Mint Mobile Vs. Visible: Which Budget Carrier Works For You?

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If prices on T-Mobile, AT&T, or Verizon stretch your budget, your best bet is to consider carriers with more affordable plans, like Mint Mobile and Visible Wireless. 

Mint Mobile is a mobile virtual network operator (MVNO) owned by T-Mobile that uses the major carrier's network and has the same coverage area. Similarly, Visible is an MVNO owned and operated by Verizon while enjoying Verizon's extensive coverage. They offer less expensive options than T-Mobile and Verizon, especially for accounts with fewer lines. Accordingly, both budget carriers feature in our guides to the best cheap cell phone plans and best cell phone plans for one person.

Mint Mobile and Visible exchange certain premium features you'd find on major carriers for affordability. Like most MVNOs, their standard plans lack premium data with speeds unaffected by network congestion and built-in, data-connected smartwatch support. However, while pricey for a "budget" option, Visible has tiered premium plans that offer those features and more.

At the same time, Mint Mobile's three-, six-, and 12-month plans provide long-term value at low prices that can't be ignored. Check out our breakdown between Mint Mobile and Visible below for further comparison.

Mint Mobile vs. Visible: Plan offerings and flexibility

While Visible has three unlimited plans, including two premium tiers that provide prioritized unlimited data for higher rates, Mint Mobile offers more plan variety, including the option to pay as low as $15/month for a limited 5GB of data. 

Visible's base plan and Mint Mobile's plans offer data subject to deprioritized speeds on Verizon's and T-Mobile's networks, respectively. While Mint Mobile offers prepaid plans in three-, six-, and twelve-month increments, Visible provides prepaid plans monthly or annually.

Below, we've detailed the standard starting prices for the MVNOs' entry-level plans: Mint Mobile's introductory three-month plans for new customers and Visible's monthly and annual options. 

Plans	Mint Mobile	Visible Wireless
5GB	$15/month	N/A
15GB	$20/month	N/A
20GB	$25/month	N/A
Unlimited	$30/month, truly unlimited, deprioritized	$25/month ($275/year), truly unlimited, deprioritized
Visible Plus	N/A	$35/month ($375/year)*, truly unlimited, prioritized
Visible Plus Pro	N/A	$45/month ($450/year)*, truly unlimited, prioritized

*The Visible Plus and Plus Pro plans have limited-time discounted rates of $30/month and $40/month, respectively, for 12 months of service paid monthly.

Both Mint Mobile and Visible offer mobile hot spot connectivity. With data-specific Mint Mobile plans, mobile hot spot data is limited to the monthly data allotted to the plan at the same service speeds. However, for Mint Mobile's unlimited data plan, mobile hot spot service is limited to 10GB.

Meanwhile, Visible doesn't have a data limit for hot spot connectivity, but speeds are limited to 5Mbps on the standard plan, which is fine for sending emails, light web browsing, music streaming, and perhaps some video streaming at lower resolutions. You get faster data speeds of 10Mbps and 15Mbps on the Visible Plus and Plus Pro plans, respectively, giving you freedom to do basically whatever you want, up to streaming video at 4K on the top-tier plan. 

Mint Mobile is comparatively inflexible in its payment structure, as Visible allows you to pay monthly.

Eve Montie/Business Insider

Whereas Mint Mobile's unlimited plans previously featured a 40GB monthly cap that throttled speeds, the MVNO now offers truly unlimited data that is subject to deprioritization. High-volume users may also experience slower speeds in congested areas after using 35GB monthly. At standard pricing, Visible's base unlimited plan typically provides better value at $25/month. However, a limited-time discount for Mint Mobile's 12-month unlimited plan brings it down to a superior low rate of $20/month, furthering its position among the best prepaid phone plans and best unlimited data plans for long-term, budget value.

Another thing to consider is that Visible offers a data plan for smartwatches (only available for Apple Watch models), which comes included in the Visible Plus plan or costs an additional $10/month with the standard Visible plan. Mint Mobile doesn't offer any data plans for smartwatches, so Visible is the clear choice if you plan to use data on a connected Apple Watch. 

See our full Mint Mobile review or Visible Wireless review for comprehensive plan breakdowns. 

Mint Mobile vs. Visible: Coverage and data speeds

Prospective Mint Mobile customers should assess the carrier's coverage map and check with neighbors or social media to see if T-Mobile's network covers where they need it.

Mint Mobile

Mint Mobile (owned by T-Mobile) runs on T-Mobile's network, while Visible (owned by Verizon) runs on Verizon's network. That gives Visible an advantage, as Verizon's network generally has better coverage in rural areas than T-Mobile's, which will matter if you live outside or travel away from suburban or urban areas. 

Before signing up, check Mint Mobile's and Visible's respective coverage maps to ensure that the areas you frequent are adequately covered. 

With its rapidly expanding network, T-Mobile (and, therefore, Mint Mobile) can service certain rural areas as well as AT&T and Verizon. However, it remains more case-by-case than other carriers and less comprehensive than Verizon's coverage for standard 4G LTE and 5G networks. You should also check with neighbors, friends, family, or even social networks like Nextdoor to see if T-Mobile works well enough in a specific area. For comprehensive comparisons, see our guides to Mint Mobile vs. T-Mobile and Mint Mobile vs. Verizon.

Visible's coverage map mirrors Verizon's network, indicating 5G and 4G LTE covered areas in blue and 5G Ultra Wideband covered areas in teal.

Visible

Mint Mobile and Visible aren't "premium" major carriers, so their data is deprioritized by default behind T-Mobile and Verizon customers. That means data speeds on either Mint Mobile or Visible may become slower temporarily in areas when their networks are congested, unless you opt into a Visible premium plan for a higher monthly cost to prevent artificial deprioritization.

Mint Mobile customers have access to all of T-Mobile's 4G LTE and 5G networks, including the low-band (around 20% faster than LTE), mid-band (up to four times as fast as LTE), and wide-band (extremely fast) 5G networks. The speeds you experience on Mint Mobile depend on which network is available where you are; Mint Mobile itself says that most users find themselves on low- and mid-band 5G networks the majority of the time.

(Those who seek even further savings from an MVNO on T-Mobile's network may want to consider Tello Mobile's customizable low-cost options. For more information, see our Tello Mobile review and guide to Mint Mobile vs. Tello.)

On the other hand, Visible's two plans offer different access to Verizon's network and, thus, different speeds. The standard Visible plan, subject to deprioritization at any time, gives you access to Verizon's 4G LTE and standard 5G networks. Closer to some of the best cell phone plans from major carriers, the Visible Plus and Plus Pro plans grant unlimited "premium" or prioritized 4G LTE and 5G data, which doesn't slow down when the network is congested. They also give users access to Verizon's fastest 5G Ultra Wideband network.

Mint Mobile vs. Visible: Customer support

Mint Mobile's helpful customer support and intuitive app set it apart from other carriers.

Eve Montie/Business Insider

Mint Mobile's customer support is second to none among carriers, whether more affordable MVNOs or major carriers.

The Mint Mobile app is well laid out and simple to navigate. It shows you most of what you'd typically want to know or manage, like a data usage indicator, which is handy for judging how much data you usually use in a month. The app also lets you switch plans straight from the app. 

If Mint Mobile's app doesn't have the answers or actions you're looking for, the carrier's phone and online chat support are refreshingly responsive and have notably short wait times relative to our experience with other carriers. 

The Visible app is not quite as well laid out or helpful as Mint Mobile's.

Eve Montie/Business Insider

Visible's app and customer support are comparatively average for a carrier, which means your experience can be fine or frustrating. The Visible app gives you similar functionality to Mint Mobile's, like tracking data usage and plan management, but it's generally not as well laid out or easy to navigate. While Visible has a text-based chat support option in its app, the carrier lacks a customer service number. 

If you decide to leave either service, Mint Mobile and Visible offer straightforward methods to cancel plans through their respective apps, websites, or customer support lines. 

Mint Mobile lets new customers cancel and receive a full refund within seven days of activating their service. Existing customers can turn off auto-renewal in the Mint Mobile app, call customer support 24 hours before their next payment, or opt not to renew.  

Visible offers no refund opportunity for cell service broadly. However, Visible customers can cancel anytime before their next monthly or annual payment through the carrier's app or website. 

Mint Mobile vs. Visible: Which should you sign up for?

Mint Mobile or Visible could be a worthwhile carrier, depending on your needs, location, and budget.

Mint Mobile, Visible Wireless; Business Insider

Before considering anything, you need to assess which carrier has the network coverage that works for you. It won't matter if Mint Mobile or Visible Wireless has the perfect plan if you can barely use it due to limited coverage. 

With its customer support, user experience, and affordable plan variety, Mint Mobile is an exceptional budget option if you know that T-Mobile's network covers you. Its value is outstanding for those who only need up to 15GB of data each month and are willing to prepay for long-term service. For most people, 15GB is a decent amount of data, and it's worth checking if you use as much on your current carrier.

Beyond 15GB, the Verizon-backed Visible Wireless typically starts to offer better value for unlimited data. At standard prices, the basic $25/month Visible unlimited plan has the same monthly rate as Mint Mobile's entry-level or 12-month 20GB plan. That said, Mint Mobile's 12-month unlimited plan is a bargain at its current $20/month discounted price if you can make an annual payment up front.

However, for those who don't want to risk slower data speeds from a congested network, the Visible Plus plans provide truly unlimited, prioritized data starting at $35/month (or $30/month with a limited-time discount). As detailed in our Visible vs. Verizon guide, these premium plans offer great value for the first few lines, especially compared to Verizon's plans, some of which even lack premium data. For instance, you would need four lines or more on Verizon's Unlimited Plus plan to get premium data on Verizon at a $45/month rate.