Top prepaid phone plans compared

About Top prepaid phone plans compared

Prepaid plans split buying into stages: the price you pay to start and the price you pay when a bundle renews. A provider can look cheap on one and heavy on the other, so both sit side by side here. This ranking covers 353 brands that sell without a long commitment, and it weighs entry price against what a plan actually includes: data allowances, texts, roaming reach and the support on hand when a bundle runs out early. The median entry price is €6.02, the cheapest listed is €0 and the priciest is €99.49. Unlimited data is another lever, and its median price is €21.70. Each entry below gives the reason that brand sits at that spot and sets it against the brand ranked next.

How we picked

Scores combine separate inputs. Cost carries 40% and reads the entry price, plus the unlimited price where a provider sells one. Offer carries 40% and covers the data allowance, texts, hotspot and rollover features, contract length, roaming reach and the support channels on offer. Trust carries 20% and reflects who sells the plan, the legal entity behind it and how readily help can be reached. Prices and plan details are drawn from each provider's published tariff and product pages plus the structured records held for this category, so every figure here matches what the provider lists. Prepaid billing applies across the members listed, and contract length, roaming and support channels are compared the same way for each. Partners are listed first where any exist, and the remaining brands follow in score order, so a position reflects the ranking rather than a paid placement.

What to look for

Entry price

Start with what a plan costs when you join. The median entry price in this ranking is €6.02, the lower quartile is €3 and the upper quartile is €13.15. A small starting figure matters less if the bundle it buys is tiny.

Unlimited data

Unlimited plans settle the question of running out of data mid month. The median unlimited price here is €21.70, the lower quartile is €13.15 and the cheapest listed is €0.88. Always read the plan name attached to that figure.

Commitment length

Most plans in this category are sold on a single month term, at 81.9%, with longer terms at 28.5% and 33.5% also present. The longer the term, the more the price after it deserves reading.

Roaming and market reach

Paid roaming is the most common setup, at 37.8%, ahead of included roaming at 30.6% and fair use at 31.6%. Readers who cross borders should settle which of these applies before they buy.

What the bundle carries

Data rollover applies to 73.4% of the plans here and hotspot sharing to 98.7%. A credit check is required on 59.5% of plans, which can slow a sign-up in some markets.

Network and device support

5G reaches 94.1% of the plans in this ranking and eSIM is listed on 100%. Median download speed is 1,000 Mbps, with an upper quartile of 5,000 Mbps, which matters for anyone streaming on a phone.

Frequently asked questions

Top prepaid phone plans compared by country

• Canada
• France
• Germany
• Ireland
• Italy
• Netherlands
• Spain
• United Kingdom
• United States

Providers compared head to head

• MobileX vs yallo

The data behind this ranking

All data and the CSV