software support a phone has left — the real cost per month of safe ownership. It's the metric that exposes the used-phone trap (a $149 flagship with eight months left costs $18/month) and crowns unglamorous winners (a $100 iPhone SE 3 at $3/month). Phones whose support has already ended are unrankable — division by zero is the point. Prices come from major US retailers and Swappa market data, re-verified monthly, and this list re-ranks itself on every site update.

How our scores work →

How to read the TrueCost number

TrueCost is the street price divided by the months of security support remaining — what the phone costs per month of safe use. It reframes buying decisions in a way sticker prices cannot: a $149 clearance flagship with eight months of support left costs about $18 per month, while a $400 mid-ranger with seven years left costs under $5. The cheap phone is nearly four times more expensive by the only measure that reflects what you actually get. This is the ranking we would point a friend to first.

Where TrueCost misleads

The number has two honest limitations. It assumes you keep the phone for its full supported life, which is not true if you upgrade every two years — in that case the resale value matters more than the remaining window. And it treats all months as equal, when a phone's last year is usually spent on slower hardware with a degraded battery. Read TrueCost as a strong corrective to sticker-price thinking rather than as a single number that settles the decision on its own.

Common questions

What is TrueCost?: TrueCost is our own measure: a phone's current street price divided by the number of months of security support it has left. It answers the question sticker prices cannot — what does this phone cost per month of safe use? It is the metric that exposes cheap phones near the end of their support window as the expensive purchases they actually are.
Why does a cheap phone sometimes have a high TrueCost?: Because the price has fallen precisely as the support window has closed. A phone discounted to $149 with eight months of patches remaining costs about $18 per month of safe use, which is worse than most flagships. The discount is not generosity — it reflects that the phone is near the end of its useful life, and TrueCost makes that visible.
Which phones have the lowest cost per month?: The ranking above computes it live from current prices and support dates. Winners are typically mid-range phones with long official commitments, and occasionally older phones from manufacturers with unusually generous windows. Phones whose support has already ended cannot be ranked at all, since dividing by zero remaining months is undefined — which is rather the point.

More rankings

Best phones under $200 Best phones under $300 Best phones under $400 Best phones under $500 Best phones under $700 Best phones under $1000 Best battery phones Best compact phones Best gaming phones Best camera phones under $500 Phones with the longest software support

Rankings are computed from our verified database — no sponsorships, no affiliate reshuffling. Phones with under 18 months of support left are excluded from every list. Methodology.