Struggling with phone bills during Australia's cost of living crisis? You're not alone! The good news is there are now many affordable mobile plans available from providers beyond the usual big names like Telstra, Optus and Vodafone.
Big carriers might offer plenty of data and extras, but they often come with a steep price. The good news is that smaller providers, known as MVNOs (mobile virtual network operators), use the same major networks. This allows them to provide phone and data services at a much lower cost, with nearly identical coverage — though speeds might be capped at times. If you're looking to save on phone bills, consider checking out options like Boost Mobile, TPG, Kogan Mobile, Belong, Tangerine Telecom and Aldi Mobile.
How cheap are we talking? You can get SIM-only plans with unlimited national calls and texts, along with a good amount of data, starting at just AU$12.50 a month! Keep in mind, though, some of these super-cheap deals are promotional offers, and the price might increase after an initial period, typically around six months.
The value you get ultimately depends on whether you opt for a prepaid or postpaid plan and your budget. Luckily, there are many 'no contract' options available — some even come with surprisingly generous data allowances. Here’s a comparison of the best affordable Australian mobile plans.
Best cheap plans (20GB minimum)
If value is what you're after, it's hard to overlook TPG's excellent 25GB Small Plan, which offers 25GB of monthly data at the half-off price of AU$12.50p/m for the first 6 months. While the price will go back to AU$25 per renewal after this period, it's still very affordable for what you're getting.
Best cheap big-data plan
Need stacks of data without paying a fortune? You're in luck, because Spintel's $35 Mobile Plan offers just that — especially during your first 6 months, where an introductory discount brings the price down to AU$25p/m, after which the price will go back to AU$35p/m. Even at full price, that's fantastic value.
Cheap mobile plans: what to look for
Value for money is key when choosing an affordable mobile phone plan. Since most plans now include unlimited national calls and texts, it's important to find a good balance between cost and data allowance. Fortunately, spending just a few extra dollars often gets you a big boost in your monthly data limit.
That said, price isn’t the only factor to consider. It’s also important to check which mobile network your discount carrier relies on. As mentioned earlier, the smaller telcos offering the cheapest plans don’t actually run their own networks.
Instead, each of these MVNOs have leased access to networks built by one of Australia's three major carriers: Telstra, Optus or Vodafone. That means the quality of coverage in your area will likely depend on the mobile network that discount telco runs on. Before selecting any plan, you should always find out which major carrier network it operates on and check the service in your region.
Our best cheap mobile phone plan search takes into account the merits of prepaid vs postpaid phone service, while also examining whether MVNOs are worth the money.
How we pick the best cheap cell phone plans
We're constantly looking at what Australian telcos offer as part of our research into the best mobile phone plans. That includes examining what's available from the major carriers — Telstra, Optus and Vodafone — as well as from smaller telcos which run on these carriers' networks. We check prices monthly, comparing what different services have to offer.
For our best cheap mobile plans guide, we set a jumping off point of around AU$12.50 per month, along with a monthly data limit of at least 20GB. Price is of the utmost importance in our rankings, though we've made an effort to steer you away from some very cheap plans which we believe don't offer good value for money.
Our decisions take into account how much data each plan provides, and we've even calculated the average daily allowance and price per MB before coming to our conclusions, and we've also taken note of any perks to keep in mind. That can help distinguish two equally priced plans — or even highlight that a slightly more expensive plan offers better value overall.
