Sprint has an Unlimited Kickstart plan with unlimited talk/text/data for $35 per month, per line. No annual contracts. You can bring over your own compatible phone, or buy one from them. Online orders only. New customers only. Requires port-in of your existing number.
Pros of Kickstart Unlimited:
- Unlimited talk, text, and data for $35 a month, per line.
- You can bring over any compatible phone, or buy one from Sprint. Use their phone IMEI/MEID checker.
- You can come over from ANY outside provider, Verizon/AT&T/T-Mobile or even another cheap MVNO.
- No expiration date. Price will not go up after a year.
- No annual contracts.
- No family plan or minimum number of lines required.
Cons of Kickstart Unlimited:
- New customers only.
- Online orders only. You won’t see this offer in stores.
- No mobile hotspot.
- Unlimited video in standard definition. Video streams up to 480p, music up to 500 Kbps, gaming up to 2 Mbps.
- Data deprioritization during congestion.
- Autopay required.
Sprint Unlimited Kickstart is best for those that want to lock in unlimited data direct from a major provider at a low $35/month price. Verizon, AT&T, and T-Mobile Unlimited may have slightly better networks but they are also significantly more expensive.
I am not a huge data user, but it was still nice when I was on Sprint Unlimited. I could stream videos without worry and switched all my settings to “use cellular data whenever the heck you want!” instead of having to wait to sync or download things like podcasts over WiFi. There is also (slightly) better customer service at a major provider as compared to an MVNO. However, I would also consider the these MVNO alternatives as they can offer some significant savings.
Mint Mobile is another low-cost competitor with data caps. This is what I use. They are an MVNO that runs on the T-Mobile GSM network. You can get:
- Unlimited talk, text, and 3 GB of LTE data for $15 a month.
- Unlimited talk, text, and 8 GB of LTE data for $20 a month.
- Unlimited talk, text, and 12 GB of LTE data for $25 a month.
(Disclosure: I am a Mint affiliate and if you purchase a Mint plan through one of the links above, I may earn a commission. I am also a paying Mint customer. Thanks for supporting this individually-owned site.)
The thing about Mint Mobile is that you have to “buy in bulk”. Initially you have to buy at least 3 months upfront, and then after that you have to buy 12 months at a time to get their lowest price. After your LTE data runs out, you still get data included at slower 2G data speeds until your month resets. They do offer a 7-Day Money Back Guarantee (starts upon SIM activation) so you can test them out before making any commitment.
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I’ve been a Sprint customer for over 10 years now (back when they came out with the unlimited SERO plan). Now I’m looking at getting this for my wife. She is ready to move away from Republic Wireless, which has been spotty for her.
Quick note about your review where you mention, “No expiration date. Price will not go up after a year.”
The Sprint website lists this footnote for the Unlimited Kickstart Plan:
“Pricing shown with $5/mo/line AutoPay discount applied within 2 invoices. Reqs. eBill and new account activation. Sprint Unlimited Basic: Limited time offer. After 06/30/2020 pay $60/mo for line 1, $40/mo for line 2 and $20/mo/line for lines 3-5. with AutoPay. Data deprioritization during congestion. Other mo. charges apply.**”
So it looks like this is an intro deal at $25 a month for the first year. After that, the price more than doubles. Still, I think it’s a good option for now. I’ll still go ahead and get this, then reevaluate next year when the rates increase. At that point, it may make sense to bundle our plans.
The fine print you quote about going up to $60/month after 6/30/2020 is regarding Sprint Unlimited *Basic*. They include that because they have a comparison chart against Sprint Unlimited *Kickstart* which is the barebones offering at $25 per month. Sprint Unlimited Kickstart does not go up after a year. Hope that helps clear things up!
ahhhh… You’re right.! I didn’t read that correctly. Well, yes, that’s a very solid deal. I’ll get it for my wife this weekend. I’ll be sure to click the appropriate links on this site. 🙂
I was able to get this plan for my wife, but they wouldn’t allow us to make the purchase online. I had to call customer support. The process took a painful 1 hour and 25 minutes.
We also couldn’t open the account under my wife’s name, we had to add a line under my current account. For some reason, her credit was declined, even though she has an 800 credit score, we were buying the phone outright (no payment plans), and we tried to open a no credit account. I believe that since they wouldn’t open the account online, it froze her out. (the upside is now we only have one account and one bill instead of two, which is easier).
The customer service rep was very patient. But the Sprint process itself was painful.
Thought of the day:
You can add a new Unlimited Kickstart line to your current Sprint account. So I’m not sure if there is anything stopping someone from adding a new line, porting out their current number to a pay as you go company, waiting a few days or a month, then porting it back to Spring to take the place of your new Unlimited Kickstart plan line. I asked the Sprint CSR about that and he said that should work. He also said you may be able to move your old number directly to your new line, but he wasn’t sure.
So that may be a good way for people to get the inexpensive plan and still keep their number. Mine is over a decade old and I don’t want to part with it.
Thanks for the helpful comment, Ryan!
Hello! Looking for some advice on how to take advantage of this offer for my daughter. I’m with Sprint now (free year expiring at the end of July) and I’m trying to add her to my account with the Kickstarter but Sprint is saying it needs to be a port in, not a new line. Is there a way to get a inexpensive number and then port it over before the deal expires? Thanks much for any help you can provide.
You could buy a cheap prepaid SIM from T-Mobile, which I think comes with a tiny amount of minutes upon activation (no separate reload card needed) but it’ll get you an active phone number on T-Mobile. Then port that immediately into Sprint.
James – I just did a live chat with Sprint and they said that Unlimited Kickstart doesn’t need to be a port-in. You can start a new line from scratch or add a new line to an existing account. I just wanted to let you know before you went through unnecessary hoops.
This offer is also available at Best Buy and is eligible with Unlocked phones. You can also save $100 when you activate any eligible Unlocked phone on Sprint.
At Best Buy you also don’t have to be a new customer, you just need to add a new line.
https://www.bestbuy.com/site/clp-cell-phones/sprint-unlimited-kickstart-offer/pcmcat1556893842336.c?id=pcmcat1556893842336
Sprint chat rep is telling me there is no data deprioritization during congestion. Any info on this?
the chat reps will tell you ANYTHING to make a sell … and what they “chat” isn’t legally binding …
I have a 5 page chat session I saved … what they told me up front was completely wrong … at the end, I called “Chris” (the chat rep) out on this … after which I heard nothing back.
concerning data deprioritization, I have a plan that does this in Denver, but have seen no impact to my July 2018 kickstart plan ($15/month, 19.19 after taxes) for unlimited everything (but no hotspot/hulu/etc.)
Are you certain that this offer will last until July 18th? Sprint doesn’t say anywhere when the offer expires.
That’s what my Sprint contact says. There is certainly a possibility it could be extended, but given the sudden and recent demise of the Free Year promo, I wouldn’t wait if I wanted this deal.
How much is it after taxes? I’m paying 75 for 2 phones after tax with boost
No mobile hotspot is a big negative to me.
I decided to move to Sprint after having bad customer service experience with MetroPCS and LycaMobile. But Sprint customer service is not better either.
They sent me wrong sim card and asking them to reissue correct one was nightmare. They insisted I pay for it again even if it was there mistake. After talking to them for over one hour on phone and five departments I was able to get it for free.
Also, I had to use data roaming in my own neighborhood to get data. There representative do not have clear clue about the limit. I am chatting with them for over an hour and still no clear answer. I think it is 100 MB for kickstart plan but there is no link to confirm it.
I have this plan, no problems thus so far.
promo was renewed apparently today – know the new end date?
I don’t, sorry. I highly doubt it will be around after the merger is complete, however.
No new updates from your Sprint contact?
They now say that this offer will end 10/17/19. They sound firm on this date.
No offense – but didn’t they tell you this last time? (and it was extended again)
What makes this time different than the “firm” info from last time?
I agree, you’re right. What can I say, I can only pass on what they tell me. I do think this offer is on its very last legs though.
Looks like the $25/month price ended on 10/17. It’s now $35/month, and at first glance everything else looks the same.
Any Idea when the $25 Unlimited Kickstart will be back ?
Looks like $15 Unlimited Kickstart bacame $25 Unlimited Kickstart last year and now it’s back as $35 Unlimited Kickstart, correct?
Right now, Mint has unlimited free data for all users, through at least 4/20/20, in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. https://www.mintmobile.com/unlimited/. Valid for both existing and new customers.
On the surface, this looks like a very impressive opportunity. It would be helpful for anyone considering this offer to check a National Network Coverage map and click on the state in which they receive their daily service as well as the states to which they travel most often. Sprint’s network comes in with the weakest coverage percentage in many of the central mid-west and mid-south states (which is where I live and travel most). I learn much from your blog and appreciate your dedication to it. I know this could be a great deal for those who live in Sprint network areas with great, reliable connectivity.