What does $30 get you on Australian Pre-Paid Telstra Vodafone and Optus

UPDATED Sept 2018 - Belong mobile uses the Telstra network and has probably the cheapest month to month offer. $10/month gets you unlimited calls and unlimited SMS with 1GB of data. This will be sufficient for pensioners or elderly that need a mobile but don't need the data. You can get the first 2 months free with $20 credit here.

Six months ago, we thought the prepaid market was heating up but now it's red hot! We can categorically say that it is not worth getting a phone with a plan any more. Have a look at the offers around now. Edit March 2016 - Now the plans have changed... see below

Vodafone $30 pre-paid - PROS: Unlimited calls and text, 3GB data 

Vodafone's new offer out now includes unlimited calls and unlimited SMS/MMS with 1.5GB of data for $30. However, there are some things you need to realise about some pre-paid services like the one I've just mentioned. For Vodafone, you are not able to select an automatic recharge at the end of your month. You need to manually log in or call up to recharge each month. Now they are offering an extra 1.5GB for the first month.

Also, if you recharge, say, one week before your credit expires, you are double paying for that last week because the expiry date starts from the day of recharge, not from the last day of your last recharge (if you still follow). Also, when we are talking about a MONTH, it's only 28 days for Vodafone. This means that over the course of one year, you will end up paying for an extra month.


Optus $30 pre-paid - PROS: 3GB data, unlimited calls and text, data rollover up to 15GB

Optus calls a month, 30 days which is better than what Vodafone does. Their pre-paid plan includes unlimited mobile phone calls and SMS/MMS and 3GB (was 1.5GB). The big difference is that any unused data gets rolled over to the next month if you recharge before your expiry date. There is a maximum of 15GB (was 10GB) that you can roll over to the next month.

Amaysim - Pros - Unlimited calls and text, 3GB data

Amaysim resells Optus 4G with their  $30 prepaid service getting you unlimited calls and unlimited text with 3GB of data. Now each month lasts for 28 days from 31 March 2016. Get $10 extra credit signing up through here.

Telstra $30 pre-paid - PROS: Credit rollover CONS: everyone else offering unlimited calls

Then there is Telstra, offering their $30 pre-paid service, also calling their month 28 days (30 days if you choose direct debit on credit card). They give $700 worth of calls, unlimited text, unlimited calls to Telstra mobiles and 1.5GB data . There are other options but in order to compare relatively like for like, this is the closest pre-paid service that Telstra offers which is comparable to the other two. Their $30 plan also comes with an extra 1.5GB which can only be used from 8pm - 8am.

An interesting thing about Telstra credit is that you can use it for purchasing items in the Google apps store or iTunes. Head over to this link to find out more about the various other things you can do with a Telstra prepaid sim, such as using Mobile Foxtel for the first month for free.


Optus $1 per day pre-paid

If you are not into the smartphone thing and you're happy to turn down your data usage to an absolute minimum, Optus has a $1 per active day plan. This gives you 30 minutes of calls each day (and if you go over this, they will just charge you another 50c for that day for unlimited calls). You also get unlimited SMS but only 40MB of data to use each day. If you don't call, text or use data for any given day, you don't get charged for that day. This is great if you mainly use your phone to receive calls and make the occasional call.

TPG also has a $30 prepaid service which comes with unlimited calls and text and now 2GB of data. Edit: TPG has added $10/month plan which has $550 worth of calls and 1.5GB data for the first six months.

I would say the most generous plan would be Optus with their rollover of unused data a standout feature and unlimited calls and text with effectively 1 extra month of service over the course of a year compared to Vodafone and Telstra's plans.