Optus to raise prepaid mobile prices, but is more data worth a bigger bill?

If you thought prepaid was a price hike safe space, think again. Optus has confirmed it will increase the cost of its Optus Flex Plus mobile plan range from September 30, meaning new and existing customers will pay more per recharge.

The changes apply to Optus’ 7-day and 28-day plans, as well as 180-day and 365-day long expiry plans. But it’s not all bad: standard data allowances across each plan will be bumped up, speed caps are set to be scrapped completely, and some plans will come with extra or unlimited international calling minutes. 

The bad news: Prepaid prices set to rise

Customers on the below prepaid plans will be hit with a price increase of $2 or $5 per recharge. The following changes will apply from September 30:

If you’re recharging every 28 days, you’ll now pay $65 more each year if you stick with the same plan.

Long expiry plans will also change, with new standard pricing and data listed below. 

Optus is contacting impacted prepaid customers now. If you're unsure which plan you're currently on, you can check in the My Optus app or by texting MENU to 9999 and selecting 0 — View Plan Overview.

The good news: More data, no speed limits and an auto-recharge discount

Optus is throwing in some extra incentives to keep prepaid users around: most 28-day plans will get a 10GB data increase each recharge. International call inclusions to Zone 1 countries will increase on the $39 plan (up from 400 minutes to 600 minutes) and $49 plan (now unlimited minutes).

The telco will also finally ditch the speed cap on selected plans, so users will no longer be limited to download speeds of 250 megabits per second (Mbps). For day-to-day use, this probably won’t be a noticeable change: but it will give prepaid customers access to the full potential of Optus’ 5G mobile network where available. 

All plans will continue to include up to 200GB of data rollover for customers who recharge before their plan’s expiry date, plus unlimited standard national calls and SMS/MMS. Optus is also keeping its Unlimited Data Weekends on $40, $44, $50, $54 and $64 recharges for AutoRecharge customers.

If you’ve purchased an Optus Flex SIM pack at the current price but still haven’t activated your plan, you can lock in the cheaper price for your first 30 days if you activate by December 7, 2026. However, all recharges made after the 90-day window will fall under the new price structure. 

Does the increase in data mean more value for customers?

On a data-for-dollars basis, here’s how the changes stack up.

• $13/$15 plan: was $2.60 per gigabyte, now $2.50 per gigabyte
• $39/$44 plan: was $1.56 per gigabyte, now $1.25 per gigabyte
• $49/$54 plan: was $1.40 per gigabyte, now $1.20 per gigabyte
• $59/$64 plan: was $1.31 per gigabyte, now $1.16 per gigabyte
• $180/$200 plan: was $2 per gigabyte, now $2 per gigabyte (no change)
• $350/$395 plan: was $1.59 per gigabyte, now $1.64 per gigabyte

With the exception of the 365-day plan, all Optus Flex options will offer the same or more data for your money from September 30. 

The quick hack to cut your Optus bill

It’s buried in the fine print, but there’s a quick and easy hack to pay less from September. If you opt to automatically renew your plan via credit or debit card through Optus’ AutoRecharge, you’ll qualify for an ongoing $4 discount per recharge on the $44, $54 and $64 plans.

With the AutoRecharge discount applied, the data breakdowns are:

• $44 plan: $1.14 per gigabyte
• $54 plan: $1.11 per gigabyte
• $64 plan: $1.09 per gigabyte

Prices are up, but you can save by comparing

Optus’ prepaid changes are the latest in a seemingly non-stop series of mobile price rises. The telco was one of several providers to hike postpaid plan prices in April and May, alongside Telstra and Belong. Boost Mobile, Lebara and Vodafone also tweaked prepaid prices around the same time. 

If you’re planning to stick with Optus, your best bet is jumping on the AutoRecharge option on an eligible plan and grabbing that $4 price cut. But if you’re looking for prepaid value overall, take the time to shop around and see how much you can save with a smaller provider.

For plans with a minimum of 20GB of data per monthly, 28-day or 30-day recharge, Canstar’s database includes the following options:

Source: Canstar. Standard prices only. 

For more savings, keep an eye out for new customer deals, including introductory discounts and bonus data. When comparing plans, think about how much mobile data you actually need — if you’re not hitting anywhere near your plan’s monthly allowance, downsizing your data can lower your bill.