Mint Mobile review: Our favorite budget carrier for long-term value

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Mint Mobile is one of the long-standing frontrunners in the market for the best cheap cell phone plans. Its plans, which cost as low as $15/month, include unlimited calling and texting, access to high-speed data as a mobile virtual network operator (MVNO) on T-Mobile's US network, and free calls and texts to Canada and Mexico. 

Mint Mobile's prepaid plans allow users to save and easily manage their data in three-, six-, or 12-month installments at affordable monthly rates. While you'll get the best value by signing up for an annual plan, new customers can start with a reduced rate for their first three months through the carrier's introductory offer. The promotion discounts all of Mint Mobile's three-month plans, including the unlimited tier, at low prepaid rates, starting at just $15/month.

We've reviewed Mint Mobile through long-term use, routinely testing the fundamentals: call quality, data speed, customer support, and general coverage. We've also detailed the setup process, plan offerings, and other basic factors one would look for when switching carriers.

Plan offerings and flexibility

Mint Mobile's plan offerings are geared toward those seeking long-term savings. Its three-, six-, and 12-month prepaid plans offer progressively better value with longer-term payments.

Mint Mobile's introductory three-month plans are discounted with a new customer promotion. After the promotional period, the plans reset to standard rates, as detailed in the successive tables below. 

Mint Mobile introductory 3-month plans

Mint Mobile 3-month plans

Mint Mobile 6-month plans

Mint Mobile 12-month plans

*Mint Mobile's unlimited plans offer a 10GB maximum on hot spot data. In contrast, all other plans pull from your monthly data allotment without a specific cap. 

All of Mint Mobile's prepaid plans include unlimited talk and text, free calling to Mexico and Canada from the United States, and WiFi calling and texting. You can also use your 5G and LTE data access for a high-speed hot spot. Once your monthly high-speed data cap is reached, you'll have slower data speeds; however, you'll still have access to data at those lower speeds, so you won't be entirely cast adrift if you meet your data max. 

Also, while Mint Mobile's unlimited plan is now truly unlimited (in contrast to its previous 40GB monthly cap), unlimited customers who use more than 35GB in a month may be prioritized below customers on lower data tiers in areas of congestion.

Before signing up, you'll want to confirm that your phone is compatible with Mint Mobile. Nearly all 5G or 4G LTE-supported phones that use SIM cards or eSIMs will be compatible. To be sure, you can use the compatibility checker provided on their site by entering your phone's brand and model (or, even better, your phone's IMEI number, which you can find by dialing *#06# or through your phone's settings). 

From there, your setup will be fairly straightforward, either through a straightforward eSIM activation online or through the "cleverness kit" that comes with the shipment of a new SIM card. The kit includes instructions on how to keep your existing phone number and a QR code to download the Mint Mobile app easily. It refers to additional tips on their YouTube channel, which has a series of designated videos for setup assistance. 

After inputting your SIM card or activating an eSIM, the Mint Mobile app will guide you through the basics of setup. It provides a quick overview of how to use the app and a few checkpoints that confirm whether you want to keep your preexisting phone number. The setup takes less than five minutes, and the app assistance is useful and informative.

If you're unsure whether you'll like the service, you can try Mint Mobile risk-free with their seven-day free trial. With 250 minutes, 250 texts, and 250MB of data included, the trial will allow you to see how it compares to your existing plan, and you can switch back to your previous plan at any time during the trial if it's not for you.

See our guide to the best Mint Mobile plans and deals for the MVNO's latest offers.

Coverage area

T-Mobile owns Mint Mobile, and the MVNO runs on T-Mobile's network, so the carriers' US coverage maps are the same.

Mint Mobile's site has its own coverage map, which lets you check if your address is covered by its network. If it is, you'll likely be able to do anything from talk and text to downloading and streaming HD video over high-speed data, subject to deprioritization during local congestion on T-Mobile's network.  

In our testing and experience, Mint Mobile's coverage has far outperformed major carriers like AT&T in New York City. This discrepancy isn't surprising, as T-Mobile generally works better in urban areas than AT&T, but we found the difference to be significant.

Where AT&T provided inconsistent and unreliable coverage across testing locations, Mint Mobile proved to be more dependable in its coverage in each, including at Business Insider's office in Manhattan, on a walk through Brooklyn's Prospect Park, and various other locations in the city.

Mint Mobile's coverage will vary depending on location and should be paramount in your decision to switch carriers. However, as coverage maps are ultimately approximations that may not reflect usability on the ground, we recommend checking with local acquaintances, neighbors, or social media to ensure that T-Mobile (and thus Mint Mobile) covers your area.

If you know that T-Mobile works in your area, you may also want to check our comprehensive Mint Mobile vs. T-Mobile guide to compare the exact offerings between the parent carrier and its MVNO.

Other worthwhile MVNOs backed by T-Mobile include Tello Mobile, which can be even more affordable than Mint Mobile as a no-frills budget carrier at low data tiers. Read our Tello Mobile review, or see our Mint Mobile vs. Tello guide for a comparative breakdown.  

On the other hand, if you know Verizon more effectively covers your location, you're likely better off with the major carrier or its MVNO, Visible Wireless. Read our Visible Wireless review, and see our guides to Mint Mobile vs. Verizon and Mint Mobile vs. Visible.

Service reliability and speeds

To test Mint Mobile's service reliability in New York City, we viewed and downloaded posts from some of the most-used apps on many people's phones: YouTube, Instagram, and TikTok. While videos loaded perfectly on YouTube with no buffering, we encountered slight loading issues with Instagram and, more prominently, with TikTok.

On TikTok, each video took a few seconds to load over data. While it was only a matter of a second or two of buffering time, those seconds make a difference when assessing an app with a primary focus on instantaneous content generation. Though the app worked perfectly when connected to WiFi and the loading time over data was minimal, if you're one to scroll through TikTok while on the go, you may grow tired of this barrier to immediacy.

Our testing for phone and video calls yielded mixed results. Phone calls had zero issues, backed by reliable service and good call quality. Video calls were a different story. For instance, video calls made over Google Meet while connected to a full 5G connection were occasionally grainy, and the audio lagged consistently. Tested again with a WiFi connection, Google Meet presented no issue, as graininess and lagging had fully resolved. 

We attribute the occasional poor call quality to deprioritization, an unfortunate byproduct of Mint Mobile's use of T-Mobile's network, as T-Mobile customers have faster data speeds than Mint Mobile customers in congested areas. However, as New York City is particularly crowded, your experience may vary widely depending on your location.

Customer support

Mint Mobile's marketing, user interface, and customer support are really where the company shines. Straightforward language, readily available FAQs, direct support, and a user-friendly app create a cohesive and uncomplicated customer experience. 

From the jump, Mint Mobile's advertising has appealed to its audience directly and simply, and they carry this forthright attitude throughout the customer journey if you have questions as you go along. The app includes a data usage indicator on the home dashboard to keep track of your usage each month, and you can easily make payments or adjust your plan through the app. 

From a user standpoint, managing your plan and making necessary changes is refreshingly simple. The online chat and phone support are also responsive, with almost no wait time, and agents who are well-versed in their subject matter and friendly in our experience.

Should you sign up for Mint Mobile?

If you know that T-Mobile's nationwide network covers you, Mint Mobile is a worthwhile budget option for cell service that has long been among the top picks in our guide to the best cheap cell phone plans.

In our testing, Mint Mobile has consistently provided reliable service. We've been able to send and receive texts and calls with no issues, and occasional loading issues were mostly minimal and concentrated on data-intensive apps. Poor-quality video calls have been a circumstantial blemish (likely due to network congestion) on an otherwise excellent carrier experience. 

Mint Mobile is a cost-effective cellular service with simple-to-digest materials, readily accessible customer support, and easily adjustable plan management. These user-experience factors and the MVNO's potential for long-term value place it ahead of its competition among budget carriers. 

Indeed, the amount you'll save on a plan through Mint Mobile is significant compared to what you can expect to spend with most large carriers. With access to T-Mobile's extensive coverage network, it's a great value overall, especially for longer-term payments; the only catch is that you'll need to pay for your data in advance and may experience slower speeds behind T-Mobile's higher-paying customers with some frequency, depending on your location. 

Mint Mobile's new customer promotion for three months of discounted service is a relatively affordable entry point to a provider that offers exceptional value in the long run. Those switching from AT&T or Verizon can also add a second three-month line for free.

FAQs

Who owns Mint Mobile?

T-Mobile owns Mint Mobile. The major carrier finalized an acquisition of the MVNO in May 2024.

To date, the acquisition has not changed much for the average Mint Mobile customer from a user standpoint or in coverage, as the carriers already shared T-Mobile's network.

Does Mint Mobile work internationally?

In addition to Mint Mobile's free calls and texts to Mexico and Canada and free texts to more than 190 countries, which are included with all plans, the MVNO lets you make international calls to more than 160 countries on a pay-per-minute basis. International calls cost 1 to 60 cents per minute, depending on the destination.

If you want to use Mint Mobile while abroad, you'll need to add on the carrier's "Minternational Pass" feature for international roaming credits. In increments of $5, $10, or $20, you can add credits to your balance on the carrier's international roaming webpage or through the Mint Mobile app, allowing you to text, call, and use data overseas in more than 180 countries. 

How does Mint Mobile's family plan work?

Mint Mobile's "Modern Family" plan doesn't operate the same way other carriers tend to market their family plans; where some carriers might have a discount for adding lines to the family plan, Mint Mobile's plan charges the same amount per line as the first one.

The "family" aspect is about managing plans succinctly in one place rather than the price differential. You can start a plan with as few as two lines, and each line will cost differently depending on your allotted data. So, you could have a family plan with one unlimited data line, one 15GB line, and one 5GB line.

Though it doesn't provide multi-line discounts, Mint Mobile's offerings can still constitute some of the best family cell phone plans for long-term value. The MVNO also offers the option to make payments in three-month increments for those who opt for a 12-month plan, alleviating the burden of making a full annual payment up front.

How do Mint Mobile's unlimited plans work?

Mint Mobile's unlimited plans are among the cheapest in the MVNO market, starting at $30/month (or $25/month over 12 months with a current discount). Accordingly, Mint Mobile's 12-month unlimited plan is our top budget pick among the best unlimited data plans.

Where the MVNO previously had nominally "unlimited" plans that capped high-speed monthly data at 40GB, its high-end plans are now truly unlimited in that it has no set data cap. However, Mint Mobile unlimited customers who use more than 35GB of monthly data can be deprioritized during network congestion relative to customers at lower data tiers.

Also, unlike the best cell phone plans from major carriers, unlimited plans from Mint Mobile and most MVNOs are subject to deprioritized speeds behind the higher-paying customers of their host network at any instance of congestion. A notable exception is the Visible Plus plan from Visible Wireless, which newly offers unlimited prioritized high-speed data for $35/month.