Mint Mobile vs Visible Wireless: which is the king of the cheap prepaid carriers?

When it comes to cheap, great value prepaid phone plans two companies really stand out right now - Mint Mobile and Visible Wireless. These two low-cost cellular carriers often battle it out in our guide to the best prepaid phone plans each month and they're both incredibly popular picks currently for data-hungry users on a budget.

Head to head, both of these excellent prepaid carriers offer incredible value versus the usual big-name carriers. However, one glance at each service's current plans and you'll see they are in fact quite different in how their plan pricing works and what each one offers. If you're on the fence between Mint and Visible then this is the right page for you - we're putting these two carriers head-to-head right here, factoring in value, speed, and perks. We've also just updated this page to reflect the various changes at each carrier over the past year or so - including accurate estimates of service download speeds.

Two excellent value prepaid plans

Coverage and pricing

It's worth noting that while both Mint Mobile and Visible market themselves as 'cheap' prepaid carriers, they operate on entirely different networks and business models. 

Mint Mobile, for example, operates on the T-Mobile network (check your coverage), and has a payment scheme that sees you paying upfront for upwards of a year of service at a time. Visible, on the other hand, operates on the Verizon network (check your coverage) with a more traditional 'pay one month at a time' model. 

Why does this matter? Well, not all phones are compatible with both networks and you'll also be billed in dramatically different ways. If you prefer to pay once and forget about it then Mint Mobile is going to be the winner for you. On the other hand, if you prefer to avoid those big upfront charges and instead want to break it down into smaller instalments, then Visible is likely to be your preferred carrier. There are Visible promo codes that could help you keep costs down too.

• Winner: draw

Speed and perks

Both Mint Mobile and Visible utilize speedy nationwide 5G networks. It's worth noting, however, that being prepaid carriers, both are subject to 'deprioritization' when the parent networks are subject to heavy traffic. This may not be a dealbreaker, depending on your location, but it's worth bearing in mind that you may not get consistently high speeds versus the big carrier plans.

Both Mint Mobile and Visible are listed as 5G networks, although only the latter has access to its parent network's most 'premium' service, ensuring the best speeds possible.

In this case, Visible's pricier Plus plan offers access to Verizon's Ultra Wideband 5G service, which is currently the best possible cellular network from the carrier. Thanks to the FCC broadband facts that carriers are now required to display on their sites, we know that Mint's typical 5G data speeds are 79-357 Mbps whereas the Visible Plus plan's speeds are 195–634 Mbps.

On paper, Visible's Plus plan should provide higher speeds more reliably, but it's worth noting that this is very dependent on your local coverage. Verizon's 5G Wideband network coverage is mostly concentrated in major urban areas so your mileage could vary massively depending on location.

Perks-wise, both carriers offer unlimited talk and text (as you'd expect), plus mobile hotspotting free of charge. You will, however, be capped out at only 10GB of mobile hotspot allowance on Mint Mobile's unlimited data plan, whereas Visible offers unlimited usage a 5Mbps on the standard Visible plan and 10Mbps on the Plus plan. Both carriers cap out video streaming at standard definition (480p), which is a very common restriction at prepaid carriers.

For families and multi-line users, Mint Mobile is currently the only carrier to feature something resembling a family plan, although we wouldn't say it's the best on the market right now. It's essentially a perk that allows you to bundle in lines and reduce the associated admin instead of getting the big per-line savings you often find at the major carriers. It does, however, automatically enroll each line at the cheapest (usually yearly) rate, which can help add a level of flexibility.

• Winner: Visible

Unlimited data wars

On paper, both of these carriers offer unlimited data plans for a particularly low price. That said, there are always a few restrictions in the fine print that can easily be glossed over at first glance.

The amazing thing about comparing cell phone plans in 2025 is that every carrier usually displays an FCC mandated 'Broadband facts' page under every plan that tells you exactly the range of speeds you should expect. 

Visible's standard plan comes in at 34–149 Mbps average speeds according to the FCC, while the Visible Plus plan offers whopping speeds of up to 215–702 Mbps. The latter is quite a range, but it's clear that the Plus plan is the one you'll want to opt for if you're really on the hunt for those rapid downloads. You'll get 50GB on the Verizon Wide Band network per month, which won't be slowed-down under any circumstances if the local area infrastructure supports it. 

Mint Mobile's unlimited plan operates at an average of 79-357 Mbps, which is a very solid offering considering the price. Mint's unlimited plan has also become much, much more competitive in 2025 because the carrier has just removed its old hard-cap of 45GB usage on its unlimited plan, which saw your speed reduced dramatically to 128Kbps when you overran your allowance. Now you get 35GB of data before your plan is subject to a higher level of deprioritized speed when your local area is busy. This is still a 'soft cap' of sorts, but your speed will go back to normal 5G speeds when the local area clears up so it's a much more forgiving setup.

• Winner: Visible

Mint Mobile vs Visible Wireless: the bottom line

Visible has Mint Mobile beat on most of the criteria we've laid out on this page but we'd hesitate to call it the winner by any stretch of the imagination. Both these prepaid carriers are at the forefront of value right now and offer incredibly competitive options for those who want to save some cash and cut out those pesky contracts.

Firstly, we'd recommend Mint Mobile to anyone who's either a single-line user who's going to be using small amounts or a multi-line user who wants to cut the red tape. If you're going to be using under 15GB of data a month then it's hard to beat something like Mint's $20 per month plan. The recent changes to the hard data cap on Mint's unlimited plan have made it a much more competitive and user-friendly, too.

With that said, Visible does have more choices for those who require an unlimited data plan on a budget. Not only do you get the choice of two excellent plans, but you also have the distinct advantage of not having to pay for a whole year of data upfront to secure a plan for as little as $25/mo. In terms of value, that's extremely strong and somewhat more approachable than Mint considering it needs less commitment.

With all that said, both are fantastic choices and I suspect the deciding factor for most people will be coverage. I highly recommend checking your local T-Mobile and Verizon coverage since both carriers run on entirely different networks and the Visible Plus plan in particular requires the Verizon Wideband network to be fully utilized.