Visible vs. Mint Mobile: Which should you get?

Take one look at Visible vs. Mint Mobile, and you'll immediately see why these are two of the best MVNO carriers available around. But when it comes to picking one, the choice is primarily going to depend on what you're really looking for in a wireless service provider. On the one hand, Visible seems to be the perfect choice if you're someone who uses lots of data (more than 40GB) per month. On the other hand, Mint Mobile can be the ideal option if you're not a data-heavy user and don't mind paying in advance for bulk service.

Mint Mobile also gives you more ways to save with multi-month discounts and 'Mint Family' plans. If you're on the hunt for the best 5G coverage, T-Mobile's network (which is what Mint Mobile uses) is still the best in the business. However, Verizon's network (which is used by Visible) continues to get better, especially with the deployment of the C-band. It's also worth mentioning that Mint Mobile is now fully owned by T-Mobile, so its plan might get even more exciting in the future.

All that said, there are several other factors that come into play when making a decision such as this one, so let's compare Visible and Mint Mobile and see how these two prepaid carriers stack up against each other.

• MVNO deals: Mint Mobile | Visible | Boost Mobile | Tello | Cricket Wireless

Visible vs. Mint Mobile: What are Visible's plans?

Visible keeps things exceedingly simple with just two plans. The base plan costs $25 per month and is the closest to the carrier's old plan that we looked at in our Visible review. You get unlimited data on Verizon's LTE and nationwide 5G networks, with enough speed for just about anything you might want to do on a smartphone. It goes without saying that the plan includes unlimited talk and text, as well as hotspot data at a speed of 5Mbps.

If you find that the starter plan—called Visible—isn't enough for your needs, you can go for the higher option. Dubbed Visible Plus, this plan upgrades your 5G access to Verizon's high-speed 'Ultra-Wideband' network and also adds 50GB of premium data. It costs $45 per month and keeps your speeds high even if the network's congested by prioritizing your data. You also get unlimited talk and text, while your hotspot data speed is upgraded to 10Mbps.

Visible Plus also offers unlimited roaming with unlimited data in Mexico and Canada, and 2GB of high-speed data per day. For international use, you get 500 minutes for making calls to over 30 countries, and texting support to more than 200 countries.

Note: You can pay for a full year while signing up for either one of Visible's plans and get some extra discount. Also, regular deals and festive-season promotions can help you save even more.

Visible vs. Mint Mobile: What are Mint Mobile's plans?

Mint Mobile does things a little differently. Instead of having the usual monthly plans, it offers service in chunks of three, six, or 12 months and requires you to pay upfront for the selected duration. Although this does mean you pay more in one go, you can save a lot of cash when it comes to effective monthly prices.

Mint Mobile offers four plans with 5GB, 15GB, 20GB, and unlimited high-speed data (capped at 40GB), having monthly costs of $15, $20, $25, and $30, respectively. Each plan comes with unlimited talk and text, access to T-Mobile's LTE and nationwide 5G networks, free calls to Mexico and Canada, and mobile hotspot use (capped at 10GB for the highest plan). The carrier also runs a lot of promotions from time to time, often allowing you to get the higher plans at the price of the base plan.

Note: If you sign up as a new customer, you can get any of Mint Mobile's plans at reduced prices, and then lock that price by paying for a full year of service.

If you need more data, it can be added to your existing plan at a price of $10 for 1GB and $20 for 3GB. You can also upgrade mid-cycle by simply paying the price difference if you find that you run out of data regularly.

You can buy plans in chunks of three, six, or 12 months, as detailed above. In our Mint Mobile review, we noted that 40GB of data should be more than sufficient for most users. Mint Mobile has a plan for just about everyone.

The monthly rate comes out to be quite low as you buy more months of service. For example, if you got 20GB of data with the 12-month plan, you'd spend $300 upfront, with that working out to $25 per month. For comparison's sake, a six-month plan for 20GB of data costs $35 per month. Mint Mobile also allows for more customization than Visible, and the monthly rates are lower for almost all of its plans.

Mint Mobile also has a family plan of sorts with 'Mint Family'. It allows you to pay for multiple plans from one account. To add to that, Mint Family plans can get 12-month pricing even though they only need to pay every three months.

As far as international usage is concerned, you get free texting to more than 190 countries and low calling rates to over 160 countries. To stay connected while traveling abroad, all you have to do is get a credit add-on called 'Minternational Pass'. It is available at $5, $10, or $20, and each add-on includes a combo of data, talk time minutes and text messages that are added up to your international roaming balance.

Mint Mobile charges $0.05 per text message sent, $0.25 per minute for calls, and $0.20 per MB for quite a few countries. In Mexico and Canada, prices are lower at $0.02 per text, $0.06 per minute for calls, and $0.06 per MB. Although Mint Mobile's international pricing is pretty competitive, it still might be worth taking a look at Google Fi over Mint Mobile. if you travel a lot.

Visible vs. Mint Mobile: Network coverage

If you compare Visible vs. Mint Mobile, you'll notice that both have interactive coverage maps that let you see what's best for your particular area. Both have 5G coverage, though T-Mobile's 5G network is quite a bit larger and faster than Verizon's. It's still nice to see that Visible customers can access 5G as the carrier continues to expand its network.

Verizon is well-known for having some of the best rural coverage so if you drive a lot or just live far away from a city, Visible may prove to be the better option. It's worth mentioning that Visible doesn't support 3G and doesn't offer access to Verizon's roaming partners either. If you're currently on Verizon and have great coverage, it's worth double-checking the map anyway.

Mint Mobile exclusively uses the T-Mobile network as it's now fully owned by the un-carrier. T-Mobile's network has improved significantly in the past few years and is now better than it's ever been, but there are many places where Verizon's network is still superior. If you're only looking at 5G coverage, though, T-Mobile is the winner. It is also worth mentioning here that most modern phones support T-Mobile's LTE network, but it might be time to upgrade if you're still using an older device.

Visible vs. Mint Mobile: What phones can you get?

A great carrier isn't any good if you can't use your phone with it. Unfortunately, this is where Visible takes a stumble.

Visible's network is fully digital, which means that all of your calls on Visible use VoLTE. While VoLTE has been around for years now and is basically the norm for new phones, some unlocked models won't play nice with Visible. Your best bet is to check your phone's IMEI on Visible's site to determine if your phone model has been greenlit for the network. Luckily, Visible supports many of the top models like the Samsung Galaxy S24 Plus and the Google Pixel 9 smartphones.

Mint Mobile shines when it comes to supported phones. As it's a GSM network that also supports VoLTE, you can bring over virtually any unlocked Android phone and have it work perfectly fine. Of course, Mint Mobile does sell devices, but if you have one already, and would like to use it, you can get a SIM card or activate an eSIM. You can also buy just about any of the best Android phones to bring over to Mint Mobile.

For the best 5G performance, you're going to want a phone that supports band n41 on Mint Mobile and band n77 on Visible.

Visible vs. Mint Mobile: Which should you get?

Visible is a great fit for many people and with Verizon's network backing it up, pretty much everyone will have solid coverage except for 5G connectivity, which is a bit on the spotty side. Even compared to Verizon, Visible is a strong choice with plenty of speeds for most people. However, it's let down a bit by its limited phone support. Still, few prepaid options come close in terms of value if you require unlimited data with an unlimited hotspot.

Mint Mobile takes the lead as a better pick thanks to massive phone support, a wider range of plans, and solid international options. While its plans can be a bit complex, they're still simpler than those available with most carriers and offer a straightforward way to save. With the growth of T-Mobile's network, including full 5G support, Mint Mobile is overall the better choice for most people.

• MVNO deals: Mint Mobile | Visible | Boost Mobile | Tello | Cricket Wireless