All Bills Paid Apartments vs Prepaid Lights: Which Actually Costs Less?

Texas apartments advertising “all bills paid” typically charge $100-$200 more per month in rent than units where you handle your own lights. Sounds like a deal on the surface — no separate light bill, no worrying about deposits, no credit check for service. Just pay your rent and everything’s covered.

Except you are paying for your lights. You’re just paying more than you realize, buried inside a higher rent number where you can’t see it.

Let me show you the actual math.

What “All Bills Paid” Really Means

When an apartment advertises “all bills paid,” they’re covering your lights, water, gas, and sometimes trash and internet. The cost of all that gets baked into your rent.

Here’s what the landlord is actually doing: they look at the average usage across their units, add a buffer for the tenants who blast AC at 65 degrees all summer, and tack that total onto your rent.

That buffer is where you start losing money.

The Real Numbers

Let’s compare two apartments in the same area of Houston. Same size, same neighborhood, same quality.

Apartment A: All Bills Paid

• Rent: $1,250/month
• Lights, water, gas: included
• Your total: $1,250/month

Apartment B: You handle your own lights

• Rent: $1,050/month
• Average light bill (prepaid): $130/month
• Water/gas (usually included in non-ABP apartments too): $0-$40
• Your total: $1,180-$1,220/month

That’s $30-$70/month less. Over a 12-month lease, you’re saving $360-$840 by handling your own lights.

And that’s using prepaid rates, which run higher than traditional plans. If you qualify for a fixed-rate plan with no deposit, the gap gets wider.

Why All-Bills-Paid Costs More

Three reasons landlords charge a premium:

1. They’re covering their worst-case scenario, not yours. The landlord has to budget for the tenant who keeps the apartment at 68 degrees from May through October with all the windows open. They price for that person, and you pay the same amount even if you’re careful with your usage.

2. There’s zero incentive for anyone to conserve. When your light bill is $0 no matter what you do, nobody has a reason to turn off lights, adjust the thermostat, or unplug anything. The building’s overall usage goes up, and the landlord raises rent to compensate.

3. You can’t shop for a better rate. In deregulated Texas markets, you can choose from dozens of light companies. Some have rates under 10 cents per kilowatt-hour. In an all-bills-paid apartment, the landlord picks the plan (or runs a master meter), and you get whatever rate they negotiated. Which might not be great.

When All-Bills-Paid Actually Makes Sense

It’s not always a bad deal. Here are the situations where it can work in your favor:

• You run your AC hard. If you’re the person keeping it at 68 all summer, the flat rate protects you from $250+ summer light bills.
• You can’t get lights in your name right now. Maybe there’s a switch hold on your account, or you need lights immediately and can’t wait even for same-day prepaid setup. ABP means you move in and the lights are already on.
• The rent difference is small. If the same apartment without bills included only saves you $30/month, the convenience might be worth it.
• You’re only staying a few months. The simplicity of ABP makes more sense for a 3-month sublet than a 12-month lease.

When Prepaid Is the Better Move

For most people reading this site, prepaid wins:

• You want to control your costs. With prepaid, your daily balance shows you exactly what you’re spending. Use less, spend less. In an ABP apartment, you’re paying the same whether you use a lot or a little.
• You’re careful about energy. If you keep the thermostat at 78, use LED bulbs, and turn things off when you leave, you’ll spend less on prepaid than what ABP adds to your rent.
• You want to build payment history. Twelve months of on-time prepaid payments gets you a track record you can use to qualify for cheaper traditional plans later. ABP gives you nothing because there’s no account in your name. Check our path to traditional plans guide for how this works.
• You want same-day setup without the ABP rent premium. Most prepaid companies can get your lights on within hours. You don’t need ABP just for convenience.

How to Run the Math for Your Situation

Before you sign a lease, do this:

1. Get the ABP rent. Ask for the exact monthly amount.
2. Ask what the same unit costs without bills included. Some complexes offer both options.
3. Check prepaid rates at that address. Enter your ZIP on our prepaid calculator to estimate your monthly cost based on your apartment size.
4. Subtract. If ABP rent minus (non-ABP rent + estimated light bill) is positive, you’re paying extra for the convenience.

Most of the time, the difference is $100-$200/month in the landlord’s favor. That’s $1,200-$2,400 a year.

The Hidden Downside of ABP Nobody Talks About

When your lights are included in your rent, you don’t build any relationship with a light company. No account, no payment history, no letter of credit after 12 months.

That means when you eventually move to a place where you need lights in your own name, you’re starting from scratch. Same credit check. Same deposit. Same problem you had before.

Prepaid lets you build that history while you live there. After a year, you can switch to a cheaper plan using your payment record. Read our deposits explained guide for why this matters.

The Bottom Line

All-bills-paid apartments are selling you convenience at a markup. For some people, that markup is worth it. For most, you’ll save real money by getting prepaid lights on your own and keeping control of your usage.

The best way to know for sure: compare the actual numbers at your address. Enter your ZIP code at NoDepositLights.com to see what prepaid plans are available and what they’d cost you. Then compare that to the ABP premium your landlord is charging.

Math doesn’t lie. Your landlord’s marketing might.

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Related reading:

• Prepaid Lights vs Running a Generator: The Real Cost
• Apartment Told You Which Light Company to Use? Know Your Rights
• No Deposit Lights for Apartments in Texas

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This guide is for informational purposes only and does not constitute legal or financial advice. For official rules, visit the Public Utility Commission of Texas. NoDepositLights.com is powered by Compare Power (PUCT License BR190020).