What is Hello Mobile? Hello Mobile plans, pricing, and more

With dozens of prepaid carriers in the United States, keeping track of them is hard. This is especially true for smaller players like Hello Mobile. What is Hello Mobile, who is it for, and what kind of plans do they offer? Let’s get to the details.

What is Hello Mobile?

Hello Mobile is a privately owned prepaid MVNO (mobile virtual network operator). In plain speak, that means it uses an existing carrier’s network but provides its own plans, phone selections, and customer service.

Hello Mobile Coverage

Hello Mobile partners with T-Mobile to bring coverage, which means you’ll get a similar experience as you’d find with T-Mobile and other T-Mobile-backed MVNOs.

If you haven’t used T-Mobile in a few years, you might have an impression that this network isn’t as extensive as Verizon or AT&T. This was once true, but is no longer the case with the Sprint merger and T-Mobile’s heavy investments in 5G and other technologies.

To better understand what to expect, check out the Hello Mobile coverage map. Can you expect any differences from the official T-Mobile coverage map? For the most part, no. T-Mobile postpaid customers may have better roaming coverage due to its arrangements with other networks, but that’s about it. In fact, it may seem like Hello Mobile has more coverage in some areas.

The best Hello Mobile plans

Hello Mobile has many different plans, including four limited data plans and two unlimited options. Keep in mind not all these plans are recommended. Let’s look at who these plans are best for, or if they are even worth it at all.

• Hello 500MB plan: Yes, this is barely enough data to be usable, but for $5, you get unlimited talk, text, and some emergency data. This is perfect for flip/feature phone users, kids, teenagers, and those who rarely use data outside of a Wi-Fi connection. You’ll be hard-pressed to find a cheaper plan from any carrier.
• Hello 1GB, 4GB, and 5GB plans are the best limited data choices for families: These are likely the plans best made for most of us. 500MB is extremely limiting, but 1GB, 4GB, and 5GB are data allotments that seem much more reasonable for more people. That said, this might still be too little for users who aren’t typically within Wi-Fi coverage.
• The Unlimited plan is a fairly decent choice: Starting at $25 a month and dropping as low as $17.50 if you prepay for six months, this is not a bad plan. Just be aware that there are no bells and whistles here; you don’t actually get hotspot access unless you pay an extra $15, and the “unlimited” data can be suddenly throttled if they feel you are using too much in a month. The exact limit isn’t well defined by the carrier, but based on my online research, most folks report being cut off of data for the month after exceeding 15-20GB. After this, you’ll find that the speeds are 64Kbps, which isn’t really even enough to open an email.
• The Unlimited plan with hotspot access really doesn’t make sense: Usually a carrier’s more expensive prepaid option includes better prioritization or less throttling; this doesn’t seem to be the case here. This plan costs $40, but the only added benefit is hotspot access. The thing is, the basic Unlimited plan is $25 a month, and you can add hotspot access for $15 — so you are paying the same price! It just seems a bit confusing to offer a plan that really doesn’t do anything different from its other unlimited option. You could just get the regular unlimited plan and only add the hotspot feature the months you actually need it. The price would be exactly the same.

Expect throttling and limited data to be a real thing

As a word of caution, all Hello Mobile plans are subject to throttling, and even the unlimited plans have a cutoff for data after around 15-20GB. All these plans will see inconsistent speeds. During times of low congestion, you’ll see speeds that are every bit as good Google Fi and other T-Mobile MVNOs. Other times, you’ll be more likely to see between 1-5Mbps speeds. As long as this isn’t an issue for you, there are still some great deals to be had.

Hello Mobile phones

Prepaid carriers are a bit of a crapshoot when it comes to phone selection. Some MVNO carriers have nearly as many options as the major network carriers, while others offer a very limited selection. Fortunately, Hello Mobile actually offers an extensive range, but none of the options are the latest and greatest. For example, you will find options like the Samsung Galaxy S23, Google Pixel 7, or iPhone 13 series. These are great phones, but they are getting old. You’ll have to look elsewhere if you want something newer.

There’s also the option of bringing your existing phone or a new unlocked device to the network. You’ll want to ensure it plays nicely with Hello Mobile, which basically means it needs full T-Mobile network capability. Thankfully, most phones sold unlocked in the United States will qualify.

Be sure to check out our guides to the best phones and best cheap phones for more options. Also, head over to Hello Mobile’s site to see their official phone list.

Hello Mobile vs the competition

Hello Mobile has quite a few competitors. To make things a bit easier, we’ll highlight three of the best MNVOs that will feel would be a great alternative to Hello Mobile if it doesn’t catch your fancy.

Google Fi Wireless

Google Fi Wireless is a T-Mobile MVNO, just like Hello. Fi Wireless Flexible plans honestly are a bit expensive compared to Hello, as you pay $20 just for talking and texting, though this can drop to as little as $16 per line for those with many lines.

You’ll then pay $10 a gig, for up to 6GB. Once you hit 6GB, you’ll get unlimited data for the rest of the billing period. If you stuck to 5GB, that would cost you $70 for one line versus $20 monthly for Hello. Of course, Fi is going to be faster and allows hotspot access.

Fi really stands out because of its Simply Unlimited plans, which drop as low as $25 per line for six users. That’s still more than Hello, but you get better prioritization and speeds. There’s also an Unlimited Plus option that gives you even more, including a free 100GB Googe One subscription, six months of YouTube Premium, and more.

Learn more about Google’s MVNO by visiting our Google Fi plans guide.

Visible

While Google Fi works on T-Mobile, Visible is owned by Verizon and runs exclusively on Big Red’s network. Visible doesn’t have limited data plans, making Hello a better fit for those needing only a little data. Thankfully, it makes up for it with great unlimited plans.

The base plan is $25 a month and includes unlimited talk, text, and data. This is truly unlimited data, though expect capped speeds, especially in times of congestion. Honestly, the throttling for Hello seems pretty similar during times of congestion. Nonetheless, the fact you truly get unlimited data and unlimited hotspot access makes Visible’s unlimited plan a much better deal than the $25-a-month Hello plan.

Want even more? There’s a wonderful Visible Plus option as well. This gives you access to Verizon’s 5G Ultra Wideband network and its nationwide 5G and 4G LTE networks. You also get better data prioritization that’s almost as good as you’d get from Verizon postpaid. There’s also unlimited hotspot access, unlimited talk and text in and to Mexico and Canada, and international calling from the US to 30+ countries, while you get international texting from the US to over 200+ countries.

Mint Mobile

Mint Mobile works a bit differently than the others in that you have to pay for three, six, or 12 months of service in advance to get its great pricing. Like Hello, Mint runs on T-Mobile’s network.

For limited plans, you’ll find a 5GB option for what works out to $15 a month, though you’ll have to pay $180 upfront for the full year. This is about $5 less a month than the 5GB Hello Mobile plan. There’s also a 15GB plan for the monthly equivalent of $20.

Before discussing Mint Mobile’s unlimited plans, we should mention that the Hello Mobile plans are capped at 15GB but often don’t cut off until closer to 20GB of use. That means you’ll be paying less for Hello’s unlimited plan but will have almost the exact same amount of data and arguably better prioritization during times of congestion.

On to the unlimited plans, you’re looking at a 15-20GB cap for Hello, while Mint cuts things off at 40GB. When you break the 12-month payment down into a monthly rate, that comes to just $30 a month for around 10-15GB more data. So basically, you almost double your data and only pay a bit more for it. You also get hotspot access included, something you’d have to pay $15 more for with Hello.

Ultimately, Mint is going to be cheaper and offer a similar service to Hello, if not better.

Helium Mobile

Helium Mobile is a new decentralized carrier that piggybacks off T-Mobile’s network. Its coverage may be better than Magenta’s, though, as it also takes advantage of its decentralized network supported by people. Regardless, the coverage will be at least as good as T-Mobile’s, if not better.

This carrier keeps things very simple. There is a single plan and it costs $20 for unlimited calls, text, and data. Additionally, you can pay $15 per GB for roaming. Data will be throttled after 30GB of usage, and you get access to 5GB of hotspot data per month.

To compare, $20 a month is as much as Hello Mobile’s 5GB plan, but you don’t get as much data with Hello Mobile, and if you want to use hotspot you’ll need to pay an extra $15. In fact, this is likely the cheapest unlimited plan in the US.

Should you switch to Hello Mobile?

There are a lot of good carriers out there, and Hello is definitely a bit less proven than some of these. It’s a smaller MVNO, but it does have some decent deals for those that don’t really use much/any data. Really, though, its 500MB $5 plan is the only option that’s truly not bested by anyone else.

Its unlimited plan isn’t bad, but you’ll do better with Mint if you don’t mind paying for a full year in advance.

Overall, the service will be good, and the pricing is relatively cheap, but there are ways to save more money and get the same or better service. Be sure to check out our guide to the best cheap phone plans to see what else is out there before jumping in.

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