The best SIM-only mobile plans in Australia

Moose Mobile takes the top spot this month, thanks to an introductory discount, paired with great 4G coverage and extra plan perks. The deal gets you a $14 discount and 13GB of bonus data for the first six months, after which it reverts to an ongoing cost of $26.80 per month with 27GB of data. But there's no lock-in contract, so you can jump ship before the deal ends without paying exit fees.

This plan also includes up to 200GB of data banking, which is handy if you don't burn through all that bonus data. The 5G coverage is nice to see in this price bracket – while it's limited to 100Mbps, it should still help limit congestion or spotty coverage in some areas.

Unfortunately, there are no international call inclusions and roaming is handled PAYG, which can be extremely expensive if you're not careful. To activate roaming, Moose asks for $200 up front, which apply to your account as credits. But you'll get refunded any unused credits once you've back in Australia.

For more contenders, check out more SIM plans with at least 15GB of data, ranked by their popularity with our readers over the last seven days:

Dodo $28 Mobile plan takes the top spot this month, thanks to an introductory discount, paired with great 4G coverage and extra plan perks like unlimited data banking and $200 of call credit.

The deal gets you a $14 discount for the first three months, after which it reverts to an ongoing cost of $28 per month with 30GB of data. If you do exceed that allowance, you'll stay connected but your speed will be capped a 256Kbps.

But there's no lock-in contract, so you can jump ship before the deal ends without paying exit fees.

For more contenders, check out more SIM plans with at least 15GB of data, ranked by their popularity with our readers over the last seven days:

Moose also has our pick for cheap SIM only plans in April, thanks to a generous promotion. This deal gets you 40GB for $12.40/mth for the first six months, after which it's 27GB for $26.80 per month.

There's a data bank up to 200GB for unused data, which is particularly handy for holidays or the occasional high-use month. But there's nothing in the way of international calls and roaming is PAYG, which can mean a big bill if you're not careful.

For more contenders, check out more SIM plans, ranked by their popularity with our readers over the last seven days:

Kogan Mobile has our April pick for best mobile plan for kids. This SIM-only prepaid plan is $20 per month for 15GB, with a monthly recharge. The plan has data rollover up to 200GB for unused gigabytes, but banked data expires at the end of the following month.

Prepaid plans are particularly good for kids because you won't get hit with unexpected overage fees – instead, the data simply gets cut off if the limit is reached. But your little ones won't be left out in the cold because the plan has unlimited national talk and text, which last until the end of the recharge cycle.

For more contenders, check out some other popular prepaid plans with our readers this week:

The best SIM only plan for international calls this month is TPG's 50GB Medium Plan. This plan is a great all-rounder with a healthy dose of data that also includes unlimited talk and text to 31 destinations. Plus, there's a 50% discount for the first six months, which is always nice to have.

For more contenders, check out more SIM only plans with international calls, ranked by their popularity with our readers over the last seven days:

Coverage is important when looking for the best SIM only plan, especially if you live outside of a major metropolitan area. There are three major networks: Telstra, Optus, and Vodafone. All three network operators sell access to smaller providers, called Mobile Virtual Network Operators (MVNOs).

MVNOs can offer cheaper plans than the Big Three because they have fewer overheads like physical stores, big marketing budgets, large staff counts, and extra plan perks, among other things. This is why you'll usually find the best SIM only plan for your needs from an MVNO, as opposed to from Telstra, Optus or Vodafone directly.

As for coverage, Optus and Vodafone grant their MVNOs full access to their networks – though some MVNOs choose to limit their cheapest plans to 4G access only.

Telstra is different. It only offers its MVNOs access to the Telstra "Wholesale" network, which has a smaller coverage footprint than the full Telstra network. The only exception is Boost Mobile, which is the only MVNO with full network access.

As for which network has the best coverage, it depends on if you want 4G or 5G. The full Telstra network has the widest coverage for both 4G and 5G. The Telstra Wholesale network is a close second for 4G, with Optus an even closer third. But for 5G, Optus' coverage is significantly ahead of the Telstra Wholesale network – sadly, Vodafone doesn't publish clear 5G statistics, so we can't compare it to the others.

Optus network providers get full access to the Optus network, but it's up to the provider to choose if they want to limit the plan to 4G or include 5G, and what speed caps they place on their plans. Even so, the harshest speed limit is 100Mbps, which is the same max speed as an NBN 100 plan. In short, it should be fast enough for just about anything you want to do on a phone. 5G plans are usually limited to 150Mbps or 250Mbps.

As for perks and extras, that's entirely up to each provider. Below we've listed the most popular plans from Optus MVNOs in our database, ranked by popularity with our readers over the last seven days:

Vodafone MVNOs offer some of the cheapest SIM only plans in our database and are a great place to start if you're looking at cheap SIM plans.

The Vodafone network recently expanded to piggy-back on the Optus network in many regional and remote areas. As a result, the Vodafone 4G network's population coverage is all but equal with Optus' (to around 0.1%).

Vodafone's 5G coverage is harder to compare, given the telco doesn't provide clear statistics on this part of its mobile network. But suffice to say, it's smaller than Telstra's and Optus'.

Vodafone MVNOs get full access to its network, although the MVNO decides whether to limit a plan to 4G or to include 5G. All Vodafone MVNOs place speed limits on their plans, ranging between 100Mbps and 250Mbps, depending on the plan in question.

Telstra and Boost Mobile customers get access to the full Telstra mobile network. The rest are restricted to the slightly smaller, but still expansive, Telstra Wholesale network.

That said, the Telstra Wholesale network only covers about 1% more of the population with 4G than the Optus and Vodafone networks. Not only that, the Optus 5G network is actually bigger than Telstra Wholesale – 80.5% population coverage vs. 75%.

So, while Telstra MVNOs do still have great coverage, it's worth noting most people likely won't notice much of a difference in coverage – especially if you live in a well-populated area.

You’ll find other popular Telstra network SIM plans below.

All SIM only plans in our database come with unlimited calls and texts in Australia, so you're really choosing between data caps and extra perks like international calls, data banking, roaming, and others. But before you go too far down that rabbit hole, consider which mobile networks you have access to in the areas you frequent.

For most Australians, that’ll be all three mobile networks, at least for 4G coverage. If you’ve had coverage issues in the past or travel a lot in Australia, particularly off the beaten track, a Telstra network plan is your best bet. If you'd prefer to spend a little less, Optus and Vodafone have all but identical 4G coverage these days.

Use the interactive map below to get an idea of Telstra, Optus and Vodafone network coverage in the areas you visit most.

With the network out of the way, it’s time to think about data. Aim for at least 15 to 20GB of data minimum if you’re the average user. If you find you use less data each month, save money with a cheaper SIM only plan. Alternatively, if you constantly need to top up or get stung with excess-data bills, upgrade to a plan with more gigabytes.

Speaking of excess data, not every SIM only telco charges for it these days but speeds may be capped to the point where doing more than just the online basics feels like a sluggish chore. To separate closely priced plans, we advise taking first-year costs into account. Six months of promotional pricing is good, but it’s not as great if the typical price leaps to a point that nullifies the discount.

The data suggests that most people tend to stick with their telcos, too. If that’s you, pick a mobile provider with competitive ongoing pricing relative to your data needs. Alternatively, if you find your monthly data usage fluctuates, go for a telco with data banking, so those quieter months can help support heavier months with stored gigabytes.

To help further separate contenders from your chosen telco, consider plan inclusions. eSIM, for instance, is a great way to avoid having to wait for a physical SIM card to arrive. International talk and/or text is another consideration, as is straightforward international roaming via add-ons rather than pay-as-you-go (PAYG) credit or telcos that require a roaming prepayment. Whatever the plan perk, don’t pay more for a plan feature if you don’t intend on using it.

The benefit of eSIM is not having to wait for a physical SIM card to arrive by mail to start using your new SIM only plan. SIM activation should take around half an hour, but it may take longer. Just remember to not remove your old physical SIM card for your current plan before the new one is ready to go.