Google Fi vs T Mobile for Travelers: International Roaming Comparison

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When T-Mobile first came out with free international roaming, it was game-changing for travelers.  I made the switch without hesitation and recommended it whole-heartedly to other travelers.  At least, until Google Fi came out.  Then there was another player in this field — and possibly one who did it better. 

These days, it’s a battle of Google Project Fi vs T Mobile.  Who does it better?  It depends.

**Side note: Not all T-Mobile plans include international coverage.  You’re looking specifically for T-Mobile ONE, T-Mobile ONE Plus, or T-Mobile International…but from here on out, I’ll abbreviate as T-Mobile.**

Project Fi vs TMobile for Travelers

Why do you need international roaming anyway?

Both T-Mobile One and Google Fi advertise data coverage and texting while abroad at no extra cost.  For T-Mobile, it’s 140+ countries; for Fi, 135.  Travelers are no longer forced to buy expensive data add-ons, which I love.  These days, having a cell phone abroad is no longer a luxury — it’s something we expect and rely on.

Yes, of course you could buy a sim card in whatever country you land in.  In many places, it’s less than $10 for a sim card and 1 GB of data.  However, I’ve definitely been that person standing in line in Laos and struggling to get it set up (what a waste of time).  I’ve also been that person who misses important calls because my Vietnamese sim card came with a Vietnamese phone number so when folks at home called my “normal” phone number, I had no idea until two weeks later.

Using international roaming through T-Mobile and Google Fi solves these issues.  As long as your roaming is turned on, everything works just like at home.

When it comes to Phone Calls and Texting, it’s a Tie

Assuming you’re using a compatible device, both T-Mobile and Google Fi offer free wi-fi calling to U.S. based phone numbers.  That means if you’re in Spain on vacation, you can call your Mom back home for free.  You can also text your friends as often as you want, all for no extra cost.

In a second scenario, if you’re dialing an international phone number, both companies charge 20 cents per minute.  For example, you’re in England and calling a local restaurant to make a dinner reservation.  It’s not free, but since both companies charge the same amount, I’ll call it a wash.

Hint: Use apps like Whatsapp to dial for free instead of paying cell phone charges!  Or just ask the hotel concierge 🙂

project fi international cell phone plans

Google Fi vs T Mobile Data Speeds

This is one main difference between Google Fi and T-Mobile.

Fi almost always offers the fastest data speeds available while abroad.  If a region has 4G LTE service, you’ll get LTE speeds.  Just like at home, there may be rural areas with slower service, in which case you’ll get the fastest available.  That makes it easy to get answers to questions quickly or share photos on Facebook.

T-Mobile, on the other hand, only offers international speeds up to 128 kbps.  That’s perfectly fine for checking emails and even some basic web searches.  You may have to wait a minute to calculate Google Maps directions and you’re certainly not streaming YouTube videos to pass time on a bus ride.

For an extra $10/month, T-Mobile will sell you an upgrade to T-Mobile ONE Plus which includes faster  international data.  If you’re a frequent traveler and heavy data user, you’ll want to pay the upcharge.

One last note: Google Fi allows tethering at full speed; T-Mobile limits your tether speeds even at home.  If you want to use your cell phone data to connect your laptop to the internet, that might be a factor for you to consider.

That Brings Me to the Costs: Google Fi vs TMobile Prices

Google Fi pricing is basic math: $20 base fee (for unlimited calls and texts) + $10 per gigabyte of data, whether it’s used at home or abroad.  For someone who uses 2 GB of data per month, that’s $40 in fees (20 + 20) and someone who uses 5 GB will pay $70/month.  There is no unlimited data package.

If you add a family member to the same plan, each additional line is only a $15 base fee, so you’ll get a small savings.

project fi rates
An Example of Project Fi Rates

T-Mobile pricing is more variable.  A single line starts at $70 including unlimited talk, text, and data.  It also includes taxes and fees (compared to about ~$5 on Project Fi).  Prices per line drop as you add more lines: it’s $60/line for 2 phones, $47 each for 3 phones, or $40 per line for 4 lines.

As a reminder, you have to pay an extra $10 per line per month if you want data speeds to be an apples-to-apples comparison with Project Fi.

So what does that mean?  You need to look at your own usage to determine which is cheaper.

  • If you need a single line and don’t use a lot of data, it’s cheaper to use Google Fi.
  • If you have a family of 4 and you all consume a lot of data, it’s cheaper to use T Mobile.
  • For two lines, break even is at 4 GB of data per person.

Who Has Better Phones?

Hands down, T-Mobile offers way more selection.  You can bring pretty much any phone and expect it to be compatible.  That means you can find your preferred operating system and pricepoint and be happy.

Google Fi, at least in the USA, uses wi-fi calling whenever possible.  They lease towers from T-Mobile and US Cellular to pick up the difference, but it defaults to wi-fi calling.  Because of this, you NEED to use a Google Fi phone.  I’ve tested my Fi sim card in other phones and there is a noticeable difference in call quality.  That limits your choices considerably.

Google Fi is currently only selling phones in the Pixel family as well as select Samsung and Motorola phones.

There aren’t a lot of phone choices with Project Fi, but the Pixel family is highly rated.

T Mobile vs Google Fi: What I Like Best About Each One

T-Mobile includes a lot of extras in their plans, like 1 hour of free wi-fi on Gogo equipped planes for each flight.  They also give you free phone calls in Canada and Mexico and free Netflix streaming if you have 2 or more lines.  Downloading the T-Mobile Tuesdays app also gives you random freebies each week, like movie tickets.

Google Fi doesn’t offer extras, but it builds in a lot of flexibility.  You don’t have to lock yourself into a certain amount of data.  If you use 1 GB of data in January, that’s all they charge you for, even if you use 3 GB the next month.  They also let you pause your service (more on that in a minute).

US-Based Cell Service — I Find Coverage Gaps with Both

I give credit to T-Mobile for working to expand their coverage.

That said, both carriers have coverage gaps in the USA.  All the marketing claims of the world are irrelevant based on my personal experience.  I’m a nature-lover, hiker, and spend time in small towns.  I almost always have talk coverage regardless of carrier, but while testing T Mobile vs Google Fi, I often had zero data (from both) in rural areas.

I have an AT&T plan with beautiful coverage in most national parks or my family farm and Verizon is even better.  Of course, neither of those have affordable international data roaming.

project fi vs t mobile rural coverage
Good luck finding cell phone coverage while hiking in national parks.

My Personal Solution: Yes, I Have 2 Phone Plans

I have a Straight Talk (on the AT&T network) plan that I use for my day-to-day use.  It has great coverage in the places I go and keeps my monthly bill pretty low.  It also solves 99% of my coverage gaps within the USA.

I supplement with Google Fi for international trips.

What do I mean by that?  I have a Google Fi plan that I pause while I’m home and resume service for every trip.  You are not billed while your service is paused, so my talk/text fees are pro-rated if I only need international service for a partial month.  For data, I pay the same $10 per gigabyte that everyone pays.  I have a US-based phone number that my family and friends can use to get ahold of me.

It works smashingly.  Pausing is as simple as clicking a button in your online account and resuming is also instant.  Best of both worlds.

That said, I think for people who live in urban areas (and who rarely travel to rural locales), it’ll still be cheaper to ONLY use Google Fi or T-Mobile rather than holding two plans.

The Bottom Line: T Mobile vs Google Fi

If you are a light to moderate data user (let’s say 3 GB per month), I think Google Fi wins.  They have faster data coverage abroad, which impacts usability to a large degree.  Their customer service is phenomenal and I found that my phone always found international networks quickly and easily (with T-Mobile, sometimes I had to restart my phone if I moved between networks).

For power users and/or family plans, you can save big by using T-Mobile instead — even if you have to pay the extra fee for faster international data.  It’s also the best choice for iPhone aficionados, of which I am not.

Either way, frequent travelers should consider switching to either Google Fi or T Mobile.  Once you’ve traveled with free international roaming, you’ll never go back!

Switch Now!  As mentioned, I prefer Google Fi but some users may prefer T-Mobile.

10 thoughts on “Google Fi vs T Mobile for Travelers: International Roaming Comparison”

  1. I’m like you – 2 plan household. We use Cricket Wireless for our family (5 lines with 5GB each of high speed data for $100/month); but signed up for Fi for international trips.

    We also got 4 data only SIMs with Fi account for use in the kids phones abroad – but still only one bill. Love how easy it is to pause service for 3 months at a time. The best part is Fi’s speed -amazingly fast even in small countries like Malta.

    Great post!

  2. I’ve been using Google Fi for about six months now and it’s been great. I was concerned about the constant switching between cell providers, but it’s been incredibly seamless. I’ve also been able to call my cousin and brother who both live abroad and it only costs $0.01/min. Definitely happy I switched!

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  3. “As a reminder, you have to pay an extra $10 per line per month if you want data speeds to be an apples-to-apples comparison with Project Fi.”

    This statement is wildly inaccurate. The additional $10 for T-Mobile one Plus Data only gives you a bump from 128kb to 256kb. Project Fi is full speed LTE, an order of magnitude faster. There is no “High speed” option for T-mobile.

  4. So you mentioned a considerable drop in call quality with Project Fi on a non-Fi phone. Was the data still okay tho? I’m looking for something that will let me have LTE for maps and music streaming while I’m in Europe for 15 weeks later this year.

    I’m thinking if I can keep my iPhone as a main phone for data and maybe get a simple phone-call only prepaid phone internationally I could be good. But I’m wary about doing that if the data quality suffers.

    1. After each using AT&T’s Passport plan (only once, a few years ago, when it only gave you 300Mb of data, not 1GB for $60/each) we became another two plan family. My husband and I travel internationally quite a bit, so I swap my iPhone for my “Travel phone”- a Nexus 5x (Fi phone), perfect for calls and data/text (you can find them for less than $100 on eBay) while my husband uses his old 6s iPhone, with one of the free data sims (you can get up to 10) and it works great for data and texting. It costs us about $25/week traveling for both devices (maps, checking sight tips, uploading photos to social media, buying tickets, using apps like Citymapper- great if you’re on the Moscow or any other subway!). We still keep AT&T at home because we have a deal and the coverage is great, but would only use Fi for travel (oh, and then pause the service till the next trip!)-

  5. You said you have a Straight Talk plan for domestic use and a Project Fi plan for international, but the Fi plan only works on certain phones, so do you have one or two phones?

    I have a Straight Talk plan on a Samsung Galaxy J7 Sky Pro that is pretty cheap, so I’d need to get a second phone to have a Project Fi plan?

    Last time I was overseas for extended time, I tried adding Verison international to the Verison plan I had at the time, Totally a hassle trying to get Verison to pause global service when I was back in U.S.

    Thanks, Tanis

    1. @Tanis, I have a Pixel 2 which strangely enough does not need a Project Fi sim card to use sim service. So I keep the Straight Talk sim card in 100% of the time and switch (within the Fi app) to Fi service when I travel abroad.

      That said, my husband has used Fi service on an Amazon Fire phone and Nexus 5X, neither of which are Fi phones officially.

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