The best Prepaid plans available (January 2022)

It’s great to see telcos competing in the Prepaid space because it means you can pair a handset—iPhone 13, Samsung Galaxy S21 or whatever else you fancy—with a great value plan. Buying a Prepaid plan means you’re in control of how much you spend each month, with no contract, and a bill that comes upfront so you don’t have to worry about potential bill shock at the end of the month.

Our Prepaid picks are split across meaningful categories that range from cheap Prepaid mobile plans to those with the best value, plenty of data or picks for those who prefer a long-expiry option. Most of our Prepaid categories are for monthly plans, which may mean 28 days, 30 days or an actual month before recharging.

At the start of each month, we compare all relevant Prepaid recharges and subscriptions to pick new winners or confirm the continued reign of incumbent victors. Prepaid telcos are kicking off the new year with some great specials, which means new category winners. Woolworths Mobile returns to the throne for best perks, Amaysim nabs the big-data win and Kogan reclaims the top spot for best long-expiry Prepaid plan.

Scroll on for the full breakdown of all our winners.

Gomo $35 Mobile Plan at a glance:

• Free first 30-day subscription (eSIM only)
• $35 per month (normally)
• $385 first-year cost
• 60GB data
• 200GB data rollover
• WiFi calls
• Unlimited calls to 15 countries
• Optus network

The competition in this category gets tighter each month, but while Prepaid plans that cost more tend to offer more data, we try to cap costs at $50 and stick to Prepaid monthly plans. This month, Gomo nabs the top spot for this category with its $35 Mobile Plan, which is a Prepaid subscription service that renews every 30 days.

There are some great perks, too. For starters, those with a compatible eSIM handset don’t have to pay a cent for the first 30 days before the price reverts to its typical $35 monthly fee. That monthly price nets you 60GB of data, which you can rollover between recharges (up to 200GB). This Gomo plan also includes WiFi calls (a rarity for Optus MVNOs) as well as unlimited standard calls to 15 countries.

For comparison, check out the daily updating list below for popular Prepaid mobile plans with at least 50GB of data.

Woolworths Mobile Pre-paid Mobile $30 Recharge at a glance:

• $30 per 30 days
• $360 first-year cost
• 30GB data
• 300GB data rollover
• Data gifting
• Unlimited talk/text to 22 countries
• 10% off monthly Woolies shop
• Telstra network

For a few months now, Gomo has enjoyed consecutive wins in this category with the $25 Gomo Subscription. While that’s still a perk-packed Prepaid plan, Gomo has been beaten this month by an old incumbent victor. The Woolworths Mobile Pre-paid Mobile $30 Recharge has a lot more than just what’s in the plan name.

For starters, that $30 per 30 days gets you 30GB of data on the Telstra network, which is a great starting point. If you have leftover data before recharging, you can either gift it to eligible Woolworths mobile users or roll it over (up to 300GB). This Woolworths Prepaid plan also includes unlimited standard talk and text to 22 selected dialling destinations, plus you can save 10% off your Woolworths grocery shop once a month (up to $50).

For comparison, below is a daily updating list of popular Prepaid plans with at least 30GB of data.

Woolworths Mobile Pre-paid Mobile $20 Recharge at a glance:

• $20 per 30 days
• $240 first-year cost
• 12GB data
• 300GB data rollover
• Data gifting
• 10% off monthly Woolies shop
• Telstra network

Not so long ago, the Internode Small 8GB Plan took out the top spot here care of $10 monthly pricing for the first six months before reverting to its typical $19.99 fee. That’s still worth considering if you don’t mind 8GB of data on the Vodafone network. This month’s winner, though, is the Woolworths Mobile Pre-paid Mobile $20 Recharge, which isn’t as cheap in terms of first-year pricing, but it has better inclusions.

That $20 is paid every 30 days and you should absolutely recharge before expiry to take advantage of the 300GB data bank. This way you can store any unused data from the 12GB allocation for when you need it later. Alternatively, gift unused data to eligible Woolworths Mobile friends and family. The perk we love most about Woolworths Mobile plans, though, is the 10% discount off a monthly Woolies shop (save up to $50).

Below is a daily updating list of popular Prepaid plans that don’t cost more than $20 per recharge.

Gomo $15 Mobile Plan at a glance:

• Free first 30-day subscription (eSIM only)
• $15 per month (normally)
• $165 first-year cost
• 8GB data
• 200GB data rollover
• WiFi calls
• Optus network

Gomo secures another win this month thanks to some end-of-2021 boosts to its data inclusions, while still maintaining identical 30-day fees. Speaking of costs, those who sign up for the Gomo $15 Mobile Plan with an eSIM-compatible handset can get the first 30 days free of charge. After that, it’s $15 per month.

That monthly fee is where we cap out our Prepaid picks for this particular category and, with this Gomo plan, it nets you a decent 8GB of data. Any megabytes you don’t use up can also be rolled over to the next recharge (up to 200GB). Additionally, Gomo is a rare MVNO that also lets you make and receive WiFi calls, which is handy for areas with limited or no network coverage (but a strong WiFi signal).

For comparison, check out the list of popular Prepaid plans below that come with at least 1GB of data and don’t cost more than $15 per recharge.

Amaysim $50 Unlimited Plan briefly:

• $50 per 28 days
• $625 first-year cost
• 80GB data
• 70GB bonus data
• Unlimited international calls
• Optus network

For those who prefer to not count megabytes, go with the Felix Mobile $35 subscription, which has unlimited data capped at 20Mbps. For everyone else, you can get full-speed 4G data on the Optus network via the Amaysim $50 Unlimited Plan.

That $50 is paid every 28 days and comes with an impressive 80GB of Prepaid data. More impressive is the $25 discount on the first recharge and the 70GB of bonus data for anyone who signs up before 31 January 2022. Store that 70GB of bonus data (or any other leftover recharge megabytes) in an unlimited ongoing data bank, plus take advantage of unlimited standard calls to 42 selected countries.

For comparison, below is a daily updating list of popular Prepaid plans with at least 50GB of data.

Kogan Extra Large – 365 Day Flex Plan at a glance:

• $300 per 365 days
• 486GB data
• 14GB bonus data
• Earn Qantas Points
• Visual voicemail
• Vodafone network

Optus ended 2021 with an almighty challenge to Kogan Mobile, the typical winner of this category, thanks to some great discounted pricing. But that Optus pricing was temporary and isn’t around this month, which means we’re leaning back on the old faithful Kogan Extra Large – 365 Day Flex Plan once again.

While the price of this long-expiry Kogan plan shifted around a bit in 2021, $300 for 500GB of data is a great price to pay for the savvy Prepaid user who only wants to pay one phone bill per year. That works out to just over 41GB of Vodafone 4G data per month, plus you can also take advantage of visual voicemail and earn Qantas Points.

Below is a daily updating list of popular long-expiry Prepaid mobile plans.

Boost $30 Prepaid at a glance:

• $30 per 28 days
• $390 first-year cost
• 20GB data
• 25GB bonus data (first three recharges)
• Data rollover (per recharge)
• Unlimited calls to 20 countries
• 300 international minutes to 30 countries
• Telstra network

Prepaid fans on the Telstra network have once again stuck with the Boost Mobile $30 Prepaid mobile plan this month. While it’s restricted to your first three recharges, this 20GB Prepaid plan comes with a bonus 25GB per recharge (instead of the more recent 17GB and 20GB trends). Despite the three-recharge limitation, Boost Prepaid mobile plans come with data rollover, so you can put leftover data from your recharge towards the next one. Note that it can only be rolled over for one recharge and not perpetually.

Just make sure you recharge before your current 28-day expiry to take advantage of this feature, and get in by 31 January 2022 to score the bonus data. Outside of data, this Boost Prepaid plan includes unlimited standard calls and messaging to 20 selected countries, with a boosted 300 minutes to another 30 selected dialling destinations alongside 300 texts to any country.

The most popular Telstra Prepaid mobile plans may change throughout the month, but this most popular pick was accurate as of 11 January 2022.

• $30 per 28 days
• $390 first-year cost
• 10GB data
• 30GB bonus data (first three recharges)
• Day rollover (up to 84)
• Data rollover (up to 200GB)
• Unlimited calls to 15 countries
• Optus network

Optus Prepaid has recaptured the attention of purchasers for another month after Amaysim snatched the popularity crown not so long ago. At first glance, $30 per 28-day recharge for 10GB of data doesn’t seem like a flash deal. But this Optus Prepaid Epic Data – $30 Recharge plan is likely popular because of the bonus data.

For the first three recharges, you nab a bonus 30GB of data for 40GB in total to use. Unused data can also be banked up to 200GB, so those unused megabytes today can help you out in data-intensive months down the track. Remaining days can also be rolled over (up to 84), and this Optus Prepaid plan also includes standard talk and text to 15 selected countries.

The most popular Optus Prepaid mobile plans may change throughout the month, but this most popular pick was accurate as of 11 January 2022.

Kogan Small – 365 Day Flex at a glance:

• $120 per 365 days
• 80GB base data
• 50GB bonus data
• Earn Qantas Points
• Visual voicemail
• Vodafone network

At the start of the month, the popularity of the typical TPG battle had been quashed by a couple of Kogan long-expiry contenders. By far the most popular pick was the Kogan Small – 365 Day Flex Plan, with the TPG 12GB Mobile Plan noticeably behind in second place.

The Kogan Small – 365 Day Flex Plan costs $120 for the year and, at the time of updating this page, it came with 130GB of data separated into 80GB of base data and 50GB of bonus data (just under 11GB per month). Like other Kogan plans, you also earn Qantas Points just by signing up.

Switching Prepaid plans and providers is nowhere near as stressful as switching Postpaid plans, partly because Prepaid plans have no contract. The process will be different for every provider but, typically, all that’s required to switch Prepaid “plans” is to select a different recharge type next top-up. Other providers will ask you to switch rate plans via an automated service over the phone, and some let you do it all from their app.

Switching providers is almost as simple, but there are a few more steps. If you want to switch providers and keep the same number, make sure you approach your new provider with the mobile number you would like to switch, the associated account number (if available), and your personal details for security purposes (e.g. name, date of birth, driver’s license number).

Where you might run into trouble is using one provider’s Prepaid handset with another’s Prepaid SIM. Unlike contract phone plans, Prepaid phones tend to be network locked. Unlocking your Prepaid handset will come with a small fee, which may vary depending on the make and model of your phone and the date of purchase.

Postpaid plans are usually associated with contract terms and included handsets (though there are some decent month-to-month SIM plans available these days) whereas Prepaid plans are low-commitment plans that give you more control over your spending, and they have no contract.

With Prepaid plans, you pay for the calls, text and data you think you will need before using them. Postpaid plans, on the other hand, calculate your usage at the end of your billing month and bill you for the calls, text and data used over that period (typically with excess fees if you go over your plan’s inclusions).

Both offer their own peace of mind; Prepaid plans simply restrict your network access when you’ve burned through your data, whereas excess usage on a Postpaid plan will result in additional charges on your bill at the end of the month. But Prepaid plans come with the risk of getting cut off without notice, which can be dangerous if you forget to recharge, whereas Postpaid plans will only cut you off if you fail to pay the last month’s bill after it’s due.

You would be stretched to find a Prepaid provider and plan that doesn’t allow for tethering these days. We reviewed every Australian Prepaid provider and couldn’t find a single provider that didn’t offer tethering on its prepaid plans. The Optus website states that Prepaid tethering is available on “most plans” but we checked with the customer service team who confirmed it was available on every Prepaid plan.

So, here are the Prepaid providers from our comparison engine that allow tethering:

• Aldi Mobile
• Amaysim
• Boost Mobile
• Coles
• Dodo
• Hello Mobile
• Hive Mobile
• Jeenee Mobile
• Kogan Mobile
• Lebara Mobile
• Lycamobile
• Optus
• TeleChoice
• Telstra
• TPG
• Vodafone
• Woolworths

Prepaid plans may not be as perk-packed as SIM Only alternatives, but there are still a handful of telcos that offer unlimited international calls. The cheapest is the Coles Prepaid $20 for 30 Days plan, which offers unlimited international calls to 15 countries. But our pick for the best value and versatility is the Amaysim $40 Unlimited Plan, which comes with unlimited calls to 42 selected countries and 50GB of data.

Below is a daily updating list of the most popular Prepaid plans from the Prepaid telcos in our database that offer unlimited calls on plans with at least 10GB of data (Gomo, Coles Mobile, Lebara, ALDI Mobile, Exetel, Amaysim, Boost Mobile and Optus).

Take a look at the most popular Prepaid plans in Australia according to WhistleOut’s comparison engine.