AT&T has just announced its $50-a-month “GoPhone” plan, which will offer unlimited calling, texts and web, starting June 26.

The new AT&T pre-paid plan matches—well, almost—similar plans offered by carriers such as Boost, Virgin Mobile, and T-Mobile.

I say “almost” because AT&T’s new $50 pre-paid unlimited plan is intended primarily for “feature phones—that is, anything that isn’t a smartphone, like the iPhone or the growing army of Android handsets.

If you want to get a pre-paid smartphone (not including the iPhone, which AT&T doesn’t offer on a pre-paid basis) with AT&T’s $50 unlimited GoPhone plan, you’ll also have to pony up for a separate data plan, which options ranging from $5 to $25—meaning your $50 unlimited pre-paid plan will actually cost you anywhere from $55 to $75 a month.

Take a quick look at the competition and you’ll see that Boost Mobile (a subsidiary of Sprint) and T-Mobile both already offer $50 pre-paid plans that offer unlimited calls, texts, and web for both feature phones and full-on smartphones.

Virgin Mobile’s unlimited voice/text/web plan is slightly more expensive at $60 a month, while Verizon Wireless charges a hefty $95 a month for unlimited, pre-paid calls and texting on smartphones (plus another $30/month for unlimited data), or $75 a month for feature phones.

Got any questions about pre-paid plans and phones? Post ’em below, or send me an email.

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