Freedom Mobile Review

Freedom Mobile is Canada’s fourth-largest wireless network, offering several affordable plans for residents of Alberta, British Columbia, and southern Ontario looking to break away from Bell, Rogers, and Telus.

Although it has its downsides, we think Freedom Mobile is a good option for casual phone users in urban areas who are looking for lower rates on their monthly phone bills. Some plans are as low as $19/month.

Read on to learn what we love and what we think could be improved with Freedom Mobile.

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Freedom Mobile Plans

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We love that Freedom Mobile’s plans offer affordable options with generous data allotments on a fast 5G network. If you're looking for a new smartphone, all of their plans give you the opportunity to grab the latest devices on the market. 

Pros

Cheap 5G and 4G LTE plans

Freedom Mobile's plans offer affordable alternatives to the high prices of the Big Three. Their 5G and 4G LTE networks cover the urban areas of Alberta, British Columbia, and Southern Ontario. Many Freedom plans also offer generous data allotments that allow you to take full advantage of their fast 5G and 4G LTE speeds. A perfect example is their 5G Unlimited 100GB CA-US plan, which offers a massive data chunk and discounts for university students.

Solid prepaid plans

One of the things that distinguishes Freedom Mobile from its competitors is its approach to prepaid plans. Many of Freedom’s prepaid plans offer less data than its competitors, but its prices remain low enough to make the plan worthwhile. If you primarily use your phone for talk and text or save most of your data usage for Wi-Fi, then Freedom's prepaid options are the perfect antidote to overstuffed and overpriced options from competitors like Chatr and Public Mobile.

We especially like Freedom's 4GB prepaid plan, which offers unlimited talk and text, along with the option to pair a new smartphone with your new plan.

Smartphone compatibility

Freedom Mobile’s plans allow you to pick up any of the latest and greatest iPhones and Androids, including the iPhone 15, Pixel 8, and Samsung Galaxy S23. 

In addition, Freedom’s TradeUp program gives you an upfront credit that lowers your monthly phone cost. When your term is over, you can return the phone or pay the TradeUp credit amount to keep it.

Cons

Limited 5G network access

Although Freedom Mobile offers a cheaper alternative to the Big Three, we wish it could compete with the large 5G networks of Bell, Rogers, and Telus. Freedom only began offering 5G in July 2023 after the Rogers-Shaw merger and, as such, they are still growing the rather new network.

That's not to say Freedom's 5G plans are worthless. Depending on where you live and how often you travel, Freedom's 5G coverage might be a great option, especially considering the carrier's low prices. 

In western Canada, Freedom 5G is limited to the metropolitan areas of Vancouver, Calgary, and Sherwood Park. While Freedom's 4G LTE is more widely available, it's still mostly limited to urban sprawls. 

Freedom 5G is more present in southern Ontario, with hubs throughout the greater Toronto area, which is also home to substantial 4G LTE coverage. 

It's worth noting that Freedom customers receive coverage through partner networks when they venture outside of Freedom's 5G and 4G LTE networks. Still, this service is often significantly slower, with users reporting 3G speeds to be typical.

Poor customer service reputation

Freedom Mobile's customer service has received low marks from several consumer review sites. The carrier's rating on the Better Business Bureau website is an "F" and includes a note that mentions that Freedom Mobile is not accredited by the BBB. In addition, the average score from user reviews on the site is a little above one out of five stars.

With that being said, several users on the Freedom Mobile subreddit report positive experiences dealing with Freedom's customer service agents through Facebook Messenger and WhatsApp. While Freedom Mobile does offer an app (Freedom Mobile My Account, available in both Google Play and the App Store), customers report severe bugginess and frustrating user experiences. Considering that, we recommend sticking to a chat client on the Freedom website for your customer service issues.

Freedom Mobile Coverage

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Freedom Mobile's 5G network covers up to 31% of Canadians while their 4G LTE network reaches 33%. As you can see from the above map, most of this coverage is concentrated in the more populated urban areas of the country, with Freedom's total network coverage only reaching 1.34% of the country's land mass.

If you're considering activating a Freedom Mobile plan, you should first make sure you live within the carrier's coverage map. You can do that below with our interactive map and then read more about the Freedom network.

Freedom Mobile vs. Competitors

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If you’re looking for a cheap alternative to Bell, Rogers, and Telus, Freedom Mobile is one of many viable options. Let’s take a look to see how Freedom Mobile stacks up against its low-cost competitors.

Freedom Mobile vs. Public Mobile

Public Mobile is a prepaid budget brand owned by Telus, so Public customers get access to Telus’ vast nationwide network. Like Freedom, Public recently rolled out 5G plans, offering prices much lower than comparable options from the Big Three.

The biggest difference is that Public doesn’t offer the ability to pair smartphones with its plans, though you can get older pre-owned unlocked phones from third-party retailers like Amazon and bring them to Public's BYOD plans. Public Mobile also offers savings through its Public Points system, which rewards customers for paying their bills, contributing to its online forum, and referring friends.

Freedom Mobile vs. Lucky Mobile

Lucky Mobile is Bell’s prepaid brand, providing customers access to Bell’s large 4G network. In terms of coverage, Lucky has Freedom beat. Freedom’s network only covers a third of Bell’s. 

Freedom, however, offers faster 5G speeds and more phone options. Lucky Mobile is fine if you’re planning to bring your own device, but if you’re looking to grab an iPhone or the latest Android, look elsewhere.

Freedom Mobile vs. Chatr Mobile

Chatr Mobile is owned by Rogers and operates on its nationwide 4G and 3G networks. Like Freedom Mobile, Chatr offers several high-data prepaid plans. Its best plans also include data bonuses for auto-pay enrollment and unlimited talk and text for both Canada and the United States, which is rare for a prepaid carrier. Unfortunately, like many prepaid brands, Chatr’s phone selection is limited to budget models like the Alcatel 1B and the Samsung Galaxy A03s.

Recap: Is Freedom Mobile Right for You?

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If you’re searching for an alternative to the major carrier’s high prices, then Freedom Mobile is an excellent option. The budget carrier offers the best smartphones, fast in-network 5G and 4G LTE speeds, and plans with generous chunks of data.

Freedom’s limited network, however, is an issue. Canadians who like to venture beyond the urban centres of Alberta, British Columbia, and Southern Ontario have to deal with spotty coverage, while residents of regions outside of Freedom’s network can’t even enroll in its plans.