Best Prepaid Mobile Plan Providers

Canstar’s Most Satisfied Customers Awards recognise companies with the most satisfied customers overall based on consumer surveys.

Canstar surveyed 2,498 Australians with a current prepaid service for their feedback on prepaid providers they’ve used. Respondents had to have an active prepaid mobile phone account in their name and pay the bills on that account.

Market research company PureProfile manages the survey on Canstar’s behalf.

Survey respondents are asked to rate their satisfaction with their prepaid mobile plan provider from zero to 10, with zero meaning extremely dissatisfied and 10 meaning extremely satisfied. Prepaid mobile plan provider satisfaction is rated on the following criteria:

• Value for money: the cost of the plan was reasonable for the plan’s inclusions and service.
• Customer service: the provider offered customer service that was helpful and easy access when needed.
• Sign up and activation: signing up and activating the service was quick and easy.
• Billing transparency: the billing was clear and easy to understand.
• Network coverage: the mobile service had good mobile network coverage and connectivity.
• Plan management: managing the plan and payments, such as manual or automatic recharging, was straightforward.

The Most Satisfied Customers Awards identify which categories have the most influence on customer satisfaction and weights them accordingly.

The brand with the highest indexed score is awarded the Canstar Most Satisfied Customers Award for that category.

Canstar also gives Star Ratings to top performing financial products, and Outstanding Value Awards to providers with a range of high-performing products. Canstar’s Innovation Excellence Awards also showcase products and services that break new ground when it comes to helping customers.

Canstar rates products and services over a range of consumer categories, in addition to financial services.

Explore Canstar’s Most Satisfied Customers awards here.

There are plenty of providers offering prepaid phone plans in addition to the big three telcos. However, prepaid can be complicated to navigate because of the number of plans and providers available and the several considerations you should make before signing up.

• Expiry period: Prepaid plans run on an expiry period, rather than a billing period, as you pre-pay for your plan’s inclusions. Some plans have a short expiry period, such as seven days, others run monthly or every 28 or 30 days, while others have an expiry of as much as six or 12 months. Short-term plans are usually best for filling the gap between plans or for overseas visitors, monthly or 28/30 day expiry periods might be best if you’re looking for a month-to-month service similar to postpaid plans, while long-term plans are great for setting and forgetting or if your usage fluctuates month to month. Keep in mind that long-term plans have a much higher upfront cost and require you to keep on top of your data usage.
• Data: Finding a plan with the right data inclusions might be your first point of call. But with prepaid plans, data inclusions can be tied to the expiry period; so that plan with 200GB of data might look great, but you may have to stretch that data over 12 months. When you’re looking at data inclusions, keep an eye on the expiry period and the plan’s cost to ensure you’re getting the right data allowance for your needs.
• Cost: Cost is another important factor when choosing a prepaid plan but can also be tied into the expiry period length. Some of the cheapest prepaid plans might be on a short expiry period, so when you consider how frequently you would need to recharge the plan if you used it as a month-to-month plan, that cost could blow out. Likewise, with long-term plans, you’ll need to pay a larger amount upfront, so these plans might only suit certain types of users.
• Mobile network: When you’re choosing your prepaid plan, it’s also important to ensure your plan will have good mobile network coverage. It’s best to check the network coverage map of any provider’s website before signing up, to ensure you’ll have coverage where you live and in places you frequent.

Of the Australians surveyed by Canstar for our 2026 ratings:

• The average monthly spend for a prepaid plan is around $30 per month, which was a $5 increase compared to the average cost in 2025 ($25)
• 29% signed up to the cheapest plan they could find
• 21% have always been with the same provider
• 28% spent time comparing plans to find the best deal
• 42% said they could comfortably afford the monthly cost of their phone bill
• The top five most important factors for Aussies choosing their prepaid provider are: stable and reliable network connection, data allowance that fits my usage, wide network coverage, affordable low-data plan options, and good customer service and support
• 23% have 20GB to 49.99GB of data on their plan, followed by 15% with 10GB to 19.99GB and 15% with 100GB+
• 13% said they went over their data allowance every month
• 57% said they never go over their data allowance
• 12% said that they have made changes to how much they spend on their mobile service in the past 12 months in an effort to reduce the increased cost of living
• Of those who have made a change to what they spend, 27% switched to a cheaper plan with less data, while 26% switched to a cheaper plan with a different provider but the same amount of data.