Mint Mobile: what is it, and is it worth it?

• Mint Mobile is a prepaid cellular provider
• It operates under the larger T-Mobile network
• With Mint Mobile plans, you pay upfront for a set amount of months
• Three month, six month, and yearly plans are available
• The longer the service plan, the cheaper the cost per month on average
• There are no service contracts with Mint Mobile
• Mint Mobile plans offer 5G, mobile hotspotting, and competitive data allowances
• Yes, it's partly owned by Ryan Reynolds...

Mint Mobile plans range in price from $15 to $40 per month, depending on how much data you plan to use and how fast you plan to chew through it. Here's a detailed breakdown of what the company's four price package have to offer: 

Value
Mint Mobile really stands out from the crowd when it comes to value. To put it bluntly, Mint Mobile's plans offer a ton of data for the money - way more than some pay-per-month competitors. To give you some idea of what we're talking about, Mint's unlimited data plan comes in at least around $10 cheaper than equivalent rival prepaid plans, and about half the cost of a postpaid plan at AT&T, T-Mobile, or Verizon. Add in free mobile hot-spotting and 5G data speeds and you're getting a lot for your money at Mint Mobile.

No contracts and simple pricing
Like most prepaid carriers, Mint Mobile has a fairly what-you-see is what-you-get way of operating. All you basically need to do is order a SIM card, activate it in your phone, and you're essentially good to go. There are no contracts to sign, no hidden fees, and if you want out all you have to do is stop paying for the service. Of course, the multi-month payment scheme will mean you'll lose a bit of that initial investment if you decide to jump ship before your months are up - but it's still a much more consumer-friendly setup than having to pay off the huge fee that's often incurred at one of the bigger carriers.

Have to pay upfront for multi-month
Paying upfront for a multi-month plan can be a significant investment, especially if you're looking at signing up for a whole year. For example, sign up for a year of the Mint Mobile unlimited data plan and you'll be looking at paying $360 upfront. Of course, you won't be billed again for the duration of your plan, but that's not exactly chump change for most people. Still, if you do have the cash to pay for a year upfront, we strongly recommend doing so as it'll work out as the cheapest option in the long run should you stick with Mint.

Deprioritization
As with all smaller prepaid carriers (MVNOs, short for mobile virtual network operators), Mint Mobile is subject to something called 'deprioritization'. Put simply, the parent network that Mint Mobile uses - T-Mobile in this case, will slow down smaller network users data speeds when traffic is heavy in favor of their own customer's speeds. This isn't unique to Mint Mobile, in fact nearly all smaller companies have this caveat, but it's worth bearing in mind overall. Your mileage is going to vary wildly based on your local network traffic also.

Not yet, but the carrier announced its intention to buy Mint Mobile in March 2023 (opens in new tab) and the takeover is set to take place sometime later this year. The jury is still out right now in regards to whether this is a good thing or not but both Mint and T-Mobile have released statements saying the prepaid carrier will continue business as usual for the foreseeable future.

As far as we know, that means no plan price increases, no changes to monthly allowances, and no changes to the terms and conditions. If you want a more detailed statement from Mint itself, the company has written up a FAQ post over at the official Mint Mobile subreddit that you can read for yourself.

Mint Mobile uses the T-Mobile network but operates independently as its own company. Mint Mobile is what's commonly referred to as an 'MVNO', which is a company that provides cellular service but doesn't actually own the infrastructure itself. Simply put, if you happen to get good T-Mobile coverage (opens in new tab) then you'll be good-to-go with Mint Mobile (also see Mint Mobile's coverage page (opens in new tab)).

All phones compatible with the GSM networks (AT&T, T-Mobile) should be fully compatible with Mint Mobile, granted they're unlocked. If you'd like to see whether your phone is compatible, then you can use this handy page (opens in new tab) over at the Mint site.

Unlike traditional carriers, Mint Mobile doesn't operate out of any physical stores nationwide - which probably ensures they can keep those running costs down to a bare minimum. Mint also probably doesn't have to pay upkeep for physical maintenance on the network they use, being essentially a renter on the larger T-Mobile network. The business also historically hasn't paid much to run ads through traditional means - although we know this is of course changing now, with various high-profile TV ads being aired recently.

It's likely the Mint Mobile multi-month pricing structure is a contributing factor to overall price as well. Selling cell phone plans in increments of three, six, or twelve months probably keeps subscribers retained at a higher rate in comparison to the traditional prepaid pay-monthly model, and allows them to have a more consistent revenue stream. While Mint was the first to adopt this setup, in recent years we've seen other carriers, particularly Verizon and AT&T, also offer 'buy upfront' prepaid options. 

The Mint Mobile free trial! Unlike most prepaid carriers, Mint Mobile will allow you to sign up for a free 7-day trial (opens in new tab) to see whether the service is for you. Of course, being only 7-days and with an allowance of 250MB data, 250 minutes, and 250 texts doesn't exactly make it the longest of trials, but hey - it's free and a great way to try your luck.

Note - you will need to provide your credit card details to be eligible for the Mint Mobile free trial, but you won't be charged unless you decide to carry on your trial after your 7-days are up.

Mint Mobile retains an average user score of 3.7 stars out of 5 on Trust Pilot, which is fairly middling but not bad compared to other mobile carriers. For comparison's sake, users rated Visible 1.6 stars, Verizon 1.3 stars, T-Mobile 1.6 stars, and AT&T 1 star. In short, mobile carriers really get raked over the coals when it comes to customer reviews.

The reason for these poor scores - on Mint as well as other mobile carriers -is generally down to issues with customer service, which operates via a call center. A few reviews also mention mix-ups with activations and poor or slow connections. A few people are also mentioning issues with claiming the free months that Mint often gives away with phone purchases via its store. To be clear, you need to be specifically porting in a number to claim these promotions, which perhaps isn't clear without reading the fine print.

We'd single out Visible Wireless as the main competitor to Mint Mobile right now when it comes to great value prepaid plans. Visible offers two completely unlimited 5G data plans for either $30 or $45 per month, depending on the tier you want. Overall, it's extremely competitive and doesn't feature the 'soft' data caps you'll find on the Mint Mobile plan (slows down after 35GB of usage). It's also pay per month, so you won't have to pay a big chunk upfront and it's also easier to bail, should you want to try something different. Note, however, that Visible Wireless operates as a subsidiary of Verizon, so coverage may differ depending on your local situation.

For a straight-up alternative to Mint Mobile that uses the same T-Mobile infrastructure for its service, you'll want to check out Metro. This prepaid carrier is a direct subsidiary of T-Mobile and offers a few more options all around for those on a budget - starting with a 'basic' unlimited data plan for $40 per month. In general, Metro's plans are a little more 'premium' than Mint's with things like free streaming service subscriptions and access to the T‑Mobile Tuesdays (opens in new tab) perks program.

If you're looking for another 'buy-in-bulk' prepaid carrier, you could also consider AT&T's prepaid service. While traditionally known for postpaid plans, this carrier does have a prepaid option that starts at just $25 a month (opens in new tab) for a 12GB plan - paying $300 upfront. Generally speaking, this one is fairly light on perks like streaming services or discount perks but it does have rollover data and 4K UHD streaming - just be careful not to eat through all your data. If you do happen to get the best service with AT&T in your area, it's definitely a stronger option if you're on a budget than the traditional postpaid plans.

If you're looking for even more options, we recommend checking out our main best prepaid phone plans page.