Short answer: T-Mobile’s current five-year guarantee generally protects the recurring price of eligible talk, text and network-data service—not the total amount on your bill. Taxes, fees, device payments, add-ons, expiring discounts and some plan changes can still raise what you pay. The phrase “Price Lock” also covers several different promises tied to different enrollment dates, so your account’s activation date and exact plan name matter.
“Price Lock” is four different promises
T-Mobile’s current Price Lock FAQ separates historical protections that are often discussed as if they were one product.
| Promise | Relevant enrollment period or status | What it promised | Main limitation |
|---|---|---|---|
| Un-contract Promise | Generally older qualifying accounts activated before April 28, 2022 | Qualifying customers could generally leave after a material price increase and seek final-month relief. | Your rights depend on the terms in force when you enrolled. |
| Original Price Lock | Qualifying accounts activated April 28, 2022–January 17, 2024 | Kept the regular rate-plan price unchanged for qualifying service. | Taxes, fees, discounts, add-ons, device charges and other excluded amounts were outside the lock. |
| Last Month Price Lock | Qualifying activations or plan switches from January 18, 2024 through April 22, 2025 | If T-Mobile raised the regular recurring plan price and you left, it would cover the final month’s recurring service charges after timely notice. | This was an exit remedy, not a promise that every future bill would stay the same. |
| 5-Year Price Guarantee | Newer eligible mobile, prepaid, business and internet enrollments, with separate eligibility dates | Holds specified monthly service pricing for five years. | It does not freeze the entire bill or last for the life of the account. |
The company’s older Phone Freedom announcement also described Price Lock as covering the regular price of unlimited talk, text and data while excluding numerous bill components. Always use the terms attached to your account, not a slogan remembered from an earlier promotion.
Who can get the five-year guarantee now?
Eligibility is plan- and date-specific. T-Mobile says customers activating or switching to qualifying consumer mobile plans from April 23, 2025 onward may receive the guarantee. Eligible T-Mobile Prepaid activations or switches to specified Starter Monthly, Unlimited Monthly or Unlimited Plus Monthly plans began June 24, 2025. Eligible T-Mobile for Business CoreMobile, ProMobile and SuperMobile plans began August 27, 2025. Some accounts transitioned to qualifying plans in 2026 may also be covered.
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- The period normally runs five years from account activation or, for certain existing accounts, eligible plan enrollment.
- Adding a line does not start a new five-year period.
- Moving between plans does not automatically restart the clock.
- Tablets and watches may be covered when attached to an eligible smartphone account, but adding them does not extend the guarantee.
- T-Mobile’s descriptions condition coverage on remaining on an eligible plan and in good standing.
Check your plan documents or written migration notice for the precise start and end dates. A general eligibility statement on a website cannot establish coverage for every legacy, 55+, military, first-responder or business account.
What “price” is actually protected?
For eligible mobile plans, the protected amount is generally the monthly price of talk, text and T-Mobile 5G smartphone data on the network. Depending on the product, related wearable, tablet or mobile-internet data may be included. Eligible home-internet offers protect the stated price of fixed-wireless 5G internet data. T-Mobile’s current plan disclosures are at t-mobile.com/cell-phone-plans.
The following can remain outside the guarantee:
- Taxes, regulatory fees and surcharges
- Add-on features, streaming and other third-party services
- Satellite connectivity and per-use charges
- Device-installment payments and equipment or speed upgrades
- Future wireless generations or changes in network-management practices
- AutoPay and other discounts
- Limited-time promotions, including free-line credits, when they expire
Illustration: If a protected recurring service charge is $100 and taxes, fees, a device payment and add-ons total $35, the guarantee does not necessarily prevent a bill above $135. That is an example of bill anatomy, not a prediction of any customer’s charges.
This distinction is particularly important for people leaving a tax-inclusive legacy plan. A newer plan may protect its headline service rate while taxes and fees are billed separately. Those charges remain subject to the applicable terms and law, but they are not part of the stated guarantee.
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Why 2026 plan retirements made the promise harder to understand
Reports from Android Central and Kiplinger describe T-Mobile retiring some legacy plans and moving or asking certain customers to move to newer plans. Those reports describe possible increases of up to $6 per line per month, while also noting that not every customer would see a change. A complaint page at the Better Business Bureau contains additional customer reports, not a universal account rule.
Three situations must be separated:
1. The same plan’s protected price rises
This is the situation a five-year guarantee most directly addresses: T-Mobile says the protected recurring service price will not change during the covered period while you remain eligible.
2. T-Mobile retires the old plan
Retirement raises a different question: does protection of your old price prevent T-Mobile from discontinuing the old plan and offering a replacement? The marketing page alone cannot answer that. Your original enrollment terms, the notice you received, current Terms and Conditions and the legal characterization of the change control.
3. You voluntarily switch plans
Switching can replace the old protection with the terms of the new plan. T-Mobile support material says the new plan’s guarantee applies if that plan has one; it does not promise that every legacy benefit follows you. A community explanation is available at T-Mobile’s support community, but your written account terms should take priority.
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The plan-switch trap
Before accepting a replacement, compare the offer line by line. Ask T-Mobile for written answers to these questions:
- What are the exact old and new plan names?
- What recurring service amount is protected on the new plan?
- What are the guarantee’s start and end dates?
- Are taxes and fees included or billed separately?
- Do AutoPay, military, 55+, first-responder, employer or other discounts continue?
- Do free lines and device-promotion credits survive?
- Do hotspot, roaming, streaming, video-resolution and prioritization terms change?
- Can you return to the old plan if the replacement is unsuitable?
Do not voluntarily change plans before you know whether the old guarantee, tax treatment or promotions disappear. A higher headline price paired with a five-year promise can still be a worse deal than a lower-cost legacy plan.
Five years is not “forever”
The current product is a five-year guarantee, not a lifetime freeze. Someone enrolling in 2026 could have a protected period ending in 2031. Adding lines does not create another five years, and a later plan change may leave the original clock intact rather than reset it. Leaving the eligible plan or falling out of good standing can also affect coverage.
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Last Month Price Lock
- Confirm that the regular recurring service price changed in a qualifying way.
- Decide to leave T-Mobile.
- Notify T-Mobile within the stated 60-day window.
- Request coverage of the final month’s recurring service charges.
Taxes, fees, discounts, add-ons and device charges are not necessarily included in that final-month relief.
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5-Year Price Guarantee
The stated promise is different: the protected service price should not change for five years while you remain on an eligible plan. Save the notice, the bill before and after the change, and the plan terms. If T-Mobile says the change is a plan retirement rather than a rate increase, ask for the contractual basis in writing.
What to do when a migration notice arrives
- Save the complete notice as a PDF or screenshot, including its date and effective billing cycle.
- Record the old plan name and recurring service charge.
- Record the proposed plan, price and included benefits.
- Separate protected service charges from taxes, fees, discounts, devices and add-ons on both bills.
- Check free lines, device credits and other promotions for termination or modification language.
- Ask in writing whether the replacement has a five-year guarantee.
- Ask for the exact guarantee start and end dates.
- Ask whether you may decline the move or retain the old plan.
- Do not make a voluntary plan change until those answers are documented.
- If you are using Last Month Price Lock, submit the request within 60 days.
Keep chat transcripts, emails and bills. A verbal assurance that conflicts with written terms is difficult to enforce.
How to judge the offer
Use the all-in recurring bill—not the advertised service price—as your comparison. Include:
- Guarantee duration and eligibility conditions
- Taxes, fees and surcharge treatment
- Discount and promotion stability
- Device financing and free-line credits
- Hotspot, roaming, streaming, video and prioritization benefits
- Whether the change is reversible
- Coverage and performance for your location
Your practical alternatives are to remain on the existing plan if permitted, accept the replacement after calculating its full cost, choose another T-Mobile plan, move to prepaid or another carrier, or file a written billing dispute and escalate through the appropriate regulator or consumer-protection channel. Current competitor prices and guarantees require separate, account-specific verification; do not assume another carrier’s headline offer is comparable.
Bottom line
T-Mobile’s guarantee is not necessarily meaningless: it can protect a qualifying plan’s recurring service price for a defined period. But “Price Lock” is broader than the legal and billing promise consumers often hear. To know what is locked, identify your activation or switch date, exact plan, guarantee type, protected service charge, exclusions and any migration terms. Your total bill—and your legacy benefits—may still change.
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