Contracts suck. The telco industry is built on the back of two-year commitments, but locking yourself into one provider for as long as 24 months always feels bad. Two years is a long time, after all.
What if a better deal comes along? What if the service is crap? What if you’re just not ready for that kind of relationship?
Thankfully, when it comes to NBN, there are plenty of providers who offer no-contract plans. Contract-free plans tends to be the most flexible NBN option: you can leave whenever you want, for whatever reason. There’s no awkward goodbye.
Most ISPs will offer to sell you a modem, but some force you to buy a model they range. For the sake of simplicity, we’ve only included NBN providers where a modem purchase is optional, and more importantly, where you won’t get hit with any upfront setup fees.
Here are some of the cheapest no-contract NBN plans with no setup fees:
NBN 50 plans with no-contract and at least 500GB
In most cases, you can get a contract-free NBN 50 plan for less than $70 per month. While some of the more “premium” providers cost extra, there are plenty of plans priced between $60 and $70 right now.
Some of this can be chalked up to promotional pricing. Tangerine will give you your first six months at a discounted rate, and MyRepublic has a discount offer that runs for your entire first year of service.
These discounts cut the price of their respective plans by up to $10 per month, and since they’re contract-free, you can always leave as soon as the savings run out.
In terms of non-discounted pricing, Exetel has a 500GB NBN 50 plan for $59.99 per month. If you don’t quite need unlimited data, this is a great deal.
NBN 100 plans with no-contract and at least 500GB
The price spread between the cheapest and priciest NBN plans in this fastest speed tier is a little bit larger. Thanks to a promo, you can pay as little as $69.90 per month if you go with Tangerine. This discount will apply for your first six months; you’ll pay $85.90 thereafter.
At the pricier end of the spectrum, you’ve got NBN 100 plans from the likes of Aussie Broadband at $99 per month. This may seem like a big difference, but Aussie Broadband boasts some of the fastest peak hour speeds out of any NBN provider. This premium could be worth it if you want consistently fast internet during high usage periods.
Alex Choros is Managing Editor at WhistleOut, Australia’s phone and internet comparison website.