Mint Mobile vs. T-Mobile: Which Provider Suits You Best?
Mint Mobile vs. T-Mobile is a question that has undoubtedly been on the minds of many mobile phone users in recent months, given the former’s incredibly high-profile ad campaign. Because they’re both on the same network, they’re also instantly cross-compatible – which begs the question: which one is best for you?
On one side is Mint Mobile, a smaller service that we put at the top of our list of the best prepaid phone plans. On the other hand, T-Mobile, a renowned phone plan giant that specializes in offering some of the best unlimited data plans around.
In short, both will appeal to a very different type of user and both have advantages and disadvantages. To help you decide which is right for you, we’ve put together this head-to-head Mint Mobile vs. T-Mobile to see how they stack up when it comes to price, features, speed, and service – including a handy verdict and summary at the bottom of the page.
Mint Mobile vs. T-Mobile: at a glance
| Row 0 – Cell 0 | Coin mobile | T-Mobile |
| Contract duration | No contract (subscriptions from 3 to 12 months) | No contract (24 months device payments) |
| 5G data | Up to 45 GB (128 Kb/s thereafter) | Yes (usage restrictions for some plans) |
| Video streaming | 480p | 4K UHD (480p on some plans) |
| Streaming benefits | No | Netflix (with Go5G Plus subscription) |
| International calling | 60 countries | Mexico and Canada (Intl. extra) |
| International roaming | No | Yes (with Go5G Plus subscription) |
| Mobile hotspots | limit of 10 GB on an unlimited plan | Unlimited 3G speed, 50 GB maximum 5G speeds |
| Deprioritization | Yes | Yes (only after 50GB+ use) |
| Family plans | Yes | Yes |
Prices
If you’re on a strict budget, Mint Mobile is definitely the cheaper of the two options on average. For example, for a single-line user, you’ll generally pay about half ($30 vs. $60 pm) for Mint Mobile’s unlimited data plan compared to T-Mobile’s comparable Essentials Unlimited plan. However, you get slightly less 5G data allowance on Mint Mobile (45GB vs. 50GB of Essential Plan).
Key facts
Plan prices
Currency: $15 to $40 per month
T-Mobile: $50 to $100 per month (1 line)
Family discounts
Currency: No (but you pay less upfront)
T-Mobile: Yes (maximum 5 lines)
Where things start to weigh in T-Mobile’s favor is in its excellent family data plan options. Like most major providers, T-Mobile gives you a discount on each line if you have multiple subscriptions. However, unlike most major carriers, T-Mobile offers the third line for free, making the three- to four-line options particularly competitive. With three lines on your account, you only pay $90 per month for the Essentials plan and $130 for the Go5G plan. The latter includes 6 months of Apple TV+ and a free Netflix Standard account.
It’s worth noting that Mint Mobile actually has one own family subscriptionwhich is a relatively recent addition to the carrier. It’s not completely analogous to T-Mobile’s, as you don’t get a per-line discount based on the number of lines you add. However, you do get each line at the cheapest (annual) rate, while you only have to pay for three months at a time. It’s a useful addition to the carrier’s current benefits offering because it can reduce the administrative burden associated with maintaining multiple accounts and make prepaid payments easier to manage.
Features, speed and service
As we already pointed out and discussed in the comparison table above, T-Mobile offers the most feature-packed plans of the two carriers, but at a significant cost.
Key facts
Plan benefits
Currency: No
T-Mobile: Netflix, T-Mobile Tuesday
Free hotspot
Currency: Yes (10 GB allowed)
T-Mobile: Yes (up to 50 GB allowed)
International roaming
Currency: No
T-Mobile: Yes
International calls
Currency: free to Can & Mex
T-Mobile: free to Can & Mex
Deprivation
Currency: Yes
T-Mobile: No (subscription dependent)
Depending on the plan, you’ll score things like a free Netflix account, basic international roaming, and the “T-Mobile Tuesdays” benefits program, which gives you access to discounts and in-store giveaways. By comparison, Mint Mobile plans are a pretty stripped-down affair, though you still get the basics like a mobile hotspot and free Wi-Fi calling.
In terms of speed, both carriers offer 5G data plans and operate on the larger T-Mobile network. Simply put, both should get comparable speed and service, although it’s worth noting that as a prepaid provider, Mint Mobile is subject to what’s called “deprioritization.” This essentially means that your data speeds may be slowed down if the local area is busy, as T-Mobile will always prioritize the data speeds of its own customers, primarily over those of sub-carriers running on its network. This is a relatively complex issue that may or may not be a major problem depending on your local region. It’s also worth noting that some T-Mobile plans also experience slower speeds after exceeding a certain data limit (50 GB on basic).
It’s also worth noting that as an MVNO, Mint Mobile does not participate in the major roaming agreements with carriers, which could mean worse coverage in areas not specifically covered by T-Mobile network towers. With T-Mobile, if you are in an area with poor coverage, the service will essentially “borrow” coverage from AT&T or Verizon and vice versa.
What about T-Mobile prepaid?
In addition to the more well-known ‘postpaid’ unlimited plans, T-Mobile also has a number of prepaid plans to try out for those who want to subscribe to the service but want to spend a little less. T-Mobile’s current range of prepaid plans range from a basic 10GB plan for $40 per month to a more expensive ‘Unlimited Plus’ data plan for $60 per month, all of which are available with multi-line savings (just like the postpaid T subscriptions). -Mobile options).
Overall, if you’re thinking about going prepaid, Mint Mobile seems like the strongest option for pure value at the moment. Aside from potential deprioritization issues, Mint Mobile’s basic unlimited plan absolutely smokes the T-Mobile Unlimited Plus plan for real value. At $30 a month it’s half the price and you still have the same mobile hotspot allowance.
The only scenario where we might see someone opting for a T-Mobile prepaid plan over Mint is if they don’t want to pay for several months of data at once. As previously mentioned, Mint Mobile’s cheapest average prices are only possible if you purchase an entire year of service at once. If you can get past the lump sum up front, Mint is much cheaper in the longer term.
Pronunciation
Both Mint Mobile and T-Mobile are absolutely great providers, but each will certainly appeal to a different type of user. For those who are really on a budget and don’t mind having just the basics, then Mint Mobile is definitely the way to go. While T-Mobile is relatively cheap compared to the other major carriers (especially with its family plans), you simply can’t get the same kind of reasonable data caps and rock-bottom prices with this carrier as what Mint offers.
On the other hand, for those who want a truly unlimited plan, no deprioritization and HD video streaming, T-Mobile is going to offer just that. Of course, you’ll spend about double with Mint for a single-line plan, but Mint Mobile simply doesn’t offer things like unlimited priority data or HD streaming, so it’s a pretty easy decision if that’s important to you.
Which other carriers should I consult?
As a network, T-Mobile has no shortage of excellent subcarriers (MVNOs) to consider. The first is T-Mobile’s Metro, which offers slightly cheaper prepaid plans across the board than its parent company, but still retains a few perks like free music streaming and Amazon Prime membership on its more expensive plans. On a baseline from $40 per month for the 10 GB/month planMetro is somewhere in the middle in terms of value. Boost Mobile is another great choice with plans starting at $25 per month for its excellent basic unlimited plan. Priced competitively against Mint, Boost also offers a basic unlimited data plan for $25 per month, albeit with slightly less mobile hotspot and 5G data cap than the competition.
If you’re looking for even more great alternatives, we definitely recommend heading over to our Best Cheap Cell Phone Plans guide for a comprehensive list of options.