Who is best prepaid phone carrier

Fact Checked. If you want maximum flexibility, control and value for money, a prepaid mobile phone plan could be the way to go. Activating a new plan is incredibly easy, and you can switch service providers in no time at all if you find a better deal. All the big telcos offer prepaid plans; but as our customer ratings suggest, you could bag an even better bargain by comparing some of the smaller providers, too.

With so many prepaid providers competing for your business, finding the best deal for your needs and preferences can become a real challenge. The idea is to give you as much information as possible, so you can make the best-informed decision you can. So, which prepaid provider do Aussies rate best when it comes to coverage, service and value?

Beating out tough competition from telcos big and small, ALDI Mobile has again claimed the number-one spot as best-rated prepaid provider in our annual review.

The supermarket brand was the best-reviewed telco in our ratings, and has repeated the feat this year with a five-star overall satisfaction score and top marks for value, coverage, ease of recharge, and sign up and activation. Coming in at number two for the second year in a row is fellow supermarket provider Woolworths Mobile, with an overall score of four stars for satisfaction.

Our prepaid winner, Amaysim , took home the bronze with a four-star overall satisfaction rating. At the other end of the spectrum, TPG , Vodafone and Telstra were ranked the lowest overall, each scoring three stars for customer satisfaction.

So, we know how prepaid brands compare on customer satisfaction, but what about value, price and features? Below is a guide to what these 11 prepaid providers have to offer, as well as tips on how to find the best plan for your needs and budget. Finding the best prepaid plan for you might be that balance between expiry period, price and inclusions, so consider what your needs are when comparing prepaid plans. This selection of plans includes links to referral partners.

A Telstra network reseller, ALDI Mobile offers a range of prepaid options, the most popular being its day mobile plans. Pay-as-you-go options are also available, ideal for low or occasional use customers, or anyone wanting a long expiry period. ALDI Mobile achieved an outstanding score in our ratings, earning five stars in almost every category including value for money, network coverage, sign up, ease of recharge and for overall satisfaction.

In its second year in our ratings, Woolworths Mobile retains its second-place ranking thanks to its impressive range of low-price prepaid plans. All plans include unlimited standard talk and text in Australia, plus the option to roll over and bank up to GB of unused data. Woolworths Mobile also offers three longer expiry plans: a day option with 15GB of data, and two day plans with GB and GB.

Woolworths Mobile scored four stars for overall satisfaction in our ratings, and achieved five stars for value for money, billing, and sign up and activation. Amaysim has streamlined its main suite of prepaid plans to offer five unlimited SIM-only options, plus a basic pay-as-you-go plan. There are also two long expiry plans on offer, over six and month expiry periods. Amaysim customers also get access to unlimited data banking, storing your unused data for later use, available on every plan.

Bonus data is also frequently available, and all plans include data rollover if you recharge before expiry. Boost Mobile was awarded four stars for overall satisfaction in our ratings, and received a five-star result for network coverage. A new entry in our prepaid ratings, Catch Connect is the mobile offshoot of online retailer Catch. All plans include unlimited standard national talk and text in Australia, and depending on your plan, up to 20GB of data each month. Customers can track their usage and manage their account and AutoRecharge settings via the Catch Connect app, making the brand an easy option for simple, no-fuss prepaid without expensive extras or add-ons.

Catch Connect received four stars for overall satisfaction in its first year in our ratings, as well as four stars for value for money, network coverage, and sign up and activation. The data banking allows you to stash away up to GB of unused data for later use, while gifting enables customers to send up to 10GB of unwanted data each month to other Lebara users.

Add-ons, as extra data and international call credit, are also available, in addition to international roaming packs. Optus plans also feature up to GB of data rollover, plus unlimited standard international calls to 15 selected countries. Optus scored three stars for overall satisfaction in our prepaid ratings, with four stars for customer service, network coverage and ease of recharge.

Known for its online retail business, Kogan also operates in the mobile space — offering a range of prepaid plans over a variety of expiry periods, including 30 days and days. Add-ons such as international calls and roaming and data top-ups are also available, making plans truly customisable. Select personalised content. Create a personalised content profile. Measure ad performance. Select basic ads. Create a personalised ads profile.

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Article fact-checked on Apr 12, Tweet Share Email. Sign Up Now. Was this page helpful? Thanks for letting us know! Email Address Sign up There was an error. Please try again. You're in! The best way to figure out how many texts or calls you send or make is to consult your billing statement. But this comparison tool requires careful reading: Like Google searches, it shows sponsored results before organic ones. It also includes far more services than we cover here and shows not just plans with the required amount of data, minutes, and texts but also those that exceed your needs, producing a cluttered presentation overall.

If you want unlimited calls and texts, more attentive customer service, and phone financing through your carrier, you should stick with a traditional postpaid plan, where you get a bill for service after you use it. Many prepaid services are provided by smaller companies that simply resell service from one of the big carriers, so they offer coverage similar to that of the major carriers at a lower price.

Others prioritize their own customers over third-party prepaid traffic, as happens with the Metro by T-Mobile subsidiary. One T-Mobile and Verizon reseller told us that these policies had yet to yield any effects. The wireless services some cable operators offer, based on resold network capacity from one of the big three carriers, represent their own special case.

Phone manufacturers have lagged in shipping phones that support all of those different flavors. The first crop of 5G phones have also been much larger and more expensive than their 4G counterparts and have often suffered from reduced battery life. Back in the land of more common 4G data speeds, services keep trying to make themselves harder to leave in various ways beyond installment-payment and early-upgrade deals on phones.

For example, free-with-your-plan media bonuses like HBO Max subscriptions can save you money on services you were going to pay for anyway but also make it harder for you to leave the service. As long as they do just that, you can expect to see more deals along those lines. The biggest unknown in the industry is what effect going from four big carriers to three will have on competition. All three higher-end plans include 5G broadband, although your odds of enjoying those faster speeds remain very low.

Note that outside of Canada and Mexico , these prepaid plans offer no international roaming-data options. Fi now offers limited support for some Samsung and OnePlus models and even some iPhones. If your passport has dozens of stamps and your current or desired phone is on its list, though, Google Fi is worth a look.

But we want to see how this service fares under its new management. Assuming you make fewer calls than average, Ting offers flexible billing and a choice of T-Mobile and Verizon coverage. The biggest prepaid brand in America and the corporate parent of Straight Talk—and, if things go as Verizon hopes, a soon-to-be Verizon property—has historically required smartphone customers to patch together a service bundle by buying separate buckets of data, voice, and text.

Now it offers a few standard day plans. Updates for iPhones are available for all supported phones at the same time, regardless of the network you use or where you bought them.

Power Finds , J. Power, February 6, Our pick. Buying Options Buy from Verizon. Also great. T-Mobile Magenta More data for streaming and downloading If more data is more important to you than more coverage, the Magenta plan offers a great price for unlimited data on a strong network.

Buying Options Buy from T-Mobile. Buying Options Buy from Consumer Cellular. Budget pick. Buy from Mint Mobile. Everything we recommend. Why you should trust us How we picked The best coverage and a great price: Verizon Wireless Flaws but not dealbreakers The best for most data: T-Mobile Magenta Multiple-line plans: Consumer Cellular The cheapest plan: Mint Mobile How to determine which network has the best coverage for you How much data do you need?

Should you buy postpaid, prepaid, or resold service? What to look forward to The competition Footnotes Sources. Why you should trust us. How we picked. That left us with the following services to assess:.