1. 5GB plan: $45 for 3 months
2. 15GB plan: $60 for 3 months
3. 20GB plan: $75 for 3 months
4. Unlimited: $90 for 3 months
5. Seniors: $45 for 3 months
The best Mint Mobile plans deliver low monthly rates but with one big catch — getting the best price means paying for a year of service up front. Still, if you can swing that single large upfront payment, you can enjoy a discounted monthly rate on plans ranging from just 5GB of data all the way up to unlimited data. And the most you'll pay with Mint's discounted rate is $30 a month, which puts Mint's offerings among the best cheap cell phone plans under $40.
It's a great time to try Mint, too, as new customers now pay $15/month for the first three months on any plan. (That's $45 upfront, of course.) So if you want unlimited data, you're getting it for half-off the regular rate of $30 for three months, giving you a low-cost way of trying out Mint's service.
Mint has more going for it than just low prices, although that is a big part of the carrier's appeal. Mint is owned by T-Mobile and uses that provider's cellular network for its coverage, including 5G connectivity. As one of the best phone carriers, T-Mobile earns raves for its extensive network and fast 5G speeds — something you'll benefit from when you opt for Mint's lower-price plans.
Our guide to Mint Mobile can give you all the information you need about this low-cost wireless provider, but let's concentrate here on the best Mint Mobile plans — what they cost, how big an upfront commitment you need to make to get the best rate and what you get in return. In our capsules for each plan, we'll list the regular introductory monthly rate, along with the full-year cost.
My name is Philip Michaels, and I've been working at Tom's Guide for nearly a decade. During that time, I've covered the ever-changing array of mobile plans that wireless providers offer — and that includes Mint Mobile. I'm always checking what different carriers charge, which gives me a pretty good idea of how Mint's plans compare to other options. And when I'm not looking up the price of data plans, I'm overseeing the rest of our mobile phone coverage.
Best Mint Mobile plans
How Mint Mobile plans work
When you sign up for a plan at Mint Mobile, you pay for your first three months up front. That will get you Mint's lowest rate for any of its four plans so that you can try out the service. Then, after three months, you've got the option of prepaying for a full year to keep that low monthly rate. Other options include three months or six months of service, though the rates with those offerings aren't as low as what you've been paying.
Let's use that unlimited data plan at Mint as an example since it happens to be one of the best unlimited data plans currently available. With Mint currently charging $15/month on every plan for the first three months of service, you'll pay $45 to get started with the unlimited plan.
At the end of three months, you can then pay $360 to get Mint's best rate on unlimited data, which is $30/month rate; that payment covers your service for the next year. Opting for a six-month plan will cost you $35/month or $210, while the three-month plan gives you a $40 monthly rate, bringing your upfront cost to $120.
In other words, Mint Mobile works best if you're willing to commit to the carrier for a full year to get the lowest monthly rate. If you prefer a shorter commitment, other low-cost carriers like Visible and Tello offer unlimited plans priced similarly to Mint's unlimited option, while letting you pay on a month-by-month basis.
What is Mint's introductory rate?
New customers used to get Mint's best monthly rate for their first three months of service as a way of trying out the carrier before committing to a full year. But Mint took one of its frequent promotions and has seemingly made it permanent. These days, if you're joining Mint, you pay $15/month for the first three months, regardless of what data plan you opt for. After those three months are up, you then pay for a year of service at the regular rate — $15/month for the 5GB plan, $20 for 15GB, $25 for 20GB or $30 for unlimited.
Does Mint Mobile offer family plans?
Mint does offer family plans, though it takes a different approach from other carriers, which offer escalating discounts as you add more lines to a plan. Mint charges the same rate for each line, but each line is eligible for the same discount if you pay upfront for a year's worth of service.
Let's compare Mint's approach to other prepaid carriers. At Cricket, you'd pay $60 for a single line of that wireless provider's unlimited plan. Add extra lines, though, and your per-line costs drop. Four lines of that same unlimited data plan at Cricket cost a total of $130 each month, which breaks down to $32.50 per line. Similarly, Metro by T-Mobile — which, like Mint, is owned by T-Mobile — has a $50 unlimited plan where the per line cost drops to $38.75/month for four lines.
Mint doesn't do that. Instead, each person on a Mint Mobile family plan gets the same discounted rate. If everyone on your family plan opts for Mint's 5GB plan, you'll each pay $15 — a four line plan would expect to pay $60 a month, with all of that money due up front. Given how that upfront cost can ballon with multiple lines, it's probably best to use Mint for family plans that serve just a couple people.
Mint earns points for flexibility in that you can mix and match the data allotments in family plans. That means the parents can opt for an unlimited plan for their lines of data, while assigning their kids smaller allotments of data.
What happens if I use up all my data?
If you're on a tiered plan with Mint Mobile and you hit your data cap, you won't be charged an overage fee. Instead, Mint will slow down your data speed for the rest of the billing cycle. Say you're on the 5GB plan, and you use up that data two-thirds of the way through the month — for the remainder of the month, you'll still be able to access data, but it will be at very slow speeds.
If you do need extra high-speed data, Mint will let you tack on 1GB for $10 or 3GB for $20.
Mint customers with an unlimited data plan face a cap of their own. If you use 40GB of data during a given month, Mint reserves the right to throttle your speeds until the end of the billing cycle. This is actually a common practice among carriers offering unlimited plans.
Is Mint Mobile a good carrier?
Currently, Mint Mobile takes fourth place in our guide to the best phone carriers. That puts it in quite a lofty position for a carrier that was only founded back in 2015. So why do we rank it so highly?
This comes down to a few factors, but the big reason is affordability. Overall, the best Mint Mobile plans have some of the lowest monthly rates, especially when you pay upfront. This makes them especially tempting in comparison to the likes of AT&T and Verizon.
Secondly, Mint uses the T-Mobile network to provide coverage. T-Mobile is one of the fastest networks around, giving Mint a leg up, as it can piggyback on the T-Mobile 5G network. (That assumes you get one of the best 5G phones, of course). A July 2024 report from third-party testing OpenSignal says T-Mobile offers the fastest speeds of any carrier and notes that it has the most extensive 5G availability. A report from RootMetrics is less complimentary, as it puts T-Mobile third overall behind Verizon and AT&T, though T-Mobile earns praise for its speeds, particularly when it comes to 5G.
Mint traffic slows down on T-Mobile's network if there's a lot of congestion. And Mint plans aren't as fully featured as T-Mobile's or as generous with families. You'll also find complaints from some users about Mint's customer service in places like Reddit forums. On Trustpilot, Mint averages a rating of 3 stars out of 5, with two-thirds of the 11,500-plus reviews giving 5-star ratings.
How do Mint phone plan prices compare to others?
Mint faces stiff competition from the likes of Visible, Xfinity Mobile, and Google Fi. All three carriers have their own claim to fame, like Visible's $25/mo unlimited plan including taxes and fees or Fi's overseas coverage from travelers. Even the Comcast-owned Xfinity Mobile has some attractive benefits, like a $40/mo unlimited plan with additional lines costing $20 each. The point being, Mint has a lot of benefits if you're willing to commit, but there are other equally good MVNOs with more traditional approaches to billing.
| Row 0 - Cell 0 | Monthly price | Network | Notes |
| Mint Mobile | $30 | T-Mobile | Requires upfront payment |
| Visible | $25 | Verizon | Taxes and fees included |
| Google Fi | $65 | T-Mobile | Includes overseas coverage when traveling |
| Xfinity Mobile | $40 | Verizon | Requires Xfinity internet account; extra lines cost $20 |
| Boost Mobile | $25 | Boost | Rate is guaranteed as long as you remain with Boost |
| Tello | $25 | T-Mobile | 5GB of hotspot data, with 35GB of high-speed data |
The best phones on Mint Mobile
When you're choosing a Mint Mobile plan, maybe you need a new phone as well. Mint also offers a selection of devices for purchase. If you're happy with your current phone, you can bring it over to Mint, provided that the phone is unlocked and compatible with a GSM network.Mint helps you double check that your phone is compatible
For people who've decided to upgrade their phone as they switch carriers, though, we'd recommend the following from Mint's selection of handsets.
Mint offers discounts on some of those devices. In other cases, you'll get six months of service for free when you purchase a phone from Mint. So it's certainly worth checking out Mint when you're in the market for one of the best phones currently available.
