UK mobile plans compared: where £8 buys what £25 does

Virtual operators run on the same masts as the big four and sell the same signal for noticeably less, and moving between them takes one working day and one free text. Every price below was taken from the operators' own sites on 19 October 2026, for SIM-only plans with unlimited UK calls and texts.

What does a SIM-only plan cost right now?

The three middle columns are pounds a month and gigabytes: «8 / 32» reads as £8 for 32GB. The blue column is the one the table exists for: the mainstream plan, the one most people actually buy.

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Two of those are offers with an end date. SMARTY's 32GB for £8 is 16GB outside the offer. giffgaff's 80GB for £10 is an 18-month contract — a 25GB base plus 55GB on offer, to be activated by 30 October 2026. VOXI's £12 and £20 allowances are doubled until 26 November 2026, after which £12 returns to 25GB and £20 to 100GB. 1pMobile also sells yearly bundles: 5GB a month for a year is £55, 50GB is £110, unlimited is £275 — plus the classic penny tariff of 1p a minute, 1p a text and 1p a megabyte.

How is a virtual operator different from the big four?

Not in the masts. What differs is the packaging: no high street shops, no subsidised handset in the bundle, support mostly in writing. SMARTY claims 99% UK outdoor population coverage on 4G; 1pMobile claims 99% of the population and 90% of the landmass on 2G, 4G and 5G.

How do you switch in a single day?

Under Ofcom's rules it is done by text, and you never have to speak to your current provider.

Your old provider must send the code within one minute, along with any early termination charge and your credit balance. The code is valid for 30 days. Your new provider must complete the switch within one working day, and the old one must not charge for a notice period after the switching date. Providers are not allowed to sell locked handsets, so you keep your phone. And if you have already cancelled, in most cases the number can still be moved within a month.

Why does the bill go up every April?

Because of a clause tying an annual rise to inflation plus a few per cent. Ofcom estimated that as of April 2024 around six in ten broadband and mobile customers were on such contracts. From 17 January 2025 Ofcom banned inflation-linked or percentage-based rise terms in all new contracts: any increase must be stated in pounds and pence upfront, at the point of sale. Older contracts are not covered — which is where the spring jumps still come from.

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What comes free, and who qualifies for a social tariff?

Social tariffs go to people receiving Universal Credit, Pension Credit, ESA, JSA or Income Support; some providers add PIP and Attendance Allowance. The person on the benefit has to be the main name on the contract. These tariffs carry no mid-contract rises, cost nothing to switch into and nothing to leave.

The trap in that table is the VOXI row: European roaming there is a separate paid pass, and a headline monthly price does not show it. Ofcom's social tariff list was last updated on 2 October 2026; three of its entries are mobile — O2 Essential Plan, VOXI For Now and SMARTY Social Tariff.

Where is the money usually lost?

On an allowance nobody uses. Ofcom's figures put average UK mobile data use at 9.8GB a month in 2023, against 3.4GB in 2018, while the average monthly mobile price excluding the handset fell from £17.12 to £11.51 over those five years. Check in your app how many gigabytes you actually used last month, then compare it with what you pay: very few people need a 200GB plan.