AT&T has excellent coverage for customers nationwide, including rural customers, with a set of family plans that have a ton of data. The brand’s unlimited plans also include usage in Mexico and Canada, making it a good choice for frequent fliers. AT&T also offers a ton of hotspot data and unlimited premium data with its top plan.
Mint Mobile
Mint Mobile is a prepaid carrier owned by T-Mobile, offering a solid range of data plans with multi-month discounts for each. Mint’s plans are available in three-, six-, or 12-month increments, with longer terms offering better discounts. Mint even has a way for families to save with Mint Family.
Prepaid wireless service is getting a lot of attention with plans that are competitive with the Big Three carriers and prices that are a lot lower. When it comes to prepaid carriers, Mint Mobile has been impossible to ignore with its Ryan Reynolds-driven marketing and promise of cheap data, but it still can’t match all the features that a premium AT&T plan offers. AT&T provides stronger international features, truly unlimited data, and discounts for veterans, military members, nurses, teachers, and more. AT&T may also have better coverage in some rural area than the T-Mobile network used by Mint.
Best phone carriers in 2025
The best mobile network mostly comes down to coverage
Mobile carrier features
When it comes to features, AT&T simply has more of them. Moving up through AT&T’s plans, you receive more data, improved international features, higher quality video streaming, and additional discounts with the AT&T Signature Program. When it comes to international service, all unlimited AT&T plans get unlimited talk, text, and data usage in Mexico and Canada.
If you’re heading across the border, you won’t need to worry about sourcing a local SIM or paying roaming charges with AT&T. Just keep in mind that speeds may not be great depending on the type of roaming coverage available from AT&T’s roaming partners. Still, it’s nice that you don’t need to worry about international charges, especially if you’re just heading over the border for a few days on vacation. On the top Unlimited Premium PL plan, roaming gets extended to 20 Latin American countries in Central and South America.
One of the best ways to save on AT&T service is to bring multiple lines with you. Unlike most other carriers, however, AT&T allows customers to mix and match plans since Grandma probably doesn’t need as much data as a teenager. If you’re in the military, a veteran, nurse, or physician, you get a discount at AT&T. Furthermore, some employers are part of AT&T’s Signature Member program with discounts for employees on AT&T’s top Unlimited Premium PL plan or its low-end 4GB plan.
Mint’s main draw is its low prices for those willing to pay for a year of service upfront. Mint’s plans are available in three-, six-, or 12-month chunks, with the best rates for those paying for the year. With only four plans to choose from, it’s easy to figure out which Mint plan works best for you. If you’re not sure Mint Mobile is going to work out, you may get your first three months of service for the 12-month rate.
Another way to get shorter renewals is with Mint Family. Mint Family allows customers with two to five lines to get Mint’s best monthly rates renewed at three months instead of twelve. If you’re bringing multiple people with you to Mint, the upfront charges can be a bit steep, so Mint Family can be very helpful for those on a tighter budget. If you have just one line, it’s nice that you get access to Mint’s best pricing with the 12-month plan.
Mobile coverage and reception
AT&T builds and maintains its own network and gives most of its plans full access to its LTE and 5G coverage. While AT&T’s 5G network hasn’t kept pace with T-Mobiles, largely due to spectrum access restrictions early on, the carrier has been working hard to catch up and has built a sizable 5G network with low-band nationwide coverage and mid-band upgrades in cities. Luckily, AT&T’s LTE network offers plenty of speed for most people for the time being and has excellent coverage across the country. If you live in a rural area, there’s also a good chance AT&T offers the best coverage in your area.
AT&T uses a chunk of dedicated low-band spectrum to offer far-reaching 5G coverage, with mid-band spectrum around 3.7GHz being used for faster speeds in tandem with mmWave coverage in big cities. The mid-band and mmWave coverage is referred to as 5G+ and offers faster speeds than LTE with the capacity for more connections than LTE. A quick look atAT&T’s coverage mapwill tell you if 5G+ is available in your area.
Mint Mobile is owned by T-Mobile and uses T-Mobile’s LTE and 5G networks for coverage. T-Mobile’s 5G coverage is unparalleled thanks to early access to valuable 2.5GHz spectrum across the country. T-Mobile got started on its mid-band 5G network earlier than the rest, which has also allowed it to head straight to the top of the list when it comes to speed and performance.Ookla’s Market Analysis, for example, shows T-Mobile with a sizable lead according to data gathered from its Speedtest app.
Still, T-Mobile has some work to do in rural areas, so it’s a good idea to checkT-Mobile’s coverage mapwhere you live and work. T-Mobile also has low-band spectrum, as well as 5G on its other bands that allow it strong 5G coverage nationwide. With carrier aggregation, the carrier has even shown speeds well over 1Gbps using low-band and mid-band spectrum together. T-Mobile calls its fast 5G network 5G Ultra Capacity, and if you’re covered, you should get excellent speeds with the carrier. Mint Mobile has afree seven-day trialif you want to test its performance on your phone.
Phone compatibility
Really, any of thebest Android phoneswill work on either carrier. That includes high-end flagship phones likeSamsung’s Galaxy S24 Ultra. The T-Mobile network used by Mint Mobile is fairly agnostic when it comes to device compatibility, and if it supports T-Mobile’s band, it should work without a hitch. As for band support, just about any 5G phone made for the U.S. market has support for T-Mobile’s most important bands, n71 and n41, so you should get strong speeds.
AT&T is a little more picky with awhitelist of supported phones(PDF) that work well with its network. You can check this compatibility list to see if your phone works, and there’s a good chance it will. AT&T has even supported some of thebest budget Android phoneslike the impressiveOnePlus 12R. With such a wide range of devices supported on either carrier, it mostly comes down to preference.
Mint Mobile also sells phones, with some packaged with service for additional savings. Payment plans are available through Affirm but will be more expensive monthly than AT&T but for a shorter period. That said,Mint Mobile’s deals pageis worth a visit, with some devices significantly discounted when bundled with 12 months of service. If you buy thebest Mint Mobile phonesfrom that main store page, you may not get the best deal. One nice thing is that you get these savings whether you go for a payment plan or pay for the phone in full.
After coverage, the most important element when picking a new carrier is the plans. AT&T’s best plans offer a ton of data with strong international features that are made more affordable by family plan savings. Mint Mobile’s best plans, on the other hand, keep it simple with multi-month savings for single lines, and Mint Family for those bringing the family. Mint skews its plans more toward lighter users, but if you check your average usage, you may not need as much data as you think.
AT&T’s plans
AT&T had five main postpaid plans starting with a simple 4GB plan at $50 for the first line. This plan is far from impressive, with a high price that doesn’t even come with taxes and fees included. This plan could be a solid value for those with discounts, including Signature Program members, but for most people, this plan can be ignored. It doesn’t include 5G and data doesn’t roll over to the next month. At least it included usage in Mexico and Canada like the other plans.
Moving up, AT&T Value Plus VL with its $50.99 starting price is a much better value with unlimited data and access to 5G. This plan doesn’t include any hotspot data, so can’t share your data with a tablet or laptop, but it does have a relatively low price of $30.99 per line when you bring four lines.
AT&T’s Unlimited Starter SL starts at $65.99 for the first line but comes down to $35.99 with four lines. For the most part, this plan is the same as Value Plus, with the addition of 5GB of high-speed hotspot data per month. Moving up from there, the Unlimited Extra EL plan takes the hotspot data up to 30GB and adds 75GB of premium data for $75.99 for the first line. With four lines, that price comes down to $40.99. This also includes an upgrade to AT&T ActiveArmor Security, which offers some privacy protection, like a VPN to use with public Wi-Fi and identity monitoring.
AT&T’s top plan, Unlimited Premium PL, includes all of the above and more for $85.99 for the first line, and $50.99 with four lines. Like the 4GB plan, this plan is compatible with AT&T’s Signature Program member discounts, so you may be able to save even more. This plan gets unlimited premium data and 60GB of hotspot data. Video streaming is also unlocked to full resolution. Unlimited Premium PL comes with unlimited talk, text, and data in 20 Latin American countries as well.
Taxes and fees are extra on all AT&T plans, so you’ll need to add a bit more to the final cost. AT&T also requires paperless billing and autopay to be enabled to get these prices, so be sure to enable these options when you’re setting up your account.
Unlimited Premium PL
Unlimited Extra EL
Unlimited Starter SL
Value Plus VL
Price (per month)
1 line: $85.99
1 line: $75.99
1 line: $65.99
1 line: $50.99
1 line: $50
4 lines: $50.99
4 lines: $40.99
4 lines: $35.99
4 lines: $30.99
4 lines: $40
Ultra Wideband 5G
Nationwide 5G
Talk and text
Unlimited Premium
Unlimited (75GB premium)
If you have access to AT&T’s fiber internet, you can save on your internet bill by getting both services through AT&T. Fiber internet is generally faster and more consistent than 5G home internet and has much better upload speeds than cable, so the switch to AT&T fiber could be worth it if it’s available in your location.
Mint Mobile’s plans
Mint Mobile’s plans are quite simple by comparison with just three limited plans and one unlimited plan. All Mint Mobile plans support full 5G access on T-Mobile’s network and can use their data as a hotspot. The smallest 5GB plan is a great choice for lighter users and is just $15 per month for 12 months. Even at $25 for three months, this is a much better value than AT&T’s 4GB plan. While you need to pay for multiple months at once, your data is renewed every single month.
Moving up, the 15GB and 20GB plans are identical apart from the data amount. These plans will be the sweet spot for most users who use Wi-Fi at home. The 15GB plan comes in at $20 per month for 12 months, and $35 per month for three months. The 20GB plan is $25 per month for 12 months, and $45 per month for three months. If you end up using less data than you pay more, Mint will let you know before you renew, so you may pick a cheaper package. These limited plans can use all of their data as hotspot data and also have no restrictions on video streaming quality.
High-speed data
Hotspot data
3-month price
6-month price
12-month price
Taxes and fees
Recovery fee
3 month: $4.50
3 month: $4.75
3 month: $5.00
3 month: $5.50
6 month: $7.50
6 month: $7.75
6 month: $8.00
6 month: $8.75
12 month: $14.00
12 month: $14.50
12 month: $14.75
12 month: $16.25
Which should you pick?
Most people could find a plan that fits their needs on either carrier, but unless you’re bringing the whole family along, Mint Mobile will be significantly cheaper. Mint offers true unlimited data with the Unlimited plan, but even the more limited plans are plenty for most people. The $360 upfront cost for the unlimited plan is steep, but you won’t have to look at another wireless bill for a year, and if you bring multiple lines to Mint Family, you’ll only need to pay $90 for three months of service per line.
If you’re a lighter user, Mint can save you a lot of money with its 15GB or 5GB plans being downright cheap compared to AT&T, especially the 4GB plan. The main thing you’re not getting is usage in Mexico and Canada, which won’t matter to many.
Enough data and reasonable plan options
Mint Mobile is a cheap alternative to traditional carriers with plenty of data on T-Mobile for most people and strong savings for those willing to pay for six months or a year of service upfront. Even those with only one line can save on Mint thanks to its multi-month discounts.
AT&T still has a lot to offer customers starting with truly unlimited data. While Mint 40GB on the high-end really should be plenty for most people, the fact is that some people don’t want to curb their usage at all, and can use much more data in a month. All of AT&T’s unlimited plans are truly unlimited, though the cheaper plans may be a bit slower on a congested tower. That being said, if most of your data usage is from streaming video, you’ll quickly notice that only AT&T’s top plan offers HD streaming. This will matter more to those watching content like gaming streams who want to see every UI detail and benefit most from 60fps content.
AT&T’s family plans with mix-and-match support also make it easy to save on your plans if you have multiple lines. AT&T’s unlimited usage in Mexico and Canada is also a nice bonus for those who travel a lot. While the two carriers are quite different, AT&T still has some appeal over Mint.
Ideal for heavy users who don’t want to compromise
AT&T’s focus on unlimited data makes it more appealing to heavy users who don’t want to worry about how much data they use. AT&T also stands out with coverage in Mexico and Canada, as well as other Latin American countries with the premium plan.
