As part of its EOFY sales, Vodafone is offering $9 per month off all its postpaid mobile plans for new customers. Sign up before July 1 and you’ll get the discount indefinitely – it won’t revert to standard pricing after a few months.
With the deal pricing, the plans are 50GB for $40 per month, 180GB for $50, and 360GB for $60. But how does this compare to the rest of the market?
While saving $108 per year with Vodafones’ deal isn’t something to snub your nose at, these still aren’t necessarily the cheapest plans around. Looking past the introductory discount of many other mobile plans, you can still find cheaper 50GB plans with the same or similar data. At 180GB and 360GB, Vodafone’s deal hold up better, but it’s up to you if you need such a big chunk of data each month.
You also might not need that full 50GB of Vodafone’s smallest plan. The average postpaid mobile user goes through less than 20GB per month, according to the ACCC’s most recent Communications Market Report. You might be able to drop down your data allowance and save even more with a different provider.
To get started, here are some of the cheapest plans on the market with at least 20GB of data:
Now let’s compare Vodafone’s plans with some others that have at least the same data allowance. To adjust for the indefinite time limit of Vodafone’s deal, we’ll rank the other plans by total cost over the first 24 months.
First up is Vodafone’s 50GB plan:
And here’s a look at other plans on the market with at least 50GB, ranked by total cost over the first 24 months:
Over our initial 24-month timeframe, Vodafone’s 50GB plan (with the discount) works out to $960.
The plan from Circles only makes the cut because of a 12-month deal, whereby you get a bonus 20GB and a $5 discount per month (it’s $660 over the first 24 months, if you’re curious).
felix mobile’s 50GB plan comes to just $675 – $285 less than Vodafone’s. This is in part thanks to a 50% discount from felix for the first three months, but even the full $30 price is $10 cheaper than Vodafone’s deal.
SpinTel’s 50GB plan comes to $696. Its $29 per month price is cheaper in the long run than felix’s, but only by $1 per month. If you’re choosing between the two, consider which network gets the best coverage in your area. felix operates over Vodafone’s 5G network, but with a speed cap of 150Mbps. SpinTel operates over the Optus 4G network, so its max speeds will likely be closer to 100Mbps.
Next we can look at plans with at least 180GB, including Vodafone’s “Medium” plan, over the first 24 months:
This time, Vodafone looks pretty good next to the competition.
The plans here from Circles.Life and numobile offer bonus data for the first 12 months, after which they both drop down to 100GB per month. So while they’re cheaper, their data allowances eventually drop far below Vodafone’s 180GB plan.
felix mobile is the cheapest again at $900 in total, though this Unlimited plan is a little different. It has truly unlimited data, but with a permanent speed cap of 20Mbps. It’s still fast enough to stream HD videos and do most smartphone-related online activities, but downloading large files (including some games) and backing up photos to the cloud will be best done via WiFi.
Next comes Vodafone, working out to $1,200 over the first 12 months. When comparing plans with 180GB or more, this really is one of the cheapest plans around right now. Both Exetel and Everyday Mobile also come to $1,200 over 24 months, but these plans have introductory discounts, which brings their price down over this initial period. After 24 months, Vodafone works out to be cheaper.
Next we’ll compare Vodafone’s massive 360GB plan, which doesn’t have much competition. To avoid doubling up, we’ll leave felix’s Unlimited plan out of this one.
If you want a plan with at least 360GB, it’s really just Vodafone and Optus duking it out for your dollars. Of the two providers, Vodafone’s 360GB plan is the cheapest, with a total cost of $1440 over 24 months.
Optus’ 500GB plan is currently discounted by $20 per month, as long as you sign up before August 4. Like Vodafone’s deal, this discount also has no listed expiry date. But even with that sweet $20 per month off, it comes to $1896 over 24 months – $496 more than Vodafone’s 360GB plan.
Optus’ 360GB plan is currently more expensive than its 500GB one, so you might as well ignore it.
Why you might consider Vodafone anyway
Vodafone might not always be the cheapest option for mobile plans, but it does have some perks. Among them are phones on plans, full 5G access, great international roaming, and no excess data fees.
Vodafone’s $9 discount makes it the cheapest option for picking up a new phone as part of a mobile plan right now. Optus and Telstra are generally your only other options if you want a new smartphone, and this deal puts Vodafone way ahead in terms of pricing.
For example, these are the cheapest iPhone 15 Pro plans from each provider right now:
Here are their cheapest Samsung Galaxy S24 plans:
And these are the cheapest Google Pixel 8 Pro plans from all three telcos:
A larger provider like Vodafone gives you unthrottled 5G, so your connection will run as fast as the local network and your phone can handle. 5G can regularly surpass 250Mbps in well-covered areas – smaller providers tend to cap speeds at 150Mbps or less if they have 5G, whereas 4G often doesn’t surpass 100Mbps.
Vodafone’s international roaming is simple: use your phone on a cellular network in one of the 100 eligible countries and you’ll be charged $5 for access to your regular plan inclusions for the following 24 hours. After that time, you won’t be charged until you use your phone again, at which point a new 24-hour clock starts ticking. This is one of the cheapest and easiest roaming options available right now.
A lack of excess data fees isn’t unique to Vodafone, but it’s hardly industry standard. If you go over your data allowance, you won’t be charged extra. Instead, Vodafone will limit your connection to 1.5Mbps for the remainder of the billing period. It’s a pretty harsh speed limit, but it’s preferable to bill shock.
Want more EOFY deals?
Check out more savings below:
- The Best EOFY 2024 Tech Sales, From Laptops to Robot Vacuums
- EcoFlow EOFY Sale: Save Up to $2,199 off Portable Power Stations and Air Conditioners
- The Best Deals From HP’s EOFY Sale With up to 40% off Laptops, Monitors and More
- Here Are the 5 Best EOFY Tech Sales That You Don’t Want to Miss
- Get a Full Year of Discounts for Aussie Broadband’s Fastest NBN Plans
- Optus’ EOFY NBN Deals: How Do They Stack Up?
- Steam Decks Are Going For Their Lowest Price In Australia In Big W’s Sale
Alex Angove-Plumb is a journalist at WhistleOut, Australia’s phone and internet comparison website
Image: ITV4