The Mint unlimited plan is still only $35/mo, and I’m sure there’s something cheaper out there. That’s still a whole lot cheaper than the big carriers, with zero of the data usage management.
Right, managing low data usage like I do definitely requires some thoughtfulness, but it's orthogonal to the choice of using a big carrier vs. MVNO, except for the fact that big carriers won't even sell you a low data plan.
To his point, however, I acknowledge that saving a few hundred dollars per year just isn't worth it to many people when they can walk into an AT&T store, sign whatever the salesman puts in front of them without thinking about it, and have the salesman take care of all the required setup.
Is it that much cheaper? I'm on T-Mobile's $70 plan (it is $5 or $10 more expensive now I believe) which includes unlimited 5G data (no throttling), unlimited tethering, unlimited data when traveling abroad, HD video streaming (all discount carriers limit this to 720 or even 480p), Netflix, Apple TV, free in-flight internet, and a free iPhone 14 Pro that will be fully paid off as long as I keep my plan active for two years.
I just looked at the AT&T plans and it appears that two lines with unlimited data would cost $120 per month (before they add on who knows what additional fees that aren't included in that price). The price for more lines goes up from there.
That's total, right? That's still only $60/mo, and it goes down with more people. Most big carriers are like $45 to $50 after 4 or 5 people, which is similar to what Fi costs.
But yeah the misc fees are annoying, especially if you ever travel or call overseas.
Edit: Wait, are you implying that Mint's pricing is $35 total, not per line?? No matter how many lines?
Not OP, and they said what they use (Red Pocket) but I also pay $5/mo for service from Tello ( https://tello.com/ ). 500MB/mo, data only, calls through Google Voice via data. (100 minutes of voice $1/mo extra.) Lots of choice in building your own plan.