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Is Mint Mobile's New Family Plan Worth It?

Mint Mobile's new family plan lets users get the annual pricing discounts while paying quarterly for the service. But is $15/month per line worth it? How does Mint stack up against the competition?
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Mint Mobile 5GB
1 Line
1 Line
T-Mobile
$
15
/mo.
+tax
tax included
5GB
high-speed, then data stops
high-speed
high-speed, then 128Kbps
Deprioritized
Deprioritized
Included Hotspot
No Hotspot
Add-on Hotspot
No hotspot
4K Streaming
Unlimited Minutes
Unlimited Texts
Mint Mobile 15GB
1 Line
1 Line
T-Mobile
$
20
/mo.
+tax
tax included
15GB
high-speed, then data stops
high-speed
high-speed, then 128Kbps
Deprioritized
Deprioritized
Included Hotspot
No Hotspot
Add-on Hotspot
No hotspot
4K Streaming
Unlimited Minutes
Unlimited Texts
Mint Mobile 20GB
1 Line
1 Line
T-Mobile
$
25
/mo.
+tax
tax included
20GB
high-speed, then data stops
high-speed
high-speed, then 128Kbps
Deprioritized
Deprioritized
Included Hotspot
No Hotspot
Add-on Hotspot
No hotspot
4K Streaming
Unlimited Minutes
Unlimited Texts
Mint Mobile Unlimited
1 Line
1 Line
T-Mobile
$
30
/mo.
+tax
tax included
40GB
high-speed, then data stops
high-speed
high-speed, then 512Kbps
Deprioritized
Deprioritized
Included Hotspot
10GB Hotspot
Add-on Hotspot
10GB hotspot
480p SD Streaming
Unlimited Minutes
Unlimited Texts
In this article:

Mint Mobile just launched a new family plan they're calling “The Mint Modern Family Plan.”

This plan lets families with as few as two lines get Mint’s annual pricing discount and while paying quarterly for the service. 

But is the new Mint Modern Family Plan worth it?

How does it stack up against the competition?

In this article, I'm explaining everything you need to know about the Mint Modern Family Plan.

I’ll cover:

  • What the Mint Family plan is
  • How the Mint Family plan works
  • How to create a Mint Family
  • If Mint's plan is worth it for families with two to four lines

Let's dive in!

What Is Mint Mobile?

First, what even is Mint Mobile? 

Mint Mobile is a small prepaid carrier, also called an MVNO, that runs on the T-Mobile network for coverage. 

Mint offers four plans to choose from:

All of Mint's plans also include features like visual voicemail, Wi-Fi calling, mobile hotspot, 5G access on T-Mobile's fast 5G network, and even eSIM activations. 

The big reason Mint’s plans are so affordable is they sell their service in bulk. You sign up for either 3, 6, or 12 months of service at a time.

Suggested: How Mint Mobile Is So Cheap

How Mint’s Service & Bulk Pricing Works

Here's how Mint Mobile’s service and pricing works. 

Let's use the 4GB plan as an example. 

When you first sign up, new customers get the 3-month plan at the 12-month price. 

That means the 4GB plan would be $45 upfront for your first 3 months of service, an equivalent of $15 per month.

At the end of your first 3 months, you have the choice to renew the plan for either 3, 6, or 12 months. 

Graphics of Mint Mobile plan showing intro price for new customers and renewal options and prices after your first three months of service

If you renew for 3 months, your rate increases to the regular 3-month price. For the 4GB plan, that would be $75 upfront for three months of service, which is $25 per month.

If you renew for 12 months, you keep the same great rate on your service. The 4GB plan is $180 upfront for the the12-month option, which gives you the same $15 per month rate as the intro offer.

This bulk pricing model worked well for individuals, but there was a problem for families. 

If a family of four signed up for the unlimited plan, they were paying $1,440 upfront for a year of service. That's a LOT of money for people to pay at once, especially for a budget-focused carrier trying to help people lower their wireless bills. 

So with the new Mint Modern Family Plan, Mint Mobile has fixed that issue.

The New Mint Modern Family Plan

The new Mint Modern family plan fixes the issue of huge upfront costs for families. 

Now, when you have two or more lines join a Mint Family, you have the ability to pay quarterly for the service for all lines on the account. 

Mint Mobile's new modern family plan lets members pay quarterly for the service, which is every 3 months
Mint Mobile's new modern family plan lets members pay quarterly for the service, which is every 3 months

This means for our example earlier, the price would go from $1,680 upfront to $360 per quarter. 

That is way less money to be paying at once, and it helps make the billing more manageable for families. 

5 Things You Need To Know About Mint’s Family Plan Before You Sign Up

Here are five more things you need to know about the Mint's New Family plan: 

1. Each line can be on a different  plan

If one line needs a little data they can get the 4GB plan, and if another line needs a lot of data they can be on the unlimited plan.

You can mix-and-match plans on the Mint Modern Family Plan
You can mix-and-match plans on the Mint Modern Family Plan

2. Each line has its own separate billing cycle

If one line signed up in January, you would pay quarterly in April, July, and October before the full plan renews again in January.

And if another line signed up in March, you would pay quarterly in June, September, and December before the plan is renewed again in March.

Staggering when your lines originally sign up for service can be another great way to help lower how much you pay at one time. 

Graphic illustrating each Mint Mobile line is billed on its own separate billing cycle that occurs every three months after the initial plan activation
Each Mint Mobile line has its own separate billing cycle. You are billed every 3 months after your initial sign-up date with the quarterly billing system.

3. Any line can upgrade to a higher tier data plan at any time

If you choose to upgrade plans, the change takes effect immediately You instantly get a fresh new bucket of data.

For example, if you're on the 4GB plan and run out, you can upgrade to the 10GB plan and you'll immediately get 10 fresh gigabytes of data that you can use for the remainder of the month.

Whenever you upgrade plans, you pay a pro-rated difference between the plan you signed up for and the plan you switch to. 

You can upgrade plans at any time on Mint Mobile, and all you do is pay a pro-rated difference between the cost of the plans. When you upgrade, you're instantly given a fresh amount of data to use for the rest of the month

4. You need to have auto-pay turned on

To create a Mint Family, the primary account holder, aka the person inviting everyone to join their family, needs to have auto-pay turned on.

This helps ensure there is never a break in your service.

The credit or debit card on the primary account holder's account will also be used to pay for all plans, plan changes, plan add-ons, and international features for everyone in the family.

I recommend using a service like Privacy.com for your payment method because you can set spending limits and easily lock the card if you need to. 

5. Anyone can join or leave the family plan at any time

If you do choose to leave, then the remaining quarterly payments for your specific line will be due immediately. And you'll be responsible for paying for them, not the primary account holder. 

How To Create A Mint Mobile Family Plan

Okay, so how do you create a Mint Family?

To create a Mint Family, you need friends or family members (or other people you know) to have active lines of Mint Mobile service.

If you’re not on Mint Mobile already, they built a helpful tool on their website that lets you select how many lines you need and exactly what plan to get for each line.

Each SIM kit comes pre-loaded with three months of service. 

Watch the activation guide below to see exactly how to activate your service:

Once you activate each line individually, you can add them to a Mint Family. 

Pick one line to be the primary account holder. Then in the Mint Mobile app, go to Account > My Mint Family, and tap “Create.” Then tap “Start a Mint Family” at the bottom.

Add the first person to your family by entering a nickname for the line, entering the person’s Mint Mobile number, and tapping “Continue.” 

The member you invited will receive a text message with a link to join your family. When they accept, they’ll need to enter the unique code displayed in your Mint Mobile app. You can text this code to them ahead of time (the code doesn’t change) so they are able to join at any time within 24 hours. 

Two phones. One phone shows what the screen looks like when you send an invitation to join a Mint Family. The second phone shows the screen for a recipient trying to join a Mint Family.
Members have 24 hours to accept the invitation to join your family. They'll need to enter their unique code to join.

Once a member has joined your family, you’ll see their line in your Mint Family dashboard. 

You can tap on any line from the dashboard to manage its plan, see its data usage, and switch it over to the new quarterly billing cycle.

To learn more about how exactly to set up a Mint Mobile family, check out the post below:

Suggested: How to Create a Mint Mobile Family Plan (with Pictures)

How To Enable Quarterly Billing

One big thing to note here is that the new quarterly billing system is not applied automatically.

Instead, you need to change each line to be on the plans that are billed quarterly. 

Here’s how to do it:

On member lines, tap the line from the Mint Family dashboard. Then select “Change Plan.”

Here, tap “Pay over time” in the top right, and then select which plan you want at the bottom.

The line will switch over to the new plan at the start of its next billing cycle, and you’ll now pay quarterly for the service.

On the primary account holder’s line, you’ll change the plan as you normally would. 

Tap the “My Plan” tab in the bottom navigation. Then tap “View Plans” in the top right, and select “Pay over time.” 

From here, you can choose what plan you’d like, and on your next renewal date you’ll switch over to the new plan.

Is Mint Mobile Worth It?

To find out how Mint's plan stacks up against the competition, I built an epic family plan comparison tool

The tool lets you select what network you want, what carrier you want, and the number of lines you have to easily compare available family plans that meet your needs.

For this comparison, let's compare Mint Mobile to AT&T, Cricket Wireless, Google Fi, Metro by T-Mobile, T-Mobile, T-Mobile Prepaid, US Mobile, Verizon, Visible, and Walmart Family Mobile. 

And let’s do this for one to four lines. 

2 Line Comparison

Mint Mobile price comparison for two lines

For two lines, you can immediately see Mint Mobile's Family Plan is worth it. 

Mint’s plans are some of the most affordable options for two-person families, ranging from $15 to $30 per line. 

People who use between 4GB and 15GB of data per month will especially benefit from Mint’s family plans.

Even Mint’s $30 35GB plan is a great option here.

The next cheapest plans come from Google Fi, US Mobile, Verizon Prepaid, and T-Mobile Prepaid.

Google Fi is typically appealing for its included international features. However, at $28 per line for just 1GB of data per line, it’s definitely overpriced.

Now, US Mobile does look better here because they offer 75GB per person for $30/line. 

But keep in mind this plan is on the Verizon network. If you use US Mobile on the T-Mobile Network, which is what Mint uses, then you're only getting the same 35GB of high-speed data per person. 

Also, you'll note hotspot data is an add-on with US Mobile, whereas it's included for Mint Mobile.

Verizon’s 5GB prepaid plan and T-Mobile’s 10GB prepaid plan are also here, but for $30 and $35 per line respectively, these plans are simply overpriced.

Finally, if you want truly unlimited data for two lines––which, I’ll remind you most people do not need as average data use is only at 14.6GB per month right now––then you are bumping up to $37 per month per line for a plan from Walmart Family Mobile. 

So for two lines, Mint Mobile is easily worth it. Their plans are affordable, offer great feature support, and give you plenty of data compared to the competition.

Suggested: Compare All 2-Line Family Plans

3 Line Comparison

Mint Mobile price comparison for three lines

For three lines, Mint’s $15 4GB and $20 10GB plans remain great options. They continue to be the most affordable plans with coverage on the T-Mobile network. 

However, with three lines you may want to consider some of the other plans available. 

US Mobile drops the cost of their 75GB plan on Verizon to $25 per line, which is a great value if you want Verizon coverage. 

And Google Fi's Simply Unlimited Plan is a phenomenal value on T-Mobile. It’s also $25 per line for a family of three, and you’re getting 35GB of data, 5GB of hotspot, and excellent feature support.

One thing to note is that 5G access on Google Fi is only available on Android phones. 

So if you want 5G and you’re an iPhone user, you’ll probably want to consider other options, like Mint Mobile’s $25 15GB plan or T-Mobile Essentials.

T-Mobile Essentials is the best option if you want truly unlimited data on the T-Mobile network. It’s just $30 per line. However, it doesn compromise on the hotspot by limiting hotspot speeds to a slow 600 Kbps.

Finally, if you want unlimited data on the AT&T network, then Cricket’s Core plan for $30/line is your best option.

So overall for three lines, Mint remains a great choice for light to average data users. 

However, if you need more than 15GB, then you may consider other options like US Mobile, Google Fi, or T-Mobile Essentials. 

Suggested: Compare All 3-Line Family Plans

4 Line Comparison

Mint Mobile price comparison for four lines

For four lines, it’s a bit of a different story.

Mint Mobile's 4GB plan remains a great value for light usage individuals, especially with its included features.

However, if you need more data, Google Fi's Simply Unlimited plan can't be beaten. It's a phenomenal option on the T-Mobile network for Android users. 

For $25 per line, you’re getting unlimited talk and text with 35GB of high-speed data (over double what the average person uses per month), 5GB of high-speed hotspot data, and extra features like domestic roaming, international calling, and eSIM activations. 

Unfortunately, international data roaming is not included with the Simply Unlimited plan, so frequent international travelers may consider the Unlimited Plus plan from Google Fi instead. 

Mint Mobile’s 10GB plan for $20/line and 15GB plan for $25/line remain decent options here, particularly for light to average data use individuals, but pretty quickly you may want to consider the other options.

For example, Cricket’s Core plan is just $25/line for unlimited data on the AT&T network.

US Mobile’s 75GB plan is $25/line on the Verizon network.

And T-Mobile Essentials gives you truly unlimited data on the T-Mobile network for $27/line. 

That said, Metro by T-Mobile is my top pick for a family of four looking for unlimited data on the T-Mobile network.

Metro’s unlimited plan comes with truly unlimited data, 15GB of high-speed hotspot data, and it even includes a free Amazon Prime membership and 100GB of Google One storage all for just $30/line. 

And that’s $30/line FLAT, all taxes and fees included. 

With T-Mobile Essentials, which at first glance appears cheaper at $27/line, you’re adding on taxes and fees that will make it more expensive than Metro’s plan.

So the bottom line is Mint is a great value for a lot of people, but particularly those who want T-Mobile coverage and who know they use between 4GB and 15GB of data per month. 

If you need more than 15GB, or you simply want another network for coverage, then you’ll be very happy with the options from Google Fi, Cricket, US Mobile, and Metro by T-Mobile.

Suggested: Compare All 4-Line Family Plans
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Stetson Doggett profile picture
Stetson Doggett

Stetson graduated from Ithaca College in 2019 with a degree in Communication Management and Design. He launched BestPhonePlans.net as part a senior project in school. He loves helping people find great, affordable cell phone plans that meet their needs. When he’s not reviewing cell phone plans on his YouTube channel or website, Stetson is out hiking in the crisp Colorado air, playing board games with friends, or competing in an epic game of pickleball.

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