Sparklight vs. Verizon: Which Internet Provider Is Best for You?
Verizon brings rock solid fiber and 5G connections, while Sparklight packs in a ton of value with its new Freedom Connect internet plans.
Dec 8, 2023 | Share 
Brand Guides, Provider Comparisons (Versus)
-
Best for Variety
- Customer rating: 3.8
- Price: $39.00–$115.00/mo.
- Speed: 100–940Mbps
- Internet type: Cable
- Data cap: 700GB–unlimited
- Contracts: Month to month
-
Best for Speed
- Customer rating: 3.9
- Price: $49.99–$134.99/mo.†
- Speed: 300–2,300Mbps
- Internet type: Fiber, 5G fixed wireless
- Data cap: Unlimited
- Contracts: Month to month
*Equipment, taxes, fees, and any applicable surcharge extra. $10 charge for each add’l 100GB; Up to $30/mo. Prices vary depending on location. Not all packages available in all locations.
†Price per month with Auto Pay & without select 5G mobile plans. Fios plan prices include taxes & fees
Compare Sparklight and Verizon head to head
Sparklight and Verizon are both great internet service providers (ISPs), but Verizon pulls ahead with top-notch fiber internet service, excellent customer ratings, and perks like unlimited data. You may be able to get a great deal from Sparklight, too, but it heavily depends on the plans offered in your area.
Pros and cons: Sparklight vs. Verizon
Pros:
- No contracts
- Inexpensive install
Cons:
- Regional plan differences
- Low data caps for some plans
- Sudden price hikes
Pros:
- Unlimited data
- No contracts
- Symmetrical speeds (fiber only)
- High customer ratings
Cons:
- Limited fiber availability
- Expensive install (waived if ordered online)
What Sparklight or Verizon plans are in your area?
Take a look by typing in your zip code below.
Plans and pricing: Sparklight vs. Verizon
When comparing the value between these two providers, it all depends on what tier internet plan you want. For the cheapest plans, Verizon offers more for the money. Beyond that, it gets more confusing.
Some Sparklight plans offer low prices, great speeds, and unlimited data. Others seem a bit steep, with average speeds and small data caps. To muddy the water even further, Sparklight’s plan offerings change dramatically depending on where you live.
Also, keep an eye out for Sparklight’s tiny promotional period; some plans see big price hikes in as little as three months. To help avoid the confusion, we’ve prioritized the non-promotional prices for Sparklight plans.
Verizon has a more straightforward pricing scheme, offering both fiber and 5G fixed wireless internet plans—all with unlimited data.
Sparklight plans and pricing
| Package | Price | Speed | Data cap | Details |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Connect Internet 100 | $50.00/mo.* | Up to 100Mbps | Unlimited | View Plans |
| Internet 300 | $70.00/mo.* ($39.00/mo. for the first 3 months) | Up to 300Mbps | 700GB | View Plans |
| Internet 400 Mbps | $85.00/mo.* | Up to 400Mbps | 1,200GB | View Plans |
| Internet 600 Mbps | $95.00/mo.* | Up to 600Mbps | 1,500GB | View Plans |
| Freedom Connect 300 | $65.00/mo.† | Up to 300Mbps | Unlimited | View Plans |
| Internet Gig | $115.00/mo.* | Up to 940Mbps | Unlimited | View Plans |
| 5G Home Internet | $65.00/mo.† ($39.00 for the first 3 months) | Up to 600Mbps | Unlimited | View Plans |
| 5G Home Internet Plus | $80.00/mo.† | Up to 940Mbps | Unlimited | View Plans |
* Equipment, taxes, fees, and any applicable surcharge extra. $10 charge for each add’l 100GB; Up to $30/mo.
† After 5TB of data usage, speed may be slowed for network management.
Sparklight’s best deals are, without a doubt, its Freedom Connect internet plans. Our favorites are the Freedom Connect 600 and Freedom Connect Gig. Each offers a lot of bandwidth for the money and unlimited data.
Verizon plans and pricing
| Package | Price | Speed | View on provider site |
|---|---|---|---|
| Internet 300/300 | $49.99/mo.* | 300Mbps | |
| Internet 500/500 | $69.99/mo.* | 500Mbps | |
| Internet 1 Gig | $89.99/mo.* | Up to 940Mbps | |
| Internet 2 Gig | $94.99/mo.† | Up to 2,300Mbps | |
| 5G Home Internet | $50.00/mo.§ | Up to 300Mbps | |
| 5G Home Internet Plus | $70.00/mo.§ | Up to 1,000Mbps |
* Price per month with Auto Pay & without select 5G mobile plans. Fios plan prices include taxes & fees
† Available in select areas only. Price per month with Auto Pay & without select 5G mobile plans. Fios plan prices include taxes & fees
§ w/ Auto Pay. Available in select areas.
Verizon offers fiber and 5G fixed wireless internet. We recommend going with fiber if it’s available because it’s the fastest and most reliable internet connection you can get. Verizon’s Internet 300 plan packs the most bang for your buck, with triple the speed of similarly priced Sparklight plans.
If you can’t get Verizon fiber internet, its 5G Home Internet plan is a good option, which delivers the same fast speeds and unlimited data as the Internet 300 plan. You don’t get the symmetrical bandwidth of fiber—in exchange, you get the convenience of a completely wireless internet setup.
Deals and promotions: Sparklight vs. Verizon
Get an Amazon.com gift card loaded with up to $200 when you sign up for a qualifying Fios or 5G Home Internet plan.
What plans do Verizon and Sparklight offer in your area?
Take a look by typing in your zip code below.
Extra fees: Sparklight vs. Verizon
| Equipment fee | Installation fee | Late fees | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sparklight | $12.50/mo. | $30.00 (activation fee) | $8.00 |
| Verizon | $18.00/mo. | $99.00 (waived if ordered online) | 1.5% of the overdue balance or $7.00 (whichever is greater) |
The biggest difference between Sparklight and Verizon fees is the installation cost. Technically, Verizon’s installation is much more expensive, but it’s easy to avoid by simply ordering your services online. Sparklight’s activation fee is the opposite: It’s not very expensive, but there’s no getting out of it. Sparklight does say it’ll reduce the activation fee if you opt for self installation, but you won’t know if that’s an option until you order your service.
Verizon’s router rental is also a bit more, however, this only applies to its fiber plans. Verizon’s 5G Home Internet comes with a free rental gateway.
Customer ratings: Sparklight vs. Verizon
| Overall Rating | Speed | Price | Reliability | Customer service | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sparklight | 3.8 | 3.9 | 3.2 | 3.7 | 3.8 |
| Verizon | 3.9 | 4 | 3.6 | 4 | 3.9 |
Verizon is one of the top-performing ISPs in our annual customer satisfaction survey—its reliability ratings have topped the charts for two years in a row. And overall, Verizon customers rated it the second-highest-rated ISP.
That isn’t to say Sparklight didn’t receive good feedback: It consistently placed in the top half of every category. From a customer satisfaction standpoint, both ISPs are safe bets.
Best TV and internet bundles
| Internet speed | TV channels | Price | View on provider site | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sparklight Internet + TV | Up to 300Mbps | Up to 100 channels | Starting at 186.75/mo.* | View Plans |
| Verizon 300 Mbps Internet + Your Fios TV | 300Mbps | 125+ channels | $99.99/mo.† |
* With Internet 300 plan and Sparklight TV Plus with Standard TV. Pricing and availability may vary by area.
† Internet price per month with AutoPay & without select 5G mobile plans. Fios plan prices include taxes & fees. TV price per month w/ AutoPay + taxes & equip charges.
When it comes to bundles, Verizon’s the way to go. You get more channels for a lot less money. And don’t forget, the bundle above comes with Verizon’s incredibly reliable fiber internet.
Like its internet plans, Sparklight’s bundles vary considerably, depending on your location.
Internet types: Sparklight vs. Verizon
| Internet type | View on provider site | |
|---|---|---|
| Sparklight | Cable | View Plans |
| Verizon | Fiber, 5G fixed wireless |
Verizon offers fiber and 5G fixed wireless internet, which are very different. Fiber internet runs over fiber-optic cables. It’s capable of faster speeds (especially upload speed), lower latency, and better reliability compared to cable internet. But it’s also harder to find. Fiber infrastructure is expensive, so its availability is limited.
Verizon’s 5G fixed wireless internet runs via cell towers. Because the service is completely wireless, fixed wireless internet is easy to set up and maintain—you can usually set it up yourself without much trouble. Additionally, fixed wireless internet received the highest ratings in our annual customer satisfaction survey.
Sparklight provides cable internet, which is the primary internet type in the U.S. It’s also very fast and reliable, and because it uses the same infrastructure used previously for cable TV, it’s widely available.
All in all, you probably wouldn’t notice a big difference between any of these three internet types, but if you have a choice, fiber is the best and most robust type of internet connection you can get.
Data caps: Sparklight vs. Verizon
| Data Cap | View on provider site | |
|---|---|---|
| Sparklight | 700GB–unlimited | View Plans |
| Verizon | Unlimited |
If you get Verizon, you won’t be counting gigabytes. All Verizon internet plans come with unlimited data, plain and simple.
Sparklight’s data cap policies vary depending on the plan. Some offer unlimited data, and others have some of the smallest data caps we’ve seen (700GB) for cable internet.
Contracts: Sparklight vs. Verizon
| Contract length | View on provider site | |
|---|---|---|
| Sparklight | Month to month | View Plans |
| Verizon | Month to month |
Both Verizon and Sparklight offer month to month contracts that you can cancel at any time.
Installation: Sparklight vs. Verizon
| Installation options | View on provider site | |
|---|---|---|
| Sparklight |
| View Plans |
| Verizon |
|
Data as of 11/1/2023
Verizon’s installation is more expensive, but you can order your service online, which waives the fee. Sparklight’s installation fee is technically an activation fee. You can’t get out of it, but Sparklight will reduce the activation fee if you opt for a self-installation.
Availability: Sparklight vs. Verizon
According to the FCC, Sparklight’s cable internet is available mostly in the South and the Midwest, with smaller coverage areas in the Southwest, Idaho, and North Dakota.
Verizon’s Fios Fiber Internet is limited to the north eastern parts of the U.S, with huge coverage areas in New York, New Jersey, Massachusetts, Maryland, Virginia, and Pennsylvania.
Verizon’s 5G Home Internet has an incredibly vast coverage area that spans across the entire U.S.
To see if Sparklight or Verizon is in your area, enter your zip code below:
Final call: Sparklight vs. Verizon
We recommend you go with Verizon Fios (fiber) internet if you can get it. There’s just too much value to ignore with its great speeds, unlimited data, and symmetrical bandwidth—all backed by a fiber connection with one of the nation’s top-rated ISPs.
The choice between Verizon 5G Home Internet and Sparklight isn’t as easy. If you can’t get one of Sparklight’s Freedom Connect plans, you’re better off with Verizon’s 5G. If you can get a Sparklight Freedom Connect plan, it’s a good option for fast speeds and unlimited data. While it’s a bit more expensive than Verizon’s 5G, the connection is likely to be a bit more stable.
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.
More about Sparklight and Verizon
Author - Austin Aguirre
Austin worked as a broadband technician installing and troubleshooting countless home internet networks for some of the largest ISPs in the U.S. He became a freelance writer in 2020 specializing in software guides. After graduating with a BS in technical communication from Arizona State University, he joined the team at HighSpeedInternet.com where he focuses on home network improvement and troubleshooting.
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