Most cheap mobile plans are SIM-only, no-contract, and can be postpaid or prepaid. To help find the best options for your budget, we've put together some lists of the cheapest plans from our database of 28 mobile providers.
There are two main ways of judging the price of a mobile plan: introductory discounts and long-term cost.
The best way to save money is via introductory discounts. These deals tend to last about six months, after which the price can jump up significantly. But because there are no lock-in contracts for SIM-only plans, you can save a lot by changing mobile providers a couple of times per year. It's pretty easy to do, can be well worth your time, and ensures you're always on one of the cheapest mobile plans available at the time.
But on the off chance you don't want to grab a new plan every six months or so, we've also looked at which are the cheapest mobile plans over the first 24-months after signing up.
Cheap plans for $15 and under
The cheapest mobile plans in our database generally start around $15 per month and under. And despite the low price, you can get good dollar-for-data value – especially if you're happy to hop between intro discounts and deals.
But keep in mind – many of these plans with introductory offers roughly double in price after six months. If you'd prefer to pick a plan and stick to it, be sure to take a look at the 24-month comparison for rankings based on longer-term spending
Moose Mobile's plan
Moose Mobile currently has a deal on its 26.80 SIM Only plan. You get the first six months for $12.40 each, after which the plan returns to its normal $26.80. There's also 13GB of bonus data per recharge during this time, amounting to 40GB while the deal lasts.
After six recharges, it drops to 27GB. This still a solid amount of data for the ongoing price, so you won't be getting ripped off once the deal ends. This promotion is available to number transfers and new SIMs only, and ends May 31.
The plan includes Optus 5G, but with speeds limited to 100Mbps. This means you're pretty much limited to 4G speed, but at least get the benefit of more robust coverage in 5G areas.
The plan doesn't include international calls or texts. As for roaming, you need to contact Moose directly and then pay an upfront pre-payment of $200 to act as credit for PAYG roaming. We don't suggest this, as PAYG roaming is expensive and can add up very quickly.
- Monthly price: $12.40 for the first six months, then $26.80 per month ongoing (restrictions apply)
- Cost over first 24 months: $556.80
- Extra fees: No setup or cancellation fees
- Data: 27GB + 13GB bonus data for the first six months
- International calls: None included
- Roaming: International PAYG roaming charges
- Plan type: Postpaid (SIM-only)
- Contract: No contract
- Network: Optus 5G, capped at 100Mbps
Spintel's plan
SpinTel's $22 plan is currently $8 off for the first six months, after which it goes back up to $22 per month. This plan includes 25GB of data and is cheaper than Moose's plan over the first 24 months, though lacks the intro bonus data. There are no international roaming inclusions, but roaming is at least turned off by default (you need to ask SpinTel to activate it), so you shouldn't be hit by a nasty surprise.
While Circles.Life's plan is even cheaper in the long term, this provider has recently been purchased and we can't recommend new customers sign up until it becomes clear what will happen as a result of the purchase. Lyca Mobile also has a cheaper plan long term ($405 over the first 24 months), but with a tiny 4GB of data.
- Monthly price: $14 per month for the first six months, then $22 ongoing (deal for new customers only)
- Cost over first 24 months: $480
- Extra fees: No setup or cancellation fees
- Data: 25GB
- International calls: None included
- Roaming: International roaming switched off by default
- Plan type: Postpaid SIM-only
- Contract: No contract
- Network: Optus 5G, capped at 100Mbps
Cheap plans for $25 and under
In this price bracket, we start to see Telstra network providers enter the fray, meaning you might want to to compare plans based on network coverage, as well as price.
iiNet and TPG's plans
TPG and iiNet's Medium plans get you a big 50GB of data for 50% off during the first six months – that's $17.50 per month during the deal period, after which it's $35 ongoing. This is a great option for people who are happy to hop between intro discounts to save money, but in the long term it's quite a bit more expensive than other plans in this starting price bracket (that said, $35 for 50GB is still decent, if you need that much data).
For some, the biggest drawcard of these plans will be the unlimited international minutes and SMS to 31 selected countries. That said, the love doesn't go both ways because phoning home while overseas isn't great – both plans have roaming switched on by default, but use a PAYG system, which can chew through your recharge in a very short time and hit you with some unpleasant fees.
- Monthly price: $17.50 per month for 6 months, then $35 ongoing
- Cost over first 24 months: $735
- Extra fees: No setup or cancellation fees
- Data: 50GB
- International calls: Unlimited standard minutes and SMS to 31 selected countries
- Roaming: PAYG charges are automatically added to your monthly fee
- Plan type: Prepaid (monthly)
- Contract: No contract
- Network: Vodafone 5G, capped at 150Mbps
ALDI Mobile's plan
ALDI Mobile has the next cheapest mobile plan in our database over the first 24 months. This plan gets you 10GB data over the Optus 4G network for $19 per 30-day recharge, with no eventual price jump. But it's very no-frills, with no international calls included and expensive PAYG roaming if you travel overseas.
- Monthly price: $19 per renewal – no eventual price bump
- Cost over first 24 months: $475
- Extra fees: No setup or cancellation fees
- Data: 10GB
- International calls: None included
- Roaming: PAYG credit, available only in select countries
- Plan type: Prepaid (30 days)
- Contract: No contract
- Network: Optus 4G, capped at 100Mbps
Prepaid and postpaid mobile plans are largely similar, but with some differences worth noting. Prepaid mobile plans require payment in advance, while billing for postpaid plans comes at the end of your month's usage.
Most of the time, you'll get similar value when comparing prepaid vs. postpaid plans – but a key difference is many prepaid plans have a 28-day expiry. This means you'll need to recharge 13 times a year, as opposed 12. To save a bit of money, keep an eye out for prepaid expiry plans with at least 30 days.
Most prepaid plans also cut off your data once you hit your limit, whereas postpaid plans may keep you connected, but automatically charge you more per GB of overuse. Some plans (prepaid and postpaid) simply limit your speed, instead of charging you extra. These are often referred to as "unlimited" data mobile plans.
Cheap mobile plans with unlimited data
When looking for cheap mobile plans with unlimited data, you might consider the reason for your search. If you're merely hoping to avoid excess national data fees, some providers slow your connection when you exceed your allowance, instead of charging you extra.
Given you can keep using the internet on your phone indefinitely, many providers call these plans "unlimited".
The degree to which your plan is slowed depends on the provider. But all the slowed speeds are pretty restrictive, so don't assume you've found a sneaky hack to find cheap phone plans with truly unlimited mobile data.
Plans | Full-speed data | Unlimited data capped speed |
---|---|---|
Belong postpaid plans | Limited | 1Mbps |
Dodo postpaid plans | Limited | 256Kbps |
Telstra Upfront plans | Limited | 1.5Mbps |
Optus postpaid plans | Limited | 1.5Mbps |
Vodafone prepaid plans | Limited | 1.5Mbps |
Vodafone postpaid plans | Limited | 2Mbps |
felix prepaid plans | Limited | 1.5Mbps |
felix unlimited mobile plan | None | 20Mbps |
Here's the cheapest mobile plan from each unlimited data provider in our database:
Truly unlimited mobile plans
If you're looking for truly unlimited data, felix mobile's Unlimited plan is the only truly unlimited plan in our database, at least in terms of data allowance. This relatively cheap phone plan offers unlimited data with no monthly allowance, but it's all capped at 20Mbps – there are no capped speeds after you hit a set limit, but never faster than 20Mbps, either.
While this speed is a far cry from the 100Mbps or more of other mobile plans that have data limits, it should still be fine for most phone usage, including HD video streaming. The main downsides would come from downloading large files, such as games, or heavy use of cloud storage.
Here's felix's Unlimiited Mobile Plan:
- Only plan in our database with truly unlimited data – all capped at 20Mbps on the Vodafone 5G network
- No setup or cancellation fees, so you're free to switch away
- No overage fees for data
- $20 per month for the first three months, then $40 per month ongoing (use promo code FELIX50)
- $900 over the first 24 months with current pricing
For its other mobile plans, felix doesn't charge for excess data, but does cap you to 1.5Mbps after you go past your plan's monthly data limit.
Cheap eSIM plans
If you're looking at cheap phone plans with eSIM, you can't just sign up to any old provider. Not every carrier supports this newer technology yet, so you have to pick carefully.
To save you the hassle, and potentially a lot of research, we can do the sorting for you. Below, you can check out cheap phone plans from eSIM providers in our database across a range of price points, ranked by introductory plan cost:
iiNet and TPG's plans
iiNet and TPG both make another appearance thanks to their 50% discount for the first six months after signing up. This gets you a very cheap mobile plan – 25GB of data for just $12.50 during the deal period. After the discount ends, the price doubles, but $25 is still a competitive price for 25GB. And if it's out of your price range, there's no lock-in contract, so you can jump ship and pick up another intro deal from a different provider.
You also get 100 standard minutes and 100 SMS to 31 countries, which is unusual in this price range and will be a great benefit to anyone who needs to make regular international calls (as long as they're to one of these destinations). But if you go travelling, international roaming is PAYG and turned on by default – you'll need to be careful if you want to avoid any unpleasant fees.
- Monthly price: $17.50 per month for 6 months, then $35 ongoing
- Cost over first 24 months: $735
- Extra fees: No setup or cancellation fees
- Data: 50GB
- International calls: Unlimited standard minutes and SMS to 31 selected countries
- Roaming: PAYG charges are automatically added to your monthly fee
- Plan type: Prepaid (monthly)
- Contract: No contract
- Network: Vodafone 5G, capped at 150Mbps
While Circles.Life's plan is even cheaper in the long term, this provider has recently been purchased and we can't recommend new customers sign up until it becomes clear what will happen as a result of the purchase. Lyca Mobile also has a cheaper plan long term, but with a tiny 4GB of data on the Vodafone network.
How we find the cheapest mobile plans
The plans on this page represent the cheapest mobile plans in our database of 28 providers, which is regularly checked and updated by our team of data experts. Our comparison tables update automatically, and we drop in to make sure our suggested picks match up with the displayed prices and data inclusions.
If you see a plan with a 'Link not supplied' label, it's because we don't have an affiliate relationship with that provider. But we still include these plans to ensure our comparisons are as accurate as we can make them.
If you'd like to do your own search, you can use our mobile plan comparison search tool and customise the inclusions to find the best mobile plans for your needs.
Cheap phone plans FAQs
Who has the cheapest mobile plans?
The way to find the cheapest mobile plans is to go with a SIM-only network reseller or Mobile Network Virtual Operator (MVNO). You'll want to browse and compare options based on how much data you need and see which telco is offering the lowest cost.
Is it cheaper to buy a phone outright?
Yes, buying a phone outright does often end up being cheaper in the long run. When you buy a phone on a plan, you're committed to having a plan with one of the major telcos for the duration of your repayment period. You don't save any money on the phone in the long run (barring a special deal), but you do end up paying more per month for your phone plan because the cheapest mobile plans are offered by smaller, SIM-only providers.
While buying a phone outright can be a hefty upfront purchase, doing so and then signing up to a cheap mobile plan from a smaller provider means you can end up paying a lot less over the next one-to-three years. You can save even more if you hop between providers to surf introductory discounts, making sure you always have one of the cheapest mobile plans available.
Is coverage worse with cheap mobile providers?
Cheap phone plans from smaller providers don't necessarily have worse coverage.
In Australia, there are only three major telecommunications networks: Telstra, Optus, and Vodafone. Every provider, regardless of mobile plan pricing, operates using one of these networks. Smaller providers operating on these networks are called "MVNOs" or "resellers".
MVNOs on the Optus and Vodafone networks have full access to those networks, and so have the same 4G and 5G coverage. Telstra MVNOs are the exception here – they use the 'Telstra Wholesale network', which doesn't cover as much of the regional and rural population as the 'Telstra network' does for 4G, and has larger gaps in metro areas for 5G than the full Telstra network.
The Telstra Wholesale network still has slightly larger 4G coverage than Optus and Vodafone, but its 5G network has a smaller footprint than Optus' (Vodafone doesn't provide much 5G coverage footprint information). As such, cheap phone plans from a Telstra MVNO still give you great 4G coverage, but not necessarily the same 5G experience in your area.
MVNOs tend to offer cheap plans, when compared to the Big Three. Some of these plans are limited to 4G, and some 5G plans have speed caps (which are at worst capped to the same speed as an NBN 100 plan, so don't fret).
The main problems with being on a cheap phone plan that's limited to 4G can come from coverage or network capacity, as opposed to speed. But this isn't so much to do with the provider, as it is with network hardware.
In some areas, parts of the 4G network have been cannibalised and repurposed as 5G. Those areas still have 4G coverage, but not as much as they once did, and they might not handle large amounts of 4G traffic quite as well. If you grab a cheap phone plan that's limited to 4G, this might end up affecting you – or it might not. It depends entirely on the networks in your area.
These are currently the cheapest NBN 50 plans in our database of 33 internet providers:
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