Visible vs. Mint Mobile: Which should you get?

When comparing Visible vs. Mint Mobile, it's easy to see why these are two of the best MVNO carriers available around. However, when it comes to picking one, the choice is usually going to depend on what you're really looking for in a wireless service provider. On the one hand, Visible seems to be the ideal choice if you're someone who uses lots of data per month, or you don't want to care about data caps. On the other hand, Mint Mobile can be the perfect option if you're not a data-heavy user and don't mind paying upfront 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 country. That said, Verizon's network (which is what Visible uses) continues to get better, especially with the deployment of the C-band. It's also worth noting that Mint Mobile is now fully owned by T-Mobile, so its offerings might get even better in the future. Of course, Visible will continue to get better as well, as it's owned by Verizon.

All said, there are many other factors that must be considered when making a choice between these two Mobile Virtual Network Operators, so let's take a comparative look at Visible and Mint Mobile and see how these prepaid wireless service providers stack up against each other.

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

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

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Visible keeps things simple with three plans to choose from. The starter plan costs $25 per month, and it is the closest to the carrier's old plan that we looked at in our Visible review. You get unlimited data access on Verizon's LTE and nationwide 5G networks, with more enough speeds for just about anything you might want to do on your smartphone. It goes without saying that the plan includes unlimited talk and text, as well as unlimited hotspot data at a speed of 5Mbps. You also get video streaming at a resolution of 480p (SD).

If you find that the base plan—called Visible—isn't enough for your needs, you can go for the next option. Dubbed Visible Plus, this plan upgrades your 5G access to Verizon's high-speed 'Ultra-Wideband' network, while giving you unlimited premium data. It's priced $35 per month, and you get unlimited hotspot data at a speed of 10Mbps. Also included is video streaming at a resolution of up to 1080p (FullHD), when you're on the Ultra-Wideband network. As for international features, there's unlimited talk and text for Canada and Mexico, as well as 2GB of daily roaming data in these two countries.

Lastly, there's the recently introduced top-tier plan. Called Visible Plus Pro, it costs $45 per month and includes all the perks of Visible Plus, while also boosting your unlimited hotspot data to 15Mbps. Video streaming at a resolution of up to 2160p (4K) is thrown into the mix, along with free smartwatch service (only for Apple Watch users). In terms of international features, you get calling to over 85 countries and unlimited texting to more than 200 countries.

You also get free spam call protection with all three plans. It's also worth noting that all prices are inclusive of taxes and fees, and you can save even more by paying upfront for an entire year of service.

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

Mint Mobile does things a bit 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 the effective monthly prices.

Mint Mobile has four plans, offering 5GB, 15GB, 20GB, and unlimited high-speed data at monthly prices of $15, $20, $25, and $30, respectively. All four plans have 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 prices that are comparable (or even lower) to those of the starter plan.

If you need more data, it can be added to your existing (valid for all but unlimited) plan at a price of $10 for 1GB and $20 for 3GB. For the highest plan, you can add 5GB of data for $15 and 10GB of data for $20. You can also upgrade mid-cycle by simply paying the price difference if you find that you frequently run out of data.

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. And now that Mint Mobile has removed this data cap, you don't have to worry about running out of data if you're on the unlimited plan. Even then, 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 pay $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 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 lets you pay for multiple plans from one account. To add to that, Mint Family plans can avail 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 over 190 countries and low calling rates to more than 160 countries. To stay connected while traveling abroad, all you have to do is get the 'Minternational Pass' credit add-on. It's available at $5, $10, or $20, and usually includes a combo of data, talk time minutes and texts that are added up to your international roaming balance.

Mint Mobile charges varying amounts per message, minute of talk time, and MB of data depending upon the country of usage. Although the carrier's international pricing is pretty competitive, it still might be worth taking a look at Google Fi over Mint Mobile. if you travel quite 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 area. Both come with 5G coverage, although 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 noting that Visible doesn't support 3G and doesn't offer access to Verizon's roaming partners either. Even if you're currently on Verizon and have nice coverage, we still recommend double-checking the map.

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Mint Mobile exclusively uses the T-Mobile network as it's fully owned by the un-carrier. T-Mobile's network has improved significantly over the past few years and is now easily better than it's ever been, but there are places where Verizon's network is still superior. If you're only looking at 5G coverage, though, T-Mobile is the winner. It is worth noting that most of the 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 older unlocked models won't play nice with Visible. Your best bet is to check the smartphone'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 such as the Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra and the Google Pixel 9 smartphones.

Mint Mobile truly shines when it comes to supported phones. Since 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 might be 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 somewhat 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 to understand, they're still simpler than those available with most carriers and offer quite 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 consumers.

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