Best unlimited NBN plans: our expert picks based on speed, price and service

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Best Unlimited NBN 25 Plan
Best Unlimited NBN 50 Plan
Best Unlimited NBN 100 Plan
Best Unlimited NBN 250 Plan
Best Unlimited NBN 1000 Plan
NBN FAQ

Sometimes, finding the best unlimited NBN plan that suits your household's needs can be an extremely challenging task. While most of the best NBN providers include unlimited data in their home internet plans, this could often leave you on an unguided quest to find the best NBN plan among the sea of options.

That's where we step in. Here at Tom's Guide, we believe the best unlimited NBN plans offer full download speeds of their respective tier and come with the lowest monthly price tag. We've also factored whether the ISPs provide extra perks, such as free streaming subscriptions or phone plan bundling, to determine their overall value.

Even if you don't think you'll use enough data to justify subscribing to an endless supply, an unlimited data plan will help you avoid extra charges or slower download speeds if you exceed your monthly cap.

If you know which speed tier you're after, click the quick links below to jump straight to that section.

Best Unlimited NBN 25 Plan

Most Australian homes connected to a fixed line NBN connection should be able to achieve speeds of at least 50Mbps. But some Australian NBN users will get by perfectly on a 25Mbps plan. Particularly good for single person households, NBN 25 plans tend to be among the most affordable.

Flip | AU$44p/m (for 6 months, then AU$54.90p/m)

The best unlimited NBN 25 plan in our opinion is this one from Flip. Not only does it offer unlimited monthly data usage, but it's also the cheapest NBN plan to claim the maximum 25Mbps download speeds during the busier evening hours of 7pm to 11pm, coming in at under AU$600 for the first 12 months.

Online reviews also paint a relatively positive picture for Flip, so it's certainly well worth considering if you're looking for an affordable 25Mbps NBN plan.

Total minimum cost: AU$44 | Total cost for first 12 months: AU$593.40 | Yearly cost after discount: AU$658.80

Exetel | AU$49.99p/m (for 6 months, then AU$59.99p/m)

Exetel is frequently one of our favourite NBN providers here at Tom’s Guide, offering a stellar combination of consistently good speeds and good value.

Dropping the price down to just AU$49.99 for the first six months, you'll save AU$60 before the price increases. You can even bundle the service with an unlimited calls pack for AU$10 extra per month.

Total minimum cost: AU$49.99 | Total cost for first 12 months: AU$659.88 | Yearly cost after discount: AU$719.88

Best Unlimited NBN 50 Plan

The NBN 50 speed tier accounts for nearly half of all active NBN plans in Australia. The 50Mbps option is more than capable of allowing multiple users to stream and download at the same time, and considering only certain NBN connection types are capable of supporting the faster NBN 100 speed tier and beyond, NBN 50 is the one to go for.

We’ve picked out a few options for the best unlimited NBN 50 plan, including those that are cheap and one that we think offers the best overall value.

Flip | AU$59p/m (for 6 months, then AU$69.90p/m)

Flip once again takes the crown for the most affordable 50Mbps NBN plan to offer unlimited data. Typical evening speeds are advertised as the maximum 50Mbps and, as is the case for the vast majority of internet service providers (ISPs) there's no lock-in contract, so you are free to leave whenever you wish — just make sure you read the cancellation terms and conditions!

Total minimum cost: AU$59 | Total cost for first 12 months: AU$773.40 | Yearly cost after discount: AU$838.80

Tangerine | AU$59.90p/m (for 6 months, then AU$79.90p/m)

Tangerine also offers one of the more affordable NBN 50 plans, whilst also offering the full 50Mbps download speed. It is a little more expensive compared to Flip over the first 12 months, but you do get a 14-day free trial as an added bonus to test out the service before committing to a month-to-month contract. Do note that Tangerine isn’t the cheapest when it comes to purchasing a required modem, although with the rather excellent Amazon eero6+ router offered as the default option, we think it's worth the investment.

Total minimum cost: AU$59.90 | Total cost for first 12 months: AU$838.80 | Yearly cost after discount: AU$958.80

Exetel | AU$60.99p/m (for 6 months, then AU$78.99p/m)

This Exetel NBN 50 plan also comes with unlimited data and does work out to be around AU$30 more expensive over the initial 12 month period compared to Tangerine, but we reckon the inclusion of Speed Boost days makes it entirely worth it.

Exetel’s Speed Boost days allow you to boost your plan to the next tier (NBN 100 in this case) if your connection type can support it, for free, five times each month. You can also choose to bank your free days, up to a total of 30, potentially giving you an entire month of 100Mbps download speeds.

Total minimum cost: AU$60.99 | Total cost for first 12 months: AU$839.88 | Yearly cost after discount: AU$947.88

Best Unlimited NBN 100 Plan

NBN 100 plans offer theoretical maximum download speeds of 100Mbps, and is the fastest achievable tier for all NBN connection types. The NBN Co is keen to get more Australians connected to 100Mbps NBN plans, and as a result, is still in the process of rolling out a free fibre upgrade program.

You'll find that not all NBN providers advertise the maximum 100Mbps download speeds during the busier evening hours, but most do come close. Of the ones that do come close, they can also be more affordable, and you may decide that the cost saving outweighs losing out on a few megabytes.

Flip | AU$69p/m (for 6 months, then AU$79.90p/m)

There are currently two other 100Mbps NBN plans cheaper than Flip, from Dodo and Southern Phone. But, the former says its plan is only available to customers with certain connection types, and the latter has a raft of negative reviews. So, for our money, Flip offers the best overall value.

Flip does only advertise 91Mbps download speeds during the busy evening hours, but you'll be spending less than AU$900 over the first 12 months. A bargain, if you ask us.

Total minimum cost: AU$69 | Total cost for first 12 months: AU$893.40 | Yearly cost after discount: AU$958.80

Exetel | AU$68.99p/m (for 6 months, then AU$84.99p/m)

Exetel is one of only a handful of NBN providers to advertise the full 100Mbps download speed, with Optus, Telstra and Spintel being the others. We disregarded Optus because it applies a compulsory charge for the modem and Telstra is the most expensive (although you do get free access to a selection of streaming services).

While Exetel's 100Mbps NBN plan isn't the most affordable, it's the inclusion of the five free Speed Boost days each month — which will see your service increase up to 250Mbps download speeds — that earns it a spot on this list.

Total minimum cost: AU$68.99 | Total cost for first 12 months: AU$923.88 | Yearly cost after discount: AU$1,019.88

Best Unlimited NBN 250 Plan

Through our partnership with WhistleOut, we can determine there are only four NBN providers that offer the full 250Mbps download speeds on an NBN 250 plan: Telstra, Swoop, Origin and Southern Phone. However, these NBN plans are either incredibly expensive, the provider(s) have negative reviews or there are just better value alternatives, such as the plan from Superloop we've mentioned below.

Superloop | AU$85p/m (for 6 months, then AU$99p/m)

The best NBN 250 plan in our opinion right now comes from Superloop. While the telco doesn’t advertise the fastest typical evening speeds on the NBN 250 speed tier, coming in at an Optus-matching 240Mbps, it is the cheapest provider offering the fastest speed. We’ve also chosen it as our best overall plan because the telco offers customers the ability to boost their speed to the next tier up — NBN 1000 — five times a month. Superloop currently advertises typical evening speeds of 600Mbps on this speed tier.

If you don’t use all five Speed Boost days in one month, you can have them rollover into the next. You’re able to bank a total of 30 days.

Total minimum cost: AU$85 | Total cost for first 12 months: AU$1,104| Yearly cost after discount: AU$1,188

Swoop | AU$84p/m (for 6 months, then AU$119p/m)

Swoop’s Home Superfast NBN 250 plan is one of the cheapest NBN 250 plans to advertise the maximum 250Mbps download speeds across all hour, with savings of AU$35 p/m for the first six months — that’s AU$210— before the price increases.

Swoop advertises typical evening speeds of 250Mbps and uploads of up to 25Mbps, giving it a genuine case to be deemed the best NBN 250 plan currently available. The only catch however, is Swoop’s plan is only available for customers with FTTP connections, so if you connect to the NBN via HFC, you will unfortunately have to look to another plan, such as the Superloop one above.

Total minimum cost: AU$84 | Total cost for first 12 months: AU$1,008 | Yearly cost after discount: AU$1,428

Flip | AU$84p/m (for 6 months, then AU$94.90p/m)

If you can access the NBN 250 speed tier but are more concerned about spending as little as possible, then this plan from Flip is our pick. It does only advertise 236Mbps download speeds during the busier hours, but this will still be more than enough for most households.

On top of this, Flip's 250Mbps plan is the cheapest we can currently find and so offers great bang for your buck.

Total minimum cost: AU$84 | Total cost of first 12 months: AU$1,073.40 | Yearly cost after discount: AU$1,138.80

Best Unlimited NBN 1000 Plan

Despite NBN making 1Gbps speeds available on the NBN 1000 speed tier, you’re unlikely to be able to get the full gigabit download speeds from your NBN provider. Through our WhistleOut partnership, we’ve determined that Superloop is the best option, striking a good balance between performance and value.

NBN FAQ

What is the NBN?

The National Broadband Network (NBN) is Australia’s national infrastructure for phone and internet services. As a government initiative, it was first proposed in 2007 and as of 2020, NBN Co. had completed the rollout. NBN services are now available to virtually all Australians, although not all can access a fixed-line service. For those who can't, a fixed-wireless service, which uses towers emitting 4G signals should be available, or satellite internet services.

Which NBN speed is best for me?

NBN offers six main speed tiers for consumer connections. There are official names for these (ranging from ‘Basic 1’ to ‘Ultrafast’) but most providers refer to them as a number, relating to the expected download speed. The speed of internet service you can achieve at your property is determined by the physical connection type you have.

The six main NBN speed tiers available are:

NBN 12 (Basic 1): 12Mbps download | 1Mbps upload | All NBN connection types | 1 user | NBN 12 is best suited for a single-person household. Even then, the 12Mbps maximum download speed is only going to be good for browsing the internet, sending emails and watching video content in up to 1080p quality. If you want to stream 4K video content (or to multiple devices simultaneously) on services like Netflix, then NBN 12 likely won't be fast enough.

NBN 25 (Basic II): 25Mbps download | 5Mbps upload | All NBN connection types | 1-2 users | With NBN 25, up to two people can comfortably browse the internet at the same time and stream a range of music and video content in up to 1080p quality. You may be able to watch 4K streaming video, but only on a single device at a time.

NBN 50 (Standard): 50Mbps download | 20Mbps upload | All NBN connection types | 2-4 users | The most popular NBN speed tier, NBN 50 is designed to allow up to four users to browse, stream and download content with ease. NBN 50 is also a good speed tier for people needing to use video chat a lot at home. NBN 50 is the most popular NBN plan in Australia.

NBN 100 (Fast): 100Mbps download | 20Mbps upload | All NBN connection types | 5+ users | Well suited to 4K video streaming and allowing for multiple users to be online at the same time. While all NBN connection types are theoretically capable of achieving 100Mbps speeds, those with FTTN connection types may struggle, depending on the distance of the premises from the node.

NBN 250 (Superfast): 250Mbps download | 25Mbps upload | FTTP, HFC connections | 5+ users | Incredibly fast internet speeds that allows multiple users to stream 4K video content and download large files at the same time.

NBN 1000 (Ultrafast): 1000Mbps download | 50Mbps upload | FTTP, HFC connection | 5+ users | Currently the fastest possible NBN speed tier, although very few telcos actually achieve the full 1000Mbps download speeds, especially during the evening.

What does 'typical evening speed' mean?

You'll see the term 'typical evening speed' advertised against all NBN plans (we've mentioned it a lot in this article, too). This refers to the average download speed you can expect to realistically achieve during the identified peak evening hours of 7pm - 11pm.

Different NBN providers may advertise different typical evening speeds, so be sure to keep an eye out for this figure when searching for a new plan. On speed tiers ranging up to NBN 100, the typical evening speed figure is less important than it used to be, since most will deliver the full amount.

The speeds realistically achievable in Australia have improved in recent years, and you'll now find some internet service providers will advertise the maximum possible speed of the NBN tier you're on. In some cases, your evening speed could actually exceed the theoretical maximum limit of your tier.

Lucy Scotting is a digital content writer for Tom’s Guide in Australia, primarily covering NBN and internet-related news. Lucy started her career writing for HR and staffing industry publications, with articles covering emerging tech, business and finance. In her spare time, Lucy can be found watching sci-fi movies, working on her dystopian fiction novel or hanging out with her dog, Fletcher.