There’s plenty of wireless carriers vying for that title of best phone carrier. If you’re shopping around for your next provider, you might want to look into the merits of AT&T or Mint mobile. These two wireless carriers have some of the best cell phone plans around, but which one should you choose?
Between them, AT&T has been around for much longer and controls both its service and infrastructure. While it’s considered largely as a postpaid operator, AT&T also offers prepaid accounts as well. In contrast, Mint Mobile’s an MVNO (Mobile Virtual Network Operator) — which simply means it borrows the network from another larger provider. Specifically, Mint is a T-Mobile MVNO.
- Head straight to Mint Mobile or AT&T to see their deals
- Best cell phone plans: Where Mint and AT&T rank
One might think Mint Mobile might be at a disadvantage here, but MVNOs don't really lose out on much. They get to use the same network with the same coverage as their parent carrier but the downside is that its data speeds can change when there’s a lot of congestion with the network.
But there’s more to it than just speed and coverage, like how much they cost and what other perks they offer. In the most basic comparison, Mint Mobile offers the cheaper, more flexible plan options, which is why it has some of the best cheap cell phone plans around. AT&T on the other hand is feature-packed, great for families and offers a wider wealth of plans to choose from.
Here's a closer look at what Mint Mobile and AT&T offer to help you decide which service to choose.
Mint Mobile vs AT&T: How they compare overall
Mint Mobile
- Cheaper plans
- More flexibility
- Uses T-Mobile's network
- Available discounts
AT&T
- Uses its own far-reaching network
- More flexibility
- Discounted devices
- Better options for seniors and families
While Mint Mobile and AT&T are both very different options, it isn't as simple as saying one is better than the other. Each carrier goes about serving its customers in different ways, so it's more a question of whether Mint Mobile or AT&T better fit your needs.
Mint Mobile gets the nod for affordability and flexibility. It has one of the cheapest unlimited data plans, and it offers several tiered data plans, compared to AT&T, which focuses primarily on unlimited data. (Our look at the best unlimited data plans goes into more detail on what Mint, AT&T and others have to offer.)
Mint is also a much more flexible choice compared to AT&T offering a number of different contract lengths and data allotments with discounts for staying longer. That said, to get the best price from Mint, you will need to pay for commit to service for a year. Make sure you check our Mint Mobile coupons page to find the latest discounts on contracts.
AT&T may have more costly plans than Mint Mobile, but its plans include a lot more features and incentives. An AT&T Unlimited Premium plan, for example, includes 60GB of premium hotspot data, unlimited international texting, 4K UHD streaming, and truly unlimited data that doesn't throttle when a limit is reached. You can also lower the price of your plans and devices with our AT&T Mobility promo codes.
AT&T is also better for families and seniors, largely because of how you can tailor a family plan to fit your needs — while also having options to add-on other services, like smartwatch data connectivity. Mint Mobile only recently started to offer family plans, but there are no add-ons for smartwatch connectivity for things like the Apple Watch.
Mint Mobile vs AT&T: Pricing and available deals
When comparing the two carriers, Mint Mobile is the better option for pricing. At all data points, Mint is the cheaper option and as we mentioned above, and it has one of the cheapest unlimited data plans on the market. However, the comparable AT&T plans listed above show the cost of its prepaid plans.
Mint Mobile offers more data at lower prices
However, there is a catch of sorts here. To get Mint's cheapest prices, you do have to sign up for a full year and pay up front. You can sign up for as little as three months, but the longer you choose, the better the monthly price. The monthly charge also differs depending on which data allotment you choose, ranging from 5GB per month to unlimited.
- AT&T Unlimited Starter: $65.99 per month, throttled unlimited data, 5GB hotspot data, standard definition streaming.
- AT&T Unlimited Extra: $75.99 per month, unlimited data with 75GB premium data, 30GB hotspot data, standard definition streaming.
- AT&T Unlimited Premium: $85.99 per month, truly unlimited data with no throttling, 60GB hotspot data, 4K streaming
As for AT&T, it offers a lot more choice for deals, including a host of both prepaid plans and unlimited data cell phone plans. Above, you can see the different postpaid plan options for a single line. Where AT&T gains an advantage is in its family plans. Mint Mobile doesn't offer any but like a lot of other carriers, AT&T will offer you a discount for adding extra lines.
Mint Mobile and AT&T's best plans
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Mint Mobile vs AT&T: Network and coverage
- AT&T is the better option for coverage because it runs its own network
- Mint Mobile uses T-Mobile, which compares favorably to AT&T
While both carriers offer extensive coverage, AT&T does get the slight lead. That's because it runs its own network and doesn't have to rely on another carrier.
Mint Mobile, like all other MVNOs, has to use another carrier's network — in Mint's case, it's T-Mobile. That's usually not a problem, as Mint Mobile subscribers enjoy the same coverage and speeds that other customers get on T-Mobile's network. There's even 5G coverage, provided you have a 5G-ready phone.
There is one exception: When there is a period of peak traffic and the T-Mobile network becomes congested, MVNOs on the network could see their speeds slowed. T-Mobile customers will be prioritized in this situation.
It works in reverse for AT&T customers. As a main carrier, it will prioritize its customers and slow any MVNOs it supports instead. This makes anyone on an AT&T plan a priority customer.
Across all of the main carriers (including Verizon, T-Mobile and AT&T), coverage and speed are at such a high level that there isn't a hugely noticeable difference. However, T-Mobile's merger with Sprint has made it arguably the best overall network and beats out AT&T on many fronts — a factor to consider in favor of Mint.
Mint Mobile vs AT&T: Features and incentives
| Header Cell - Column 0 | 5G? | Mobile hotspot | Security features | Free subscriptions | Priority data | Unlimited calls/texts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Mint Mobile | Available on all plans | Yes (with a speed cap) | No | No | No | Yes |
AT&T | Available on select plans | Yes (with speed cap depending on plan) | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
In terms of features, both Mint and AT&T cover the basics, such as unlimited calls and texts and mobile hotspots. However, there are a few features where the carriers differ.
For example, while Mint Mobile offers 5G across all of its plans, AT&T includes it in some of its prepaid plans; you'll find 5G coverage across all of AT&T's unlimited data plans.
On the whole, though, AT&T is the much more feature heavy option. All of its deals include security features with more options depending on which plan you choose, plus unlimited texts and talk in Mexico and Canada. AT&T's support for international phone plans is also more extensive that what you get with Mint Mobile.
On some of its unlimited data plans, AT&T also include a host of subscriptions for free, ranging from 100GB of AT&T Personal cloud storage and AT&T ActiveArmor security for blocking spammers.
If you're looking for something basic, Mint Mobile has all of the core features but for something more feature heavy, AT&T is one of the best options out there.
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