Boost Mobile Review

Boost Mobile plans and prices

Boost sells four standard plans. Every price below is the AutoPay price shown on Boost's plans page, checked Oct 30, 2026. Without AutoPay, each plan costs $5 more.

Taxes, regulatory fees and surcharges are added on top of every plan, per Boost's plan terms.

The $25 Unlimited plan

This is the plan most people come to Boost for. Boost's terms say the price is $25 a month "Forever" as long as you stay in good standing and keep AutoPay on. The terms also note that conditions may vary by activation date, and switching plans can forfeit the deal.

New customers who bring their own phone currently pay $10 a month for the first six months, then $25. Boost's footnote says the discount covers up to 3 lines per online order and up to 10 per account. Lines added later do not get the full six months of credits.

You pay $25 per line at checkout, which Boost credits toward your first month. The plan allows up to 10 lines.

Global Connection

The $40 plan targets people who call abroad. It adds Global Talk & Text to more than 190 destinations, according to Boost's plan terms, plus 1GB of high-speed data a month while traveling in select destinations. Boost's terms do not list those destinations on the plan page, so check before you travel.

Unlimited+ and Unlimited Premium

These two plans add hotspot and more premium data. Hotspot use draws from the same premium data pool rather than a separate allowance. Unlimited Premium adds North America Connect: 5GB of data a month while roaming in Canada and Mexico, unlimited talk and text there, and unlimited calls and texts from the U.S. to both countries.

Boost's plans page advertises "Buy 2 Lines, Get $20 Off" and "Buy 3 Lines, Get $40 Off" on these two plans. The page does not say whether that is a monthly discount or one-time, so ask before you rely on it.

Infinite Access is closed to new lines

Boost's Infinite Access plans, $65 a month with an iPhone or Galaxy and yearly upgrades, are no longer sold on new lines as of June 30, 2026, per Boost's help center. Existing customers keep them.

Network: whose towers Boost really uses

Boost's network story changed in 2025, and many older reviews are now wrong. Boost spent years building its own 5G network under parent company EchoStar (formerly DISH). That network is largely gone.

The AT&T deal

On August 26, 2025, EchoStar announced it would sell spectrum licenses to AT&T for about $23 billion and convert Boost into a "hybrid mobile network operator." Under that deal, Boost runs its own cloud-based 5G core, while EchoStar said primary connectivity "will be provided by AT&T's towers." The same announcement said Boost customers would keep access to the T-Mobile network.

EchoStar also said elements of Boost's radio network would be decommissioned over time. A Boost blog post dated September 17, 2026 says EchoStar shut down its proprietary towers in late 2025 and moved almost all wireless customers onto other networks.

What that means for you

Boost's Open Internet Transparency disclosure says the service runs as a hybrid network with AT&T, and that a customer's experience "could be powered by AT&T or T-Mobile instead." In practice, your coverage depends largely on AT&T's footprint where you live, with T-Mobile as a fallback.

Boost publishes typical speed ranges in the same disclosure. It lists 5G downloads of 75 to 338 Mbps and 4G downloads of 12 to 71 Mbps, based on the 25th to 75th percentile of user experiences. Those are Boost's own estimates, not independent measurements.

Data priority and throttling

Boost's network disclosure says unlimited customers who pass a "QoS Threshold" in a billing cycle may be deprioritized or slowed. It does not publish that threshold as a number. The plan terms are more specific about hard caps: the Unlimited plan drops to 512kbps after 30GB, and the other plans warn of slower speeds after 40GB or 50GB.

The disclosure also says some plans stream video at standard DVD quality, with HD available for an extra charge. Boost's plan pages do not say which plans stream at which resolution.

Phones, eSIM and unlocking

Bringing your own phone

To bring a phone, it must be unlocked by your current carrier and pass Boost's IMEI compatibility check. You can find the IMEI by dialing *#06#. Boost's plans page says you can activate a compatible phone with eSIM in minutes or have a physical SIM mailed to you.

To keep your number, you need your old carrier's account number, the account holder's name, billing address and a number transfer PIN. Boost's activation page says most of this is on your latest bill.

Buying a phone from Boost

Boost sells discounted phones, and its plans page advertises device savings of up to $300 on Unlimited+ and up to $430 on Unlimited Premium, with Affirm financing. Read the strings attached:

• Boost's Unlimited+ and Unlimited Premium terms say discounted phones are locked to your current plan tier or higher for 12 months.
• If you buy a discounted phone and do not activate service within 30 days, Boost charges the full list price to your payment method.
• Taxes on a discounted phone are charged on its full pre-credit retail price, due at the sale.

Unlocking policy

Boost's unlocking policy says prepaid devices are unlocked one year after initial activation. The account cannot be suspended at that point, and any financed balance must be paid. Postpaid devices unlock once financing is complete or the phone is paid in full.

Boost says it unlocks eligible devices remotely within two business days. There is an exception for active-duty military members with overseas deployment papers.

Fees, taxes and the money-back guarantee

Boost's advertised prices are not what you pay. Every plan's terms say the monthly fee excludes taxes, regulatory fees and surcharges.

Boost's taxes and fees page lists what can be added: a federal Universal Service Fund surcharge, a Regulatory Cost Recovery Fee, state and local sales and 911 taxes, and state surcharges. It gives few dollar amounts because they vary by location. One example it does list is California's universal service surcharge of $1.11 per line per month.

If you want a plan where the sticker price is the final price, see our comparison of taxes-included vs. taxes-extra phone plans.

Activation fees

Boost's online plan pages and help articles we checked do not publish an activation fee amount. The bring-your-phone page does say that activation fees and phone payments are non-refundable under the money-back guarantee. Ask for the full first-month total before you activate, especially in a store.

The 30-day money-back guarantee

Boost refunds service charges, including taxes and fees, for new accounts that request a refund within 30 days of account creation. All three conditions must apply:

1. You opened a new Boost account and activated at least one line.
2. You ported in a number from another carrier.
3. You enrolled in AutoPay.

Add-ons bought in the first 30 days are also refundable. If you start with a new number instead of porting one, you do not qualify.

Who Boost Mobile suits, and who should skip it

Our verdict

On published price and data alone, Boost's $25 Unlimited plan is strong value. Thirty gigabytes of premium data at that price, backed by a "Forever" price promise that holds while you keep AutoPay and stay in good standing, is hard to match.

The weak points are disclosure gaps rather than bad terms. Boost does not publish its deprioritization threshold, its video resolution by plan, or a clear activation fee. The network also changed hands in 2025, so older coverage reviews are unreliable. If AT&T works well where you are and you bring your own phone, Boost is easy to recommend on paper. If you are unsure, use the 30-day guarantee, and remember it requires a port-in.

For alternatives at the same price, see our roundup of the best prepaid cell phone plans.