How To Lower Xfinity Costs: 9 Potential Solutions To Save You Money

You can lower Xfinity costs by applying for specific programs, opting out of particular add-ons, or negotiating prices for an upcoming contract change. For instance, you can buy your own router or modem. Keep reading to find more ways to save big.

I’ve found various ways to save money in the past when subscribed to Xfinity. I want to pass on some of what I’ve learned to help you save money.

Some ways that you can lower your Comcast Xfinity bill include:

1. Sign Up Under a Contract Plan
2. Enable Auto Pay and Paperless Billing
3. Don’t Bundle if You Don’t Use Other Services
4. Buy a Modem and Router: Don’t Rent Xfinity’s Gateway
5. Avoid Surpassing the Data Cap
6. Once Your Plan Is About to End, Negotiate
7. Pretend You Want To Cancel Your Service
8. Bundle Comcast Xfinity Services
9. Apply for Government Programs

Let’s save you some money.

1. Sign Up Under a Contract Plan

Xfinity has contract plans called ‘term agreements.’ These term agreements range from 12, 24, and 36 months. The terms you can sign up for depend on the plan you choose.

The availability of term agreements will also vary by your location. For instance, in some areas, you’ll have access to a 24-month contract for the Performance Pro plan. While others, you won’t.

Opt for these plans if you know you’ll have a stable income. Otherwise, you’ll see an Xfinity bill that’s 25–99% higher (the price your bill would increase to after the term agreement).

Here’s an example. The Connect More plan in Xfinity’s Western division. As a new customer and with a term agreement, you’d pay $20 per month.

Once 1, 2, or 3 years pass, you’ll have to pay $50.

That’s an 86% increase.

This solution will only work if you’re a new customer, though. If you’re an existing customer, keep reading.

Check for Discounts for Different Groups

Xfinity frequently offers deals or Visa Prepaid Cards for certain demographics when they subscribe to a Comcast Xfinity service. Until June 30th, 2022, Xfinity gave students and seniors a $100 Prepaid Card to put toward their Xfinity bill [1].

They also gave veterans a $25 discount. This deal also expired.

These deals tend to return on certain occasions. Always check Xfinity’s website to see what campaigns they have running.

Customer service agents MAY have these ‘specials’ as a backup to convince someone to join Comcast. Call a representative and see whether they have specials for seniors, veterans, or students.

Xfinity also has Internet Essentials for low-income individuals. You can pay $9.95 per month for 50/10 Mbps (download/upload). Or $24.95 for 100/15 Mbps.

You can qualify for these plans if you meet one of the program’s many qualifications. These qualifications involve participating in a government program for low-income households. Like Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP).

2. Enable Auto Pay and Paperless Billing

With almost any Xfinity plan, you can go into your Xfinity account’s settings and enable two features. Paperless billing and auto-pay. If you connect a bank account to auto-pay, you’ll receive a $10 discount on your monthly bill.

You’ll receive a $5 discount when connecting a bank card.

This discount won’t apply to your account until 30 and 45 days after activating these features.

Want to know something that sucks? You can’t get paperless billing or automatic payment discounts on Xfinity Prepaid Internet and Internet Essentials plans.

To enable auto-pay, follow this link, sign in to your Xfinity Comcast account, and agree to the auto-pay conditions.

While in your account, you’ll also need to enable paperless billing. Otherwise, you won’t get a discount. Navigate to ‘Settings’ on your account.

Look toward the left side of your screen for ‘Bill Settings,’ and you’ll see ‘Paperless Billing.’ Click it and toggle on EcoBill.

You can enable both settings if you have the Xfinity My Account mobile app. To turn on paperless billing, follow these steps:

1. Navigate to and tap ‘Manage billing preferences’
2. Tap ‘Bill delivery options’
3. Choose the bubble beside EcoBill
4. Tap ‘Save’ in the upper right corner of your screen

Go back to ‘Manage billing preferences’ then tap ‘Automatic Payments.’

Now you have to wait up to 45 days for the discount to apply to your bill. If it doesn’t, use one of many methods to contact Xfinity and tell them what’s up. 

3. Don’t Bundle if You Don’t Use Other Services

Only bundle Xfinity services like Mobile, TV, and Internet if you’ll use it enough to justify the costs. Don’t waste money bundling Internet with TV if you don’t watch much cable television.

Here’s an example.

I entered an address on the West Coast and will make a comparison regarding Xfinity’s Fast internet plan.

Here’s what happens if you bundle Fast with 125+ channels:

Once the term agreement expires, the $79.99 morphs into $110 per month. Or $1,320 a year.

Do you watch these channels enough to justify the price you’ll pay?

Watch what happens when I remove television from the bundle.

Ta-da:

You saved $60 per month on your bill. Since this plan in this region doesn’t let me select a term agreement, you’ll still pay $50 per month after the first 24 months.

Read the copy under ‘Fast Includes.’ You see the text ‘Flex 4K streaming TV box,’ right? You could use that for managing your streaming platforms. And thus, giving you access to tons of sweet series. Even though it’s not free anymore (it now costs $5/month).

Also consider this. If subscribed to Netflix or Disney+, who needs the 125+ channels?

Do you need sports? There’s ESPN+.

4. Buy a Modem and Router: Don’t Rent Xfinity’s Gateway

You can choose whether you want to pay $14 per month for Xfinity’s xFi gateway (modem/router combination).

Or $25 per month for xFi Complete. Almost the same gateway, but it adds unlimited data to your Xfinity internet. When getting this gateway, you’ll also get a free Wi-Fi extender (xFi Pod).

The xFi Pod ($119 value), along with renting a gateway, has various advantages. For instance, modem/router combinations are easier to set up and take less space.

And extending your Wi-Fi range has obvious benefits.

In my experience, the gateways aren’t worth it.

They cost more to replace.

With the money you pay for renting a modem, you could buy a GOOD router and modem in a couple of years. And you won’t have to worry about being responsible for Xfinity Comcast’s equipment.

As for extending your Wi-Fi’s range. There are plenty of ways to do so without an extender.

Did I change your mind about renting?

Good.

Any router will work with Xfinity. When setting one up in your home, it’s plug and play.

But the same doesn’t go for modems. You’ll need hardware that Xfinity supports. We have an enormous list of modems you can use with Xfinity. Read it and save yourself an hour or two of research.

You’ll need to contact their customer service when setting up your own modem with Xfinity. Tell them you want to set up your own modem. They’ll ask you for your device’s media access control (MAC) address.

You’ll find this 12-digit number on the bottom of your modem. If you see the word ‘CMAC address,’ give them that number instead.

Once they confirm your modem’s active and all the LED indicators glow, you’re on your way to saving $14 per month.

I almost forgot to give you more details on the xFi Complete. It’s different from the regular xFi gateway because it makes it so you can bypass the 1.2 TB data cap. If you never pass the data cap, you don’t need this device.

Find out more about Xfinity’s bandwidth cap in the next point.

5. Avoid Surpassing the Data Cap

If you pass Xfinity’s 1.2 terabyte (TB) data cap, you’ll need to pay $10 per 50 gigabytes (GB) of data they add to your account. Up to a max of $100. You can avoid these fees by not using so much data.

It takes about 60 hours of watching 4K videos on streaming services like Netflix to reach 1.2 TB of data use. Or you could watch 350 hours of 1080p resolution content on similar websites to reach the same end.

Monitor your data usage. Unless your Wi-Fi router has features to watch your data, you’ll need to check your Xfinity account. You can log into their website using this link.

With your Xfinity My Account App, you can tap ‘Internet,’ scroll to the bottom of the page, and see your usage. Their website and app specify that the data updates AREN’T real-time. You may also not see your actual data usage until after 24 hours.

Anyway:

Use standard definition (720p resolution) to lower your data usage when possible. If you listen to YouTube videos in the background, consider turning it onto the lowest definition (144p).

It’s how I keep my data usage in check.

I use the Firefox extension Enhancer for YouTube to automatically set videos on playlists to 144p resolution. It’s overkill when saving data. But I don’t notice much difference in audio fidelity.

6. Once Your Plan Is About to End, Negotiate

You may find yourself reading this piece while amid your term agreement. And once your term agreement ends, you could pay up to 99% more for your bill. You can attempt to avoid this fate by contacting Xfinity customer service and negotiating.

But don’t negotiate with anyone. You need to speak to their Retention Department. They’re responsible for keeping people chained to Comcast.

So they’re more likely to take drastic measures to keep you bound. This includes POTENTIALLY giving you discounts.

Call them.

Or visit a Xfinity store in person.

You may have a more challenging time finding a retention team member in Xfinity Assistant (the chatbot). But it’s worth a shot if you’re short on time.

When calling, tell the automated calling bot the following, “retention department.”

While the bot’s connecting you to a real person, find your zen. You’ll want to engage in negotiations with a friendly attitude. Otherwise, you may lose your negotiation power.

Speaking of.

You’ll need as much of an edge as possible. Check whether your home or apartment can support other internet service providers. If you don’t already know this, ask the building manager, previous homeowner, or whoever’s previously responsible for where you’re living.

I’ll tell you why in a second.

Once you’re connected to the Retention Department, tell the person you’re thinking of switching to a different internet provider because you need to spend less on your Xfinity service. Be it TV, Internet, or whatever.

If your home can support other internet providers, they may not think you’re bluffing.

Ideally, they’ll present you with promotions or reduced-cost plans. But they may not.

If negotiations fail, politely tell them you’re going to shop around. Then transition to ending the call. Try again later.

You may end up talking to someone who feels more generous with promotions.

Remember that they may not have promotions. So don’t expect saving big on your Comcast plan.

7. Pretend You Want To Cancel Your Service

You can also contact the Retention Department and tell them you’re considering canceling your plan. Even if you’re not going to. Follow the steps in point “6” to reach someone in Retentions.

Once you reach someone, you’ll want to say you’re considering downgrading or canceling your Xfinity service.

You’ll find yourself on one of three paths.

A: they’ll spend over 20 minutes trying to convince you not to change your current service without offering any discounts.

B: the representative may offer discounts or upgrades.

C: they will know what you’re trying to do. Thus, they’ll go along with your bluff and tell you to pay the cancellation fee (if you’re on a contract).

If you don’t have satisfactory results, DO NOT ask to speak to a manager. That won’t help you get any discounts.

Transition the call to an end and call back another day.

8. Bundle Comcast Xfinity Services

Earlier I told you not to bundle. In some instances, bundling MAY save you money. 97% of Americans own a cell phone and will need a mobile service provider [2].

One of the above screenshots (with the Fast internet plan) mentions that you can get another $20 off your plan for 24 months if you add Xfinity Mobile.

Mobile costs $15 per month (for a single line) for 1 gigabyte (GB) of data. $45 per month for unlimited data.

If you’ve been itching to get away from your current cell phone provider, here’s your chance. But Xfinity Comcast WON’T pay for your early termination fee.

At the same time, they charge you an activation fee when subscribing to Xfinity mobile.

And if you’ll watch many of the channels included in their television plan or want their home security system, you can save money by bundling. But you will make it harder to switch providers later.

Since you’re binding your home to Xfinity.

9. Apply for Government Programs

The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) created the Affordable Connectivity Program (ACP). It gives eligible households up to a $30 discount ($75 if you’re on qualifying Tribal Lands) on internet services.

Comcast Xfinity participates in the ACP. That means you can get a HUGE discount on internet and mobile data.

To participate in the ACP, you’ll need to meet at least one of these criteria [3]:

• Household income is 200% or below the Federal Poverty Guidelines (you can see examples in the above link)
• Received a Federal Pell Grant this year
• Take part in Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), WIC, Medicaid, or school breakfast and lunch programs
• Receive Federal Public Housing Assistance, Survivor Benefits, or Veterans Pension

If you live in Qualifying Tribal lands, you can qualify if you participate in (or receive) one of the above benefits. You’ll also qualify if you receive these benefits:

• Tribal Head Start
• Tribal Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF)
• Bureau of Indian Affairs General Assistance
• Food Distribution Program on Indian Reservations

You can print out an application and mail in an application for the ACP. Or you can make life easier on yourself and apply online.

There’s also the Lifeline discount program.

It gives a $9.25 monthly discount ($34.25 for those on Tribal Lands) toward internet or mobile plans. It doesn’t appear that you can use Lifeline with Xfinity.

Wrapping Up

You can lower Xfinity costs by bundling, enabling certain features, and opting out of renting Xfinity’s equipment. Or you can go further and call to negotiate a lower plan.

If none of these solutions worked, and you qualify for government benefits like the Affordable Connectivity Program (ACP), go for it. You’ll take a lot off of your internet bill.

You may find yourself in a gray zone, though. Where none of these solutions work.

You’ll only lower your bill if you switch internet providers or plans. Browse Xfinity Comcast’s other internet plans. Perhaps you’ll find a better deal.