Best Pay As You Go SIM Cards For Low Usage

If you’re a light mobile user, you can get a Pay As You Go SIM card with no monthly top-ups and no credit expiry.

If you only use your mobile phone from time to time (e.g. on trips away from home or as a backup phone for emergencies), it’s normally best to get a Pay As Go SIM card that’s designed for light usage.

The best Pay As You Go SIM cards for low users will have no monthly fees, along with Pay As You Go credit that doesn’t expire. You should also look at the coverage available, along with the Pay As You Go rates.

In this article, we’ll look at the best Pay As You Go SIM cards for light mobile users in the UK, along with your top considerations when choosing such a deal.

Best Mobile Networks For Light Usage

Requirements:	No credit expiry & no top-up requirements. You just need to call, text, use data, or top-up every 180 days.
Coverage:	Uses O2 network (5G) – check postcode
Pay As You Go Rates:	25p/minute, 10p/text and 10p/MB
Reasons To Buy:	A Classic Pay As You Go SIM with no need to top-up every month. An established network with 4 million+ customers. Part of O2.
Reasons To Avoid:	Customer support is online-only: there’s no telephone support. Standard Pay As You Go rates can add up (e.g. £1 for 4-minute call).
Free SIM Card:	Order giffgaff SIM card (free) →

For most light mobile users, our current recommendation is to get a Pay As You Go SIM card from giffgaff (this is the low-cost sub-brand of O2).

On giffgaff, it’s still possible to get a ‘classic’ Pay As You Go service, where there’s no need to top-up your SIM card every month. Just choose the ‘free SIM’ option when you place your order online, and add ‘Pay As You Go credit’ instead of a monthly plan.

To keep your SIM card active on giffgaff, you’ll need to use it at least once every 180 days. As long as you do this, your credit will not expire.

The main disadvantage of giffgaff is that their Pay As You Go rates can add up quickly. For instance, at 25p per minute, you’re looking at £1 for a 4-minute call. On ASDA Mobile, this would cost just 60p (subject to their more stringent requirement of needing a new top-up or bundle purchase every 180 days).

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Requirements:	You’ll need to top-up or buy a bundle every 180 days. Your Pay As You Go credit doesn’t expire.
Coverage:	Uses Vodafone network (5G) – check postcode
Pay As You Go Rates:	15p/minute, 10p/text and 10p/MB
Reasons To Buy:	Cheaper rates for calling, compared to giffgaff (60p for 4-min call). Minimum top-up is £5, so you can stay connected from £10 per year.
Reasons To Avoid:	You’ll need to remember to top-up or buy a bundle every 180 days. Rates for texting and using data are the same as on giffgaff.
Free SIM Card:	Order ASDA Mobile SIM card →

Another option for light users is to get an ASDA Mobile SIM card. Like on giffgaff, there’s no need to top-up every month on ASDA Mobile. However, you will need to either top-up or buy a bundle every 180 days. As long as you do this, your credit won’t expire. The minimum top-up is £5 each time.

To get started, you can order an ASDA Mobile SIM card for £5. This will give you unlimited minutes, unlimited texts and 3GB data for the first month. Just switch off the ‘auto-renew’ feature when you sign up and you’ll move to their traditional Pay As You Go plan after the first month, with no ongoing fees.

Compared to giffgaff, ASDA Mobile has slightly lower rates for calling (it’s 15p/minute on ASDA, vs 25p/minute on giffgaff). This can save you a little bit of money. However, the costs of texting and using data are the same on both networks (10p/text and 10p/MB). In addition, ASDA Mobile uses the Vodafone network, whereas giffgaff uses the O2 network.

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Requirements:	You’ll need to spend at least £10 every 60 days.
Coverage:	Uses EE network (5G) – check postcode
Pay As You Go Rates:	1p/minute, 1p/text and 1p/MB
Reasons To Buy:	Super low Pay As You go rates (just 4p for a 4-minute call). Access to EE’s 5G network, with WiFi Calling & more.
Reasons To Avoid:	You’ll be spending at least £60 per year to keep the SIM active.
Free SIM Card:	Order 1p Mobile SIM card →

For many years, 1pMobile has been a top choice for lots of low mobile users, owing to their low Pay As You Go rates. However, since October 2024, customers have been required to spend at least £10 every 60 days. This makes it a poor option for very low users who would otherwise spend less than £5 per month.

If it’s still suitable for your usage, you will get some very low Pay As You Go rates (just 1p/minute, 1p/text and 1p/MB). This means a 4-minute phone call will cost you just 4p (compared to the £1 you’d pay on giffgaff). You’ll get access to EE’s 4G and 5G network.

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Requirements:	You’ll need to call, text, use data, or top-up every 120 days. Alternatively, pay £5 per year to maintain it (with no min usage).
Coverage:	Uses EE network (5G) – check postcode
Pay As You Go Rates:	25p/minute, 23p/text and 15p/MB
Reasons To Buy:	Has a set-and-forget way to keep a UK phone number for £5/yr.
Reasons To Avoid:	The Pay As You Go rates can add up quickly (e.g. £1 for 4-min call). Has a poor customer reputation.
Free SIM Card:	Order Lyca Mobile SIM card →

On Lyca Mobile, it’s still possible to get a Pay As You Go SIM card with no need to top-up every month. However, to keep it active, you’ll need to do one of the following two things:

1. Use your phone for an outgoing call, text, data, or top-up every 120 days. This is similar to giffgaff, but it’s more restrictive in that you’ll need to use your phone for a chargeable activity every 120 days.
2. Pay £5 per year to maintain your SIM, with no usage requirements. If you’re looking for a ‘set-and-forget’ way of maintaining a UK mobile number, you can pay £5 per year for this service on Lyca Mobile. This can be a good option if you only want to retain a UK phone number for things like receiving one-time SMS passcodes. Generally, it won’t be the cheapest way of doing things as this £5/year does not include any calls or texts, but it can save you some hassle if you’re abroad or if you’ll forget to use it.

You’ll pay 25p/minute, 23p/text and 15p/MB on Lyca Mobile. This means you’ll pay £1 for a 4-minute phone call.

Top Considerations For Low Users

No Monthly Fees

If you’re a low mobile user, you’ll normally want to stay away from any SIM cards that have a regular monthly fee. With Pay Monthly SIM cards and Pay As You Go bundles, you’ll need to pay a fixed amount each month, regardless of whether you use your SIM.

If your average spend will exceed £5 per month on a classic Pay As You Go SIM card (roughly 20 minutes of calling or 50MB of mobile data per month), that’s when you’ll be better of getting a Pay As You Go bundle. For £5, you can normally get unlimited minutes and texts, plus an allowance of data:

Network	Data	Monthly Cost
EE coverage 1,000 UK mins 1,000 UK texts 100 intl mins Offer ends 31st May	5GB data	£5.00 per month £2.50 for 1 months No contract	See deal
Vodafone coverage Unlimited mins Unlimited texts	3GB data	£5.00 per month No contract	See deal
EE coverage Unlimited mins Unlimited texts	2GB data	£6.00 per month No contract	See deal
O2 coverage Unlimited mins Unlimited texts	2GB data	£6.00 per month No contract	See deal

Credit That Doesn’t Expire

It’s worth having a look at the credit expiry policy, as this will differ across Pay As You Go mobile networks.

On the best Pay As You Go networks, your credit won’t expire providing you can meet the minimum usage requirement in their T&Cs. This can sometimes be as a simple as using your phone every 180 days. However, some mobile networks have much stricter requirements (e.g. requiring you to make a fresh top-up with new credit).

If you have not met the minimum usage requirement in your mobile network’s terms and conditions, your SIM card will normally be disconnected from their network. You’ll also lose any remaining Pay As You Go credit, as well as the phone number on your SIM.

Network Coverage

It’s important to make sure that you’re actually able to get a reliable signal for when you need it on your SIM card.

In some cases, this can restrict your choice of mobile networks, especially if you’re living or working in an area where only some providers have coverage.

• Networks using EE coverage include 1pMobile and Lyca Mobile.
• Networks using O2 coverage include giffgaff.
• Networks using Vodafone coverage include ASDA Mobile.

Low Pay As You Go Rates

Finally, it’s worth having a look at the exact Pay As You Go rates, and working out what this would mean, based on your usage. For instance, someone making an average of 10 minutes of calls each month would pay £2.50 per month on giffgaff, compared to £1.50 per month on ASDA Mobile.

In our opinion, however, this is only worth considering once you’ve already looked at the three factors above. For instance, the same customer would pay just 10p for the 10 minutes of calls on 1pMobile. However, the additional requirement to spend £10 every 60 days may already have ruled this out as a viable option for the user.

More Information

For more information, see our full guide to the best Pay As You Go SIM cards. We’ve also got an in-depth look at the minimum usage requirements and credit expiry policies on each UK mobile network.

Pay As You Go deals in the UK. In particular, it’s also worth reading our full overview of the best Pay As You Go SIM cards.