TextNow vs. Helium Mobile: Which Free Phone Carrier is the Right One For You?

There are a lot of budget phone carrier options in the market these days, giving you a wide range of options for a cheap phone plan that works just as well as the big guys. But what’s harder to find is a budget alternative that offers phone service for free, which is exactly what TextNow and Helium Mobile claim. 

Both carriers are MVNOs – mobile virtual network operators that piggyback off a major carrier’s network to deliver the same coverage – stating they operate on the nation’s largest 5G network, giving wireless service for free. It doesn’t get cheaper than $0, but there are other factors to consider, such as voice & data limitations, service reliability, and customer support. So, let’s see which free plan is the better choice.  

Executive Summary: Which is the better free phone carrier?  

Both carriers are similar in some ways – they both offer free nationwide phone service that includes calls, texts, and data, they both partner with other brands to offer discounts and promotions, and they’re both an online-only carrier, skipping the large overhead that comes with a physical location. But that is where their similarities end. When it comes to how each carrier is able to do all this, TextNow has a clear edge with its service offerings and options, its privacy features, and its accessibility.  

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Summary: TextNow vs. Helium Mobile  

Our Take

Both carriers offer free phone service, with TextNow providing more of the essentials – unlimited talk & text – while Helium Mobile offers slightly more data access for all other phone usage. Its limitations on calls and texts, though, may be too restrictive, as the average American sends approximately 567 texts a month¹, and Helium’s plan is limited to 300. That, plus its privacy concerns – identity verification and mandatory location sharing – make it a less attractive option.  

Benefits

• TextNow’s free plan is supported by ads, and through those partnerships, TextNow is also able to provide discounts and free offers from a variety of brands that are updated weekly, passing more savings to their customers alongside a $0 phone bill.  

• Helium Mobile also offers brand offers and discounts through their rewards program. You can redeem reward points (can be earned by participating in certain actions like referrals, location sharing, etc.) for various offers available in their Cloud Store.

Drawbacks

• TextNow’s free plan only comes with 1GB of data for specific apps (email, maps, rideshare), so if you need access to any other services, you wouldn’t be able to connect without Wi-Fi.  

• Helium Mobile’s plan only comes with 100 minutes and 300 texts, which is low if you use your native dialer and messaging app rather than third-party messaging apps like WhatsApp or Messenger (which use data, not voice or minutes).  

TextNow vs. Helium Mobile: Plan Overview

TextNow vs. Helium Full Review

We’d have liked to have spent some time testing out Helium Mobile’s service, but it’s currently invite-only and there’s a waitlist. So, we spent 14 days using TextNow’s Free Essential Data plan exclusively and relied on real user testimonials and reviews for Helium Mobile’s review.  

For these particular plans, we focused on testing out: 

• Purchasing and activating the SIM card for the plan to test the ease of signing up 

• Making calls in various locations to test their quality 

• Using mobile data while out in various locations to test the coverage and reliability 

• Contacting customer service to test out wait times and helpfulness 

• Redeeming offers available from brands to gauge how easy they are/if there are any limitations 

Through these actions, we were able to better ascertain what a real customer experience might look like with either of these carriers, so we can give a fair review.  

Plans and Pricing

When it comes to a free phone plan, there is only one offered by each carrier. Both plans are truly $0/month, without a contract or credit check, and neither are temporary offers that hike the price up after a set period. You can use either plan indefinitely –for now, at least – for $0/month.  

TextNow’s Free Essential Data plan comes with unlimited talk & text, plus 1GB of data that can only be used for email, maps, or rideshare (Uber & Lyft) apps. If you use up your allotted 1GB, there are no fees or “re-up” charges, you will simply not have data for those extra apps for the remainder of the “billing” cycle (There is no billing, but the cycle for counting and restarting the data count is still at 30 days.)  

Helium Mobile’s Zero plan comes with 100 minutes for voice calls, 300 texts (SMS), and 3GB of data without app restrictions. If you use up your allotted 3GB, there are no fees, but you will only be able to get more by either buying additional data for $7.50/GB or waiting for the renewal of the billing cycle.

TextNow's Free Essential Data Plan and Helium Mobile's Zero Plan

Experience: TextNow vs. Helium Mobile

TextNow’s Free Essential Data plan works as promised – I’m able to access my calls and texts, my email, my Google Maps, and Uber when needed, without Wi-Fi. It’s important to note that my phone number, and all its conversations are stored within the TextNow app itself. So, texting and calling isn’t done through the phone’s native dialer and messaging app like I’m used to, but through the TextNow app. It’s also where I’m able to manage my plan (add data if I want), find support, and check out which deals and promos are available to me weekly through TextNow Perks.  

As mentioned, TextNow can provide this service for free by serving ads in the app. They can be turned off, but that requires a payment via a subscription to their Ad-Free+ plan. Otherwise, there are no other requirements or hidden fees – it just works.  

Helium Mobile Zero’s plan similarly appears to work as promised. They also have an app, but it’s only used for activating their SIM, keeping track of your voice minutes and texts, managing your reward points in their Cloud store, and upgrading your plan. Otherwise, you use your phone normally, with an allotted 3GB of mobile data for usage outside of Wi-Fi.  

Helium Mobile is able to provide its service for free through mandatory anonymized location sharing. To continue using the Zero plan, you have to share your location at all times. Also note that during the sign-up, as reported by people who did get through the waitlist, you will be required to pass identity verification, whereby you must upload a picture of your government-issued ID, as well as a selfie.  

Data Plans

If you’re looking for a free plan that will also allow you to add more data as you need, both carriers have those options.  

Helium Mobile also offers two more monthly plans with limited and unlimited data, while TextNow offers passes that last for a set period of time, intended for both one-off uses, as well as a consistent monthly plan.  

You can see how these plans compare below:  

Coverage

Both carriers use the nation’s largest 5G network for cellular and data coverage.  

I find that both carriers’ coverage works best in urban areas. So, if you live in a city or suburb, you won’t have any issues with connecting.  

Rural areas are also covered fairly well, as seen through various reviews, but you may want to use the coverage map directly if you’re unsure about your location.  

Reliability

As both use the same network, there isn’t much competition here between the two. Most customers report confidence in their phones working while out and about, being able to complete tasks without lagging or lack of service.  

Data Speeds

This is where the two differ. TextNow’s Free Essential Data plan only allows up to 5 Mbps, whereas the Helium Mobile Zero plan provides up to 418 Mbps. An important distinction to make here is that TextNow’s free plan only allows data for email, maps, rideshare, and its own app. None of those apps require high speeds for function, so their small limit makes sense in comparison to Helium Mobile’s, which provides 3GB of data for everything, including streaming – a data-heavy action.  

We can’t currently test Helium Mobile’s claims to see if you’d actually get those speeds, so be sure to check back for real speed tests.  

Customer Support

Both carriers offer customer support online (no phone number) via a support page with helpful articles and tips, and live chat.  

TextNow’s live representatives are available Monday-Sunday 10am-5:30pm EST.  

Helium Mobile’s live representatives are available Monday-Friday 9am-10pm EST, Saturday-Sunday 11am-7pm EST.  

TextNow’s live chat support is AI-powered, with an AI bot speaking with you originally, before it gets transferred to a live representative if my problem wasn’t solved. I also found that I could just type in “speak to a real human,” and be given the option to wait for an agent right away.  

Helium Mobile’s live chat support is also AI-powered, but getting to speak to a live representative is trickier. When initially landing on their chat pop-up, there is a list of general topics and the relevant articles under each one. There is a tab for “messages” that simply says, “messages for the team will be shown here,” without an option to send one yourself. I couldn’t replicate it, so I’m not entirely sure how I got there, but at one point, after clicking through to different articles and back, when tapping on the “Messages” tab again, I now saw the option for “Send us a message,” which led me to the chat bot. Once I did get there, I was able to type in “speak to a real human,” and was “transferred” with a notice about a reply time under 2 hours.  

Recap: Which carrier is better?

TextNow and Helium Mobile share a lot of similarities when it comes to pricing, coverage, and reliability. But their differences are what sets TextNow apart as the more accessible and trustworthy choice.  

TextNow has been providing some form of free phone service for the past 16 years, so it’s a service you can trust won’t go away. The way it’s able to pay for it is also a trusted method – ads – which in TextNow’s case, also work to save you money by providing you with free trials and offers from leading brands. There is no complicated process for signing up – all it takes is an email address to create a TextNow account. The only credit card information you need to fill out is to order a SIM card (one-time purchase) so your phone can access the network for usage outside of Wi-Fi. Otherwise, once activated, you just use your phone without any other hidden requirements.  

Helium Mobile, on the other hand, is trying to make internet and data service more accessible by using this plan to track “hotspots” via their mandatory location sharing so they can build their own mini networks. While the request is reasonable, considering the benefit, a lot of people – including myself – find their privacy more important. No company is truly perfect at protecting data, and the requirements needed to enjoy this plan – location sharing and the initial identity verification – are enough to question whether signing up is worth it.  

Lastly, for both carriers (and similar ones in the market) that do not have physical stores and provide their services in a non-traditional manner, having readily available and useful customer support is non-negotiable. While Helium Mobile’s hours are longer for real human support, it’s quite hard to actually get to talk to a human.  

If you’re looking to save money this year by switching to a free phone plan that gets you up to $144 back in your pocket every month, TextNow is the right carrier for you. If you’re not worried about privacy, and need more data access while on-the-go for free, Helium Mobile may be for you.  

If you have any questions or comments, send us a note at [email protected]!