If you’re looking for ways to save on your cell phone bill, you may be considering Boost Mobile.
In this article, I’ll take a close look at Boost Mobile’s plans and pricing, how to get started and what to expect from Boost Mobile’s service.
I tested Boost Mobile for 30 days to try out the service for myself. I’ve also compared more than 70 different available phone plans to see how Boost Mobile stacks up.
This article was updated in July 2024 and I review it every six months. Detailed notes on all updates can be found here.
Boost Mobile is a mobile virtual network operator (MVNO) that offers a variety of monthly prepaid and postpaid plans. The service provider operates on its own 5G network as well as T-Mobile and AT&T’s cellular networks. Boost Mobile customers will automatically connect to the strongest network in the area.
Boost Mobile offers one of the cheapest prepaid unlimited phone plans available ($25/month) as well as postpaid plans with free iPhone and Android devices. If you decide to bring your own phone, you can avoid the activation fee by activating your service online.
I tested out Boost Mobile for 30 days to explore its coverage, call and text performance, customer service and more.
Table of Contents:
Below, you’ll find more information about Boost Mobile including what plans are available, how reliable the service is and whether or not you should consider it as your mobile carrier.
Boost Mobile offers three different prepaid plans and two postpaid plans. Below, you’ll see the current Boost Mobile plans that you can choose from with the monthly price, high-speed data allotments and more.
Advertisement| Plan | Price | High-Speed Data | Mobile Hotspot | Device Deals | Additional Perks |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Unlimited (Prepaid) | $25 (plus taxes) | 30GB | Not Included | None | Price Guarantee (valid as long as plan is active & enrolled in autopay) |
| Unlimited+ (Prepaid) | $50 (taxes included) | 40GB | Included | - Special deals on Android devices - Up to $300 in device savings | Global Talk & Text included |
| Unlimited Premium (Prepaid) | $60 (taxes included) | 50GB | Included | - Special deals on Apple and Android devices - Up to $430 in device savings | - Global Talk & Text included - North America Connect included |
| Infinite Access for iPhone (Postpaid) | $65 (plus taxes) | 30GB | Not Included | - New iPhone included - Annual device upgrades - Up to $830 in device savings | - Global Talk & Text included - North America Connect included |
| Infinite Access for Android (Postpaid) | $65 (plus taxes) | 30GB | Not Included | - New Galaxy included - Annual device upgrades - Up to $800 in device savings | - Global Talk & Text included - North America Connect included |
All of Boost Mobile’s plans include unlimited talk and text. Some plans come with the ability to share your data via mobile hotspot. However, your mobile hotspot usage comes out of your overall monthly data allotment. Speeds will slow to 512Kbps once you’ve reached your monthly high-speed data allotment, which depends on which plan you buy (see table above).
International features aren’t included with Boost Mobile plans, but they’re available for an additional fee. You can also add more high-speed data or mobile hotspot to your phone plan.
Here are a few of Boost Mobile’s popular plan add-ons:
You can combine and stack many of Boost Mobile’s plans to create a multi-line family account. You can check out the full details of adding a new line on Boost Mobile’s website.
Compared to other cell phone service providers, Boost Mobile offers good prices on unlimited plans. For example, I often recommend Visible (Review) as one of the best cheap unlimited phone plans. Boost Mobile’s most affordable unlimited plan is the same price: $25/month. If you set up four lines of service, that’s $100/month for everyone to have an unlimited phone plan, which is always a great deal! Plus, Boost Mobile’s $25 unlimited plan comes with a lifetime price guarantee. The base plan price will not rise above $25/month as long as the line remains active and enrolled in autopay.
Boost Mobile’s Unlimited+ and Unlimited Premium plans ($50-$60) are also competitively priced. However, other plans offer more high-speed data for the same price. For example, the T-Mobile Essentials Saver plan costs $50/month for one line and includes 50GB of premium data. Plus, there are no multiline discounts with Boost Mobile. With four lines, you can get T-Mobile’s Essentials 4-Line Offer for $100/month ($25/line) with 50GB of premium data for each line.
In 2022, I bought a Boost Mobile SIM card and tried to activate my service on an older phone. At the time, there was no way to check your phone’s compatibility before paying for a plan online, and I ran into a lot of trouble with activation.
In 2024, Boost Mobile underwent a company rebrand. Now, you can check your phone’s compatibility with the Boost Mobile network online before deciding to make the switch. This should prevent the problems that I had with activation.
Bringing your own phone to Boost Mobile is the best way to save money. Once you’ve verified that it’s compatible, you can select the plan you’d like to purchase. Note that the $65 Infinite Access plans require credit qualifications because these are postpaid plans with a free device offer.
In addition to buying a plan directly from Boost Mobile, you can find Boost Mobile SIM kits, phones and plans for sale at Amazon as well as other retail partners including Best Buy, Target and Walmart.
AdvertisementAfter you’ve purchased a Boost Mobile SIM, phone or plan, visit boostmobile.com/start to activate your service. There, you can choose where you purchased your service and then follow the prompts to get started.
There are no activation fees for activating your Boost Mobile service online. However, if you activate your service in a Boost Mobile store, activation fees may apply. The actual cost of activation will vary by location.
If you need additional help activating your service, you can contact Boost Mobile by calling (833) 502-6678. You can also chat with a representative online or visit your nearest Boost Mobile store for in-person assistance.
Once my service was activated, I didn’t have any issues with the service itself. Over the course of 30 days, I tried out Boost Mobile’s service by making and receiving calls as well as sending and receiving text messages.
During the month that I tested Boost Mobile service, I had reliable, clear service with no dropped calls or undelivered text messages. However, as is the case with all cell providers, the quality of service can vary greatly from one area to the next.
Boost Mobile provides access to its own network in addition to T-Mobile and AT&T’s networks. Customers will automatically connect to the strongest network in the area. To see if you’ll have coverage in your area, check out Boost Mobile’s coverage map online.
If you visit Boost Mobile’s website, you can enter your address to see if you’ll have service in your area.
Boost Mobile offers access to its own 5G network as well as T-Mobile and AT&T’s 4G/LTE and 5G networks. Customers will automatically connect to the strongest network in the area. Based on my experience as well as Boost Mobile’s coverage map, it’s likely that you’ll have access to cellular service and data with this MVNO. Speeds can vary by location even if you’re in the service area.
If you have access to high-speed data in your area, you’ll likely experience reliable download speeds. When I tried out Boost Mobile myself, I checked the data speeds using speedtest.net by Ookla. See the results below.
I experienced an average download speed of around 24Mpbs. The fastest download speed I saw was 33.4Mbps, and the slowest download speed I saw was 12.17Mbps.
AdvertisementFor context, Netflix recommends a download speed of 3 Mbps for streaming HD video. Amazon says you’ll need a download speed of at least 1 Mbps for SD video and 5 Mbps for HD video on Prime.
While this isn’t the fastest download speed I’ve seen with an MVNO, Boost Mobile’s high-speed data should be fast enough to do most things online, including streaming HD video based on these numbers.
Some Boost Mobile plans also include hotspot data, which lets you share your mobile data with other devices. Other plans offer a hotspot add-on for an additional $10/month. Throughout the month that I tested Boost Mobile, I connected my laptop to the mobile hotspot to test the speeds on Ookla. Below, I’ve posted a screenshot of what I found.
The download speed via hotspot was slightly slower on average at around 20Mbps. The fastest download speed I saw was 27Mbps, while the slowest download speed I saw was 15Mbps.
After you’ve exceeded your monthly high-speed data limit (which varies by plan) download speeds will slow to a max of 512Kbps. Once your monthly plan renews, you’ll have access to high-speed data again. You can also purchase an additional 10GB of high-speed data at any time for $10/month.
Good customer service is important in a phone carrier. Whenever it’s extended wait times or unhelpful representatives, dealing with customer service with phone service providers can be a pain. Unfortunately, Boost Mobile was no exception.
To see how long I’d have to wait for service and what type of service I’d get, I contacted Boost Mobile both via phone and online chat.
To contact Boost Mobile, you can visit the website or mobile app to chat or call Boost Mobile at 833-502-6678 every day from 8 a.m. to 12 a.m. EST. You can also visit a nearby Boost Mobile store in person for faster, more thorough assistance.
When I tried to reach out to Boost Mobile, I couldn’t get the chat feature to connect to a live representative, and the automated phone system kept leading me in circles and disconnecting. I ended up having to place five separate calls and navigate the automated system for a total of 12 minutes before I got connected to a person. Once I got through the automated system, though, I didn’t have to wait on hold to talk to someone.
However, both times that I needed assistance from Boost Mobile, I ended up having to go to the physical store, as the representatives over the phone weren’t able to resolve my issues.
Based on reviews on websites including BBB and Trustpilot, customer service is an area in which Boost Mobile does not perform well. Poor customer service is mentioned in most of the ratings I read online. However, this is a common problem among all cell phone service providers.
AdvertisementBefore I began testing phone plans, I highlighted the key factors that I would be exploring. This way, I would be able to accurately compare phone plans and get a full overview of what to expect from the service.
Here are the key factors I focused on while trying out each phone plan:
Ultimately, I had a good experience with Boost Mobile after the activation process. However, Boost Mobile’s latest rebrand will hopefully address a lot of the problems that I experienced. As long as you’ve verified that your phone is compatible with Boost Mobile’s network, switching to one of its affordable unlimited phone plans could be a great way to save money.
If you are still thinking about switching to Boost Mobile, ask yourself these questions first:
If you can answer “yes” to each of these questions, then Boost Mobile may be worth considering.
For more options, be sure to read our guide on the best cell phone plans and deals available now. Once you’ve decided on a new phone plan and you’re ready to make the switch, check out this guide that we put together to take you step-by-step through the process.
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