The table below lists mobile virtual network operators (MVNOs) and prepaid carriers operating in the U.S. In rows with asterisks, additional information can be viewed by clicking the plus icon.
| Carrier | Recommended | Verizon | AT&T | Sprint | T-Mobile | Notes: |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mint Mobile | ✔ | ✔ | Mint is owned by Ultra Mobile. | |||
| Xfinity Mobile* | ✔ | ✔ | Xfinity Mobile is only available to those paying for Xfinity Internet. | |||
| Tello | ✔ | ✔ | ||||
| Visible | ✔ | ✔ | ||||
| U.S. Mobile | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | |||
| Verizon Prepaid | ✔ | ✔ | ||||
| T-Mobile Prepaid | ✔ | ✔ | ||||
| AT&T Prepaid | ✔ | ✔ | ||||
| Metro by T-Mobile | ✔ | |||||
| Cricket | ✔ | |||||
| TracFone | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | Additional subscribers may use other carriers that are part of TracFone. An América Móvil (TracFone's parent company) report covering performance in the 4th quarter of 2018 indicates the company had roughly 22 million lines in the U.S. | ||
| Straight Talk* | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | Straight Talk is a TracFone brand. | |
| Consumer Cellular | ✔ | ✔ | ||||
| NET10 Wireless* | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | NET10 is part of TracFone | |
| SafeLink Wireless* | ✔* | ✔* | ?* | ✔* | SafeLink Wireless is a TracFone brand. Please note that SafeLink is only available to customers that qualify for the government's Lifeline program. My impression is that SafeLink usually operates over the T-Mobile network but that AT&T and Verizon-based service is also available. I do not know if SafeLink offers service over the Sprint network. | |
| Total Wireless* | ✔ | Total Wireless is part of TracFone. | ||||
| Spectrum Mobile | ✔ | |||||
| H20 Wireless | ✔ | |||||
| Walmart Family Mobile | ✔ | |||||
| Page Plus* | ✔ | Page Plus is a TracFone brand. | ||||
| Simple Mobile* | ✔ | Simple Mobile is a TracFone brand. | ||||
| FreedomPop | ✔ | ✔ | ||||
| Ultra Mobile | ✔ | |||||
| Google Fi | ✔* | ✔ | Fi-enabled devices can simultaneously access T-Mobile, Sprint, and U.S. Cellular's networks. Other device will use only T-Mobile's network. | |||
| Lycamobile | ✔ | |||||
| Twigby | ✔ | Twigby defaults to Sprint's network. When Sprint's network is unavailable and Verizon's network is available, Twigby customers have talk and text access on Verizon's network. | ||||
| Ting | ✔ | ✔ | ||||
| Red Pocket Mobile | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ||
| Selectel Wireless | ✔ | |||||
| Airvoice | ✔ | |||||
| Altice Mobile | ✔* | Altice subscribers can access a network run by Altice itself (rather than another company's network) in some regions. | ||||
| Unreal Mobile | ✔ | ✔ | ||||
| TextNow | ✔ | ✔ | ||||
| Wing | ✔ | ✔ | ||||
| Pix Wireless | ✔ | ✔ | ||||
| BOOM! Mobile | ✔ | |||||
| SpeedTalk Mobile | ✔ | |||||
| FreeUP | ✔ | |||||
| Gen Mobile | ✔ | |||||
| Beast Mobile | ✔ | ✔ | ||||
| GoSmart Mobile* | ✔ | GoSmart Mobile is a TracFone brand. | ||||
| Telcel* | ✔ | Telcel is a TracFone Brand | ||||
| Clearway Wireless* | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | Clearway is a TracFone brand. I believe Clearway works with all of the Big Four networks, but I'm not confident. | |
| U.S. Cellular Prepaid* | U.S. Cellular postpaid subscribers have roaming access on multiple major networks. I'm unsure about which networks prepaid subscribers have roaming access to. For more information, see U.S. Cellular's coverage map. | |||||
| CREDO Mobile | ✔ | |||||
| GreatCall | ✔ | |||||
| Pure TalkUSA | ✔ | |||||
| Teltik | ✔ | |||||
| Reach Mobile | ✔* | Reach Mobile previously offered service over AT&T's network. I'm unsure if the carrier still offers AT&T-based service to new customers. | ||||
| i3Mobile | ✔ |
What is an MVNO?
An MVNO or mobile virtual network operator is a company that doesn’t own it’s own network hardware. Instead, MVNOs pay wholesale rates for access to other companies networks. MVNOs then resell that access to their customers. MVNOs sometimes offer service that’s far cheaper than comparable coverage purchased directly from AT&T, Sprint, T-Mobile, or Verizon.
What are flanker brands?
In the U.S., there are several carriers that operate under their own brand names while being owned by major networks. For example, AT&T is behind Cricket Wireless, T-Mobile is behind Metro, and Verizon is behind Visible. While these carriers that are owned by major networks are sometimes called MVNOs, it may be more accurate to refer to them as flanker brands.
Network-specific lists
In most cases, carriers that offer service over multiple networks will only work with a single network that a subscriber chooses when signing up.1 Google Fi is a notable exception; Fi-enabled phones can work with multiple networks simultaneously.
On other web pages, I share simpler tables that list MVNOs on individual networks:
Some of the links in the list are affiliate links. See my transparency page for details about the financial relationships I have with carriers.
Hello!
I greatly appreciate your website and the service you provide. As you’re well aware, there’s been a seismic shift in the MVNO space since summer of last year, when many of the MVNOs were acquired by Verizon, DISH and even a VC firm or two. In the past I have found the estimates given in the following listing very useful, even though I have a rough understanding to the accuracy limitations on #of subs. https://coveragecritic.com/mobile-phone-service/mvno-prepaid-carrier-list/
May I suggest you revisit and update this list? In yesterday’s announcement of DISH acquiring Republic Wireless I noticed the number of ‘customer relationships’ acquired was around 200K. That seems to suggest the listing of # subs in the chart may be off by an order of magnitude. Am I interpreting the information incorrectly, or is there another explanation to the large discrepancy?
Thanks again.
Hey Fred,
You’re absolutely right that I should make an update (e.g., Virgin Mobile doesn’t even exist anymore). While I think a lot of the subscriber estimates are probably off (many carriers don’t publish subscriber numbers), that Republic number was outrageously far off! I think Republic at 200k subs may well be much smaller than it was at its peak–I don’t follow the company closely but I’ve been under the impression that it has had a lot of trouble lately.
Will try to update the page sometime this month!