It’s a question more households are asking — especially as phone bills creep up and everyone seems to have a smartphone glued to their hand anyway. Do you really need a home phone if everyone in the house already has a mobile? Or is there still a good reason to keep one around?
The honest answer is: it depends on your household. Here’s a straightforward breakdown to help you figure out what actually makes sense for you.
The Case for Going Mobile-Only
For a lot of people, mobile has already replaced the home phone in every practical way. You carry it everywhere, it rings wherever you are, and most calls — personal and professional — happen on it by default.
If your household is made up of adults who all have their own mobile phones and reliable coverage where you live, a dedicated home phone may genuinely be redundant. You’re paying for something that rarely gets used, and that’s an easy line item to cut.
RingPlanet’s mobile plan starts at $35/month, includes unlimited talk and text, 4G/5G nationwide coverage, a WiFi hotspot, and requires no credit check. For someone who wants solid mobile service without paying $70 or $80 to a major carrier, that’s a straightforward switch worth making.
The hotspot inclusion matters too. If you’re the only phone line in the house and you occasionally need to get a laptop or tablet online, you’re covered without paying separately for it.
The Case for Keeping a Home Phone
That said, there are real situations where a home phone still pulls its weight — and writing it off entirely without thinking it through can be a mistake.
Older family members. If you have a parent or grandparent living with you or nearby who isn’t comfortable with smartphones, a home phone is familiar, simple, and reliable. There’s no learning curve, no dead battery to worry about, and no apps to navigate.
Kids at home. If you have young children who aren’t old enough for their own mobile phone, a home phone gives them a way to call for help or reach you without needing access to your device.
Areas with inconsistent mobile coverage. If your home is in a rural or semi-rural area where cell signal isn’t always strong inside the house, a home phone that doesn’t rely on that signal can be a meaningful backup.
Households that make a lot of calls. If your household regularly makes long calls to family in The US & Canada, a home phone plan with unlimited international calling to those countries can actually be more economical than mobile for that specific use.
RingPlanet’s home phone service starts at $50/month, covers unlimited calls to the US and Canada, requires no internet connection, and uses a plug-and-play device called the Ally that connects to a cellular network instead of a traditional landline. The device is free, and you can keep your existing phone number.
For households that fit any of the scenarios above, $50/month for a dedicated, reliable home line is reasonable — especially compared to what traditional landline providers have historically charged for the same thing.
What About Having Both?
Some households genuinely benefit from running both. It’s not automatically wasteful — it depends on usage.
A common setup that makes sense: one or two adults on mobile plans for day-to-day use, plus a home phone for shared household use, older relatives, or as a backup when mobile signal is unreliable indoors.
The math only works if you’re actually using both. If the home phone rings twice a week and everyone in the house has a mobile anyway, you’re paying for overlap. But if the home phone genuinely handles a meaningful volume of calls — or fills a gap mobile can’t — running both is a reasonable decision.
Questions to Ask Yourself
Before you decide, work through these:
Who in the household doesn’t have a mobile phone? Kids, elderly family members, or guests who stay with you regularly are the most common answers. If the answer is nobody, that’s a signal.
How’s the cell signal inside your home? If calls drop or are consistently unclear indoors, a home phone that doesn’t depend on that signal is worth considering.
Do you make regular calls to Canada? If yes, check whether your mobile plan covers those calls or if a home phone plan would handle it more cost-effectively.
Are you paying for a home phone you barely use? If it’s mostly sitting there collecting dust, cutting it and putting that money toward a better mobile plan is the smarter move.
The Bottom Line
There’s no universal right answer here. Mobile-only works well for a lot of households — especially smaller ones where everyone has their own phone and coverage is solid. A home phone still makes sense in others, particularly when there are family members who need a simpler option, coverage is inconsistent indoors, or international calling is a regular part of life.
The good news is that neither option has to be expensive. If you want to explore what makes sense for your household, RingPlanet has both — and the plans are straightforward enough that the decision doesn’t have to be complicated.
Visit ringplanet.com or call 888-753-1753 to talk through your options.
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