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When choosing a SIM-only phone plan, you’ll need to have an idea of what you want from your plan, and what your budget is. However, it’s important to be realistic about your budget and plan needs. After all, as nice as a $10 per month plan is, if you need 20GB of data, you’ll need to increase your budget.
It’s also important to compare plans from a range of providers in order to find a plan that will most meet your needs. You can use our comparison tool at the top of this page to help you compare plans from a range of Aussie telcos. Using our comparison tool is free and easy, and allows you to filter results by price, data inclusions, network provider and more, to help you find and compare the best SIM-only plans for you.
There are two types of SIM-only plans – prepaid and postpaid. But what exactly are the differences, and how do they work?
Prepaid SIM plans allow you to pay for your talk, text, and data inclusions in advance. Most prepaid plans are priced at a set amount for each renewal, and include unlimited standard calls and messages, along with a data allowance. This can also take the form of ‘pay as you go’ plans (like traditional prepaid plans) where your call/SMS/data usage is taken from your pre-loaded credit.
You’ll receive a set length of time — known as an expiry period — in which to use these plan allowances, after which your plan will reset. Expiry periods can be from as short as seven days, or as long as a year. However, the standard length for most prepaid plans is 28 or 30 days. You may then need to manually ‘recharge’ your service by purchasing more credit or plan inclusions, but many providers now offer an auto-recharge option that instantly renews your plan after each expiry period ends.
If you’re on a postpaid phone plan, you’ll receive a bill for your mobile use once a month (when you receive the bill will differ between telcos), which will include your standard plan price, plus any additional charges you may have incurred during your billing period.
Most postpaid plans offer unlimited standard talk and text, plus a monthly data allowance. However, you may be charged extra for items such as excess data use, international roaming or non-standard calls.
Postpaid plans are generally billed on a monthly cycle, and tend to be contract-free, although 12-month and 24-month plans are available. These plans are more or less identical to those offered with a new smartphone, but allow you to bring your own phone instead.
If you’re looking at buying a new phone and considering whether it would be cheaper to buy it outright and bundle with a SIM-only plan or to buy your device on a plan.
While some phones are only available to buy outright, others might be available to bundle on a plan from some telcos. Buying a phone outright compared to on a plan isn’t always the cheapest way to pick up your phone. You can read our guide on buying a phone outright vs plan, to help you find which option will be better for you.
A SIM-only plan requires just one thing — a SIM card. This little piece of technology contains a chip that allows a device — such as a smartphone or tablet — to connect to a mobile network. In addition to physical SIM cards, some telcos also offer the option of an eSIM, which requires an eSIM-compatible phone to work.
The type of phone you have will determine which size SIM card you need. There are three types of SIM cards that can be used — Standard, Micro and Nano. A Nano SIM is the smallest size of SIM card, and the most common SIM card type you’ll need for newer smartphones.
If you’re not sure which SIM card you need, either look at the SIM card tray in your phone, or look up your phone’s model and SIM card size. Most telcos offer 3-in-1 SIM cards, so you’ll be able to snap out the size that you need for your specific smartphone and then take the steps to activate your new SIM card.
Choosing a great value SIM-only plan does greatly depend on what you’re looking for in a SIM-only plan as the best SIM-only plan for one person might be different for another. At Canstar Blue, our Value Rank helps to determine which plans have overall great value for money; however, what is great value to one person, might not be the same value to another person.
When comparing SIM-only plans, you’ll need to consider your budget (a realistic idea of how much you’re willing to spend on a plan) along with how much data you need. By comparing plans with your data needs and budget in mind, you can find options that suit your needs — and from there you can determine which plan is going to offer you the best value for money.
At Canstar Blue, each year we release our Customer Satisfaction ratings for SIM-only phone plans across both prepaid and postpaid plan types. Aussies rate their SIM-only provider on a range of criteria including customer service, value for money, network coverage and of course, overall satisfaction.
The winning provider is then awarded the ‘Most Satisfied Customers’ award for that year across SIM-only prepaid or postpaid plans.
Prepaid phone plans are a popular option for kids, anyone looking to avoid bill shock, and users who like to set and forget with long-term plans. Felix achieved an impressive score in our 2024 ratings, earning five stars for overall satisfaction and in almost all categories. The top 5 telcos as rated by Aussies for Canstar Blue’s 2024 Most Satisfied Customers award for SIM-only prepaid were: Felix, ALDI Mobile, Amaysim, Catch Connect and Everyday Mobile.
Best Rated Prepaid Phone Plans
Postpaid plans are a great option if you’re looking for a month-to-month plan and like the security of not needing to recharge your plan every month or so. Circles.Life took out our 2024 ratings with five stars in most categories, including overall satisfaction. The top 5 telcos as rated by Aussies for Canstar Blue’s 2024 Most Satisfied Customers award for SIM-only postpaid plans were: Circles.Life, Everyday Mobile, Southern Phone, Moose Mobile and Belong.
Best Rated Postpaid Phone Plans
Telstra owns and operates Australia’s largest mobile network with both 4G and 5G coverage. Telstra offers a wide range of SIM-only phone plans including prepaid and postpaid, along with plans bundled with a new phone.
A range of telcos use the Telstra 4G and 5G network to deliver prepaid and postpaid plans to customers. These MVNOs include:
Australia’s second largest mobile network is Optus, with 4G coverage available to 98.5% of the population and 5G rolling out in selected areas, excluding NT. Optus offers a wide range of SIM-only phone plans including plans with a new phone and prepaid and postpaid plans.
There’s a wide range of telcos offering phone plans on the Optus 4G and 5G network. Some of these MVNOs are:
Vodafone is Australia’s third largest telco, with the smallest network of the three, however it still covers a wide range of the population. Like its competitors, Vodafone offers a range of SIM-only prepaid and postpaid plans, plus plans bundled with a new phone.
Several smaller telcos offer phone plans on the Vodafone 4G and 5G network. Here are some of the MVNOs offering Vodafone coverage:
If you’re planning to use your phone overseas, you may find it easier and cheaper to replace your normal SIM card with a travel or international SIM. You’ll generally want to buy a travel SIM card before you head overseas, and they can often be used across multiple countries.
Another option is to buy an international SIMs card, which offers service in one country or region outside Australia, and can be bought after you’ve landed at your destination.
As SIM-only plans are the most common type of phone plan available in Australia, you’ll easily find a plan to suit your needs. Most SIM-only plans include unlimited standard national calls and SMS as default, with data inclusions varying between plans and providers.
Generally, the more expensive a plan is, the more data will be included on that plan. Which means its important to understand how much data you think you will be using day-to-day. Some telcos might also offer extras (free streaming subscriptions, rewards points, etc) on plans beyond that simple call, SMS and data inclusion. You can also find SIM-only plans with unlimited data, however this might sometimes have a catch where your unlimited data is at a capped speed.
There are SIM-only plans to suit all sorts of phone users, from cheaper plans suited to kids, seniors and low-phone users, to plans with huge data inclusions. No matter your needs or budget, it’s likely you’ll find the best SIM-only plan to suit you.
Tara Donnelly: Utilities EditorAs Canstar Blue’s Utilities Editor, Tara Donnelly covers the electricity, internet and mobile sectors – topics she’s spent a decade focused on, alongside consumer technology, within the comparison industry. Her telco expertise has seen her appear in national media including 9 News, 7 News, Sunrise, the ABC and The Sydney Morning Herald. You can follow Tara on LinkedIn and Twitter.
Meet the Editorial Team
Josh Filosi is Canstar’s Data Insights Analyst, and helps develop and deliver the methodology for Canstar Blue’s Value Rankings and Awards for the telco industry. He holds a double-major in Economics and Behavioral Science, and enjoys interpreting complex data. Connect with Josh on LinkedIn.
Meet the Research Team
Before you get a SIM-only plan, you’ll need to make sure your phone is unlocked from its original network. If you bought your device on a postpaid plan, it’s probably already unlocked, but there are exceptions.
Fortunately, unlocking a device from a specific telco’s network is easier than ever — you can usually do it yourself online, provided you have your phone’s IMEI number. However, sometimes unlocking your phone will require you to pay a fee, depending on which telco your phone is locked to.
With a SIM-only plan, you’re just paying for the plan itself — a SIM card (if switching providers) and the plan’s inclusions. When you look at buying a phone on a plan, in addition to the phone plan a telco will require you to bundle your device with, you’re also paying for the handset repayment. This can add as little as $10 or so on to your plan, or as much as $100 or more, depending on your choice of phone, repayment period and telco.
So, while you might be signing up to a cheap phone plan, such as a $20 per month plan, if you add on a new smartphone which costs $80 per month to pay off over 24 months, you’re suddenly paying a $100 phone bill for two years.
SIM-only plans are available for a range of prices and with a range of inclusions. If you’re after a cheap SIM-only plan, there are plenty of prepaid and postpaid options available.
Typically the cheapest SIM-only plans will only include a small amount of data and may also have caps on the call and SMS inclusions. Because of this, cheap SIM-only plans may only suit light phone users, such as seniors or kids. After all, a plan won’t be cheap if you need to continually add on more data or recharge your plan.
If you’re looking for the best cheap SIM-only plans, it will largely depend on what your budget is — whether that’s under $10 or maybe between $10 and $20 — and how much data you’ll want on your plan. Comparing a range of cheap SIM-only plans will give you an idea of what plans are available along with the cost and inclusions, to help you find the best plan for your needs.
If you’re looking at SIM-only plans, but want to make sure your plan is future-proof for the latest mobile technology, the good news is that you can get SIM-only plans with 5G access included.
These plans are available from the big three telcos (which all own and operate their own 5G mobile networks), along with a small handful of MVNOs. Currently, only a handful MVNOs, including Southern Phone, Boost Mobile and Aussie Broadband, offer 5G SIM-only plans. These plans also tend to be more expensive than 4G plans.
Four Australian providers currently offer some form of unlimited data on SIM-only plans: Telstra, Optus, Vodafone, and Felix Mobile. However, with the exception of Vodafone, this ‘unlimited’ data comes with speed restrictions, so isn’t necessarily as fast as what you’ll get on standard, data-capped SIM plans.
Telstra and Optus each include unlimited data on all their respective postpaid plans, which is capped at speeds of 1.5Mbps. This is fast enough for general browsing, and is available to customers who have exceeded their plan’s full-speed data allowance each month.
Likewise, Vodafone offers speed-capped data across postpaid plans, which is limited to speeds of 2Mbps or 10Mbps, depending on your choice of plan. The telco also now offers a truly unlimited Ultra+ SIM plan, which includes unlimited data at the fastest speed available across 4G or 5G networks.
In terms of prepaid, Felix Mobile’s sole plan includes unlimited data each month, restricted to speeds of 20Mbps. Unlike Telstra, Vodafone or Optus, this plan doesn’t include a full-speed data allowance. All your data is capped at 20Mbps, but this is fast enough for social media, HD streaming, and more.