Vodafone mobile plans review

Vodafone's plan range will cover the needs of most phone owners, though there is an absence of plans under $30, except when there’s a promotion that brings the typical pricing down. Normally, under $30 is a popular price point for BYO phone shoppers.

We've noticed the price and value of Vodafone's no-contract SIM plans fluctuate a bit over the past six-or-so months, but happily it is in a good place right now. The current plan range is generous with data, and tends to compare well to Telstra and Optus, especially if you're in the market for a new smartphone.

We also like that the Vodafone smartphone range extends beyond just iPhones and Samsungs to include handsets from Oppo, Nokia, Motorola and Google. 

Currently, the most popular Vodafone offering is the $40 SIM Only Lite Plan. It comes with unlimited standard national talk and text, 5G network access, 10GB of data (with 70GB of bonus data at the time of updating), discounted monthly pricing, and three months of Amazon Prime access. That’s a lot of perks packed into a single plan.

One of Vodafone’s better perks across SIM Only, Postpaid and Prepaid plans is ‘limitless data’. All Prepaid plans are capped at up to 1.5Mbps speeds if you go over your max-speed data allowance, but the SIM Only/Postpaid plans offer faster capped speeds the more you pay.

The $40 SIM Only Lite Plan and $45 SIM Only Lite+ Plan are capped at up to 2Mbps speeds after all max-speed data is exhausted, but the $55 SIM Only Super Plan and $65 SIM Only Super+ Plan are capped at up to 10Mbps. Buy Vodafone’s most expensive plan, the $120 SIM Only Ultra Plan, and speeds are capped at a very respectable (up to) 25Mbps if you burn through the 150GB of max-speed data.

This is a great way to help avoid bill shock, and it’s something that Telstra and, most recently, Optus now also offer, albeit those two telcos are capped at 1.5Mbps apiece.

You can see all of Vodafone’s available plans below.

Vodafone's network footprint is smaller in comparison to Telstra and Optus, it's true. But truth be told, the most Australians can still get a reliable signal on Vodafone these days. That includes Vodafone's various MVNOs (TPG, Kogan Mobile, etc.). Like Optus, the coverage of Vodafone's MVNOs is the same as its 4G network.

If you're worried about whether Vodafone can service your area, take a look at the coverage map below. If your address (and the places you regularly visit) are covered in purple, you should be absolutely fine with Vodafone coverage. There are still other factors that might impact your signal, but the map above is a reliable indication of Vodafone's coverage in Australia. 

Remarkable as it may sound, Vodafone is one of the only telcos to offer a bundling discount for customers who have multiple services with them. The best part is that you can bundle plans across mobile, tablet, mobile broadband and NBN. The discount is super simple to follow, too: you get 5% off the price of each plan when you have two services, 10% when you have three services, 15% when you have four services, and a whopping 20% off the price of each plan when you have five or more.

Vodafone is also one of the few providers that offers discounted phone plans for seniors, with 10% off all its Infinite Plans for eligible customers.

Eligible services include phone, tablet and mobile broadband plans of $30 per month or more, and NBN 50 and NBN 100 services. If you’re in the market for NBN and want that bundle discount, Vodafone tends to provide great typical evening download speeds. You can see Vodafone two relevant speed tiers below that will let you nab the bundle discount.

Speaking of bundling, Vodafone wants to entice gamers to sign up to its services. If you have two or more eligible Vodafone services, you can register your interest for interest-free repayment options for a PlayStation 5 (available from 2021).

Vodafone also offers a 200GB data bank for Vodafone Prepaid customers, so unused megabytes can be carried over if you recharge before expiry. Prepaid customers can take advantage of this and nab $5 off per 28-day recharge by activating automatic recharge. Vodafone Prepaid plans also come with an international call allowance to selected countries. You can see one example of a Vodafone Prepaid plan below.

For Postpaid and SIM Only plans, the perks get better. All SIM Only/Prepaid plans come with an international call allowance, except for the cheapest $40 SIM Only Lite Plan. Still, those perks outlined in the previous section make for attractive offerings from Vodafone. Check out all of Vodafone’s SIM Only plans below.

And here’s how Vodafone SIM Only plans stack up against popular picks from other telcos.

If something goes wrong or you have a question, Vodafone has you covered. Whether you prefer Twitter or Facebook, expect a speedy reply to any questions. There’s also an online chat service and customer forums where you can find more helpful information. Despite limitless data, you can still check in on your max-speed data remaining via the Android or iOS app, or by logging into your account on the Vodafone website.

If you look at user-generated scores on websites like Product Review and Trustpilot, both are below two out of five. That said, Google is at a comparatively respectable 3.9 out of five, which is slightly higher than Telstra but just below Optus.

Take your pick of Vodafone mobile plans below, then click the corresponding ‘Go’ button to start the sign-up process. If you change your mind once you reach the Vodafone website, use the Mobile drop-down menu to browse ‘Plans with Phones’, ‘SIM Only Plans’, ‘Prepaid Plans’, or anything else that catches your fancy. The steps for signing up are incredibly straightforward and there are handy FAQs at the bottom of plan pages that offer handy insights.

You can see all Vodafone mobile plans below.

For more information on how we review mobile providers like Vodafone, check out this page.