I pay $45 a month for unlimited everything on the AT&T network (Straight Talk). Nobody else can even remotely come close to that.
The absolute cheapest postpaid plan any carrier offers is $40 a month plus bullshit fees and taxes - even if you knock 20% (which is an abnormally high discount - and its especially disingenuous to suggest a 20% discount in a startup forum where people almost certainly aren't affiliated with a company of sufficient size to receive such a discount) off of that, that's $32 + 'fees' and taxes plus the cost of an SMS and/or data plan. Your 'free' features start looking a lot less competitive at that point.
I've seen 15-25% off for being a member of a variety of institutions, like credit unions, AAA, costco, universities, etc., many of which hacker news members are a part of. And you can save a lot with a family plan by adding $5 additional lines. Walmart has a $30/month plan, and T-mobile has $35/month plans.
Like I said, it depends how you shop around and your usage habits.
ps: I don't think "disingenuous" is the word you're looking for here
The absolute cheapest postpaid plan any carrier offers is $40 a month plus bullshit fees and taxes - even if you knock 20% (which is an abnormally high discount - and its especially disingenuous to suggest a 20% discount in a startup forum where people almost certainly aren't affiliated with a company of sufficient size to receive such a discount) off of that, that's $32 + 'fees' and taxes plus the cost of an SMS and/or data plan. Your 'free' features start looking a lot less competitive at that point.