The best prepaid mobile plans in Australia

• Best prepaid plan with at least 5GB: OnePass Mobile 28 Day Plan – 15GB
• Best prepaid plan with at least 15GB: TPG Small Plan
• Best prepaid plan with at least 30GB: felix 50GB Mobile Plan

• Prepaid mobile coverage
• Prepaid plans on the Optus network
• Prepaid plans on the Vodafone network
• Prepaid plans on the Telstra network
• Finding the best prepaid plan for you

Prepaid mobile plans aren't just good for saving money, you can also have the flexibility of manual payments, if that's something that works for you. Most of the plans we track operate around a (roughly) monthly recharge cycle – 28 days, 30 days, or per-month. For potentially better value, you might also consider a long-expiry prepaid plan to cover either half a year or, better yet, a full 12 months.

Each month, we make our picks for the best prepaid plans in Australia that have a roughly per-month recharge, plus some extra detail on how prepaid plans work and how mobile coverage can affect you.

This month, OnePass has our pick for best prepaid plan in this category with its 28 Day Plan – 15GB.

The plans in this category are meant for people with very basic mobile needs. Either you don’t use a lot of data while out and about or your phone spends most of its time connected to WiFi, not reliant on mobile data. As is the trend with all mobile plans in our database, unlimited phone calls and texts are standard for even the cheapest prepaid plans.

The OnePass Mobile 28 Day Plan – 15GB is a good starting point for light-use prepaid customers. It costs $20 per 28-day recharge for 15GB of base data, served on the Optus 4G network.

There isn’t any data rollover, and given its low price, the plan is unsurprisingly light on perks, though the telco does support eSIM and WiFi calling. That said, right now you can get a free subscription to OnePass' core discount service for 12 months, though be sure to cancel before the end date if you don't want to end up paying.

And while it's not included in the mobile plan, you can get international calling packs.

If this plan doesn't suit your needs, you can check out more options below. These prepaid plans are ranked by popularity with our viewers over the last seven days, have a minimum of 5GB data, and cost no more than $20 per recharge over at least the first six months.

TPG has our pick this month for the best prepaid plan with at least 15GB of data. It starts off at just $12.50 for the first six months, after which it jumps up to $25. While that might seem a considerable leap, the post-deal pricing is still competitive when looking at other plans with similar amounts of data. Speaking of which, 25GB is a solid amount, but sadly TPG doesn't do data rollover, so any unused data is lost.

This plan is limited to 4G connectivity, but given Vodafone's network sharing agreement with Optus, this means much wider coverage than it did just a couple of years ago.

A big drawcard is international calls, which is an unusual inclusion for prepaid mobile plans in this price bracket. You get 100 standard minutes to 31 selected destinations, which is great if you have friends or family overseas you'd like to keep in touch with. And if you're concerned about mobile coverage on the Vodafone network, these days it's almost identical to Optus for 4G, thanks to a network sharing agreement between the two telcos.

But, if this plan isn't for you, check out our comparison table below for more options. These are the most popular prepaid plans on our website over the last seven days, each having at least 15GB and costing no more than $30 per recharge for at least the first six months.

For most people, 30GB is more than they'll need. But for those who do, keeping it affordable and reliable is key. The felix 50GB Mobile Plan is a regular pick for best prepaid plan with at least 30GB of data, thanks to a combination of low ongoing price and a few useful extras.

The felix mobile 50GB Mobile Plan isn't strictly the cheapest plan with this much data, but it has more than a few extra perks up its sleeves. Plus, new customers get 50% off the first three recharges with promocode FELIX50. And the ongoing price of $30 is still pretty good, especially when you consider some of the other benefits.

It's a per-month recharge, meaning you pay fewer bills each year than you do with 28-day alternatives. The plan is also 5G (capped at 150Mbps), though it's worth noting the Vodafone 5G footprint is smaller than that of the Optus, Telstra, and Telstra Wholesale networks.

A big drawcard is what's often called "Endless" data. Instead of cutting you off when you hit your data limit, felix slows your connection to 1.5Mbps. That way, you can still scrape by with basic mobile data until it's time to recharge, though these speeds are slow enough that you want to avoid making a habit of it.

While felix doesn't have any baked-in global roaming, it does have a roaming add-on pack. This is far superior to the PAYG roaming used on many prepaid plans. felix also offers a seven-day happiness guarantee and is certified carbon neutral, planting a new tree each month for every currently active customer.

But if this plan isn't for you, check out other popular plans in our database below. Each has at least 30GB of data.

Prepaid mobile plans use the same three mobile networks as postpaid users: Telstra, Optus and Vodafone. If you’re a Telstra or Boost Mobile prepaid customer, you get full Telstra network coverage. But Telstra mobile virtual network operators (MVNOs) are relegated to the Telstra Wholesale network.

While it still has a wide footprint, the Telstra Wholesale network has similar population coverage to Vodafone and Optus. And its 5G footprint is quite a bit smaller than Optus'. In short, Telstra MVNOs still have good coverage, but it's closer to Optus' than it is to Big T's or Boost Mobile's.

It’s simpler for prepaid plans on the Optus and Vodafone networks. Whether you’re with Optus or Vodafone, or an MVNO from either provider, you get access to the full respective network, though whether you get 5G access depends on the plan and provider in question.

For plans with 5G, most prepaid options have capped max download speeds of 150Mbps or 250Mbps. But even if a prepaid plan is capped at 100Mbps, that’s still fast enough for all mobile scenarios outside of downloading large apps and other hefty files at the fastest speeds. The main disclaimer with 5G, then, is network size. While 4G network coverage is mostly comparable across networks, Telstra’s 5G coverage on its full network covers over 10% more of the population than Optus 5G. Optus has the second-widest 5G, followed by Telstra Wholesale, with Vodafone having the smallest.

If you want an idea of mobile coverage in your area, use the interactive map below. Move the view to areas of interest, then switch between the three available networks and select 4G and/or 5G for a visual indication of coverage. Note that 5G coverage is typically concentrated in the most populous parts of Australia.

Prepaid mobile plans on the Vodafone network is often where you'll find the best data-for-dollar value in our database, at least at the lower end of the price spectrum.

You might think this has something to do with Vodafone's network coverage, but that's not as clear cut as it once was. Thanks to a network sharing agreement with Optus, the two telcos now cover an almost identical percentage of the Aussie population with 4G. That said, 5G is a different story. Vodafone doesn't release clear figures about its 5G coverage, but suffice to say it's the smallest.

While Vodafone 4G plans make up around half of the plans we track, there’s also a good selection of 5G plans if you live in a populous area. Those 5G plans are speed capped, but not prohibitively so. International calls (or credit) are popular plan perks, as is data rollover.

Here's a snapshot of popular Vodafone network prepaid plans from our database.

The Optus 4G network has pretty much the same population coverage as Vodafone and Telstra Wholesale, but its 5G footprint is second only to the full Telstra network.

Of the telcos we track, standard prepaid plans are a mix of 28-day recharges from Optus, Catch Connect, amaysim and Coles Mobile, or 30-day renewals from Yomojo.

Data rollover isn’t as ubiquitous as it is with Telstra MVNOs, but you’ll still find it with prepaid plans from Coles Mobile, Optus and amaysim. Of the standard-length plans we track, prepaid plans on the Optus network aren’t particularly feature-rich, with international calls more relegated to add-ons than inclusions, though Optus and Coles Mobile do have them.

Check out this list of popular Optus network prepaid plans from our database.

Prepaid plans on the Telstra network are mostly offered on the Wholesale network, which is more comparable to the Optus and Vodafone networks in many ways than it is to the full Telstra network. As mentioned above, Telstra and Boost Mobile prepaid plans have full coverage on the full Telstra network, but they’re also typically pricier than their MVNO peers.

To keep prices competitive against comparable Optus and Vodafone network plans, Telstra network options typically have less data. Of the relevant plans we track in our database, Telstra and Boost offer 28-day recharges for their ‘monthly’ plans, while other telcos offer 30-day recharges, including ALDI Mobile, Exetel, Everyday Mobile and Superloop. Most of the Telstra MVNO plans we track have data banking and international calls.

For comparison, here’s a list of popular monthly prepaid plans from our database.

There are a few key things to consider when buying a prepaid plan. We'll take you through the more important basics.

Also called data banking, rollover is when your unused data from previous recharge periods remains available to you. Sometimes this has a limit (such as no more than 200GB of banked data), and sometimes an expiry (such as only lasting one additional recharge). But the almost universal caveat is if you downgrade your plan, leave the provider, or even miss a single recharge, all your banked data disappears. This is one of the bigger incentives to use auto-renewal, when available.

Some telcos may offer automatic recharging (they may be called “subscriptions”), sometimes with incentives to tick that auto-renewal box, like data rollover. While a convenient way to ensure you’re always connected, automatic recharges don’t provide the freedom of choosing when you pay.

Prepaid starter packs are a great starting point to nab a SIM card, sometimes at a lower promotional price and with bonus data. But those initial prices for prepaid starter packs and potentially a string of initial recharges aren’t indicative of the typical price you’ll pay in the long term.

We strongly recommend evaluating long-term prepaid plans in terms of typical pricing and included data. Plans with 360 and 365-day expiry in particular can be better value than monthly plans when you look at data-per-dollar over the same period of time.

With prepaid plans, you generally won't get automatically charged if you go over your data allocation. Instead, your data simply cuts off until your next recharge or you buy a data pack (if any are available). A handful of providers don't fully cut you off, instead slowing your connection considerably. But this more common for postpaid SIM-only than it is for prepaid mobile plans.

But even if your data does get cut off, you still have full access to your unlimited standard calls and texts.

Consider mobile coverage where you live, work and at the places you travel to regularly. For more info, check out our coverage section above.

The most important difference between postpaid (often called "SIM only") and prepaid mobile plans probably isn't when you pay, but what happens when you go over your data limit. Most prepaid plans simply cut you off, leaving you with only calls and texts. Postpaid plans tend to charge you overage fees, usually per additional GB. That said, some providers (prepaid and postpaid) don't automatically charge you for overage, instead significantly slowing your connection until you buy a booster pack or your new billing period begins.

In terms of when you pay, prepaid plans are paid in advance, while postpaid plans are paid at the end of your usage period. Prepaid can be automatically renewed or you can maintain greater control with manual payments. Postpaid plans are generally paid automatically, but if you do manage to set up manual payments, you can incur fees for missing your bill. Whereas with prepaid manual prepaid plans you don't incur fees, but instead lose network access, along with any perks you might have built up, such as banked data.

A third type is the "upfront" plan. These act exactly the same as postpaid (and are also often called "SIM only"), except are paid at the start of your usage period.

One of the only ways you'll encounter a provider-locked phone these days is if you buy it as part of a deal associated with a prepaid plan. Network-locked phones can't be easily taken between providers and require you pay an unlocking fee, which changes depending on your telco. Usually the fee decreases the longer you've continued with your prepaid plan since buying the phone and can eventually be free to do, but this can take years.

In contrast, grabbing a phone on a repayment plan (from Vodafone, Optus or Telstra) alongside a postpaid or upfront SIM gives you an unlocked phone, but if you leave within the repayment period you need to pay off the full price of the device and usually lose any special discounts the phone came with.

Want more prepaid options? The prepaid plans below are the most popular picks from our comparison engine today across Telstra, Optus and Vodafone networks.