Mint Mobile vs. Cricket Wireless: AT&T’s prepaid underdog takes the crown

• Fixed data savings

  Mint Mobile

  Mint Mobile, owned by T-Mobile, is a prepaid carrier that sets itself apart with multi-month data plans that make it easy to save whether you have one line or five. Mint’s plans range from 5GB to 40GB, so just about anyone can find a plan that works.

  Pros

  • Multi-month discounts available on all plans
  • Strong 5G coverage with T-Mobile
  • Multi-line savings with Mint Family

  Cons

  • Must buy three months
  • Taxes and fees are extra
  • No truly unlimited plan

  From $15/month

• Savings on unlimited data

  Cricket Wireless

  Cricket Wireless is owned by AT&T, but is structured less like a side project and more like a standalone carrier. Cricket offers four plans with multi-line discounts for families with taxes and fees included. The unlimited plan is even available with an annual discount.

  Pros

  • Truly unlimited data available
  • Multi-line and annual savings available
  • Taxes and fees included

  Cons

  • Plans are expensive for a single line
  • Some plans lack hotspot usage
  • AT&T 5G coverage falls short of T-Mobile

  From $30/month

Cricket Wireless has become one of the best deals in wireless thanks to its unlimited data plans and affordable light plans. Most of its plans support multi-line discounts, too, so you can save when you bring the whole family. Need only one line? You can save by paying for up to a year of service with the base unlimited plan. Cricket used to also have a speed cap, but that's been lifted, so performance is solid on both LTE and 5G on AT&T’s network.

Mint Mobile, on the other hand, has a fairly unique structure, with four plan options and three multi-month payment options for each one. With Mint, you can pay for three, six, or 12 months upfront with greater savings for those willing to subscribe for longer. Since it’s owned by T-Mobile, Mint Mobile uses that network for all of its coverage, including full access to 5G.

Mobile carrier features

T-Mobile-owned Mint Mobile has made a fairly big splash as a prepaid carrier with clever marketing and appealing promotions. Still, its plans haven’t changed much recently, and with competition heating up, Mint doesn’t stand out nearly as much as it once did.

Mint’s four plans are all available with three-, six-, or 12-month payments, with greater savings for those willing to pay for a longer term. Luckily, you can get your first three months for the 12-month price, so if it doesn’t work out, you’re not stuck with the carrier for too long.

If you’re bringing multiple lines, Mint Family gives you Mint’s best rates renewed every three months instead of 12 when you bring two to five lines to your Mint plan. You can choose any Mint plan and mix and match so you can get the best plan for each member of the family. All phones will be on the T-Mobile network, but for most people, that means strong 5G coverage with the best average data speeds, according to a report from Ookla.

Mint’s plans all get some hotspot data, so if you need to get another device online, such as a tablet or game system like Nintendo Switch online while you’re away from Wi-Fi, you can. Mint’s fixed data plans share their primary data pool with the hotspot, while the unlimited plan comes with 10GB of dedicated hotspot data.

Looking to head out of the country? Mint Mobile offers a Minternational Pass for one, three, or 10 days that comes with international roaming data, talk time, and texts if you need it. If you’re just looking to call friends or family in Mexico or Canada, that’s free with Mint.

Cricket is owned by AT&T and uses the AT&T network for all of its coverage, which, for most people, means strong LTE and 5G coverage nationwide. While 5G hasn’t been as big a focus for AT&T as it has for T-Mobile, for the most part, AT&T has plenty of speed for most people. Cricket can also be a strong option for very heavy users, since its unlimited plans are truly unlimited, while Mint only offers 40GB of high-speed data on its unlimited plan.

When it comes to price, Cricket is fairly expensive for a single line, unless you pay for up to a year of service. Like Mint, Cricket customers can save by paying for three months or 12 months of service, but only on the base unlimited plan. If, instead, you have multiple lines, Cricket offers multi-line discounts on most of its plans. Looking for a $25 unlimited plan? You can get it for one line with an annual plan, or with four lines monthly on the same plan.

If you’re heading to Mexico or Canada for vacation, your Cricket phone will continue to work at no extra charge. Keep in mind, however, that your speeds may be severely reduced in Mexico and Canada. Still, it’s nice that you don’t need to worry about overage or finding a travel SIM. Last but certainly not least, Cricket’s plan prices include taxes and fees, so you know exactly how much your bill will be when it comes time to pay.

Mobile coverage and reception

The T-Mobile network used by Mint Mobile doesn’t have a great reputation when it comes to coverage, but over the past few years, the carrier has done a lot to improve it. T-Mobile has the most 5G coverage of any US carrier thanks to its low-band spectrum used for its nationwide coverage, with fast 2.5GHz mid-band spectrum improving speeds in populated areas. Today, T-Mobile is one of the best carriers for urban or suburban areas.

While Mint’s coverage is strong for most people, it still has some significant gaps in rural areas. Check your area on Mint’s coverage map to make sure you’ll have some coverage available. If you’ve got an unlocked phone, you can try Mint’s network with a 7-day free trial.

When it comes to 5G, AT&T is catching up to T-Mobile and has made up a lot of ground with low-band 5G, though mid-band coverage is still lacking. You can expect AT&T to keep expanding over the next few years, but it’s not a good idea to buy something on a promise, so check Cricket’s coverage map to see what you can expect in your area. If you’ve got coverage, you can further check out the service with a 14-day free trial.

Phone compatibility

If you’re shopping for the best Android phones you can buy, you’ll be happy to know that they should work on either of these carriers without issue. Phones like the Samsung Galaxy S24, the Google Pixel 9 Pro, or the Moto G Stylus 5G 2024 should work fine on either carrier. You can check your IMEI with Mint’s compatibility tool, or Cricket’s compatibility tool to make sure your current phone will work on the carrier.

For the best 5G support on Mint’s T-Mobile network, your phone should support bands n71 and n41. T-Mobile can also use some of its bands together with carrier aggregation for even faster speeds. For the most part, if you’ve got a phone designed for the US market, you should have no trouble getting connected.

On AT&T, n5 and n77 are the most important bands, with the former offering strong coverage and the latter offering improved mid-band speeds. Both of these carriers also have some mmWave coverage in cities and arenas on bands n260 and n261.

Plans

The biggest differences between these two carriers are the plans they offer. Mint Mobile’s plans all have a similar structure with some amount of high-speed data and three options for payments.

Cricket’s plans look more like something you’d find at a postpaid carrier with a couple of light fixed-data plans and two unlimited options with multi-line discounts. When choosing between these two carriers’ plans, one of the most important things to know is how much data you use in an average month.

Mint’s plans

Mint Mobile has four plans to choose from, with each available with three, six, or 12-month payments. Mint’s three smallest plans, the 5GB, 15GB, and 20GB plans, are all fairly similar apart from their data size.

With these plans, you get unlimited talk and text with a fixed amount of data. If you want to use a mobile hotspot, your data will be shared with the primary pool. If you use all of your data, your speed will be slowed until the end of the month. If you want faster data, you can add it at $10 for 1GB or $20 for 3GB. If you frequently go over, you can upgrade your Mint Mobile plan to the next one up by paying the difference.

Mint’s Unlimited plan works a bit differently with 40GB of high-speed data to use on your phone, plus another 10GB of data to use with a mobile hotspot. This is Mint’s largest plan, so if you typically use more than 40GB of data in a month and don’t think you’ll be able to reduce it, Mint may not be the carrier for you.

If you have multiple lines, you’ll want to sign up with Mint Family. Mint Family doesn’t directly discount the plans but instead offers Mint’s best rates renewed at three months instead of 12. This makes it a bit easier to pay for the whole family since you’ll still need to pay for three months at once for all the lines you’re bringing.

Mint Mobile’s prices don’t include taxes and fees, so your final price will end up being a few dollars more than the advertised price. In addition to taxes and government fees, Mint charges a recovery fee; it can look quite steep since, like the phone plan, you’re paying for a year of fees at once, but they’re fairly standard when broken down by month.

Cricket’s plans

From its plans, Cricket looks a lot more like a standard postpaid carrier than Mint, with two fixed data plans, two unlimited plans, and multi-line discounts.

Starting at the cheaper end, there’s a 5GB plan coming in at $30 per month. This plan gets unlimited talk and text, but unlike the rest of Cricket’s plans, does not come with usage in Mexico and Canada. This is also Cricket’s only plan that doesn’t have multi-line savings. If you need a 5GB plan, Mint Mobile makes more sense.

Moving up to the 10GB plan, you not only get more data, but also usage in Mexico and Canada, and international add-ons are available. If you’re looking to head out of the country with Cricket, this should be your minimum option. It starts at $40 per month, but with multi-line discounts, it’s a bit more affordable for families. That said, most people would be happier with the Unlimited plan, which can be even cheaper with four lines.

For most people, Cricket’s standard unlimited plan will make the most sense whether you’ve only got one line or four. If you’re looking for a $25 unlimited plan, this is one of your best bets, but you’ll need to jump through a couple of hoops. While this plan starts at a fairly steep $55 per month, if you bring four lines, it’s just $100 per month or $25 per line. If you’re alone, you can pay for a year of service upfront ($300), which works out to $25 per month.

Cricket’s standard unlimited plan is a bit too stripped down for some, however, with no hotspot data at all. While an add-on is available for monthly plans, if you’re paying for a year, there’s no hotspot add-on. At least, international support has improved with usage in Mexico and Canada plus unlimited texting to 37 other countries.

At the top, there's Unlimited + 15GB Mobile Hotspot, which has a lot more upgrades than the name implies, and higher priority data alongside the 15GB of hotspot data. This plan is more like a postpaid AT&T plan on a congested network. You also get 150GB of cloud storage to back up your photos and videos.

With Max with Ads streaming also included, this is Cricket’s best plan for those who love to stream, even if video streaming is limited to SD on all Cricket plans.

Most people should be able to find a Cricket plan that fits all of their needs. If you’re only looking for a data SIM for something like a tablet or laptop, Cricket offers 20GB, 100GB, and 150GB data-one plans. Cricket also offers a smartwatch add-on plan for $10 per month if you’ve picked up one of the best smartwatch for Android with LTE support.

Which should you buy?

Both Cricket and Mint Mobile offer some very competitive values, but you’ll either need to pay for multiple months or bring multiple lines to get the best values on either.

With Cricket, however, its base unlimited plan makes a lot of sense for heavier users thanks to a multi-month option that brings it down to $25 per month for single-line accounts, and a four-line deal that brings it to $25 per line. With taxes and fees included, Cricket Wireless is one of the best options for families looking for unlimited data.

Cricket is also great for those in rural areas that could benefit from AT&T’s larger coverage area. While T-Mobile is getting performance victories one after another in cities and towns, when you get to the countryside, AT&T still has the edge.

Cricket Wireless

With both multi-line discounts and multi-month discounts, Cricket is a good choice for anyone looking for unlimited data on AT&T’s network. If you’re a light user, Cricket’s 5GB and 10GB plans are also available, though if you’re bringing multiple lines, you might as well go with unlimited.

From $30/month

Mint Mobile’s wide range of plans makes it a great option for those that don’t need unlimited data, and have a good idea of how much they need. Mint’s 5GB plan, for example, is still an excellent deal, and half the price of Cricket’s 5GB plan.

Mint Mobile is also a good pick for those who want to stay on the T-Mobile network, whether it’s for fast 5G or just better coverage in your area. With Mint, your best bet is to get a year of service if you can afford it, but you can try out your first three months at a discount to make sure the service works for you.

Mint Mobile

Mint Mobile’s multi-month values aren’t as unique as they once were, but with plenty of data for most people and the T-Mobile network being stronger than ever, Mint Mobile can still be a good pick for a lot of people.

From $15/month