Prepaid mobile plans – no strings attached

What is a prepaid plan?

Simply, a prepaid mobile plans is where you pay for your usage before you use it. You'll bring your own phone and pay a single price every month - no surprise extra charges.

There are also no lock-in contracts, so you have heaps of flexibility. If you aren't happy with your service, you can switch to a new provider while keeping your phone number.

How do prepaid recharges work?

In the old days, you'd buy a recharge from the supermarket each month, then call the number on the receipt. These days, you can still recharge manually each month, but you'll probably do it from your provider's app or website.

Most people use auto-recharge though. This lets your telco charge your credit card or savings account each month, so you never have to think about recharging. It's really good stuff.

How long is the recharge period?

The recharge period is the amount of time that you can use your prepaid plan before your recharge expires. For most plans, this will about a month - so you'll need to recharge every month. However, there are long-expiry plans with up to 365-day recharge periods.

Here are the 3 main types of plans you'll come across:

• Month-to-month plans: These plans will expire every month if you don't recharge them. Typically you'll have unlimited national calls and texts, and a set amount of data you can use each month (which may roll-over if you auto-recharge).
• Long-expiry plans: These plans expire mostly every 90 days, 180 days or 365. They're great if you want to set and forget your mobile plan. They're also quite popular with people who don't use much mobile data.
• Pay-as-you-go plans: These plans don't have a recharge people at all. Instead you'll pay for a certain amount of credit, which is used up whenever you make a call, send a text, or use the internet. These are pretty old school plans, and aren't that common anymore.

Prepaid plans used to be those plans where you'd run out of credit and have to line up at Woolworths to get it recharged. They're much easier these days - I have a prepaid plan that I essentially set and forget thanks to auto-recharges being enabled. My plan automatically renews itself after each expiry period so I don't have to worry about it.

— Michelle Kwong, Publisher (Mobile & Broadband)

Prepaid vs postpaid mobile plans

Let's clarify what we mean by 'postpaid' before comparing it to prepaid plans. Postpaid mobile plans come in 2 main flavours, with a phone contract and without a phone.

• With a phone contract: These bundle a phone plan and a phone payment plan. You'll get a new phone upfront, then pay off the phone month by month. Let's say your plan costs $40 a month and the phone repayment is $50 a month. Your total bill will be $90 each month until the end of the contract, normally 24 or 36 months.
• Without a phone (BYO): Postpaid plans without a phone require you to bring your own device. You'll just receive a bill at the end each month. These plans sometimes come with contracts and/or the change of extra charges, but otherwise operate a lot like prepaid plans with auto-recharge. As such, they're not very common anymore.

Pros and cons of prepaid plans

Prepaid plans are honestly great for most people, in large part because they're cheap, have no lock in contracts and are really flexible. The only exception might be if you want a new phone and aren't in a position to pay for it upfront.

How much do prepaid plans cost?

The cost of a prepaid plan varies mostly based on your monthly data, which network you're on and the network technology.

• Monthly data: The higher your data limit, the more you can expect to pay.
• Mobile network: There are 3 different mobile networks in Australia: the Telstra, Optus and Vodafone network. Telstra is faster and covers more of the country, but can be a lot more expensive.
• Network technology: Prepaid mobile plans operate on 4G or 5G networks. 5G is faster and newer, so plans with 5G access tend to be a bit pricier.

Phone calls and texts within Australia don't tend to affect prepaid plan prices anymore, with most plans offering unlimited calls and texts. The exception to this is international calls and texts, as well as global roaming, both of which will either increase the price or require an add-on pack.

Price of prepaid vs post paid plans

The gap between prepaid and postpaid mobile plans is getting smaller but prepaid plans come out to be cheaper overall. Postpaid plans have become slightly more expensive but you’re also getting more data in return.

According to the 2022-23 ACCC Communications market report, the median monthly retail prices across both prepaid and postpaid plans has remained at a flat $35 for the last 3 years.

How much can you save on a cheaper prepaid plan?

We've calculated potential savings over a 12-month period by comparing the price difference between the cheapest and most expensive prepaid plans on Finder (as of August 2024).

We looked at 5 common monthly data limits and found the average savings to be $269.04. Here's the full list of savings for each data allowance:

• Find out more on how we calculated the savings over 12 months

  Our calculations are based on the monthly plan fee (either 28 or 30-day expiry) over 12 months excluding any promotional discounts for new customers. This means your actual savings could be even more if you find a good promotion.
  
  We have not included 1-7 day or longer expiry plans or factored network into our calculation. Network coverage may vary.
  

How much data do you need?

There's no point in paying for data you don't use, so it pays to figure out your actual needs. These days we're connected to Wi-Fi a lot of the time anyway.

The best way to figure out your data usage is to check your current mobile plan. You'll be able to find your data usage in your provider's app or when you login on their website. If you don't have access to that, use our data usage calculator before choosing a new plan.

The average Aussie uses between 7.5GB and 15.9GB of mobile data per month. So you can always just go for 20GB or so to start.

Not saying you're average - you're exceptional. But your data usage is probably average.

Katrina Hayes's tip

If you're in a position to buy a phone outright, prepaid mobile plans are a great option as you don't have to be on a long-term contract. They give much more flexibility. One thing I learnt when figuring out a prepaid option was to not assume I needed masses of data given my phone is often connected to Wi-Fi. So I started with a smaller amount of data (which was cheaper). If I need more later I can easily upgrade to a higher data option with the same provider.

— Katrina Hayes, Finder crew member

Prepaid mobile network coverage

You've got the choice of 3 networks in Australia: Telstra, Optus and Vodafone. Telstra covers the most and is the fastest, but it quite a lot more expensive. Vodafone and Optus are, in practice, about as good as each other, but each will cover different areas a little differently.

Smaller providers (known as MVNOs) will often offer coverage from 1 of the big 3 providers at cheaper rates. For example, Felix and TPG both use the Vodafone network, while amaysim and Catch use the Optus network.

Do you need the Telstra network?

If you live near a big city like Sydney, Melbourne or Adelaide, you'll probably be fine with the Optus or Vodafone network. They have great coverage across most cities at a much more reasonable price than the Telstra network.

If you live outside a major city (let's say smaller than Newcastle or Geelong) then you may need to get a plan on the Telstra network. Even if the towns and cities in your area have coverage with Optus and Vodafone, the highways or backroads are much more likely to be Telstra-only. If Telstra itself if too pricey, consider a smaller provider using the Telstra network, like ALDI or Boost.

What features can I expect on a prepaid plan?

Outside of calls, texts and data there are a few other features to keep an eye out for when comparing prepaid plans:

Data rollover

Some providers allow data rollover or data banking so you can keep any data you didn't use after your plan expires. This is a great way to get the most value out of your plan.

International calls

Some prepaid calls include unlimited international calls or a limited amount of international call credit. Calls are generally limited to lists of certain countries (this varies by provider). Great for users with family and friends overseas with limited other ways to connect.

Endless data

A few providers such as felix and Vodafone offer "endless" or "infinite" data on some prepaid plans. In felix's case you get unlimited data capped at a speed of 20Mbps while with Vodafone you get infinite data at speeds of up to 1.5Mbps once you use up your original data allowance (similar to a postpaid plan).

eSIMs

Not only are eSIMs environmentally friendly, they're also very convenient. With this option, you can switch to your new provider in just a few minutes. No need to visit a store or wait for your SIM to arrive in the mail.

Which is the best prepaid service provider?

The best provider will depend on exactly what you're after, how much you're willing to pay and which network you'd prefer.

We've chosen some of the bigger names from what's available to give you an idea of what your prepaid mobile plan could be.

Telstra

Telstra has an amazing network, reaching 99.5% of Aussies, and has the fastest mobile internet on offer. But it's pretty spenno.

If you live in rural Australia, Telstra (or a network on the Telstra network) is probably the way to go. In the cities you might be better off with a cheaper brand.

Learn more with our full Telstra review.

Optus

Optus is the number 2 network, reaching 98.5% of Aussies, also with great speeds. It's definitely cheaper than Telstra too.

Optus is a decent Telco, but is especially good if you would benefit from Optus Sport. It's only $9.99 for Optus customers, down from $24.99, and the only place you can watch Premiere League Football in Australia.

Learn more with our full Optus review.

Vodafone

Vodafone has the smallest of the 3 networks, but it still covers at least 92% of the population with 4G cover and is typically cheaper again.

All Vodafone plans have effectively unlimited data (it just slows down after you hit the cap) as well as the $5-a-day roaming deal - arguably the best international roaming deal on the market. Great if go overseas.

Learn more with our full Vodafone review.

TPG

TPG, which runs on the Vodafone network, isn't known for flashy extras like the bigger telcos, but it offers great value.

TPG offers excellent value, with all plans less than our $1 per GB benchmark. Plus, full-month expiry periods mean you recharge less across the year.

Learn more with our full TPG review.

amaysim

Winner of our 2023 Finder Award for Best Prepaid Provider (Value), amaysim has a strong reputation for simple plans with heaps of data.

It's on the Optus network and runs generous bonus data on your first 1–3 recharges. However, 28-day recharge period means 13 recharges per year, rather than 12.

Learn more with our full amaysim review.

Boost Mobile

Boost gives you full access to Telstra's 4G network at a cheaper price. In fact, it's the only non-Telstra provder to have the full retail network, rather than the slightly less good wholesale network.

Boost have expiry periods between 7 days and 12 months, which is cool. But there's no international roaming available.

Learn more with our full Boost mobile review.

Why compare mobile phone plans with Finder?

We know our stuff. We pour over hundreds of mobile plans every month. It's exhausting. But worth it.

You can rely on us. We're constantly updating and fact-checking our data on dozens of Aussie telcos.

We're here to help. We've helped millions of Aussies find better mobile phone plan. And we'll keep doing it.

Frequently asked questions

• Should I get a prepaid SIM if I'm travelling to Australia?

  If you're travelling to Australia for a holiday, a prepaid SIM could be a good option for you.

  There are plans with 1- to 10-day expiry options if you're here for a short period of time or 28- to 30-day expiry plans for longer trips.

  You'll need to provide a government-issued photo ID as part of the application. This could be your passport or a proof of age/photo card.

• If I switch to a prepaid SIM, can I use the same phone number I have now?

  Yes, most mobile providers will be able to port your number to a new service. You'll need to be able to prove ownership.

  In case you don't, make sure you change ownership of your mobile number to your name before you sign up with the new telco.

• Can I make international calls on a prepaid plan?

  Yes, there are several prepaid plans available that allow you to make international calls. Depending on the provider inclusions may vary. Some include capped hours and others are PAYG.

To make sure you get accurate and helpful information, this guide has been edited by Tim Bennett as part of our fact-checking process.

Written by

Mariam Gabaji

Editor I Tech and utilities expert

Mariam Gabaji is an editor and tech and utilities expert at Finder with 12+ years of experience as a journalist. She's committed to helping households cut through the industry jargon and save money on their bills. Her expertise is often featured in media including the ABC, Yahoo Finance, 9News, 7News, A Current Affair, The Guardian, SBS and Money Magazine. See full bio

Mariam's expertise

Mariam has written 258 Finder guides across topics including:

• Energy
• Mobile
• Broadband
• Consumer tech