Mint Mobile vs. Verizon: What’s the difference?

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  Solo or family savings

  
  Mint Mobile
  
  

  Mint Mobile is a T-Mobile-owned prepaid carrier with plans designed around multi-month discounts and plenty of data for most users. Mint Mobile supports a wide range of phones thanks to the T-Mobile network, so just about any unlocked phone can be activated. In addition, all Mint Mobile plans get T-Mobile’s best 5G coverage with mid-band support.

  Pros & Cons

  • Single line savings with multi-month discounts
  • Fast 5G coverage on the T-Mobile 5G network
  • Mint Family give 12-month rates at three-month renewals

  • Must buy at least three months
  • Weaker rural coverage than Verizon

  From $15/month
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  A la carte add-ons

  Verizon
  

  Verizon is one of the Big Three carriers, but it’s kept itself competitive with three unlimited plans and a wide selection of discounted add-ons. With Verizon’s massive LTE and growing 5G coverage, this carrier is a solid pick for anyone, as long as you want some of its add-ons, that is.

  Pros & Cons

  • Vast Verizon network offers excellent coverage
  • Better rural coverage
  • Multi-line discounts for families

  • Can get very expensive
  • Mid-band 5G coverage still falls short of T-Mobile’s
  • Weaker support for unlocked phones

  From $65/month

If you need a phone plan and don’t know where to start, Verizon could seem like an obvious choice thanks to years of excellent LTE coverage and memorable marketing. While the price of Verizon’s plans can balloon with copious add-ons, and its fastest 5G locked behind its bigger plans, if you take advantage of the right discounts, it can still be a solid pick.

Prepaid carriers, like Mint Mobile, have become much more attractive in recent years. They offer sensible plans and service that offer plenty of performance for most people. T-Mobile owns Mint Mobile, so Mint customers get access to T-Mobile’s impressive 5G network, which is even making progress in rural areas. Mint’s streamlined plans also give customers what they really want: fast data, low prices, and plenty of coverage in urban and suburban areas.

Mobile carrier features

Mint Mobile keeps things simple with plan terms and pricing that’s easy to understand. For many people, that’s exactly what they’re looking for coming from fee-laden postpaid carriers whose pricing is anything but straightforward. Mint’s plans include unlimited talk and text, high-speed data, hotspot data, and free calls to Mexico and Canada. In addition, the carrier runs exclusively on the T-Mobile network with full 5G support and up to 40GB of high-speed data on the largest plan.

Mint makes getting its best prices simple with multi-month discounts for those willing to pay more upfront. If you’ve got the cash in hand, this prepaid loyalty discount gives single-line customers a way to save on mobile data, whereas Verizon’s biggest discounts come from adding multiple lines.

Verizon’s plans, in contrast, are dripping with features and extras ranging from subscription services to discounts on home internet. Postpaid carriers are obsessed with customer retention, so Verizon wants to get as many of the services you use onto your Verizon bill as possible. This can help you get more organized in a world overflowing with easy-to-forget automatic renewals, but it also makes it harder to jump ship if another carrier offers a better deal.

Verizon includes Nationwide 5G support on all of its plans, but if you want Ultra Wideband 5G access, which includes C-band, you’ll need to pay for one of its two more premium plans. Verizon has simplified its plan structure with three postpaid unlimited plans and a focus on pushing add-ons.

Verizon’s add-ons aren’t to be ignored either. Verizon offers a wide range of add-ons, from streaming services to store memberships. The fact that most of these add-ons are cheaper than buying them directly from the company sweetens the deal even more. For example, you can get a Disney bundle with Hulu, ESPN+, and Disney+ for around the same price as getting Disney+ on its own.

Mobile coverage and reception

Mint Mobile uses T-Mobile’s network for coverage with full access to 5G including the faster mid-band 5G bands labeled as Ultra Capacity 5G. This fast 5G network is the largest of any carrier, but some customers outside the city may still see LTE or low-band 5G frequently. Still, T-Mobile is the clear victor regarding 5G coverage, and if you stay inside the city limits most of the time, you should have excellent 5G coverage.

T-Mobile’s mid-band 5G network now reaches the vast majority of Americans, miles ahead of the competition thanks to T-Mobile’s purchase of Sprint and its spectrum. To better understand what sort of coverage to expect, refer to Mint Mobile’s coverage map. To make sure it works with your phone in your area, you can even try Mint Mobile’s network for seven days.

Verizon builds and maintains its own mobile network and has done a great job doing so. Verizon has won numerous awards for its network quality and regularly wins reliability awards, but when it comes to 5G, especially fast mid-band 5G, Verizon got a late start and is still working at pace to catch up to T-Mobile. Verizon’s 5G coverage has made up a lot of ground with a lot of cities and towns having at least some 5G coverage, but you’ll still more than likely see LTE or even low-band 5G from time to time.

While Verizon’s 5G network falls short of T-Mobile’s in most respects, Verizon has a coverage advantage in rural areas. So if you live in the country or frequently travel through it, there’s a good chance Verizon will give you a better overall experience with roaming filling in other gaps. Speaking of roaming, if you’re heading to Puerto Rico, Mint Mobile has strong 5G coverage across most of the island, while Verizon uses third-party LTE roaming. Check Verizon’s coverage map to determine which network is strong where you live and work.

One thing to remember about coverage is that it’s highly dependent on your location. Just because one carrier works for someone you know doesn’t mean it will be the best for you. If you pick a carrier and you’re not getting the coverage you need, don’t waste time waiting for improvements, get a refund.

Phone compatibility

For a phone to work with a certain carrier, it must support that carrier’s wireless bands. Luckily, most of the best Android phones will happily work on either Verizon or Mint Mobile, so you’ll have plenty of options with both carriers. Mint Mobile, however, has an edge when it comes to unlocked or international models. You can even use international models like the Nothing Phone 2a on Mint Mobile if you prefer a more unique device.

For the best 5G compatibility on Mint Mobile, the best Mint Mobile phone plans support bands n71 for nationwide 5G and n41 for mid-band 5G. Similarly, the best Verizon phones will support bands n2 and n5, and C-band at band n77. The more bands your phone supports, the better your speeds can be, especially with carriers using multiple bands simultaneously with carrier aggregation to improve speeds.

Plans

Before getting into the details of each carrier’s plans, consider the difference between a prepaid and a postpaid plan. A prepaid plan like Mint Mobile’s is straightforward, with no credit checks or contracts to worry about. However, Mint’s renewal will charge you before you receive service, so you don’t get service if your payment doesn’t clear.

On the other hand, Verizon will perform a credit check to open an account. You’ll also pay for your service after using it, so make sure you can. That also means that the taxes, fees, and payment plans for your new phone could be surprising if you weren’t expecting them. Either way, you have to pay. If you’re fine with prepaid or postpaid, you have many plan options.

Mint Mobile’s plans

Mint has four plans available with three term lengths. You can choose from a 5GB, 15GB, 20GB, or unlimited plan in three, six, or 12-month increments. The monthly price is lower when you pay for a longer-term upfront, so renewing for a year is the best way to save if you’re happy with your Mint service. Mint is running a promotion that brings the price of all of its plans to $15 per month for the first three months, so you can see how much data you’ll actually need. Just be sure to select the plan you want when you renew if you’ve started with a bigger plan.

Mint’s three base data plans come with high-speed data that can be used on your phone or with your mobile hotspot. All Mint plans also include unlimited talk and text, including calls to Mexico and Canada. If you use up your data and need more, you can add more data on the data plans at $10 for 1GB or $20 for 3GB.

Mint’s unlimited plan includes truly unlimited data and 10GB of hotspot data. Like the other plans, calling and texting are unlimited, including calls to Mexico and Canada. If you’re not using all of your data, Mint will recommend a plan that better suits your needs to save you some cash. On the flip side, if you use more than 35GB of data a month, your data may be deprioritized during peak times, but your speed will never be throttled.

Mint Family is a multi-line manager that allows you to bring up to five lines to Mint Mobile. Although Mint doesn’t offer a specific discount for family plans, Mint Family includes Mint’s best rates. The plan is renewed every three months instead of 12 to make the hit on your wallet a bit easier to bear.

You don’t need to fret if you’re unsure which one to pick. Mint allows you to upgrade mid-cycle to a larger plan if needed. You can also get any Mint Mobile plan for $15 per month for the first three months, so you have some time to see how much data you need before renewing for a whole year.

Verizon’s plans

Verizon’s latest plan update saw its old plan bundles parted out into just three starting points; Unlimited Basic, Unlimited Plus, and Unlimited Ultimate. Verizon wants customers to attach extra services to their plans, including plan add-ons, including streaming subscriptions, plan upgrades, and even shopping. At $10 each per month, these perks — such as Walmart+, Apple One, or Disney streaming bundle with Disney+, Hulu, and ESPN+ — are also cheaper when purchased through Verizon.

Starting with Unlimited Welcome, you get basic unlimited data with no Ultra Wideband 5G access. That means you’ll use nationwide 5G or LTE for your coverage, which is fine for most people. If you want the best data speeds, and you have Ultra Wideband coverage in your area, Unlimited Plus could be a worthwhile upgrade.

Unlimited Plus upgrades the 5G coverage to Ultra Wideband and also upgrades the general data performance with premium data. Premium data is treated as a higher priority, so Unlimited Plus could significantly outperform Unlimited Welcome in a congested area. Unlimited Plus also gets 30GB of hotspot data and gets HD video streaming on LTE and nationwide 5G. If you’re connected to Ultra Wideband, there’s no streaming video quality limit or hotspot data cap. You can also get 50% off a connected device plan, such as a plan for a tablet.

Unlimited Ultimate is Verizon’s most recent addition. It includes all the perks of Unlimited Plus with a few key upgrades. The hotspot data has been upgraded to 60GB, and LTE and 5G streaming get a bump to 1080p. You can also get 50% off two connected device plans. You get talk, text, and data in 210+ countries.

Verizon’s advertised prices require autopay and paper-free billing, and $10 is added to each line if you don’t use it. Of course, bringing multiple lines is the best way to save with Verizon. All of Verizon’s postpaid plans are cheaper (per line) when you bring more than one.

If you’re looking to save money, Verizon has promo credits for those who bring their phones to Verizon. You can get up to $180 with Unlimited Welcome or up to $540 with the two larger plans. When it’s time to upgrade your phone, you also get more savings with the larger plans.

Verizon offers home internet service over fiber with its Fios service and 5G with its 5G Home internet service. If you bundle one of these home internet plans with your wireless plan, you can get a solid discount. Unlimited Welcome customers can get internet service for $40 while Unlimited Plus and Ultimate can get it for $25.

Which is right for you?

Overall, Mint Mobile is a better value. While cheaper plans don’t offer a lot of data, the fact of the matter is that most users don’t need that much data. Plus, using our phones on Wi-Fi doesn’t count against our plan data, so usage will be much lower than expected for folks with Wi-Fi access at home and work. Check your phone’s data usage in your settings or look for a summary on your last phone bill to get an idea of how much you use.

Mint Mobile also offers discounts that single-line accounts can take advantage of with multi-month savings. If you’re going out on your own and want an affordable plan that works on the phone you already own, Mint Mobile could be just what you’ve been looking for. Furthermore, with Mint Family, Mint Mobile could be the right plan for your entire family.

Verizon’s multi-line discounts and subscription bonuses do a lot to take the edge off Verizon’s expensive plans. Verizon’s excellent coverage makes it a great pick for those in rural areas, too, and the inclusion of roaming means that even if you find a dead zone, there’s a good chance you’ll still be able to use your phone. Verizon also often offers deals on new phones for those willing to sign up for a 36-month payment plan. With some steep phone discounts, Verizon could be a great pick for many families.

Verizon’s latest plan update, including Unlimited Welcome, Unlimited Plus, and Unlimited Ultimate, has made the carrier more flexible. These plans allow customers to pick the data features they need independently of add-ons and perks, unlike the plans of the past where perks were locked to the most expensive plans. It also means that if you want the most data but don’t need streaming, you can save compared to the old plans. If you already pay for a lot of streaming services, you could build a cost-effective bundle with the carrier and vastly simplify your billing.