Best MVNOs that use T-Mobile's network 2024

When you go with one of the best MVNOs that use T-Mobile's network, you get to enjoy excellent coverage on arguably one of the fastest networks in the United States, without having to pay a fortune. Thanks to nationwide availability of high-speed 5G, as well as continued improvements to the even faster 'Ultra-Capacity' infrastructure, T-Mobile's network provides a solid base for a prepaid carrier to offer their services. The T-Mobile network also allows for awesome device compatibility, which means that just about any of the best unlocked phones will work on it with little to no effort.

While there are quite a few options out there, Mint Mobile continues to stand out as the best Mobile Virtual Network Operator using T-Mobile's network. The MVNO is now fully owned by T-Mobile and offers four simple plans, each with multi-month discounts and easier payments if you sign up for multiple lines. If you're the kind of person who travels out of the country a lot, we suggest taking a look at Google Fi Wireless, which offers extremely good international usage benefits, added extras like Google One cloud storage, and more.

• MVNO deals: Mint Mobile | Metro by T-Mobile | Google Fi Wireless | Tello | US Mobile

At a glance

Best overall

Having used T-Mobile's network for years to provide fantastic coverage, Mint Mobile is now fully owned by the 'Un-carrier' and continues to be a top-notch option. If you are willing to buy up to a year of phone service upfront, you can get 15GB of monthly data for as little as $20 per month with one line. You also get hotspot use with every plan. An unlimited plan with 40GB of monthly high-speed data cap is also available if you find yourself running out of data quite often. This plan is the best for data-heavy users. 

However, Mint Mobile's best rates come from its smaller plans, with the 5GB option coming in as low as $15 per month. The 15GB plan costs only a bit more, starting at $20 per month. You can save quite a bit with Mint Mobile if you're a lighter user.

Still, Mint's Mobile's best savings require you to pay for a year of service in advance, which can be daunting, especially if you plan on bringing multiple lines. For multi-line customers, Mint Family offers 12-month rates, but payments are only required every three months. This makes bringing your family members to the carrier easier, even if you can't afford to pay for a year of service for multiple lines in one go.

To learn more, check out our Mint Mobile review. Also, do note that as part of a limited-time promotion, any plan can be purchased for $15 per month, provided you sign up as a new customer for a minimum of three months.

Best for multi-line discounts

Metro by T-Mobile has three main unlimited 'Flex' plans, with the cheapest including only the basics. You get unlimited data on T-Mobile's network, 8GB of hotspot data, as well as protection from scam calls. This plan costs $50 per month (with autopay enabled) and includes 100GB of cloud storage via Google One as well. It's ideal for heavier users who don't want to worry about how much data they use.

Next up, the $60 per month (with autopay enabled) unlimited plan comes with 25GB of hotspot data, all other benefits of the base plan just detailed above, and unlimited texting to more than 210 destinations across the world. The top-tier plan costs $70 per month (again, with autopay enabled) and it further bundles Amazon Prime into the mix. Apart from these three, there's also a $40 per month (with autopay) plan that offers unlimited talk and text, and 10GB of high-speed data. However, there's no hotspot with this plan.

All of the unlimited plans have multi-line discounts for up to four lines. There are a few 'Heritage Plans' available too, albeit for a limited time, but you'll have to contact customer care to get them. These plans range from $25 to $60 per month and come with multi-line discounts.

Best international perks

Google Fi Wireless doesn't try to have the lowest prices around but instead, focuses on keeping things as simple as possible. If you have a flagship device like the Google Pixel 9 Pro, the Samsung Galaxy S24 series, or even one of the affordable Android phones, you can not only get T-Mobile's network coverage, but also enjoy intelligent switching to secure Wi-Fi connections if they're available and stronger. This unique approach keeps Google Fi Wireless users connected throughout most of the United States without any issues. If you don't have one of the smartphones that are needed for this, you'll just be connected to T-Mobile's network anyway. 5G access is available for both 'Designed for Fi' and 'Compatible with Fi' phones, and you also get to travel to more than 200 countries without having to worry about data prices.

Google Fi Wireless's primary offering is a Flexible plan starting at $20 per month for one line with data, but it increases by $10 per 1GB until you hit 6GB. After that, the cost freezes at $80 per month with the 'Bill Protection' feature. With that said, if your group is blowing through a lot of data, this plan gets expensive quite fast. There are also two unlimited plans—Simply Unlimited and Unlimited Plus—to pick from, and these are priced $50 and $65 per month, respectively. Both offer unlimited talk, text, and data. Do keep in mind that high-speed data is limited to 35GB on the cheaper plan and 50GB on the pricier plan. The more-expensive plan gets 100GB of Google One cloud storage, six months of free YouTube Premium, as well mobile hotspot and a data-only SIM. This plan also comes with international data included.

To learn more, check out our detailed Google Fi overview.

Best ultra-affordable

Tello is designed in a way that allows you to have as little or as much data/talk time minutes as you need. If you are a very light user, it's near impossible to beat Tello's 1GB plan, which also bundles unlimited talk and text for just $9 per month. There are no fees or contracts either, so you won't get any billing surprises. An unlimited option costs a mere $25 per month and comes with 35GB of high-speed data, after which speeds are reduced. You can add up to four lines to an account if you want to bring over your family members, but there are no additional discounts.

Tello is a great option if you have family or friends in Canada, Mexico, or India, since you get free calls to these and over 60 other countries. For other destinations, you'll need to pay by the minute, with prices starting at less than one cent per minute.

You can use your own phone too, as long as it's unlocked and compatible with the T-Mobile network. You can check your device's IMEI number to be sure. Tello sells a few phones through its website, including refurbished flip phones and affordable smartphones. If you want something a bit more high-end, such as one of the best Android phones, you'll need to buy it yourself.

To learn more, read our Tello review.

Best for customization

US Mobile has a range of plans offering something that'll work for just about anyone, starting with just unlimited talk and text, and 2GB of high-speed data at just $10 per month. From there, you can move up to the 10GB Unlimited Flex plan that's only available as an annual option, as well as two higher plans—Unlimited Starter and Unlimited Premium—offering 35GB and 100GB of premium data at $25 and $44 per month, respectively. Both these plans include international calling and texting, with the higher option also offering multi-line subscription benefits. Essentially, you can choose from over ten streaming and gaming services for $15 per month, if you have 3 lines on the higher unlimited plan.

Another interesting offering by US Mobile are its 'By the Gig' plans, which allow you to select a specific amount of monthly data to share between any number of devices. The 'pool' of data to be shared also covers one line with unlimited talk and text, at no additional charges. Additional lines can also be added to this plan, at a cost of $8 per month. There's no restriction on the amount of data you can buy to add to the pool for sharing, with data packs available in capacities of 2GB, 5GB, 10GB, and 20GB.

To learn more, take a look at our US Mobile review.

• Back to the top ^

How to choose

Save more with the best T-Mobile MVNOs

There are numerous great MVNOs using T-Mobile's network that offer a wide variety of plans, including everything from just a few minutes of talk time to unlimited data. As such, many of these prepaid carriers are also some of the best MVNOs overall. While more and more people are using large amounts of data on their smartphones these days, the availability of Wi-Fi has continued to get better, allowing many users to get by with cheaper plans. If you can manage with a small amount of data, there's a plan with most prepaid carriers having a few GBs available at a great price.

Now officially a subsidiary of T-Mobile, Mint Mobile continues to offer plenty of data for most users with a pricing structure that immediately makes sense. Mint Mobile's unlimited plan isn't the biggest but for most customers, its 40GB of high-speed data should be more than enough. Then there's Metro by T-Mobile, which offers a variety of plans having multi-line discounts, bundled subscription services, and much more.

• MVNO deals: Mint Mobile | Metro by T-Mobile | Google Fi Wireless | Tello | US Mobile