Amaysim and Vaya are two of Australia’s most trendy telcos, providing a great alternative to the big carriers with some value-packed SIM-only plans. In 2016, Amaysim completed a takeover of Vaya, but these two telcos have vastly different deals and approaches when it comes to mobile phone plans.
Vaya was launched just a few months after Amaysim, with a firm focus on providing cheap and cheerful mobile plans. In the intervening years, however, the two brands were met with a rather different reception by Aussie mobile users.
Amaysim has consistently performed well in Canstar Blue’s customer satisfaction ratings for phone plan providers. Vaya, on the other hand, with its cheap plans, has historically been let down by poor customer service and overall satisfaction, which had been reflected in our star ratings over the years. However, Vaya’s acquisition by Amaysim seems to have resulted in improved customer service performance and overall mobile customer happiness, which is good to hear.
So what are the differences between these telcos? Amaysim and Vaya may both sell phone plans on the Optus 4G network, but they offer different plans targeted at different users. Read on to find out which telco has the phone plans that are best for your needs.
Amaysim vs Vaya: What’s on offer?
The biggest point of difference between these two telcos is that Amaysim offers a range of prepaid phone plans on 28-day expiry periods, while Vaya offers postpaid phone plans as month-to-month plans.
Prepaid and postpaid plans used to be vastly different deals in the days before mobile data and smartphones, now there is little difference beyond when you pay for your plan, whether its upfront or at the end of your billing period. Prepaid plans used to be limited, however now you can expect the same generous inclusions on prepaid plans as you’d generally expect on postpaid plans.
One thing to look out for when comparing these two telcos is that while Vaya’s postpaid plans run month-to-month, Amaysim’s prepaid plans run on a 28-day expiry. This effectively means that with a 28-day expiry period, you will be recharging 13 times over the course of a year, compared to paying a monthly bill 12 times a year. While you’ll be paying for one more recharge over the course of a year with Amaysim than if you were on postpaid with Vaya, it doesn’t necessarily mean that your annual spend is going to be more with Amaysim.
If you’re not fussed about prepaid vs postpaid, value for money is perhaps the best way to compare these two telcos. Below we’ll take a look at each provider to give you an idea of what to expect.
Amaysim plans
The following table shows all published Amaysim plans on Canstar Blue’s database, listed in order of cost, from lowest to highest and then by data allowance, largest to smallest. Use our comparison tool to see plans from a range of providers. This is a selection of products with links to referral partners.
Vaya plans
The following table shows all published Vaya plans on Canstar Blue’s database, listed in order of cost, from lowest to highest and then by data allowance, largest to smallest. Use our comparison tool to see plans from a range of providers. This is a selection of products with links to referral partners.
Should I go with Vaya or Amaysim?
As you can see from the above tables, there is only a few dollars difference in the plans from Amaysim and Vaya. Even the data inclusions across all plans are very similar — you can score some very generous data inclusions for your money with either telco.
From the comparison, Amaysim does look to include more value for money with the $30 and $40 plans including much more data than the comparable Vaya plans. As Amaysim runs on a 28-day expiry, you’ll be recharging your plan 13 times in one year, compared to 12 months of service on both of Vaya’s options.
However, Amaysim is still somewhat cheaper even when recharging 13 times. For 64GB of data with Vaya, you’ll be paying $672 over the course of 12 months, while with Amaysim, and recharging about 13 times per year, you’ll be paying $650, but with 80GB of data. Amaysim also offers unlimited standard international calls to either 28 or 42 countries on select plans, while Vaya requires you to pay an additional $2 per month to access international call inclusions on select plans.
While Amaysim comes out on top for included value and price, it’s really about prepaid vs postpaid. If you prefer the security of a postpaid plan, Vaya does have some good value for money, and these plans are still cheaper than other telcos. Prepaid plans can end up costing much more if you routinely go over your included allowance before the expiry period ends.
They may both be ‘low-cost’ service providers, but Amaysim and Vaya are competing for different customers – you just need to decide which type you are. There are also plenty of other telcos out there offering prepaid and postpaid plans. Whether you’re after the simplest and cheapest plan you can find or if you want lots of data and entertainment extras, it’s always worth doing your own research by comparing different mobile plans from a range of providers to find the best phone plan to suit your needs.
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