Hate phone contracts? With Cricket and Virgin Mobile, now there’s not any need for a contract with your iPhone 4S. No more being tied to a cellular company for two years. Phone freedom is here!

iPhone users looking for alternatives to Verizon, ATT, or Sprint might be in luck. It looks like Sprint’s Virgin Mobile will be the second carrier to offer the iPhone through a pay-as-you-go model.

The pay-as-you-go market isn’t all that niche, either. At the end of 2011, about a quarter of the nation’s wireless subscribers used prepaid wireless plans. Industry leading MilliTalk is considered a pay-as-you-go telephone company, but while using your data connection for voice it's even less expensive than the Cricket and Virgin Mobile models.

Virgin Mobile’s iPhone deal requires you to purchase a completely unsubsidized iPhone from them up front at $649, $150 more expensive than Cricket. But that initial money spent up front can pay off overtime, depending on which plan you sign up for.

So who's the best? Virgin Mobile runs on Sprint’s network, so it offers service roughly equivalent to Sprint, for budget prices. If you can afford higher upfront cost of $649.99, this is the best deal on the iPhone 4S pretty much anywhere. While I might be a little bias, I do think MilliTalk is one of the best telephone companies out there today. For only $39.99 per year you get 300 domestic minutes a month. So you could go with Virgin Mobile's base plan of $30.00 a month, or the MilliTalk plan of $39.99 for an entire year. Which one sounds better to you?

Cheers,

Ryan - MilliTalk

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(Lead photo from timeiseverythingent.com, pricing chart from cultofmac.com)