Looking for the best value mobile network for Pay As You Go in the UK? Our interactive comparison table allows you to compare Pay As You Go networks by price and by coverage.
If you’re looking for a Pay As You Go network in the UK, you’re spoilt for choice with nearly 20 different mobile networks to choose from.
With the UK having one of most competitive marketplaces in the world for mobile communication, it’s never been easier to switch networks to take advantage of a cheaper deal. Just order a free Pay As You Go SIM card and insert it into an unlocked smartphone to take advantage of lower rates.
When choosing a new Pay As You Go mobile network, there are two primary considerations you need to think about. Firstly, there’s the price: you’ll want to get the best value deal without paying more than you need to. Secondly, there’s the coverage: you’ll want a mobile network that gives you a fast and reliable coverage.
Before choosing a network, it’s worth being aware there are actually two different types of Pay As You Go tariff:
Traditional Pay As You Go
Pay As You Go Bundles
Best for light users who don’t have a smartphone.
Best for regular users and smartphone users.
Pay on a per-minute, per-text and per-megabyte basis. Rates are typically higher compared to a bundle.
Get a 30-day bundle with calls, texts & data included. Pay a fixed amount which is known in advance.
Your credit doesn’t typically expire providing you keep the SIM card active.
Unused allowances expire after 30 days, after which you’ll need to buy another bundle.
No credit check & no contracts to sign.
No credit check & no contracts to sign.
In this article, we’ll mainly be comparing traditional Pay As You Go tariffs (these are tariffs where you pay for your usage on a per-minute, per-text and per-megabyte basis).
If you’re a regular mobile user or if you typically use a smartphone, you might be better off buying a 30-day bundle. For more information, see our guide to the UK’s best value Pay As You Go bundles.
Pay As You Go Prices and Coverage: Comparison Table
In the table below, we’ve listed the Pay As You Go prices on each UK mobile network. We’ve also listed the coverage provider for each network and provided a link where you’re able to check the coverage on that network in more detail. You can use the table below in conjunction with our other guides when choosing a new Pay As You Go mobile network.
To sort the table, please click on the relevant column heading.
[payg-network-list]
[source]
If you’d like to compare charges for voicemail, picture messaging and special rate phone numbers, you can hover your mouse over the “…” column.
Remember: if you choose to buy a Pay As You Go bundle, you won’t actually pay the rates listed in the table above. Instead, your 30-day bundle will come with certain inclusive allowances for accessing the mobile internet, calling and texting. The rates listed in the table above are only for customers using traditional Pay As You Go.
For more information about each type of charge, please read on for a full explanation and comparison.
We endeavour to keep the information on this page as up-to-date as possible. However, prices can sometimes change without us being aware. If you know of any changes to the pricing listed above, please contact us by leaving a comment at the bottom of this article.
Background Information
Mobile Internet
If you’re a smartphone owner, the cheapest way to access the internet on-the-go is usually by buying a Pay As You Go bundle. For about £10/month, you’re able to get 1.5GB (1,500MB) of mobile internet. You’ll also get inclusive minutes and texts with your bundle.
In contrast, even with the cheapest tariffs on traditional Pay As You Go, you’ll normally need to pay at least 1p/MB. This works out as £10 for 1GB of data, and that’s even before you consider the cost of phone calls and text messages.
The following table shows what you’re typically able to get with a £10 monthly bundle:
Network
Minutes
Texts
Internet
Monthly
Cost
Unlimited
Unlimited
20GB
£10.00
500
Unlimited
1GB
£10.00
100
3,000
1GB
£10.00
100
100
1GB
£10.00
150
Unlimited
500MB
£10.00
150
Unlimited
500MB
£10.00
If you’re a very light user not using the internet every day, it could still be economical using traditional Pay As You Go. For instance, for someone using 10MB of data per day, the cheapest tariffs on traditional Pay As You Go would be the following:
[cheapest-for-data]
On traditional Pay As You Go, there are two ways of paying for data: either on a ‘per megabyte’ or ‘per day’ basis. For ease of comparison, the table above assumes you’ll use 10MB of data per day. For a more accurate comparison, you may wish to enter your own estimates of how much data you use. You can do this by entering your estimated data usage here.
Phone Calls
Each time you make an outgoing phone call on traditional Pay As You Go, you’ll be charged for this on a per-minute basis. This per-minute rate will apply for phone calls to a mobile or landline (these are phone numbers beginning with 01, 02, 03 and 07).
The following table shows the cheapest per-minute rates on UK Pay As You Go networks:
[cheapest-for-calls]
If you tend to make fewer phone calls but of a relatively long length, it might also be worth investigating Talkmobile’s Happy Hour tariff. With Happy Hour, you’ll pay a flat-rate of 10p for phone calls up to an hour.
Different rates will apply when you’re calling special-rate phone numbers (see below for more information). Calls to voicemail and international phone calls are also charged at a different rate. You’ll never be charged to receive an incoming phone call in the UK.
Please note: most mobile networks have a minimum charge for outgoing phone calls. This is normally equivalent to the cost of a one-minute call. For instance, if your mobile network charges 35p/minute then the minimum call charge will normally be 35p per call. Some mobile networks will also round up the length of your phone calls to a full minute (so a 61-second phone call might be charged as 2 minutes).
Text Messages (SMS)
A SMS text message is able to contain up to 160 characters, and you’ll normally be charged for text messages on a per-SMS basis.
If the length of your text message exceeds 160 characters, your message will be split up and sent as multiple SMS. In this case, you’ll be billed additionally for every SMS sent (i.e. you’ll be charged double if your text message is split into 2 SMS).
The following Pay As You Go mobile networks have the lowest per-SMS charge:
[cheapest-for-texts]
In recent years, the cost of sending a SMS message has become much less important as many people have been moving over to smartphone messaging apps (e.g. iMessage, WhatsApp, Snapchat or Facebook Messenger). When you’re using an instant messaging app for your smartphone, you can send messages at no additional charge (you just need to pay your normal charges for accessing the internet).
Picture Messages (MMS)
On most 3G and 4G handsets, you’re able to send a picture message over the mobile network using MMS functionality (Multimedia Messaging Service). The cost of sending a picture message can range from 16p to 45p per MMS and each MMS message can be up to 300KB in size.
[cheapest-for-mms]
You can see MMS charges by placing your mouse over the … column in the table above.
If you’d like to avoid paying for MMS, you can use a smartphone messaging app such as iMessage or WhatsApp. You won’t be charged for sending a picture message when using these applications – you’ll just need to pay your normal charges for accessing the internet.
Voicemail
Most mobile networks offer a voicemail service for when you aren’t able to receive an incoming phone call. This activates when your phone is switched off or when you miss or reject an incoming phone call.
With voicemail, you’ll normally be charged twice for the service: once when an incoming caller leaves a message on your voicemail, and again when you later listen back to the voicemail contents.
[cheapest-for-voicemail]
You can see voicemail charges by placing your mouse over the … column in the table above.
Voicemail will normally be included when you buy a Pay As You Go bundle.
Special Rate Phone Calls
As of July 2015, the cost of calling special rate numbers is split into two parts: an access charge and a service charge.
If you’re calling a special rate phone number (phone numbers beginning with 084, 087, 09 or 118), you’ll be charged differently to when you’re making a normal phone call.
With special rate numbers, the charge is divided into two separate parts. Firstly, there’s a per-minute access charge from your mobile phone network (you can save money by choosing the network with the lowest per-minute access charge). Secondly, there’s a service charge set by the company you’re calling (this will always be the same regardless of which network you’re calling from).
The following Pay As You Go networks currently have the lowest per-minute access charge:
[cheapest-for-special-rate-numbers]
You can see the charges for calling a special rate phone number by placing your mouse over the … column in the table above.
Coverage Provider
All UK mobile networks provide at least 98% coverage. Many mobile networks are piggybacking on a coverage provider.
In the UK, only four companies hold a license to build and maintain their own mobile network infrastructure. These companies are EE, O2, Three and Vodafone. They each license spectrum from the Government and build their own network of mobile phone masts to cover the country.
All other companies offering a mobile phone service are known as mobile virtual network operators (or MVNOs for short). They piggyback on infrastructure from one of the four coverage providers. You’ll therefore get identical coverage when using one of these networks. To give an example, customers using ASDA Mobile will get 2G and 3G coverage from the EE network (this is 99% population coverage).
The level of coverage offered by a Pay As You Go network depends solely upon which coverage provider they’re using. We’ve therefore listed the coverage provider for each network in the table above for ease of comparison.
If you’d like to quickly check your coverage on each of the four coverage providers, please select a logo to see their online coverage map:
For more information, please see our in-depth guide on how to check and compare mobile network coverage.
Handset Compatibility
Providing your handset is unlocked, it should work on any mobile network in the table above. The only exception is for 2G-only feature phones which will not work on any network using coverage from Three (this is because Three doesn’t have any 2G coverage).
If you already have a handset that’s unlocked, you can order a free SIM card from most of the mobile networks above. The SIM card will slot inside your existing unlocked smartphone and you’ll be able to transfer your existing phone number onto it.
If your smartphone is currently locked to a mobile network, please see our step-by-step guides on unlocking an iPhone and unlocking a Samsung Galaxy. Alternatively, you can see our in-depth guide to handset unlocking.
Bundles & Credit Expiry
On most traditional Pay As You Go services, your credit won’t expire providing your SIM card remains active. This makes it perfect for people who rarely use their handset (e.g. if your mobile phone is mainly used for emergencies). Typically, you’ll need to use your SIM card at least once every 6 months to keep it active, but this can vary between 84 days and 270 days depending on your mobile network.
On certain mobile networks (at the time of writing: Delight Mobile, iD Mobile, Lebara Mobile, Lycamobile and Vectone Mobile), your Pay As You Go credit will expire a certain amount of time after top-up.
For customers who convert their credit into a Pay As You Go bundle, the allowances included on the bundle will normally expire after 30 days. For instance, the following Pay As You Go bundles are currently available for £10 per month:
Network
Minutes
Texts
Internet
Monthly
Cost
Unlimited
Unlimited
20GB
£10.00
500
Unlimited
1GB
£10.00
100
3,000
1GB
£10.00
100
100
1GB
£10.00
150
Unlimited
500MB
£10.00
150
Unlimited
500MB
£10.00
For more information, please see our in-depth guide to Pay As You Go bundles. You can also read our review of the bundles from ASDA Mobile, EE, giffgaff, O2, Three and Vodafone.
Order ASDA Mobile SIM Card (Free) »
ASDA Mobile’s £10 bundle comes with 600 minutes, unlimited texts and 1.5GB internet (coverage from EE)
Keeping Your Phone Number
If you’re changing mobile networks, it’s super easy to keep your existing phone number. Simply ask your old mobile network to provide you with a PAC Code and then give this code to your new mobile network. The process normally takes about one working day. For more information, see our guide on moving your phone number between networks.
More Information
For more information, please see our full guide to the UK’s best Pay As You Go deals. You can also read our in-depth reviews of each mobile network.
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