I actually use Republic Wireless and I am a big fan. I got a Moto E through them for 110 bucks (that includes shipping on the phone) and I got a 32GB SD card from Newegg for 15 bucks. I own the phone and there is no contract. However the camera on the phone is total shit but other than that it is pretty good.
I have the ten dollar a month ($11.90 after taxes) unlimited talk and text plan. It works as advertised. And the nice thing is that it takes about 60 seconds to switch it over to the data plan. I just did babysitting at my sisters house last weekend and turned on the data plan for two days and then turned it off once I got back home. It was only 50 cents a day for data.
It is fantastic if you are mostly at home where you have wifi. My sister pays AT&T over $100 per month for her iPhone and talk/text/data. That is absolutely bonkers and I would never pay it.
But I got a good enough phone for 135 upfront and 12 bucks a month. It is pretty hard to beat that.
And there is no real headache. It works, nothing is complicated.