Overview: Virgin Mobile (Cellular Data Plans)

This Product Discontinued or Obsolete

While current owners of this device or plan may continue to find performance to be adequate for the foreseeable tech-future, we do not recommend upgrading to or purchasing it. 

Consider Alternatives

Virgin Mobile was a prepaid subsidiary of Sprint, offering plans for smartphones with limited amounts of data sharing (tethering / mobile hotspot). In February of 2020, Virgin Mobile ended service to U.S. based customers.

As a direct prepaid subsidiary of Sprint, Virgin mobile plans include some of the bundled perks of Sprint postpaid accounts - but not all.

Currently Available Plans

All plans required an additional fee of $3/day for 500mb of mobile hotspot use or $5/1GB per month or $10/2GB per month.  All other data in the following plans was on device. Speeds on device for capped data plans were reduced to 2G (128kbps) after cap is reached.

• 5GB - $35/month
• 10GB - $45/month
• Unlimited - $60/month

For Our Comparative Pricing Grid:
Guide to Cellular Data Plan Pricing

History

In June of 2017, Virgin Mobile revamped their offerings, consolidating their multiple plan options to a single 'unlimited' plan option - 'Inner Circle'- with a focus on iPhone users.

In August 2018, they ended the Inner Circle promo, revamping their plan offerings to include a 5GB, 10GB and unlimited plan (on device) option.

In November 2019, Virgin Mobile pulled out of Walmart stores and was only available online.

In January 2020, Virgin Mobile U.S. informed customers that their service would be migrated to Boost Mobile as Virgin Mobile U.S. would no longer be providing cellular service.

Testing Status:

We did not keep a Virgin Mobile plan in our testing arsenal.

Policies & Perks:

• Carrier Networks Used: Sprint
• Carrier Relation: Prepaid Carrier Direct
• Plan Types Available: Phone
• Device Types Permitted: Phone
• Device Purchase Required: No, but can purchase a device
• Mobile Hotspot Use: Mobile hotspot requires an extra fee. After MHS data bucket is used, MHS is cut-off. MHS data is measured separately from your data plan's data. Max five connections to a line at a time.
  • $3/day for 500MB
  • $5/month for 1GB
  • $10/month for 2GB
• Throttling: After high-speed data bucket is used, unlimited 2G data (128kbps) speeds provided.
• Network Management: at 35GB
• International Roaming: None
• Domestic Roaming: No data roaming, 50minutes/month domestic voice roaming
• Plan Period: 30 days
• Data Roll Over: No
• Overage Charges: None
• Streaming: 
  • Video streams at 480p resolution, music at up to 500 kbps, and streaming cloud gaming at up to 2 mbps
• Unlimited: Yes - on device only
• Device Lock/Unlock Policy: Although phones are locked upon activation, you can choose to unlock your phone at any time as long as the device has been activated for at least 14 days.

Related Articles & News:

• Virgin Mobile Ends USA Service Plans - Migrates Customers to Boost Mobile Posted on: January 7, 2020
• Virgin Mobile Going Unlimited - And iPhone Only Posted on: June 30, 2017
• Sprint Tower Cost-Cutting Leads to Fears of Service Interruptions, Reduced Coverage Posted on: January 21, 2016
• Virgin Mobile Adds Extra Data to Data Done Right Plans Posted on: May 16, 2015
• Virgin Mobile Launches Data Done Right - With Mobile Hotspot Posted on: January 17, 2015

Alternatives to Consider

Also consider some of our other top pick data plans:

All of our Top Pick Plans

Selecting Data Plans

Data Plan Spreadsheet

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Purchasing Options

Virgin Mobile