CenturyLink vs. Optimum: Which Internet Provider Is Best for You?
Both providers have fast fiber and no data caps—but Centurylink has a simpler deal.
Oct 28, 2024 | Share
Provider Comparisons (Versus)
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Best availability
- Customer rating: 3.6/5.0
- Price: $50.00–$75.00/mo.*
- Speed: Up to 940 Mbps
- Internet type: Fiber, DSL
- Data cap: None
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Best value
- Customer rating: 3.3/5.0
- Price: $40.00–$280.00/mo.†
- Speed: 300–8,000 Mbps
- Internet type: Fiber, cable
- Data cap: None
See disclaimers.
Compare CenturyLink and Optimum head to head
We think CenturyLink is the way to go if you had to choose between these two providers.
The provider has excellent fiber options, including a bargain-friendly 500Mbps plan and a gigabit plan that gives you fantastic symmetrical speeds. You also don’t have to worry about data caps or annual contracts. We’re not so keen on CenturyLink’s DSL plan, though, which is much slower and yet costs the same as the 500Mbps plan.
Optimum has extremely fast plans, including multiple multi-gigabit options. It raises prices up to $15 per year until you reach prevailing rates, though. Sometimes the final increase ends up at $30 more than advertised prices after two years, but other times the increase is a whopping $50 increase. That may be why Optimum gets much lower customer satisfaction scores in critical categories like price and overall satisfaction, suggesting that customers aren’t the provider’s biggest fans.
Pros and cons: CenturyLink vs. Optimum
Pros:
- No data caps on any plan
- No cost on installation and equipment for fiber gigabit
- Super low price for 200Mbps fiber plan
Cons:
- Slow DSL speeds
- Limited fiber availability
Pros:
- Low starting prices
- Gigabit and multi-gig plan options
- No data caps or contracts
Cons:
- Low customer satisfaction ratings
- Yearly price increases for at least two years
Plans and pricing: CenturyLink vs. Optimum
CenturyLink has been expanding its fiber offerings lately, giving you more variety and lower prices (at least in some markets). It also has a middling DSL plan but we only recommend it if your options are limited. Optimum offers both fiber and cable internet, with excellent introductory prices and multi-gigabit speeds in some areas.
CenturyLink plans and pricing
Package | Price | Speed | Order online |
---|---|---|---|
Simply Unlimited Internet 40-80Mbps | $55.00/mo.** | Up to 80Mbps | |
Simply Unlimited Internet 100Mbps | $55.00/mo.† | Up to 100Mbps | |
Simply Unlimited Internet 140Mbps | $55.00/mo.† | Up to 140Mbps | |
CenturyLink Fiber Internet 500Mbps | $50.00/mo.* | Up to 500Mbps | |
CenturyLink FiberGigabit Internet | $75.00/mo.§ | Up to 940Mbps |
**Service is not available everywhere. Offer is available to qualifying customers only. Limited time offer. Paperless billing required. Additional taxes, fees, and surcharges apply.
†Speed may not be available in your area. Paperless billing or prepay required. Additional taxes, fees, and surcharges apply. Get the fastest internet speed available at your location (max speed is up to 140 Mbps).
*Service is not available everywhere. Offer is available to qualifying customers only. Limited time offer. Paperless billing required. Additional taxes, fees, and surcharges apply.
§Speed may not be available in your area. Maximum download/upload speed of up to 940 Mbps via a wired connection. Paperless billing required. Taxes and fees apply. Offer details. Offer includes professional installation at customer’s eligible location.
CenturyLink’s fiber plan gives you lots of speed at a fair price. The gigabit plan is its most popular and well-known offering; you can do pretty much anything with 940 Mbps speeds. And the monthly price is hard to beat.
Even better, though, is the 500Mbps plan. It costs just $50 a month, making it one of the best-priced fiber plan you can find anywhere. And 500Mbps is more than plenty for most people, giving you ample bandwidth for streaming, gaming, and more.
If you can’t get CenturyLink fiber in your area, you have to settle for the provider’s DSL service, which is only worth getting if you have few other options. DSL is a fusty old connection type built on landline phone infrastructure, and its speeds just don’t cut the mustard for a lot of netizens. Avoid it if you have a large household or need a reliable connection for streaming and Zooming.
Pro tip:
CenturyLink’s gigabit plan is probably its best plan, but you may be better off getting a slower fiber plan if it’s available so you can save money. Use our “How Much Internet Speed Do I Need?” tool to decide what’s best for you.
Optimum plans and pricing
Package | Starting price | Type | Speed | Order online |
---|---|---|---|---|
300 Mbps Internet | $40.00/mo.* | Cable | Up to 300 Mbps | View Plan |
1 Gig Internet | $60.00/mo.‡ | Cable | Up to 940 Mbps | View Plan |
300 Mbps Fiber Internet | $40.00/mo.* | Fiber | Up to 300 Mbps | View Plan |
500 Mbps Fiber Internet | $60.00/mo.† | Fiber | Up to 500 Mbps | View Plan |
1 Gig Fiber Internet | $60.00/mo.‡ | Fiber | Up to 940 Mbps | View Plan |
2 Gig Fiber Internet | $120.00/mo.§ | Fiber | Up to 2,000 Mbps | View Plan |
5 Gig Fiber Internet | $180.00/mo.¶ | Fiber | Up to 5,000 Mbps | View Plan |
8 Gig Fiber Internet | $280.00/mo.║ | Fiber | Up to 8,000 Mbps | View Plan |
See disclaimers.
Optimum beats out CenturyLink on introductory prices and speed options. You get a lot more to choose from on an Optimum plan, and you get more promos and deals too. And while Optimum used to hit customers with steep price hikes, those are now just $15 per year for two years (on most plans).
If you need speed, choose Optimum over CenturyLink. You can get plans up to 8 gigs! Do you need internet that fast? Not really. Can you find those speeds in all of Optimum’s service areas? It doesn’t look like it. But it’s still kind of impressive that Optimum has rolled out these capabilities for some customers.
Pro tip:
Download our speed test app to see how much bandwidth you have on your connection. If you like what you have now, then get a plan that gives you a similar speed.
Pro tip:
Take a speed test to see how much bandwidth you have on your connection. If you like what you have now, then get a plan that gives you a similar speed.
Deals and promotions: CenturyLink vs. Optimum
Get the Deal |
Extra fees: CenturyLink vs. Optimum
Equipment Fee | Installation Fee | Other Fees | |
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CenturyLink |
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Optimum |
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*With online order
CenturyLink and Optimum both have fees for installation. With Centurylink, you’ll pay $25 if you do the work yourself, or $149 if you need a pro to help. With Optimum, you may get free installation or you could be charged $100 for a pro to come out and help, depending on when you order and where you live.
When it comes to equipment, Optimum is the better choice. You get free rental of an internet gateway with either cable or fiber plans. With CenturyLink, you may have to pay $15 per month to rent a modem if you have DSL, but the equipment is included if you have fiber.
Customer ratings: CenturyLink vs. Optimum
Overall Rating | Speed Rating | Price | Reliability Rating | Customer service Rating | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
CenturyLink | 3.6/5.0 | 3.6/5.0 | 3.4/5.0 | 3.5/5.0 | 3.5/5.0 |
Optimum | 3.3/5.0 | 3.6/5.0 | 2.9/5.0 | 3.4/5.0 | 3.3/5.0 |
Both of these internet providers end up at the bottom of the pile in our annual customer satisfaction survey—neither perform as well as AT&T, Verizon, or T-Mobile.
However, when faced against each other, CenturyLink edges into the lead in most categories. It beats out Optimum for reliability, customer service, and overall customer satisfaction. CenturyLink comes in well ahead of Optimum on price, actually making the top five in that category. We suspect that CenturyLink’s satisfaction ratings go down because a lot of its customers have middling DSL service, but CenturyLink also has a much faster and more reliable fiber service that customers have given high marks in the past.
Best TV and internet bundles
Package | Internet speed | TV channels | Price | Order online |
---|---|---|---|---|
Optimum 300 Mbps Fiber Internet + Premier TV | Up to 300Mbps | 420+ | $185.00/mo.# | View Plan |
Optimum 1 Gig Fiber Internet + Premier TV | Up to 940Mbps | 420+ | $185.00/mo.# | View Plan |
Optimum 1 Gig Fiber Internet + Entertainment TV | Up to 940Mbps | 80+ | $80.00/mo.§ | View Plan |
Optimum 1 Gig Internet + Entertainment TV | Up to 940Mbps | 80+ | $80.00/mo.§ | View Plan |
DIRECTV® CHOICE™ All Included + CenturyLink Internet Fiber Gigabit | Up to 940Mbps | 105+ | $154.99/mo.* for 24 months plus taxes and fees |
*Internet: Speed may not be available in your area. Maximum download/upload speed of up to 940 Mbps via a wired connection. Paperless billing required. Taxes and fees apply. TV: w/ 24-mo. agmt. AutoPay and Paperless Bill req’d. Advanced Receiver Service Fee $15/mo. and Regional Sports Fee up to $13.99/mo. are extra & apply.
§ w/ Auto Pay & Paperless Bill plus taxes & fees. Wired connection up to 940 Mbps. WiFi speeds may vary. Not available in all areas. Max auto renews after 12 months at then prevailing rate (currently $16.99/mo). Price sbjct to change.
#Internet w/Auto Pay & Paperless Bill plus taxes. Terms apply. Not available in all areas.
Optimum has some well-priced bundle options if you want to pair your internet with a streaming or cable TV plan. You can also sign up for a mobile phone plan through Optimum, letting you get a cell phone plan for just $45 a month (or even less if you add more lines).
CenturyLink doesn’t really offer TV and internet bundles—you technically can pair your internet service with DIRECTV, but you order them à la carte like any other service and you have to pay full price for both.
Internet types: CenturyLink vs. Optimum
Internet type | Order online | |
---|---|---|
CenturyLink | Fiber, DSL | |
Optimum | Fiber, cable | View Plans |
CenturyLink offers fiber and DSL internet, while Optimum has fiber and cable internet. Fiber is the fastest type of internet you can get, with speeds going up to 5,000 Mbps and symmetrical upload speeds that are excellent for Zooming, social media, and livestreams.
Cable is the second best connection type. It’s still fast and reliable, just not as fast as fiber, topping out at 1,000 Mbps download speeds and usually 50 Mbps uploads. DSL is the slowest option of the bunch, delivering max 100 Mbps speeds over aging phone infrastructure. Get DSL if you have few other options or live in a rural area.
Data caps: CenturyLink vs. Optimum
Data Cap | Order online | |
---|---|---|
CenturyLink | None | |
Optimum | None | View Plans |
Neither CenturyLink nor Optimum have data caps on their internet plans. That means you can use the internet as much as you want throughout the month without worrying about overage fees or throttled speeds.
Pro tip:
See our data caps guide for a full list of providers that have data caps and that don’t.
Contracts: CenturyLink vs. Optimum
Contract length | Order online | |
---|---|---|
CenturyLink | No contract | |
Optimum | No contract | View Plans |
Here’s some more great news about these providers—neither one requires you to sign up for an annual contract. You can cancel your service any time without having to pay early termination fees. That gives you more flexibility to sign up for a plan for just a few months or to switch providers if your service isn’t working as well as you’d like.
Installation: CenturyLink vs. Optimum
Installation options | Order online | |
---|---|---|
CenturyLink |
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Optimum | View Plans |
*With online order
CenturyLink and Optimum both offer similar options for installation. The best way to go is to opt for a self-install kit that lets you plug in the modem/router and set up the wiring yourself. It takes less than an hour and you can set it all up with the help of an app on your phone.
Sometimes technical stuff can be too complicated or frustrating to deal with, and if that’s your situation, then you can pay a $99 fee with CenturyLink or have the fee waived when you order online from Optimum to have a technician come over and set everything up for you.
In some cases, you may need to pay a higher installation fee to cover the cost of installing more complex things like an optical network terminal or wiring that leads out to a node outside your house. This is most likely to come up if you live in an older home or apartment that isn’t already set up for fiber internet.
Availability: CenturyLink vs. Optimum
CenturyLink has a fairly large nationwide network, covering parts of the East Coast, South, Midwest, and West. Optimum is available in 25 states, including large parts of the South, West, and East Coast. Use our zip check tool to see what you can get from either of these providers where you live.
Final call: CenturyLink vs. Optimum
Optimum has some great offerings when it comes to speed and prices, but the low customer satisfaction ratings make Optimum’s deals less desirable in the long run. CenturyLink is really the winner here—specifically its fiber offerings, which get you primo service with fast speeds and reliable pricing. If you had to pick between Optimum and CenturyLink’s sluggish DSL, though, we’d go with Optimum.
Methodology
Our HighSpeedInternet.com editorial team bases our analyses on customer input from our annual customer satisfaction survey, results from our speed test tool, and proprietary internet provider data on speeds and pricing. To strengthen our research, we look closely at provider contracts to get hard-to-find information on price hikes, data caps, and extra fees, and we keep tabs on the latest news reports and online reviews. When applicable, we also rely on our personal experiences testing these services.
Disclaimers
*Speed may not be available in your area. Maximum download/upload speed of up to 940 Mbps via a wired connection. Paperless billing required. Taxes and fees apply. Offer details. Offer includes professional installation at customer’s eligible location.
†Optimum disclaimers
- w/ Auto Pay & Paperless Bill. Wired connection. WiFi speeds may vary. Not available in all areas. Terms apply.
- For 1 yr. w/ Auto Pay & Paperless Bill. Wired connection. WiFi speeds may vary. Not available in all areas. Max auto renews after 6 months at then prevailing rate (currently $15.99/mo). Price sbjct to change. Terms apply.
- w/ Auto Pay & Paperless Bill. Wired connection up to 940 Mbps. WiFi speeds may vary. Not available in all areas. Max auto renews after 12 months at then prevailing rate (currently $16.99/mo). Price sbjct to change. Terms apply.
- w/ Auto Pay & Paperless Bill. Wired connection. WiFi speeds may vary. Not available in all areas. Max auto renews after 12 months at then prevailing rate (currently $16.99/mo). Price sbjct to change. Terms apply.
- w/ Auto Pay & Paperless Bill. Wired connection. WiFi speeds may vary. Not available in all areas. Max auto renews after 12 months at then prevailing rate (currently $16.99/mo). Price sbjct to change. Terms apply.
- w/ Auto Pay & Paperless Bill. Wired connection. WiFi speeds may vary. Not available in all areas. Max auto renews after 12 months at then prevailing rate (currently $16.99/mo). Price sbjct to change. Terms apply.
Optimum internet plans and pricing
*w/ Auto Pay & Paperless Bill. Wired connection. WiFi speeds may vary. Not available in all areas. Terms apply.
†For 1 yr. w/ Auto Pay & Paperless Bill. Wired connection. WiFi speeds may vary. Not available in all areas. Max auto renews after 6 months at then prevailing rate (currently $15.99/mo). Price sbjct to change. Terms apply.
‡w/ Auto Pay & Paperless Bill. Wired connection up to 940 Mbps. WiFi speeds may vary. Not available in all areas. Max auto renews after 12 months at then prevailing rate (currently $16.99/mo). Price sbjct to change. Terms apply.
§ w/ Auto Pay & Paperless Bill. Wired connection. WiFi speeds may vary. Not available in all areas. Max auto renews after 12 months at then prevailing rate (currently $16.99/mo). Price sbjct to change. Terms apply.
¶w/ Auto Pay & Paperless Bill. Wired connection. WiFi speeds may vary. Not available in all areas. Max auto renews after 12 months at then prevailing rate (currently $16.99/mo). Price sbjct to change. Terms apply.
║w/ Auto Pay & Paperless Bill. Wired connection. WiFi speeds may vary. Not available in all areas. Max auto renews after 12 months at then prevailing rate (currently $16.99/mo). Price sbjct to change. Terms apply.
Author - Peter Holslin
Peter Holslin has more than a decade of experience working as a writer and freelance journalist. He graduated with a BA in liberal arts and journalism from New York City’s The New School University in 2008 and went on to contribute to publications like Rolling Stone, VICE, BuzzFeed, and countless others. At HighSpeedInternet.com, he focuses on covering 5G, nerding out about frequency bands and virtual RAN, and producing reviews on emerging services like 5G home internet. He also writes about internet providers and packages, hotspots, VPNs, and Wi-Fi troubleshooting.
Editor - Aaron Gates