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SIM-Only Mobile Phone Plans & BYO Phone Plans

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SIM-only mobile phone plans (also known as BYO or bring your own phone plans) are a great way to keep connected on your phone, without needing to buy an entirely new handset. These days, almost all telco providers in Australia offer SIM-only mobile phone plans with no lock-in contracts, many with generous data inclusions and additional features such as international calling, unlimited text, and data rollover. If you have a phone you already like, and want a flexible mobile plan to suit your needs, keep reading below to compare SIM-only mobile plans in Australia.

What is a SIM-Only Mobile Phone Plan?

If you already have a phone you love, or would prefer to buy one outright and not worry about paying it back, a SIM-only phone plan is the plan for you. Instead of getting a new handset, you’ll have a SIM card delivered to your home, which can be inserted into any unlocked phone and easily activated online.

SIM-only mobile phone plans come with many different features and inclusions, so it’s important when comparing mobile plans to consider your phone habits.

  1. Prepaid or postpaid: These days, most prepaid and postpaid mobile phone plans are pretty similar, but if you want to be sure you’re not going to get hit with excess usage charges, a prepaid mobile phone plan might be a better choice.
  2. Data allowance: Knowing how much data you use monthly is important. You don’t want to worry about running out before the end of the month, but you also don’t want to be paying for more data than you need.
  3. Calls & text: Most plans these days have unlimited standard AU calls and text, but if you do a lot of international calling, there are a lot of plans with unlimited international calls to certain countries.

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Prepaid SIM-Only Mobile Phone Plans

Prepaid mobile phone plans are plans that you pay in advance for the service, which means you don’t need to worry about paying for excess data usage. You pay a certain amount every expiry period, and will need to recharge one that billing period expires or you use up all your data.

Prepaid plans (not to be confused with pay-as-you-go) can have different expiry periods. The typical plans usually have either a 7 or 10 day expiry period, a monthly expiry period of 28 to 35 days, or a long-expiry period which can be anywhere from 90 days to 365 days.

Below you can find some of the best prepaid mobile plans

Compare Prepaid SIM-Only Plans
Prepaid Mobile Phone PlanPrepaid Mobile Phone Plan Features
Woolworths
22GB of data
$25 / month
Unlimited standard national calls and text
Unlimited standard international calls and text to 22 countries
Coles Mobile
22GB of data
+20GB extra for 3 renewals
$10 first 28 days
$25 / month after
Unlimited standard national calls and text
Unlimited standard international calls and text to 15 countries
Up to 500GB data rollover
Felix mobile 
25GB of data
$12.50 / month first 3 months
$25 / month after
Unlimited standard national calls and text
Unlimited data banking
Amaysim 
20GB of data first 4 months
10GB after
$10 first 28 days
$22 / month after
Unlimited standard national calls and text
Unlimited data banking
Boost Mobile
50GB of data for 3 recharges
25GB after
$15 first 28 days
$39 / month after
Unlimited standard national calls and text
Unlimited standard international calls and text to 20 countries
Data rollover

Month-to-Month Postpaid SIM-Only Mobile Phone Plans

Unlike prepaid mobile phone plans, where you pay for the service upfront, postpaid (or month-to-month) phone plans are paid at the end of your billing period, based on your usage. Here are some postpaid month-to-month SIM-only plans below.

Compare Postpaid SIM-only Plans
Postpaid Mobile Phone PlanPostpaid Mobile Phone Plan Features
Moose Mobile
27GB of data
$14.80 / month first 6 months
$26.80 / month after
Unlimited standard national calls and text
Dodo
30GB of data
$14 first 3 months
$28 / month after
Unlimited standard national calls and text
Unlimited international text
$200 international call credit to 35 select countries
Southern Phone
20GB of data
$24 / month
Unlimited standard national calls and text
$50 call credit to international numbers
Belong
25GB of data
$30 / month
Unlimited standard national calls and text
Data rollover
iiNet
25GB of data
$12.50 / month for 6 months
$25 / month after
Unlimited standard national calls and text
$100 call credit to international numbers in 31 countries

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Cheap SIM-Only Plans in Australia

SIM-only mobile phone plans can be expensive, but that doesn’t mean it’s impossible to find a cheap mobile plan to fit your budget. With plans under $30, you can generally get between 8GB and 25GB of data per month, usually with unlimited standard national calls and text.

Mobile Phone Plans Between $10 and $30
Mobile Phone PlanPlan Features
Moose Mobile
8GB of data
$19.80 / month 
Unlimited standard national calls & text
4G Plus
Dodo 
15GB of data
$23 / month
Unlimited standard national calls & text
Unlimited international text
100 international minutes to 35 countries
Circles.Life
20GB of data
$10 / month first 12 months
$15 / month after
Unlimited standard national calls & text
Boost Mobile 
7GB of data
$26 / month
Unlimited standard national calls & text
TPG
25GB of data
$12.50 / month first 6 months
$25 / month after
Unlimited standard national calls & text
Unlimited international text
100 international minutes to 35 countries

If you’re not someone who uses their phone often, particularly data, you might want to consider a SIM-only plan under $20. These mobile plans generally only come with 1GB of data but usually include unlimited standard national calls and text, but if you’re not a big mobile data user, why pay more for something you don’t use frequently?

Mobile Phone Plans Under $20
Mobile Phone PlanPlan Features
Moose Mobile
8GB of data
$19.80 / month
Unlimited standard national calls & text
SpinTel
25GB of data
$14 / month
Unlimited standard national calls & text
Data capping
Exetel
7GB of data
$18 / month
Unlimited standard national calls & text
Data rollover
Yomojo
25GB of data
$19.90 / month
Unlimited standard national calls & text
Cmobile
500MB of data
$7.90 / month using red plan
Unlimited standard national calls & text
Full Vodafone 4G mobile network

SIM-Only Mobile Phone Plans with Unlimited Data

Good news for those of us who use our phones for everything - Telstra, Optus, and Vodafone now offer unlimited data on their postpaid mobile phone plans. The basic idea of these unlimited data plans is that you buy your plan like normal, with a full-speed data allowance. If that data runs out, you can continue to use your phone at a reduced download speed.

Vodafone SIM-only Mobile Phone Plans
Vodafone Mobile PlanPlan Features
50GB of data
$49 / month 
Unlimited standard national calls & text
Unlimited international texts
Infinite data at 2Mbps speeds
180GB of data
$59 / month 
Unlimited standard national calls & text
Unlimited international text &calls to countries within Zone 1, 300 minutes to other countries
Infinite data at 2Mbps speeds
360GB of data 
$69 / month
Unlimited standard national calls & text
Unlimited international text &calls to countries within Zone 1, 300 minutes to other countries
Infinite data at 2Mbps speeds
Telstra SIM-Only Plans
Telstra SIM-Only PlanPlan Features
Basic
50GB of data
$65 / month
Unlimited standard national call & text
30 international standard minutes
Unlimited international SMS
5G network access
Essential
180Gb of data
$75 / month
Unlimited standard national call & text
30 international standard minutes
Unlimited international SMS
5G network access
Premium
300GB of data
$99 / month
Unlimited standard national call & text
30 international standard minutes
Unlimited international SMS
5G network access
Optus Mobile Phone Plans
Optus SIM-Only PlansPlan Features
Small choice plus
50GB of data
$52 / month
Unlimited standard calls & text
5G network access
Endless data at 1.5Mbps speeds
Medium choice plus
180GB of data
$62 / month
Unlimited standard calls & text
Unlimited standard international calls & text to 35 countries
5G network access
Endless data at 1.5Mbps speeds
Promo plan
360GB of data
$69 / month first 12 months
$82 / month after
Unlimited standard calls & text
Unlimited standard international calls & text to 35 countries
2GB roaming data in select countries
5G network access
Endless data at 1.5Mbps speeds
Large choice plus plan
360GB of data
$82 / month
Unlimited standard calls & text
Unlimited standard international calls & text to 35 countries
2GB roaming data in select countries
5G network access
Endless data at 1.5Mbps speeds