Mint Mobile
Hacker ApprovedRanked 5 of 9 mobile phone plans by recommenders
Cheap prepaid wireless plans on major carrier networks, with unlimited talk and text at about $15 a month. Caveat: promotional prices revert to regular pricing on renewal.
Cheap prepaid wireless plans on major carrier networks, with unlimited talk and text at about $15 a month. Caveat: promotional prices revert to regular pricing on renewal.
18 people gave an opinion
- recommend it
- 15
- criticize it
- 3
- approval share
- 83%
Recommended in 4 of 13 months
- November 2025: not recommended
- December 2025: recommended
- January 2026: recommended
- February 2026: not recommended
- March 2026: recommended
- April 2026: not recommended
- May 2026: not recommended
- June 2026: not recommended
- July 2026: not recommended
- August 2026: not recommended
- September 2026: recommended
- October 2026: not recommended
- November 2026: not recommended (month in progress)
Owned for 7 years
Median of the 3 owners who said how long they have had it.
Each square is one year.
Why it carries the badge
- 15 people recommend itNeeds 10 or more, met.
- 5 recommenders for every criticNeeds 2 to 1 or better, met.
- Recommended in 4 of 13 monthsNeeds 4 or more, met.
The same three rules apply to every product, and the badge can’t be bought. How the badge works
What people say about it
The reasons people give, with the number of comments that give each one. Open a reason to read what they said.
Why people recommend it
Each mark is one comment
Much lower price than carriers
“the quality of service doesn’t seem any worse while the price is dramatically lower”
Comment from 20 Mar 2026 in “HP realizes that mandatory 15-minute support call wait times isn't good support” “If you need more than 5 GB, Mint Mobile is quite cheaper than T-Mobile Connect”
Comment from 25 Jan 2026 in “Verizon starts requiring 365 days of paid service before it will unlock phones” “Mint or US Mobile are ~$15-20 a month.”
Comment from 1 Dec 2025 in “The healthcare market is taxing reproduction out of existence” - Comment from 5 Mar 2026 in “You Just Reveived”
Low price for unlimited talk and text
“hard to beat $15/m for unlimited txt talk”
Comment from 26 Sep 2026 in “Ask HN: Hypothesis: Cellular providers are deprioritizing voice calls?” “They are offering unlimited data including hotspot for $15/mo for up to a year if you prepay.”
Comment from 14 Jan 2026 in “Starlink roam 50GB is now 100GB with unlimited slow speed after that” “MintMobile has a promo going right now where $180 pays for 12 months of "unlimited"”
Comment from 1 Dec 2025 in “The healthcare market is taxing reproduction out of existence” Same network quality as carriers
“the quality of service doesn’t seem any worse while the price is dramatically lower”
Comment from 20 Mar 2026 in “HP realizes that mandatory 15-minute support call wait times isn't good support” “Same carrier networks, same quality of service.”
Comment from 21 Jan 2026 in “Verizon starts requiring 365 days of paid service before it will unlock phones”
What people warn about
Each mark is one comment
Billing practices draw complaints
“They initiated the number transfer before accepting payment from me.”
Comment from 29 Dec 2025 in “I switched to eSIM in 2025, and I am full of regret” “You're ripping yourself off”
Comment from 12 Sep 2026 in “Will there be a 7G?”
Other mobile phone plans people recommend
The four most recommended other mobile phone plans, with the same counts for each, so you can compare like for like. The tick on each bar marks the 2 to 1 line the badge needs.
| Product | Recommend | Criticize | Approval | Months | Owned | Badge |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| US Mobile | 31 | 2 | 94% | 9 | 1 yr6 owners | Approved |
| Google Fi | 26 | 20 | 57% | 9 | 9 yrs3 owners | — |
| Cape mobile cell service | 19 | 10 | 66% | 7 | — | — |
| Airalo eSIM | 16 | 9 | 64% | 5 | — | — |
| Mint MobileThis page | 15 | 3 | 83% | 4 | 7 yrs3 owners | Approved |
What people said
16 of the 18 comments that mention it, newest first. Each links to the original comment.
“hard to beat $15/m for unlimited txt talk”
“it's worked well for me on my international travels around North America.”
“You're ripping yourself off”
“the mmWave still works great”
“The LLM answered the call immediately, was able to understand me in natural conversation”
“Mint works well until it doesn't. I travel a lot and use voice over ip(VoIP).”
“the quality of service doesn’t seem any worse while the price is dramatically lower”
“Mint Mobile is like $15 a month.”
“Prices are *introductory*. They revert to Mint Mobile pricing on renewal.”
“If you need more than 5 GB, Mint Mobile is quite cheaper than T-Mobile Connect”
“Otherwise it's been awesome.”
“Same carrier networks, same quality of service.”
“They are offering unlimited data including hotspot for $15/mo for up to a year if you prepay.”
“They initiated the number transfer before accepting payment from me.”
“Mint or US Mobile are ~$15-20 a month.”
“MintMobile has a promo going right now where $180 pays for 12 months of "unlimited"”
Counts come from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026. How we count. Report a mistake.