Best cheap 365-day prepaid mobile plans

Although a 365-day prepaid plan isn't going to be the best fit for everyone, it's often a great way to save money in the long term. In this guide, we're going to take a look at the best 365-day mobile plans, as well as cheaper options when it comes to 12-month prepaid plans and long-expiry mobile plans available in Australia.

Right now, Lyca Mobile has a solid deal going for new customers who sign up before February 28. On your first recharge (i.e. the first year), get 50% off the telco's 200GB Medium - Long Expiry plan. That means you only pay $110 for that first 12 months. After the first recharge, the price jumps up quite a bit to $220. But given this plan has no lock-in contract, you can just hop to a different provider in a year's time to avoid ever paying the full price.

If you'd like to compare this to a traditional monthly prepaid plan, this works out to paying about $9.20 per month for 16GB. That's quite a saving compared to regular prepaid options.

For a sense of your other options, check out the below list of popular 365-day long term prepaid plans that cost $200 or less for the first recharge.

Right now, the cheapest long-expiry mobile plan in our database is from Lyca Mobile – yes, this plan is our pick for Best 365 day plan, too. The plan is currently discounted 50% for the first recharge, meaning you get 200GB of data for only $110. From the second payment on, it jumps up to $220.

It also includes unlimited calls to 39 selected countries, but other services such as roaming, excess data usage, or premium service numbers (e.g. 1900 numbers) will be charged at standard rates.

Because of the nature of 365-day plans, you don't have to worry about the deal expiring for a year after you sign up – unless you max out your plan's data and need to recharge. And because there are no lock-in contracts, in a year's time you can just switch to another provider and grab a different deal for even more savings. Just be sure to pop the date in your calendar so you don't forget.

If the plan above isn't for you, be sure to check out the widget below for a snapshot of the cheapest 365-day prepaid plans in our database, ranked by the cost of the first recharge.

Long expiry prepaid plans are, by their very nature, relatively straightforward and no-fuss. That simplicity is a big reason that people opt for them. Still, there's a few things to keep an eye out for when choosing a 365 day prepaid phone plan:

• Longer recharge durations: There are a few different types of long expiry prepaid options. The most common is the 365-day recharge, but there are also 90-day and 180-day options. Every now and then, telcos will off one-year recharge options, which won't necessarily last you 365 days, instead they expire on a year from the day you activate.
• Better dollars-to-data value: The easiest way to compare long expiry prepaid options is to calculate the equivalent monthly cost and inclusions. This allows you to compare 180-day and 365-day recharge options in a like-for-like way. For example, Kogan's $150 Small Flex Plan costs $150 and gets you 140GB of data to use over the year. That works out at roughly $12.50 and 11.6GB of data per month. You could then compare that against the Catch Mobile 365 day plan that comes with 200GB of yearly data, which works out to be $16.60 and 16.6GB of data per month.
• Data rollover: Different telcos offer different data rollover offers (some don't offer it at all). Some allow you to bank a limited amount of unused data for your next recharge, others let you rollover all of your unused data if you recharge before the expiry date. It's important to know which data rollover or data banking option is available to you before signing up.
• Auto-recharge with no excess data fees: Again, different telcos have different ways of handling excess data charges. Some will simply charge a per-megabyte rate for all data used in excess of your inclusions, deducting that amount from the dollar value of your recharge amount. Others offer convenient auto-recharge options that automatically top-up your balance via direct debit when you run out of credit or your plan expires