The Best Pre-Paid Phones Plans

Every year it gets more expensive to own a mobile phone. Smartphones that cost $1,000 or more are becoming the norm. Plans come with 10GB of data, or 20GB of data, or unlimited data. And if you don’t need that much? Well, sometimes it seems like the answer is just “too bad”.

The truth is, most of us don’t need that much data. Even if we’re checking our emails and Facebook every day, streaming podcasts, listening to Spotify and feeding our addiction to Words with Friends.

But it can feel more than a little worrying to sign up for a low-data plan. After all, then you’re constantly checking your usage, weighing up whether or not you can watch that YouTube video and wondering if this is the month you finally get hit with the dread bill-shock.

The answer could be a prepaid plan. Once full of limits and pay-as-you-go costs, prepaid plans these days offer some of the best value around. Starting from just $10 per month, prepaid plans now offer unlimited talk and text - which means you’ll never get caught out in an emergency. And prepaid plans also come with hard limits. No excess charges.

These are the best value prepaid plans we know about that are suitable for the majority of mobile users. Whether you hardly ever use your mobile data or are a regular web addict, you should find something here to suit.

Best prepaid plans with 1GB of data

Need your phone to stay in touch and not a lot else? These plans will give you unlimited talk and text and enough data for checking your email and surfing the web, without going overboard.

Best prepaid plans with at least 2GB of data

If you spend a little more time online, maybe stream the occasional podcast or Spotify playlist, these prepaid plans offer exceptional value with up to 4GB of data for no more than $20 per month. You’re never likely to run out.

Best prepaid plans with at least 5GB of data

If you love going online, these plans may be more your style. They offer between 5GB and 10GB of data for only $30 per month. That’s even enough for the occasional dip into Netflix, if you’re bingeing the latest season of The Crown and have to know what happens next, even though you have that train to catch.

Jacqui Dent is associate editor at WhistleOut, Australia's largest mobile phone and internet comparison site.

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