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If you’re shopping for a Pay As You Go SIM card you’ve got a whole bunch of options, with numerous networks offering them alongside numerous packs, prices, and perks. But what if you don’t want to spend any money upfront?
In that case, your options are more limited, but there’s still quite a bit of choice. To make things easier, below we’ve highlighted the best free Pay As You Go SIM cards available right now.
These are SIM cards that you can order without either buying a pack alongside them or paying for the SIM card itself – so they’re completely free.
Three
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| + Enjoy Three+ Rewards, including £1 coffee and £3 cinema tickets |
| + Free roaming in 71 destinations |
| - Other networks offer better value bundles |
| Order free Three PAYG SIM > |
With Three – and all of the following networks – you can either order a SIM card with no allowances and top up later, or you can order it pre-loaded with a pack or credit amount of your choice.
In the case of Three specifically, the available pack options top out at unlimited data, and 5G is included, so this can be seen as a premium Pay As You Go option. Lower allowances are of course also available, but all packs come with 5G.
Every pack also comes with unlimited minutes and texts, and you can roam for free in 71 destinations, with a 12GB fair use limit on data when abroad.
You’ll also get access to the network’s Three+ app, packed with exclusive offers and discounts from other brands, including £1 coffee from Caffe Nero and £3 cinema tickets at Cineworld.
Outside your pack you’ll be charged 35p per minute, 15p per text and 10p per megabyte.
Vodafone
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| + Data rollover on bundles, so you can carry unused data into the next month |
| + Access to VeryMe Rewards, including treats, giveaways and prize draws |
| - Roaming costs extra on bundles |
| - Other networks offer better value bundles |
| Order free Vodafone PAYG SIM > |
Vodafone offers a number of Pay As You Go bundles and they top out at unlimited data, as well as supporting 5G. In the case of Pay As You Go Plus (which is the main Pay As You Go service advertised by Vodafone), 5G comes as standard, but note that on its ‘Big Value’ bundles you’ll only get 5G on the 100GB and unlimited data packs. Though these Big Value bundles do additionally come with data rollover.
Other perks of Vodafone’s Pay As You Go service include access to Vodafone’s VeryMe Rewards service. This includes weekly treats, giveaways, and prize draws. However, roaming costs extra.
Bundles are the standard way to use Pay As You Go on Vodafone, and they’re quite pricey compared to most Pay As You Go offerings. But Vodafone also offers Pay As You Go 1, which for £1 each day you use your phone gives you unlimited minutes, unlimited texts, and 50MB of data. So that’s okay if you talk and text a lot but mostly stick to Wi-Fi for data.
Asda Mobile
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Uses Vodafone's network |
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| + Good value bundles and cheap basic PAYG rates |
| + Free roaming included in 46 European destinations (5GB fair usage limit) |
| - Some plans cap speeds significantly below 5G speeds |
| Order free Asda Mobile PAYG SIM > |
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If you’re after a cheap Pay As You Go plan then Asda Mobile is a good choice, as its bundles – which top out at unlimited data – are less expensive than most alternatives. That said, be careful about which one you choose, as despite advertising 5G, some of the bundles cap your speeds at very un-5G like levels.
Choose one of those plans and you’ll save additional money, but just make sure you know what you’re paying for. The top bundle offers speeds of 150Mbps though.
Outside of bundles, Asda Mobile’s Pay As You Go rates are lower than most, with the network charging 15p per minute, 10p per text, and 10p per megabyte. Being so cheap there isn’t much in the way of extras, but you can roam at no additional cost in 46 European destinations (up to a 5GB fair usage limit).
Giffgaff
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Uses O2's network |
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| + Wide range of decent value bundle available |
| + Roaming included in 38 European countries (5GB fair usage limit) |
| - Speed capping introduced after 80GB usage on unlimited plans |
| Order free GiffGaff PAYG SIM > |
Giffgaff isn’t the cheapest Pay As You Go network or the most expensive, sitting somewhere in the middle, but what it does have is a wide range of bundles that you can select from, so you have more choice over your allowances than on some networks. And yes, 5G comes as standard.
Technically, you can’t get a true unlimited data plan on Giffgaff Pay As You Go, but you can get an 80GB ‘always on’ bundle, which does give you unlimited data but reduces your speeds to 384kbps from 8am to midnight once you’ve used 80GB. Or you could just choose a truly unlimited 30-day SIM Only bundle, which functionally isn’t much different to Pay As You Go.
Choose to go without a bundle and you’ll pay 25p per minute, 10p per text and 10p per megabyte – which we wouldn’t recommend. The Pay As You Go bundles (which all last 30 days) are much better value.
With Giffgaff you can also roam at no extra cost in 38 European destinations (up to a 5GB fair usage limit).
Lebara
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Uses Vodafone's network |
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| + Great value bundles with International minutes included |
| + Free roaming in the EU and India (5GB fair usage limit) |
| - Basic PAYG rates higher than Asda Mobile |
| Order free Lebara Mobile PAYG SIM > |
Cheap rates and international perks
Lebara – like Asda Mobile – offers some of the very cheapest bundles that can be paired with a Pay As You Go SIM card. These also top out at unlimited data and include 5G.
But with Lebara – unlike Asda Mobile – there aren’t any speed caps, and you also benefit from minutes that you can use internationally, to call 42 countries, so this is a great choice if you’re regularly calling abroad. You can also roam in both the EU and India at no extra cost – with a fair usage limit of 30GB.
Asda Mobile is still worth considering over Lebara if you just want to Pay As You Go without a pack though, as while Asda Mobile is fairly cheap for that, Lebara charges 25p per minute, 19p per text, and 9p per megabyte.
VOXI
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Uses Vodafone's network |
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| + 'Unlimited Social' meaning you can use selected social media apps without using your data allowance |
| + Plans available with 'Unlimited Music' and 'Unlimited Video' |
| - No free roaming included |
| - No true PAYG plans, but 30-day rolling plans available |
| Order free Vodafone PAYG SIM > |
Technically VOXI doesn’t offer a Pay As You Go service, but you can order a free SIM card from the network and then later choose which SIM Only plan you want – and these SIM Only plans are all 30-day rolling ones, with competitive prices. So they’re a lot like choosing a Pay As You Go bundle.
VOXI runs off Vodafone’s network (in fact it’s owned by Vodafone), and you can get up to unlimited data. Its plans also come with 5G, and if you choose less than unlimited data then you’ll also have ‘Unlimited Social’, which lets you use select social media apps without it affecting your data allowance.
Some plans also come with ‘Unlimited Music’ and ‘Unlimited Video’, which do the same for select music and video streaming services. So your data allowance can go a lot further.
These plans also all include unlimited minutes and texts, but note that roaming costs extra on VOXI.
What other networks offer Pay As You Go SIM cards?
While the options above are – in our opinion - the best free Pay As You Go SIM cards, they aren’t the only options.
EE, O2, iD Mobile, Lyca Mobile, 1pMobile, and Tesco Mobile offer Pay As You Go SIM cards as well, and in the case of Lyca Mobile you can also get the card completely free of charge.
The others are technically ‘free’ too, in that the card itself won’t cost you anything, but you will have to buy a pack or top up in order to get it, so you’ll still be spending money during the order process.
