Giffgaff Review

Table of Contents Plans Value for money Extras and benefits Network Which network does Giffgaff use? Coverage Speeds Frequencies Customer Service Conclusion Alternatives

Plans

Giffgaff has a range of Pay Monthly and SIM Only plans, along with the option to Pay As You Go. All plans come with 5G data at no extra cost, and they’re available from as little as £6 per month.

GiffGaff Plans

	Pay Monthly Phone Plans	SIM Only Plans	Data Only Plans
Plans Available	✔	✔	x
Max Data Allowance	Unlimited	Unlimited	N/A
Contract Length	12, 24 or 36 Months	1 or 18 Months	N/A

Giffgaff’s Pay Monthly plans last a choice of 12, 24 or 36 months, and come with up to unlimited data. Note that you can cancel or change your allowances at any time, as the contract only applies to paying for the phone, not your allowances.

The same allowances are available on SIM Only as on Pay Monthly, but these are for the most part rolling 30-day plans, and as well as unlimited data there’s also an ‘Always On’ option. This comes with 100GB of full speed data, and then once you exceed that your speeds are limited to 384kbps from 8am to midnight.

There’s also a selection of other allowances, and all Giffgaff plans come with 5G as standard, and with tethering included.

It’s worth noting that while most Giffgaff plans last just 30 days, there are also some 18-month ones, which give you more data for your money. They’re priced the same as the 30-day ones, just with more data at each level.

Giffgaff’s advantages then include low prices, 5G, and unlimited data plans – not bad for a small network.

Pay As You Go

Giffgaff also offers Pay As You Go. With this, you can either get a bundle or pay the standard Pay As You Go rates of rates of 25p per minute, 10p per text and 10p per megabyte of data. Calls and texts to other Giffgaff numbers are free.

Pay As You Go bundles meanwhile top out at 150GB of data, or you can get an 80GB Always On bundle, which works the same way as the SIM Only one – you get full speed 5G data until you’ve used 80GB, and then it drops to 384kbps from 8am to midnight.

Value for money

Giffgaff is a fairly affordably priced network, so it’s a solid option in terms of value for money. That said, it’s not one of the very cheapest, and nor does it offer data rollover – which is one way to help ensure you get full use out of your data allowance.

Giffgaff’s 30-day plans though do mean you can avoid mid-contract price rises, since you’ll be free to change your plan (or cancel) if prices change.

SIM Only Deals

	1 GB data UNLIMITED mins UNLIMITED texts 0 Month Contract	£6.00 a month View Deal
	2 GB data UNLIMITED mins UNLIMITED texts 1 Month Contract	£6.00 a month View Deal
	4 GB data UNLIMITED mins UNLIMITED texts 0 Month Contract	£8.00 a month View Deal
	5 GB data UNLIMITED mins UNLIMITED texts 1 Month Contract	£8.00 a month View Deal
	6 GB data UNLIMITED mins UNLIMITED texts 18 Month Contract	£8.00 a month View Deal
View All GiffGaff Sim Only Deals

Extras and benefits

Giffgaff isn’t really the network to choose if you want loads of extras with your plan, but it does have some key ones covered, such as 5G and free roaming. More details of these and more can be seen below.

Giffgaff Policies and Perks

	Mobile Phones	SIM Only
5G	✔	✔
Roaming	✔	✔
Tethering	✔	✔
Wi-Fi Calling	✔	✔
VoLTE	✔	✔
Data Rollover	✖	✖
Spending Caps	✖	✖
Unlimited Data	✔	✔
Family Plans	✖	✖
Credit Check	✔	✖
Unique Perks	✖	✖

5G

Giffgaff offers 5G as standard on all of its plans, so you don’t need to spend any extra to get speedy mobile data.

Roaming destinations

Giffgaff lets you use your minutes, texts, and data at no extra cost in the following destinations:

Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, French Guiana, Germany, Gibraltar, Greece, Guadeloupe, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Martinique, Mayotte, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Reunion, Romania, San Marino, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, and Ukraine.

As with most networks it's limited to European ones however, so if you want to travel more globally Giffgaff may not be the network for you. Also, if you have a data allowance of 5GB or more then you’ll be limited to 5GB for free roaming, which is quite a low limit.

Tethering

Giffgaff allows tethering and you can use as much of your data as you want for this. If you’re on an unlimited plan, that means an unlimited amount can be used for tethering – but if you’re using an Always On plan then speeds are throttled between 8am and midnight if you use more than your standard allowance in a month.

Giffgaff also has a fair usage policy for tethering which states that you shouldn’t regularly tether 12 or more devices if you have unlimited data, and that you shouldn’t use 650GB or more of data twice within a 6-month period. That latter point applies even outside of tethering, but unless you’re tethering extensively it’s unlikely to be an issue.

Wi-Fi Calling

Wi-Fi Calling means making calls over Wi-Fi, rather than your mobile network. This is ideal if for example you have signal blackspots at your home or office, as you can use your Wi-Fi network to stay in touch. It’s a seamless experience too, with no separate apps or accounts. Giffgaff is in the process of switching this on for members, but claims that the process (which started in May 2024) will take around 4 months, so not everyone will have this until roughly August or September 2024.

VoLTE

VoLTE stands for Voice over LTE, though it’s sometimes called 4G Calling. It means making calls over 4G, whereas typically you need a 2G or 3G signal. The main advantage of this is it essentially means you have coverage in more places, as there will be areas with 4G but no other signal type. As with Wi-Fi Calling, this is in the process of being switched on by GiffGaff, but probably won’t be accessible to everyone until August or September 2024.

Data rollover

There’s no data rollover on Giffgaff, so you only get one month to use your data allowance. That’s standard though, as few networks give you a second chance to use it.

Spending caps

Giffgaff doesn’t offer spending caps as such, but if you turn off auto top-up then you won’t find yourself accidentally spending more than you’ve topped up.

Unlimited data

Giffgaff offers unlimited data on both SIM Only and handset plans, so you needn’t be limited by data allowances. Of course, these plans cost more than one with limited data would, but Giffgaff is priced competitively.

Note that there is a fair usage policy though, which states that you shouldn’t use 650GB of data or more twice within a six-month period.

Family plans

There are no family plans on Giffgaff, meaning no ability to add extra SIMs to your account at a discount. Giffgaff is a fairly simple network, so it’s light on extras like this.

Credit checks

Giffgaff won’t credit check you for its SIM Only plans, but if you choose to pay monthly for a handset on the network then you will be credit checked. This though is standard practice across all mobile networks.

Unique perks

Giffgaff aims to keep things simple and affordable. As such, it doesn’t really offer many unique perks, just competitively priced plans which – on SIM Only at least – don’t always tie you into a lengthy contract.

That said, it does have a Payback scheme, which awards you with points for getting people to sign up to Giffgaff or helping the community on its forums. These points can be converted to cash or credit twice a year or donated to charity.

Network

Which network does Giffgaff use?

Giffgaff uses O2’s network and infrastructure. That means it also has access to the same spectrum as O2, and offers coverage in all the same places, whether you’re connecting to 5G, 4G, 3G or 2G. 

Coverage

O2 is mostly focused on expanding its 5G coverage currently, as it already has 4G and 3G in most parts of the UK, as the chart below shows. When any of its coverage types improve though, Giffgaff’s will too.

Giffgaff Coverage

Network Type	Coverage by population
5G	Now available in over 3,200 locations
4G	99%
3G	99%
2G	99%

Check Giffgaff Coverage

Network Speeds

Opensignal – Mobile Network Experience, September 2023 and April 2020

Network	Download/upload speeds	4G latency (ms)
EE	40.0/9.3Mbps	36.0ms
Three	34.5/6.3Mbps	48.3ms
Vodafone	27.9/8.0Mbps	39.0ms
Giffgaff (O2)	20.9/5.0Mbps	38.1ms

In an Opensignal report from September 2023, O2 was found to have average download speeds of 20.9Mbps, and average upload speeds of 5.0Mbps. Those speeds were obtained using a combination of all available connectivity types – so 5G, 4G and 3G. This report didn’t include latency (the time the network takes to respond to a request), but an earlier one from April 2020 put that at an average of 38.1ms.

That’s the slowest download and upload speeds, but the second best latency of the tested networks, as lower is better there, and while Giffgaff itself wasn’t tested its reliance on O2 means its results would probably be similar.

We don’t know Giffgaff’s 5G speeds, but they might be similar to O2’s, and according to the above September 2023 report from Opensignal, O2’s average 5G download speed is 77.0Mbps. That’s a big upgrade on the speeds above but still lower than rivals when looking just at 5G.

It’s median 5G download speed of 68.7Mbps (according to a 2023 RootMetrics report) is also lower than rivals, as is its 95th percentile 5G download speed (meaning close to its highest) which in the same report came in at 301.2Mbps.

And in Speedtest results from 2023 O2’s median 5G download speed was found to be 70.43Mbps, its median 5G upload speed was 8.93Mbps, and its median 5G latency was 33ms, and that’s all slower than rivals too.

Traffic management

Giffgaff’s traffic management policy (or traffic flow as the company calls it) shouldn’t affect most users at all.

Giffgaff simply notes that users who consistently use extreme amounts of data as part of the Always On plan may be contacted about their usage and ultimately banned from buying further Always On goodybags if they’re unable or unwilling to reduce their usage.

Network Frequencies

Giffgaff Network Frequencies

Frequency	Frequency Band	Network
700MHz	n29	4G & 5G
800MHz	Band 20	4G
900MHz	Band 8	2G & 3G
1800MHz	Band 3	2G & 4G
2100MHz	Band 1	3G & 4G
2300MHz	Band 40	4G
3400MHz	n78	5G
3600MHz	n77	5G

Giffgaff uses the 800MHz, 1800MHz, 2100MHz and 2300MHz bands for 4G. The 800MHz band is long range, so it can travel a long way between masts, making it suited to, well, everywhere really, but most notably rural locations, as masts are often spread far part in the countryside. But it’s also good at passing through walls, making it great for towns and cities as well.

The 2300MHz band is better for busy areas where lots of people are trying to connect at once. However, it’s shorter range and can’t pass through obstacles as well. The 1800MHz and 2100MHz bands are a middle ground.

Giffgaff also uses O2’s 3400MHz and 3600MHz spectrum, which is ideally suited to 5G, while 700MHz spectrum could be used for 5G to address the weaknesses of the high frequency spectrum it mostly relies on, though this could also improve 4G networks.

You can find in depth details of these bands and others in our 4G and 5G frequencies guide.

Giffgaff uses the 800MHz, 1800MHz, 2100MHz and 2300MHz bands for 4G. The 800MHz band is long range, so it can travel a long way between masts, making it suited to, well, everywhere really, but most notably rural locations, as masts are often spread far part in the countryside. But it’s also good at passing through walls, making it great for towns and cities as well.

The 2300MHz band is better for busy areas where lots of people are trying to connect at once. However, it’s shorter range and can’t pass through obstacles as well. The 1800MHz and 2100MHz bands are a middle ground.

Giffgaff also uses O2’s 3400MHz and 3600MHz spectrum, which is ideally suited to 5G, while 700MHz spectrum could be used for 5G to address the weaknesses of the high frequency spectrum it mostly relies on, though this could also improve 4G networks.

You can find in depth details of these bands and others in our 4G and 5G frequencies guide.

Customer service

Giffgaff is included in a 2023 Ofcom report, where it was found to have a 95% satisfaction rating with overall service, with 11% of customers finding reason to complain and 52% being happy with the way complaints were handled.

The network also has a 4.1/5 rating on Trustpilot at the time of writing, a rating which is considered ‘Great’.

Stores

Giffgaff doesn't have physical stores, but you can often pick up SIM cards on their network at convenience stores and supermarkets.

Conclusion

Giffgaff stands out through fairly low prices, unlimited data options, and 5G, with a range of SIM Only plans that you’re in many cases only tied into for a month.

Tethering is allowed too, but there’s no inclusive roaming beyond Europe, all of which makes Giffgaff a strong network for most types of users – just as long as you don’t regularly travel beyond Europe or need the fastest 5G speeds.

Alternatives

If you’re looking for an alternative to Giffgaff then O2 is an obvious choice, since Giffgaff shares O2’s coverage.

Advantages of O2 include a wider variety of plans, with additional options such as data only, plus access to the O2 Priority app for freebies and discounts from various brands. However, being a major network it’s also typically more expensive.

For a competitively priced option you could consider Sky Mobile or Tesco Mobile, both of which also use O2’s coverage. Sky Mobile stands out through data rollover, while Tesco Mobile offers loads of Pay As You Go options, in addition to Pay Monthly and SIM Only.