The best mobile phone plans in Australia (December 2024)

If you want to buy a Telstra plan, you can expect to pay a premium to access Australia’s most widespread network. Still, given the ubiquity of the Telstra network, it’s unsurprising that Telstra mobile virtual network operators (MVNOs)—other telcos that aren’t Telstra—are a popular pick for mobile users across SIM-only and prepaid plans.

At the start of the month, the Tangerine Telecom 25GB 5G Mobile SIM was the most popular mobile plan on the Telstra network across SIM-only and prepaid plans. Even though that’s likely because of an expired Black Friday deal, Tangerine has a new promo running for new customers until the end of January. The $29 monthly fee is unchanged, but there’s 25GB of monthly bonus data for the first three months, which pairs nicely with the 1,000GB data bank. This Tangerine SIM-only plan also comes with unlimited international calls to 15 countries. In terms of other Telstra network plans, the Belong 25GB Mobile Plan (SIM-only) and the Superloop SuperSim Save 4G Plan (prepaid) were also popular at the start of the month.

For other popular Telstar network picks, check out these mobile plans.

The Optus network isn’t quite as widespread as the Telstra network, but it still has great coverage and its MVNOs offer competitively priced plans with a decent chunk of data. Typically, popular Optus network plans may change based on whichever telco is offering the best deal at the time.

At the start of the month, the Circles.Life 6GB Monthly Plan was still the most popular pick on the Optus network, and it’s easy to see why. That 6GB of data in the plan name refers to the base data, but there’s 14GB of monthly bonus data (up from 4GB) for the first 12 months (up from six). There’s also a reduced monthly price—$10 (down from $12) instead of $15—for the first 12 months (up from six). Just make sure to use the ‘12MTHSDEALS20G’ promo code at sign-up to grab the bonus data and promo pricing ahead of the 31 December 2024 cut-off. The Dodo $28 Mobile Plan (SIM-only) and Catch Connect 365 Day Plan – 120GB (prepaid) were also popular Optus network SIM-only pick at the start of the month.

The list below showcases the most popular prepaid and SIM-only plans on the Optus network today.

The Vodafone 4G and 5G networks aren’t as widespread as the Telstra or Optus networks. Still, Vodafone mobile coverage is available to around 24 million Australians, so it’s not exactly small. Typically, prepaid and SIM-only mobile plans on the Vodafone network offer competitive pricing with a comparatively healthy amount of data.

At the start of the month, the TPG 25GB Small Plan was again the most popular pick on the Vodafone network in terms of prepaid and SIM-only plans, likely because of TPG’s tendency for ongoing promotional pricing. If you’re a new TPG mobile customer, this popular prepaid plan costs $12.50 per month before reverting to its typical $25 recharge fee. You’ll get 25GB of Vodafone 4G data (capped at 150Mbps speeds), with support for eSIM devices and 100 standard call minutes to 31 selected dialling destinations. For popular Vodafone network alternatives, check out these other prepaid plans: the Kogan Small – 365 Day Flex Plan or the iiNet 25GFB Small Plan.

You can see the other popular Vodafone network prepaid and SIM-only plans below.

The first question to answer before getting to which mobile plan is right for you is whether you’re using an existing mobile phone or want a new one. If you want a new one, you’ll either have to purchase a compatible prepaid handset or pair a SIM-only mobile plan with a new iPhone, Samsung Galaxy, Google Pixel or other option. New-model mobile phones can be bought outright or paid off over 12, 24 or 36 months from participating telcos like Telstra, Optus and Vodafone.

For those happy to use their existing mobile phone, choose between prepaid or SIM-only mobile plans. Prepaid plans are great for people who want to control their spending and aren’t overly interested in perks. While prepaid plans are paid in advance of use SIM-only plans are paid at the end of a billing month (except for Telstra Upfront plans).

SIM-only plans are always monthly offerings but prepaid mobile plans have a range of durations, from a day or few to a month-ish—28 days, 30 days or an actual month—and beyond to long-expiry options for 90 days, half a year or a full 12 months. Generally, once prepaid data is exhausted, you have to recharge again, so take into account how much data you need before buying.

With SIM-only mobile plans, you’re more likely to find telcos that offer data banking or data rollover for carrying over unused gigabytes or capped plan speeds if you exhaust your max-speed allocation. Coverage is an important consideration, too. Telstra has the largest mobile network followed by Optus and Vodafone. But if you live in a populous part of Australia, the chances are good you can pick between all three.

That trio may be the respective network owners but there are dozens of telcos that use their networks to offer more competitively priced plans. Effectively, you may be able to get the coverage perks of the network you want without having to pay a premium for it.

Pretty much every mobile plan these days comes with unlimited national talk and text but if international calls and messaging are important to you, keep an eye out for those features. It’s a similar story for international roaming if you like to travel and want the option to use mobile data abroad. There are a range of other perks to help separate closely competing plans, with eSIM being one of the better ones that uses a digital SIM rather than needing to wait for a physical SIM card to arrive.