Is a Mint Mobile family plan worth the switch?

Mint Mobile prides itself on offering cheap phone plans for as little as $15 a month, making it a great deal for someone looking to save money on their phone bill. Recently the Ryan Reynolds-owned carrier widened its target to families as well. Is the Mint Mobile family plan worth it? Let’s dive right in and discuss.

What is included in the Mint Mobile family plan?

Like all of Mint’s plans, the Mint Mobile family plan runs on the T-Mobile network and is paid at least three months in advance.

When creating a Mint Mobile family plan, you’ll be asked to pick out specific plans for each line. For example, you could have two users on Unlimited while the third and fourth users are on the 5GB plan. You can see the full list of plans and benefits below:

For most users, we recommend the Unlimited plan, especially right now. For a limited time, Mint is offering all of its plans for the same $ 15-a-month rate if a customer is part of a family plan. That means you can try the unlimited data plan for three months for the same price as the humble 5GB plan.

Okay, but what about savings? Most family plans give you discounts for every line you add. Unfortunately, Mint Mobile doesn’t do this. There is no discount for having a family plan. So why bother? There are some benefits to having a Mint Mobile family plan:

• You can manage every line from one account.
• You don’t have to pay for 12 months at once to get the lowest rates possible.

The last point is the most significant one. Normally Mint Mobile requires you to pre-pay in either 3, 6, or 12-month increments. Paying annually in one lump sum yields the best discounts. For those with at least two lines on a family plan, you’ll still be required to commit to a year’s service, but you’ll only have to pay quarterly. For families with multiple members, this means they can enjoy Mint’s great pricing without having to pay a ton of cash upfront.

Is the Mint Mobile family plan a good value?

Considering Mint Mobile has aggressive pricing for single accounts, I have to say I feel like Mint Mobile could do more to make its family plans stand out. Even a discount of, say, $1 or 2 a month per line would be something. Or maybe take a page from Verizon Prepaid and give loyalty discounts to family plan members that stick with Mint long-term. Really anything to make family plans slightly more enticing.

As it stands, Mint Mobile family plans don’t really offer any major differences from a standard account, other than you can pay in 3-month increments and still get the biggest discounts. However, that doesn’t mean the pricing isn’t still a good value for some users.

If you are considering a limited family plan, Mint Mobile has some of the cheapest rates you’re going to find. Families will pay $15 a month every three months for 4GB of data. In comparison, Tello offers a 5GB plan for $19 a month, and Fi Flexible offers four lines for $65, or what works out to $16.25 a line.

Things become slightly less impressive when you look at other unlimited family plans. Waving away any temporary pricing discounts, long-term an unlimited plan is going to cost you $30 a line for four people — or $120 a month.

$30 a line is actually pretty decent and manages to one-up several prepaid families, including the plans offered by Metro from T-Mobile and Cricket Wireless. At the end of the day, Mint Mobile has aggressive pricing for families. It’s just not the absolute cheapest if that’s important to you.

If you’re looking to save even more money on a family plan, you’ll want to consider Google Fi, Cricket, or US Mobile. The former two run T-Mobile’s network, while the latter works on Verizon or T-Mobile. Although there are other prepaid family plans out there, these are three of our favorite alternatives to Mint. 

Here’s a quick TL;DR on what both of these Mint Mobile alternatives have to offer:

Google Fi Wireless at a glance

Google Fi Wireless is a great choice for those looking for the lowest rates possible for unlimited data. As you can see, four lines will set you back just $80. That’s just $20 a month per person! Like Mint Mobile, you’ll get access through T-mobile’s network. Additionally, Fi also roams on US Cellular’s network, which could be helpful for those who live in the Midwest. All in all, Fi offers a similar experience to Mint but with a few extras, despite costing less.

See more plan details below:

Cricket at a glance

Cricket has several family plans available. Its most affordable family plan includes unlimited data at a price of just $100 for four lines or $25 a line. If you want extras like hotspot access and the ad-supported Max service, Cricket Unlimited + 15GB Hotspot adds all this for just $130 for four lines. Although Cricket isn’t the cheapest alternative to Mint Mobile, it’s similarly priced and includes many extras (like streaming) that you won’t find elsewhere. 

See more plan details below:

US Mobile at a glance

US Mobile costs the same as the base Cricket Unlimited plan, at $100 for four lines. It also offers limited data and a shared data pool plan for those that don’t want or need tons of data. While Fi offers better pricing, US Mobile comes in closely behind it. It also has the advantage of Verizon support, for those areas with weaker T-Mobile signals that want to take advantage of the Big Red network instead.

See more plan details below:

Post-paid options: AT&T, Verizon, and T-Mobile at a glance

Of course, value isn’t the only factor in a family plan. Verizon, AT&T, and T-Mobile offer more perks, better customer service, and a few other advantages, despite costing a lot more.  Here’s a quick breakdown of the cheapest and best plan from each of the main three carriers: 

As you can see, postpaid offers other perks that might be useful for families too. Ultimately it comes down to if you care more about value or savings. Be sure to check out our guide to the best family plans for even more suggestions and buyer advice.