CenturyLink
available in 
- Unlimited nationwide long-distance calling
- Discounted rate with internet
Data current as of 6/21/19. Offers and availability may vary by location and are subject to change.
Top CenturyLink home phone plans
Sep 18, 2019 | Share
CenturyLink began as a home phone company back in the 1930s (under the name of Oak Ridge Telephone Company), so it’s not surprising that the company continues to deliver quality landline and long-distance phone service. CenturyLink home phone service delivers crystal clear voice quality that you can’t get with a cellphone.
Check out these top picks:
Unlimited Nationwide Calling
- $45/mo standalone (or $36 with Internet)
- Unlimited nationwide long-distance calling
From
$4500/mo
Rate excludes taxes and voice fees/surcharges.
Home Phone with Unlimited Nationwide Calling: Service applies to one residential phone line with direct-dial, local and nationwide long distance voice calling from home phone, including Alaska, Puerto Rico, Guam, and U.S. Virgin Islands; excludes commercial use, call center, data and facsimile services (including dial-up Internet connections, data services, and facsimile; each may be billed at $0.10 per minute), conference lines, directory and operator assistance, chat lines, pay-per-call, calling card use, or multi-housing units. Usage will be monitored for compliance and service may be suspended/terminated for non-compliance. If usage consistently exceeds 5,000 minutes/mo. customer may be moved to another plan. International calling billed separately.
Double Play
- Internet + home phone
- This package includes high-speed internet service up to 1 gigabit* plus home phone with unlimited nationwide long distance.
From
$8500/mo
Data current as of 6/21/19. Rate excludes taxes and voice fees/surcharges. Offers and availability may vary by location.
How good is CenturyLink home phone service?
CenturyLink offers home phone service in 37 states, and the service itself comes with good call quality. The drawback of CenturyLink stems from the overall cost and the company’s mediocre customer service.
We ran a cost comparison and found CenturyLink landlines to be more expensive than comparable plans offered by other carriers. If CenturyLink is the only home phone plan in your area and you want to keep a landline, then CenturyLink might be a good option. Otherwise, we suggest you check into home phone plans from AT&T, Cable ONE, or other carriers. And if you call internationally, we recommend a VoIP plan, which is much more cost-effective than international long distance with CenturyLink or other landline phone providers.
CenturyLink gets a lower-than-average customer satisfaction rating according to the American Customer Satisfaction Index (ACSI) Telecommunications Report 2018–2019. That said, another reviews group, ConsumerAffairs, rated CenturyLink home phone service among the top in the country. Although that may not be saying much since there weren’t any telecommunications companies that received more than three out of five stars.
Pros
- Includes unlimited long distance nationwide
- Can be bundled with internet at a discounted rate
- Comes with 11 features including voicemail, caller ID, and 3-way calling
Cons
- Excludes Canada and Mexico from unlimited calling areas
- Is one of the more expensive home phone plans
- Doesn’t offer unlimited international calling
CenturyLink home phone plans
You can get a home phone plan from CenturyLink on its own or bundle it with other services. CenturyLink offers Basic and Unlimited home phone plans, but they’re the same price in many markets. But, Basic doesn’t include unlimited long distance. So if you accidentally signed up for the Basic plan, we recommend you switch over to Unlimited right away.
CenturyLink home phone plans include more than a dozen calling features including voicemail, voicemail to email, caller ID, 3-way calling, anonymous call block, and call forwarding. The unlimited plan includes free local and long-distance calls in the continental US, Alaska, Puerto Rico, Guam, and the US Virgin Islands.
As with other landlines, CenturyLink home phone service is hardwired through copper underground phone lines. While cellphone towers and VoIP phone service are among the first to go out in an emergency, landline phone service may be more dependable. For this reason, many people (and businesses) choose to keep a hardwired landline phone.
Get the right home phone plan for you.
| Plan | Price | Details |
|---|---|---|
| Unlimited | $45/mo.* | Free unlimited long distance within US |
| Unlimited phone + internet bundle (15–940 Mbps) | $85/mo.† | Free unlimited long distance within US |
Data as of 10/21/19. Offers and availability may vary by location and are subject to change.
*Rate excludes taxes and voice fees/surcharges.
†Additional fees apply. Rate excludes taxes and voice fees/surcharges. Speed may not be available in your area.
If you have fiber speeds in your area, the phone and internet bundle is a great price. The bundle pricing (with a home phone line) is $85 for any CenturyLink internet speed, whether you pick 15 Mbps or 940 Mbps. So make sure you get the fastest available speed in your area if you’re also getting a home (landline) phone line.
Our verdict
Although CenturyLink phone plans offer excellent sound quality, we find it to be on the pricey side and don’t recommend it as a standalone residential phone service.
Several landline phone providers offer similar sound quality and unlimited long-distance calls at a lower cost. If you’re looking for a standalone landline phone, we recommend checking out AT&T or Cox. Both of these providers offer a similar home phone plan with unlimited long distance for less than $30 per month, which is half of what you’ll pay for a standalone CenturyLink home phone line.
That said, If you want to bundle your phone with internet, CenturyLink’s bundle pricing is a decent value. CenturyLink phone and internet deals are a particularly good deal for people lucky enough to live in areas with CenturyLink’s fastest internet plans available.
Check out internet + phone bundles.