Let me tell you the one thing that matters most before you read another word: the Affordable Connectivity Program ended on June 1, 2024, and nobody on earth can sign you up for it today. Not a website. Not a phone call. Not a friendly voice at a folding table outside a store. If someone offers you ACP benefits in 2026, they are either badly out of date or trying to take something from you.
But here is the part almost nobody tells you upfront: your help did not disappear when the ACP did. It changed shape. There are real programs open right now, in your zip code, that can cut your internet bill to somewhere between free and about twenty dollars a month.
This page is the honest map. What ended, what replaced it, and the exact steps to walk through the right door this week.
Where Things Stand Right Now
- ACP monthly internet discount: Closed. No applications. No exceptions. No waitlist.
- ACP $100 device credit: Closed. Nothing federal replaced it.
- Lifeline: Open. Accepting new applicants in every state and territory.
- Your internet company’s low-cost plan: Open. For many households, the biggest discount left.
- State programs (CA, NY): Open — and in those two states, close to what ACP paid.
Read the bottom three rows again. The ACP door is locked. But three other doors are wide open, and most people who lost the ACP have never been told they exist.
First, the warning: if anyone offers you ACP benefits, it is fake
I am putting this near the top because it’s important to know this right now to protect yourself from fraud.
There is no ACP application. There is no ACP renewal. There is no ACP waitlist that gets you in “first” when it comes back. The program does not exist, so there is nothing for anyone to enroll you in.
The FCC has publicly warned that some websites are still collecting people’s personal information for “ACP enrollment.” Some are lazy companies that never took their old pages down. Some are outright thieves. From where you are sitting, you cannot tell which ones you don’t need. The answer is the same either way: do not type anything in.
Close the page and walk away if you see any of these: “Apply for ACP,” “re-apply for ACP,” or “check your ACP status” A text or call saying your ACP benefit was renewed, approved, or about to expire Anyone asking for your Social Security number, bank account, or card number to “restore” an internet discount A “priority waitlist” that wants your details so you’ll be “first in line when ACP returns” A fee. Any fee. Real government benefit programs never charge you to apply.
The main alternative: the Lifeline program
Lifeline is the federal program still standing. It is real, it is open, and it is free to apply for. But “just get Lifeline!” is useless advice unless you know what actually lands in your hands, so here it is, straight.
Why Lifeline survived and the ACP didn’t
This is worth thirty seconds, because it tells you Lifeline isn’t going anywhere. The ACP was a one-time pot of money from Congress. Pots empty. Lifeline runs on the Universal Service Fund – an ongoing surcharge on phone bills that refills itself month after month. It has run since 1985, outlasted eight presidents, and in June 2025 the U.S. Supreme Court looked directly at whether that funding system was legal and ruled that it is.
So when someone says “the government cut off the free internet program,” they mean the pot. The Lifeline faucet is still running.
What Lifeline actually gives you
| Where you point it | What you get |
|---|---|
| Phone, home internet, or a bundle | Up to $9.25 / month |
| Voice-only service (calls, no data) | Up to $5.25 / month |
| Qualifying Tribal lands | Up to $34.25 / month |
| Toward a phone, tablet, or laptop | $0 |
That last row is not a mistake. Lifeline pays nothing toward device. We’ll come back to that, because it’s the thing people get wrong most often.
You get one benefit, and you choose where it goes
One Lifeline benefit per household, not one per person, one per address. And you decide where to point it: a phone plan, home internet, or a bundle of both from one company. Pick one. You cannot put Lifeline on your cell phone and on your home internet at the same time.
What $9.25 actually buys on a phone
By law, a Lifeline mobile plan gives you at least 1,000 minutes and 4.5 GB of data a month. That’s the floor. Companies compete by going above it and how far above varies a lot:
| Provider | What you actually get each month | Free phone? |
|---|---|---|
| AirTalk Wireless | Up to 10 GB, unlimited talk & text | Yes — if in stock |
| Assurance Wireless | 10 GB, unlimited talk & text. Pay $1/mo and it jumps to 15 GB plus a hotspot. | Yes |
| StandUp Wireless | 1,000 min, 4.5 GB — the legal floor | No — SIM only |
| TruConnect | Varies by state | CA & Tribal only |
| EASY Wireless (non-Tribal) | 25 MB of data. Not a typo. | Tribal plan far better |
Two things jump out. That Assurance $1 upgrade is the best-value deal in the whole market and almost nobody publishes it, ten dollars a year buys you 15 GB and a hotspot, which means a kid can do homework on a laptop. And not every plan comes with a phone, StandUp mails a SIM and expects you to already own a handset. Check before you enroll, not after.
The truth about “free government phones”
Lifeline pays $0 toward that phone. So how are companies giving them away? The carrier pays for it, not the government. A free handset is their advertising budget, the way a bank hands you a toaster. That’s exactly why the offers change constantly, differ by state, and vanish without warning. The phone is real. It is just not a benefit you’re owed, and nobody can promise you a specific model.
Who qualifies for Lifeline
You qualify if your household is in any of these programs:
- SNAP (food stamps)
- Medicaid
- Supplemental Security Income (SSI)
- Federal Public Housing Assistance
- Veterans Pension or Survivors Pension
- Certain Tribal programs (Bureau of Indian Affairs General Assistance, Tribal TANF, Food Distribution Program on Indian Reservations, or Head Start for income-qualifying Tribal members)
Or by income alone, if your household earns at or below 135% of the Federal Poverty Guidelines – about $21,546 a year for one person in 2026, or $44,550 for a family of four.
The honest catch for former ACP households: The ACP let you in up to 200% of the poverty guidelines. Lifeline stops at 135%. A family of four could earn $66,000 and get the ACP; Lifeline stops them at $44,550. And Pell Grant, WIC, and free school lunch qualified you for the ACP but do not qualify you for Lifeline. If that’s you, don’t give up, the next section was built for exactly your income.
Two ways people lose Lifeline — don’t be one of them
- Use it or lose it. If you don’t pay a monthly fee, you must use the service at least once every 30 days, a text or a one-minute call. People get dropped for a quiet month.
- Recertify every year. A notice comes in the mail; ignore it and the benefit stops. Open the mail.
The alternative most people miss and it’s often the best one
Your internet company almost certainly has its own low-income plan. Not a government program, their own. And here is the part that changes everything:
Most of these programs use the same 200% income cutoff the ACP used. If the ACP accepted you, there’s a strong chance these will too — even if Lifeline turns you down. That is the most useful sentence on this page. Read it twice.
Real prices, verified against each provider’s own page as of July 2026:
| Program | Price | What you get |
|---|---|---|
| Cox Connect2Compete | $9.95/mo | Up to 100 Mbps — families with K–12 kids on school lunch, SNAP, or TANF |
| Xfinity Internet Essentials | $14.95/mo | Up to 75 Mbps, unlimited data, free equipment |
| Xfinity Internet Essentials Plus | $29.95/mo | Up to 100 Mbps |
| Spectrum Internet Assist | $25/mo ($15 in NY) | 50 Mbps |
| Cox ConnectAssist | $30/mo | Up to 100 Mbps, broader eligibility |
| Access from AT&T | Up to $30/mo | Up to 100 Mbps, unlimited data, free install |
Two things worth knowing right now. AT&T grew this program instead of shrinking it, as of April 2026, eligible customers also get $25 a month off AT&T Internet Air, their 5G home internet, with no cable line and no technician. And Comcast will sell you a computer: once you’re an Internet Essentials customer, a Dell laptop or Chromebook costs $149.99 plus tax. Not free, but the closest thing left to the ACP’s device credit.
The smartest move: stacking (done right)
Stacking means putting your $9.25 Lifeline discount on top of an already-discounted ISP plan. When it works, it’s the cheapest internet in America. But it only works with providers that accept the federal Lifeline discount and this is exactly where most guides, including some big ones, get it wrong. So here is the corrected version.
This actually stacks: AT&T Access
AT&T accepts Lifeline on its Access plan. Start at $30/month for 100 Mbps, apply your $9.25 Lifeline credit, and you land near $20.75 a month for fast home internet with unlimited data and free installation. In some cases the combined discounts drop the bill under a dollar. This is the real stacking play.
This does NOT stack the way you’d expect: Verizon Forward
Verizon Forward technically “combines” with Lifeline but Verizon’s own terms say the Forward discount “may be reduced by other discounts,” and your end cost after everything is “$20 or higher.” In other words: Verizon caps you at $20 and may absorbs the Lifeline credit.
These don’t take federal Lifeline at all: Comcast & Spectrum
You’ll see guides telling you to stack Lifeline on Xfinity Internet Essentials for about $5.70 a month. You can’t. Comcast’s own support pages clearly state that Xfinity takes part in California LifeLine but not the federal Lifeline program. Spectrum doesn’t take federal Lifeline either. For those two companies, take the low-cost plan as-is and don’t plan on stacking.
The one rule that protects you: Before you apply for Lifeline expecting to put it on a home-internet bill, ask the company directly: “Do you accept the federal Lifeline discount on this plan?” If the answer is no, point your Lifeline benefit at a phone plan instead and take the ISP’s low-cost internet on its own. Guessing wrong can waste the 90-day window you get to choose a provider after Lifeline approval, and then you start over.
If you live in California or New York, start here instead
Two states have done what Washington hasn’t and in these two, the state program beats everything above.
California — the closest thing to the ACP anywhere
In January 2026, California launched the LifeLine Home Broadband Pilot: $20 a month off standalone home internet, or $30 a month if you bundle internet with phone from the same company, plus up to $39 back on a new connection fee once a year. Thirty dollars is the ACP number. Both new and existing customers can use it. One catch California LifeLine allows one discount per household, so you choose phone or internet. Start at californialifeline.com.
New York — a discount that can’t run out of money
New York’s Affordable Broadband Act doesn’t hand out a subsidy; it requires every internet company with more than 20,000 customers in the state to offer qualifying households $15/month for at least 25 Mbps, or $20/month for at least 200 Mbps, with taxes and equipment included. And here’s what makes it different from everything else: it’s a law, not a pot of money. The ACP died when the money ran out. A law can’t. If your household gets SNAP, Medicaid, SSI, public housing help, HEAP, or free/reduced lunch, call 211 in New York State or 311 in New York City and ask for the low-cost plan.
Everywhere else: Massachusetts, Vermont, and New Mexico are all moving on similar laws. Check your state broadband office, this is the fastest-changing part of the picture, and it’s changing in your favor.
Devices and free Wi-Fi: the honest version
For a computer or tablet, the ACP’s $100 credit is gone and nothing federal replaced it. Your real options: PCs for People and Human-I-T (nonprofits selling cheap refurbished laptops to income-qualified homes; Human-I-T also sells internet from about $14.99/month), Comcast’s $149.99 laptop, or a public library that still lends laptops.
Library Wi-Fi is free, everywhere, always; no application, no income test. If you need to file for benefits, apply for a job, or join a telehealth visit today and have nothing else, the library is open right now.
One caution about library hotspots: On September 30, 2025, the FCC voted 2–1 to end the federal funding that let libraries buy Wi-Fi hotspots to lend out. Many libraries still lend the ones they already own, and some are scraping together grants but programs are shrinking and waitlists are long. Every other article says “just get a free hotspot at the library.” I’d rather you make one phone call first than drive across town for nothing.
So which door is yours?
| Your situation | Where to start |
|---|---|
| You’re in California | The state broadband pilot. $20–$30 beats $9.25. |
| You’re in New York | The $15 plan, by law. Then look at Lifeline separately. |
| You have no working phone | Lifeline, on a phone. Everything else depends on being reachable. |
| Phone is fine, house needs internet | AT&T Access + Lifeline if AT&T serves you; otherwise your ISP’s low-cost plan on its own. |
| You live on qualifying Tribal land | Lifeline. $34.25 can make the whole bill disappear. |
| Lifeline said no on income | Your ISP’s low-cost plan. They use the old ACP cutoff — you’re likely still in. |
| You need a computer | PCs for People, Human-I-T, or Comcast’s $149.99 laptop. |
That “Lifeline said no” row is where most former ACP households land, and it is not a dead end. If Lifeline turns you down on income, go straight to your internet company’s own program, it was built for exactly your paycheck.
A father told me last month he’d been waiting almost a year for the ACP to come back before he’d “bother” applying for anything else. Eleven months of paying full price for a bill he could have cut in half that same afternoon. Somebody had told him to wait. Nobody had told him what was already sitting there.
Do this, this week
Three steps. Maybe an hour of your life, total.
- Call your internet company today. Ask, in these exact words: “Do you have a low-income program I can move to and do you accept the federal Lifeline discount?” Have your account number ready.
- Check whether you qualify for Lifeline at LifelineSupport.org (or call 1-800-234-9473), and if you do, apply. Remember: once approved, you have 90 days to pick a company or the approval expires. Don’t sit on it.
- If you’re in California or New York, do your state’s program first, it pays more.
Will the ACP ever come back?
Plan your life as though it won’t. Bills to bring it back have been introduced. None has passed. A group in Congress is studying the whole system and may recommend something someday. The FCC keeps the door open with a careful phrase, the program has ended “for now.” That’s the entire honest state of play. Anyone telling you more is guessing and anyone collecting your personal details over it is doing something worse. If it returns, that’s a good surprise. If you wait for it, you’ll spend another year paying full price for something you could be paying $15 for today.
Frequently Asked Questions
No. There is no application and no way in. Any site that says otherwise is either out of date or trying to scam you.
It depends where you live. In California, the state broadband pilot ($20–$30/month). In New York, the $15 plan guaranteed by law. Everywhere else, your internet company’s own low-income plan is usually the biggest single discount – with Lifeline stacked on top only if that company accepts the federal Lifeline discount (AT&T does; Comcast and Spectrum don’t).
No – and this confuses a lot of people. They were two separate programs and you were allowed to have both. You lost the ACP discount; your Lifeline benefit should still be there. If your Lifeline service also stopped, it’s usually a missed yearly recertification or the 30-day usage rule. Call your provider.
No. You apply separately and qualify separately. The income rules are stricter.
Because the $30 ACP discount came off it. Your provider didn’t raise your price – the government’s share vanished. Call them and ask about their low-income program.
No. Lifeline pays nothing toward device that was the ACP’s $100 device credit, and it ended too. Your realistic paths are PCs for People, Human-I-T, Comcast’s $149.99 laptop, or a library. Treat any “free government tablet” ad in 2026 as a warning sign, and verify the company at lifelinesupport.org/companies-near-me before sharing anything.
Not at all. Most ISP low-income programs use the 200% cutoff the same one the ACP used. If the ACP accepted you, they very likely will too.
It’s built differently. The ACP was a one-time sum from Congress. Lifeline is funded by an ongoing surcharge through the Universal Service Fund, which the Supreme Court upheld in June 2025. It has no expiration date. That said, the FCC opened a rulemaking in early 2026 that could change Lifeline’s rules, we’re tracking it in a separate article.
One last thing
Nobody should pretend $9.25 makes you whole after losing $30. It doesn’t, and I won’t insult you by saying it does.
But here’s what I’ve learned sitting with people in exactly your position: most of them were leaving money on the table. Not because they were careless because nobody ever handed them the list. They’d been told “the program ended,” and reasonably assumed that meant everything had ended. It didn’t. Three doors are still open, and one of them has your name on it.
Two phone calls this week. One to your internet company. One to check Lifeline. You’re allowed to have this. Go get it.