The short answer
Lifeline takes up to $9.25 a month off a phone, internet or bundled service, or up to $34.25 on Tribal lands. A household qualifies with income at or below 135% of the federal poverty guidelines, or if someone in it receives SNAP, Medicaid, SSI, Federal Public Housing Assistance, the Veterans Pension or Survivors Pension, or certain Tribal programmes. One discount is allowed per household.
What the discount pays for
Lifeline is a monthly discount, not a device or a separate phone line. It is applied to a service you choose from a participating company: home internet, mobile phone service with data, a landline, or a bundle of these. Many wireless companies offer plans on which the discount covers the whole bill, so the service costs nothing.
The discount is up to $9.25 a month in most of the country and up to $34.25 for residents of Tribal lands, where service costs more to provide. It is paid from the Universal Service Fund, which is financed through charges on telephone bills, and is run for the Federal Communications Commission by the Universal Service Administrative Company.
Two ways to qualify
The first is through another programme. If you or anyone in your household - including a child or dependent - receives SNAP, Medicaid, Supplemental Security Income, Federal Public Housing Assistance such as a Section 8 voucher, or the Veterans Pension or Survivors Pension, the household qualifies without an income test. On Tribal lands several Tribal programmes also qualify a household.
The second is income. A household at or below 135% of the federal poverty guidelines qualifies, which for 2026 is about $21,550 a year for one person and $44,550 for a household of four in the 48 contiguous states. You will be asked for proof, such as a tax return, pay slips or a benefits statement.
One discount per household
The rule is one Lifeline benefit per household, not per person, and a household here means people who live together and share income and expenses. Two families at one address who keep their finances separate can each have one; a couple who share expenses cannot have two.
The benefit can be moved from one company to another, and from mobile service to home internet, but not doubled. Signing up with a second company transfers the discount rather than adding one, which is why an offer of a second free phone to someone already enrolled deserves suspicion.
How to apply
Applications go through the Lifeline National Verifier, run by the Universal Service Administrative Company, which checks eligibility against government databases where it can. You can apply online or by mail and then choose a participating company, or apply through a company that submits the application for you.
If the databases cannot confirm your eligibility, you will be asked to upload or post copies of documents. Once you are approved you have 90 days to sign up for service with a company before you would need to apply again.
Keeping the discount
Lifeline has to be recertified every year. The National Verifier tries to confirm continued eligibility automatically; if it cannot, you will be contacted and must respond by the deadline or the discount ends. Tell your company within 30 days if you no longer qualify, or if someone else in the household already receives Lifeline.
Free mobile plans also carry a usage rule: if you do not use the service at least once in 30 days - a call, a text or some data - the company must warn you, and if it is still unused 15 days later the service is cancelled. Paying something towards the service yourself removes that rule.
What this does not tell you
This article describes the federal Lifeline programme. Some states add a discount of their own or run their own application, and the participating companies and plans differ from area to area.
None of our calculators screens for Lifeline. The quickest test is whether anyone in the household already receives one of the qualifying programmes, and several of those have calculators here.
Official sources
What you can do next
Check whether anyone in your household receives SNAP, Medicaid, SSI, help with public housing or a veterans pension - if so, the household almost certainly qualifies. Then apply through the National Verifier and compare the plans offered in your area before choosing one.