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Best Internet Providers in Houston, Texas

What is the best internet provider in Houston?

AT&T Fiber is the best internet service provider in Houston, thanks to its symmetrical download and upload speeds and high customer satisfaction scores. Plans start at $55 and go up to $245 for the 5-gig plan. However, AT&T Fiber doesn’t cover all Houston addresses, so Xfinity and Verizon 5G Home Internet are also quality options to consider if you’re outside of AT&T’s service area.

If you want the cheapest internet plans in Houston, there are some solid options, too. The cheapest ISP in Houston is Astound Broadband, offering a $20-a-month plan. Astound’s service comes with a 300-megabit-per-second connection.

AT&T Fiber, Frontier Fiber and local internet provider Tachus Fiber offer the fastest internet speed in Houston. Each provider boasts 5 gigabits of symmetrical speed, costing $245, $130 and $180, respectively.

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Source: CNET analysis of provider data.

Other available internet providers in Houston

Beyond the three picks above, several other broadband choices exist in the Houston metro area. Some can be found only in small pockets of the city, while others are mainly located in the city suburbs. There are some compelling choices here, even though they’re not as widely available.

  • Astound Broadband: This cable internet provider, known regionally as Grande, offers some of Houston’s most competitive starting rates. Its starting price of $20 a month for a 300Mbps plan comes out to an affordable 6 cents per Mbps. The rub is that Astound’s price increases are some of the steepest in the industry.
  • Brightspeed: You’ll want to research this because, depending on your location, you may be dealing with mostly DSL coverage for the Houston area (which can be as low as 20Mbps), or if you’re in the Kingwood area, you might see the company’s much more compelling fiber product.
  • Frontier Communications: Frontier has a scattered presence in the greater Houston area. You won’t find it downtown, but you can get its DSL and fiber-optic service in the northeast outskirts of Baytown, Beach City, Cove and Crosby. You’ll also find it in the southern portion of the metro area in League City and Sante Fe. If Frontier Fiber is available — it features symmetrical plans of 200Mbps, 500Mbps, 1Gbps, 2Gbps, 5Gbps or 7Gbps speeds ranging from $30 to $300 per month for the first year — it’s a very appealing choice. If Frontier DSL is your only option, try other alternatives.
  • Kinetic by Windstream: This DSL and fiber provider is available in just a few small pockets within the Houston city limits. Most of that availability is in the southern suburb of Sugar Land. You’ll mostly deal with its DSL service rather than the faster fiber-optic plans.
  • Optimum: First off, I can imagine you might be confused. Suddenlink is the provider you’re probably familiar with in the Houston area. Its parent company, Altice USA, renamed it Optimum in 2022. In any case, Optimum service is scattered lightly throughout the metro area but has a heavier density north of the city in Conroe and Kingwood. This cable ISP is notable for its highly competitive starting rates, some of the most affordable in the area.
  • Spectrum: Charter Communications’ ISP has some of the more customer-friendly, straightforward terms you’ll find for cable internet service. There are no contracts, no data caps and a free modem rental included in your monthly price, ranging from $50 to $70. It also includes free access to Wi-Fi hotspots across the country. Spectrum service is limited in the city center of Houston. You can find coverage north of the city, mainly in Magnolia, Spring, Tomball and The Woodlands. 
  • Tachus: This local ISP, founded in 2018, is notable for its community presence and commitment to building 100% fiber-to-the-home networks within the greater Houston metropolitan area. It’s now available to over 50,000 homes in Atascocita, Conroe, East Montgomery County, Kingwood, Magnolia, Oak Ridge County North and The Woodlands. There are five fiber plans, depending on what is available at your location, — 300Mbps, 600Mbps, 1Gbps, 2.5Gbps and 5Gbps — ranging from $65 to $180 a month, with no data caps and no contracts. A modem rental is included in the monthly price, but you’ll need to provide your own router or rent one for as low as $6 per month.
  • T-Mobile Home Internet: T-Mobile uses its 5G and 4G LTE networks to power its fixed wireless home internet product, which is available to over 50 million homes nationwide and approximately 55% of residents in the greater Houston area. Check your address on the T-Mobile site to see if you’re serviceable since not all who have T-Mobile cell service at home are eligible for the home internet service. In any case, it’s an intriguing offering that includes installation fees, taxes and equipment rental under its $55-a-month fee, with no data caps or contracts.
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Cheap internet options in Houston

The average starting price for internet service in Houston is just over $46 a month, but a few providers offer plans cheaper than that.

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