Mint Mobile is a prepaid carrier operating on T-Mobile’s network that sells its plans in multi-month bundles so you can save money. You can buy three or six months at a time, or even pay for the whole year at once, with up to 10GB of LTE each month. Should you decide to try out Mint Mobile, porting your number from another carrier is a fairly simple and painless process.
Products used in this guide
- Mint Mobile: SIM card ($45+)
- Mint Mobile: Samsung Galaxy S9 ($699)
Porting your number
Before starting the porting process, it’s important to note that your phone number must remain active on your previous carrier throughout the process. If you cancel your old service before moving to Mint, you likely won’t be able to recover your phone number — at least, not without going through a much more tedious process.
Once you’ve decided on a plan and received your Mint Mobile SIM card, starting the porting process is easy.
We used the Samsung Galaxy S9 for the purposes of this guide, but any Mint-compatible phone will do. You can get them for as low as $59.
Visit mintmobile.com and click Activate near the top of the page.
Enter your activation code. You’ll find the code on the back of your SIM card, above the “active by” date.
Click Start or Resume your Activation.
Enter the account number, PIN or password, and ZIP code associated with your previous carrier. You’ll find your account number at the top of most paperwork, including phone bills and receipts, but if you’re unsure about any information, you should call your existing carrier’s customer service line.
That’s it! Once you’re done, you can create a Mint Mobile account to keep track of your plan, but the porting process should be out of your hands and your number will change over automatically. Depending on various factors like your previous carrier, the transfer could be instant or take up to 48 hours — just be patient.
Once the number transfer is complete, you’ll receive a welcome text from Mint confirming your phone number, and in most cases, your existing service will cancel automatically. From here, all that’s left is to enjoy your new service!
Our top equipment picks
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Mint Mobile SIM card
$45+ at Mint Mobile
Try Mint Mobile with a 7-day money back guarantee
Mint’s plans are extremely affordable, but they won’t do you any good if the service doesn’t work in your neck of the woods. You can try Mint for three months for as little as $45, and if it doesn’t work out within the first week you can get a full refund — though they’re pretty confident you’ll stick around.
Mint-compatible phone
Samsung Galaxy S9
$699 at Mint Mobile
One of the most well-rounded Android phones around
You can use almost any unlocked GSM-compatible phone on Mint Mobile, so long as it supports T-Mobile’s network. Mint also sells a number of popular Android (and iOS) phones, including the highly regarded Galaxy S9, and you can even finance it through Affirm.
