Sometimes described as paying 'only for what you use', Pay As You Go mobile plans (PAYG) are actually pretty expensive for what you get.
Of course, there will be people and situations for which a PAYG mobile plan is the best and cheapest option, but it very much depends on circumstance.
What is a Pay As You Go mobile plan?
PAYG mobile plans are a type of prepaid mobile plan, but are more complicated to manage and offer worse value than normal prepaid plans, in most cases.
Standard prepaid plans charge an upfront fee and give you a data allowance, such as 10GB, for a given recharge period – anywhere from seven to 365 days, depending on the plan. Almost all of them also provide unlimited talk and text for that period.
In contrast, a PAYG mobile plan charges you up front for an amount of credit (e.g. $5) that can last up to 365 days before expiring. After this, every text, call minute, and megabyte (MB) of data will be charged to your credit. Once the credit runs dry, you need to buy more.
|
#1
|
ALDI mobile
$2.00
Starter Pack
365 Day Expiry
Link not supplied
|
|
#2
|
amaysim
$15.00
Starter Pack
365 Day Expiry
Link not supplied
|
|
#3
|
Vodafone
$50.00
Starter Pack
365 Day Expiry
Link not supplied
|
Are PAYG plans good value?
If you keep your mobile usage ultra-low, you can save a bit of money by going with a PAYG plan. But it needs to be close to nothing. If you use your phone with any regularity, you’ll likely end up paying more.
For example, ALDI Mobile’s PAYG plan will charge you 15 cents per call minute or standard SMS, and 6 cents per MB of data. If you make no calls or texts, using a mere one gigabyte (1GB) of data will cost you $60. By comparison, a $30 per month SIM-only plan will get you upwards of 30GB. And you can go even cheaper than that.
In this example, the Pay As You Go plan is 60 times more expensive than the monthly prepaid option, assuming you use that 1GB within a month (daily phone users would have a tough time keeping it to just 1GB).
What are PAYG plans good for?
Pay As You Go mobile plans are generally for niche circumstances that will likely be specific to the user. The main benefit is probably the long expiry time of the credit amount.
For example, you might have a situation where you’d like a backup phone or SIM card on hand for emergencies. With a PAYG mobile plan, you can spend a few dollars per year to have one ready-to-use at a moment’s notice. Just make sure you have mobile data or automatic updates disabled to avoid unexpected data usage.
You might even get by choosing PAYG as a mobile plan for kids, but only if you think your young ones will strictly limit their phone use to calls or texts when in need, and never dabble even slightly with social media, video streaming services, messaging apps or any other online activity.
If you've jumped on the dumb phone trend, then your phone can only send calls and texts, anyway. Given you don't need to worry about data, a Pay As You Go plan might end up being cheaper, depending on how many call minutes and texts you go through each month.
The real cheapest mobile plans
If all you're after is the cheapest monthly mobile plan possible, you can go as low as $10 per month with a standard prepaid or postpaid SIM-only plan. Most plans start around $20, but that's still much cheaper than using less than 1GB with some PAYG plans.
You’ll save the most money if you jump between providers every six months or so because many of them offer limited-time introductory discounts. But if that sounds like a hassle, you can still get SIM-only plans for pretty cheap.
These are the cheapest mobile plans in our database:
The cheapest long-expiry mobile plans
If a cheap 365-day prepaid plan is what you’re after, there are a lot to choose from. These plans can offer great value across a full year, as long as you keep an eye on how much data you use to avoid going over. Their unlimited calls and SMS make them particularly good for people who do a lot of talking and texting, but their data allowances make them viable for those who still need some level of regular internet usage.
Even better, there are sometimes generous limited-time deals to be found if your timing is right and you know where to look (hint: you can use our mobile plan comparison tool).
Here are the cheapest 365-day prepaid plans in our database:
Alex Angove-Plumb
Digital Content Editor
Related Articles
![[Editor's Picks] Best mobile phone plans for November 2026](https://r3.whistleout.com.au/public/images/articles/2026/01/mobile-phone-plan-Featured.png?w=280&h=280&usm=20&usmrad=0.8&fit=crop "[Editor's Picks] Best mobile phone plans for November 2026")
