Cheap mobile plans in Australia

In this guide, we're looking at the cheapest mobile phone plans in our database, covering  plans based on intro deals and long-term pricing, eSIM plans, and cheap phone plans with more or even 'unlimited' data. All include unlimited talk or text and can be postpaid or 'monthly' prepaid plans (28-day, 30-day, or monthly recharges). We'll compare the cheapest plans based on the introductory pricing over the first six months, as well as the long-term cost over the first 24 months.

Even though it might sound like a 'gotcha', consider basing your choice on intro discounts, rather than long-term prices. Many providers offer new customers significant discounts for an initial period, sometimes as much as 50% off. With no lock-in contracts, you can swap providers before the discount ends and repeat the process. But we know this isn't everyone's cup of tea, which is why we've included 24-month comparisons for longer-term pricing.

The cheapest mobile plan in our database right is from Catch Connect, thanks to a deal for new customers who sign up before April 8.

Get 50% off the first six recharges, netting you 30GB for just $12.50 per recharge. While that price tag doubles after the deal expires, $25 per recharge is still competitive for this much data – albeit a few dollars more than the minimum in our database. But it's worth nothing this prepaid plan has a 28-day recharge period, meaning you pay 13 phone bills per year, as opposed to 12.

If these plans don't suit your needs, there are several providers with cheap mobile plans for under $15. Here's a look at the cheapest phone plans in our database, ranked by introductory price for the first six months:

Right now, the cheapest plans in this category might not be the best choice. We advise you read the below before making a decision.

Circles.Life currently has cheapest mobile phone plan in our database over the first two years after signing up ($360 total), but with two big caveats. First, it only includes 6GB of data per month. But most noteworthy: this provider has recently been purchased by amaysim and  will soon be shuttered. It's not currently clear what will happen to existing customer's plans once Circles.Life closes its doors.

Lyca and Exetel are the next cheapest, but also only include a tiny 4GB and 7GB of data, respectively. Lyca's plan will cost you $405 over the first 24 months, while Exetel's will set you back $450.

ALDI Mobile at least offers double-digit data, coming in at 10GB for $19 per month and a total cost of $475 over the first two years.

After that, there's a significant jump in data inclusions. SpinTel's 25GB plan will cost you $480 over the first 24 months, thanks in part to an $8 discount for the first six months after signing up. Once that deal ends, the ongoing monthly price is $22. If your mobile data needs are fairly standard, this is currently the starting point for cheap mobile plans when it comes to long-term pricing.

The basics of SpinTel's plan:

• Intro price: $14 per month for six months
• Ongoing price: $22 per month, after deal ends
• Total spend over first 24 months: $480
• Data: 25GB
• Mobile network: Optus 4G, capped at 100Mbps

But Circles isn't the only provider with cheap mobile plans in the long term. Here's a broader look at the cheapest phone plans in our database, ranked by total spend over the first 24 months after signing up:

TPG and iiNet have the cheapest eSIM plans in our database right now. Get a 50% discount for the first six months after signing up, which means you get 25GB of data for just $12.50 during that period. After that, the ongoing cost is $25 per month.

The basics:

• Intro price: $12.50 per month for 6 months
• Ongoing price: $25 per month, after deal ends
• Total spend over first 24 months: $525
• Data: 25GB
• Mobile network: Vodafone 4G, capped at 150Mbps
• International calls: 100 standard minutes and 100 SMS to 31 countries
• Roaming: No roaming inclusions

If these plans don't work for you, here's a look at a wider range of cheap eSIM plans in our database, ranked by cost over the first six months:

If you're after some serious bang for buck, TPG and iiNet have identical offers for their 50GB mobile plans, netting you a huge amount of monthly data for $17.50 per month. After six months, the price reverts to $35 a month, which is still a decent price for that much data. Given iiNet is a wholly-owned TPG subsidiary, the similarity of these plans should come as no surprise.

These plans come with 5G access, capped at 150Mbps. But don't let the speed limit turn you off – 150Mbps is faster than an NBN 100 plan, which is enough to service most households. As a potential plus, iiNet and TPG both let you bundle your mobile and internet plans together for an extra $5 per month off.

But the biggest head turner is the international calls. Both plans give you unlimited standard international minutes and SMS to 31 selected countries. This is a rare inclusion and will be a big boon for those who need it.

• Intro price: $17.50 per month for six months
• Ongoing price: $35 per month, after deal ends
• Total spend over first 24 months: $735
• Data: 50GB per month
• Mobile network: Vodafone 5G, limited to 150Mbps
• International calls: Unlimited standard minutes and SMS to 31 countries
• Roaming: No roaming inclusions

We have plenty more cheap mobile plans with decent data in our database. Here's a look at the cheapest plans with at least 30GB, ranked by price over the first six months:

In Australia, mobile plans with 'unlimited' data might not be what you assume. Also called 'infinite' or 'endless' data, most offer full internet speed until you hit your monthly limit, after which your connection is slowed to anywhere between 2Mbps and a crawling 256Kbps, depending on the provider.

This has the benefit of avoiding unexpected overage fees if you go past your data allowance, but might not be what you're looking for in an unlimited data mobile plan.

The only option that comes close is the Unlimited Mobile Plan from felix mobile.

This plan does really give you unlimited data in terms of how much you can use – but it's all limited to 20Mbps. While 20Mbps is still fast enough to stream HD video and do just about any other phone-y things you have in mind, downloading large files is going to be a drag.

This plan currently offers 50% off for the first three months, after which the ongoing price is $40 per month.

• Intro price: $20 per month for three months
• Ongoing price: $40 per month, after deal ends
• Total spend over first 24 months: $900
• Data: Unlimited, all capped at 20Mbps
• Mobile network: Vodafone 5G – capped at 20Mbps
• International calls: Add for $5 per month
• Roaming: None included

If you'd like to check out plans from mobile providers that offer 'endless' data – i.e. no overage fees – here's a look at the cheapest mobile plans in our database from each of them, ranked by intro price for the first six months:

The cheapest mobile plans are offered by network resellers, also called 'Mobile Virtual Network Operators' (MVNOs). MVNOs make up pretty much every mobile provider that isn't Optus, Vodafone or Telstra. These brands can afford to keep costs down because they have fewer overheads like large marketing budgets, network maintenance or brick-and-mortar storefronts.

They also don't include some of the added plan features you'll see from the Big Three, such as discounts on streaming services, included international calls, roaming, and uncapped 5G speeds. But despite this, mobile coverage is often the same, except for most Telstra resellers. Telstra MVNOs operate over the Telstra 'Wholesale' network, as opposed to the full Telstra network.

We'll dive into all of this and more below, so keep scrolling if you want to learn the ins and outs of cheap mobile plans in Australia.

Expertise: Our editorial team has years of experience covering technology and the Australian telco market. We dig into the minutiae of phone plans, terms and conditions and simplify it for you.

Independence: We review phone plans on their merits, not based on whether or not we make money from them. You can always trust that if we recommend a plan, it's because it's great value for money, regardless of our commercial relationships with suppliers.

Data-driven: Our comparison engine looks at more than a hundred plans from 30 providers to size them up on features such as data, price and inclusions. The power of our comparison engine and the breadth of our database means you get more choices and more ways to compare.