Get a free SIM card for your mobile phone: Pay As You Go offerings compared from 18 UK networks.
Whether you’re a smartphone fanatic or someone who only uses their phone on an occasional basis, there are some great deals to be had when you order a free Pay As You Go SIM card in the UK.
The best Pay As You Go SIM cards offer super-low rates that can even rival Pay Monthly SIM cards in terms of value for money. To take advantage of the best offers currently available, simply order a free SIM card below and slot it inside your mobile phone. There are no credit checks or upfront fees. There’s also no need to set up a direct debit: simply top-up your SIM card when you need credit to pay for your airtime.
In the table below, we’ve reviewed free SIM card offers from 18 of the UK’s most popular Pay As You Go networks. We’ve included mainstream providers as well as low-cost alternatives and specialist Pay As You Go mobile networks for calling another country. We’ve also compared the cost of each network to help you get the best value for money.
- Changing mobile network? If you’re keeping the same phone but changing to another network, it might be necessary to first unlock your handset. See our guides to unlocking an iPhone and unlocking a Samsung Galaxy handset.
- Coverage is identical on many mobile networks. Many networks share the same coverage provider: you’ll get identical levels of coverage when using any of these networks. To give an example, giffgaff uses coverage from O2 and ASDA Mobile uses coverage from EE.
- Keeping your mobile number. If you’re changing mobile networks, it’s super easy to keep your current phone number. Once you’ve ordered your new SIM card, contact your current network and ask them for a PAC Code. You can then pass this on to your new mobile network and your phone number will be moved over on the next working day. For more information, see our guide to transferring your mobile phone number.
Free Pay As You Go SIM Card Offers
At present, ASDA Mobile is our top pick amongst the UK’s Pay As You Go offerings. They offer competitive 30-day bundles and 99% 4G coverage from the EE network.
| ASDA Mobile Most Popular: 32% of our readers choose to join ASDA Mobile*
For light users, ASDA Mobile charges 8p/minute and 4p/text. There are no regular monthly charges and your Pay As You Go credit won’t expire (you just need to use your phone at least once every 180 days to keep it active). The minimum top-up amount on ASDA Mobile is just £1 each time. For regular users, ASDA Mobile has a competitive range of 30-day bundles. For instance, £10/month will buy you 600 minutes, unlimited texts and 3GB of internet. To take advantage of the offer, you should order a free SIM card from the ASDA Mobile website. |
ASDA Mobile offers a free Pay As You Go SIM card with Amongst readers of our website, giffgaff and 1pMobile are also highly popular choices. They both offer low Pay As You Go rates with a number of different advantages.
| giffgaff 27% of our readers choose to join giffgaff*
Most giffgaff members choose to buy a goodybag bundle. On giffgaff’s £10/month goodybag, you’ll get 3GB of internet along with unlimited minutes and unlimited texts. Goodybag allowances can be used in both the UK and Europe. For lighter users, giffgaff’s £7.50 goodybag can give you even bigger savings (you’ll get 250 minutes, unlimited texts and 2GB of internet for £7.50/month). Alternatively, if you’d like even more data, you can get 8GB of data for £15/month, 20GB of data for £20/month or Always-On data for £25/month (unlimited downloads with the first 20GB per month at full 4G speeds). On giffgaff, you’ll get free calls and texts to other members (to qualify, you just need to top-up your phone at least once every 3 months). giffgaff also offers discounted rates for international calling. |
| 1pMobile 9% of our readers choose to join 1pMobile*
A unique requirement of 1pMobile is you’ll need to top-up your phone at least once every 120 days. As the minimum top-up is £10 each time, this means you’ll need to top-up your phone with at least £30 of credit per year. 1pMobile offers automatic top-up functionality which you can use to make sure you meet the minimum top-up requirement. |
Other major Pay As You Go providers include:
| EE 5% of our readers choose to join EE*
For light users not buying a pack, calls will cost 30p/minute and texts will cost 12p each. Access to mobile internet is only available when you buy a Pay As You Go pack. The cheapest available pack is the £1/week Data Pack which gives you 100MB of internet to use on your phone (100MB = 0.1GB). For more information, please see our full review of EE Pay As You Go. Order EE SIM card (Free with top-up) → Tip: For £10/month, ASDA Mobile gives you 600 minutes, unlimited texts and 3GB of internet. Compared to EE’s £10 Everything Pack, this is more than double the number the minutes and three times as much data. The coverage on ASDA Mobile is provided by EE. Find out more about ASDA Mobile. |
| O2 8% of our readers choose to join O2*
For smartphone owners, the most popular option is O2’s Big Bundles tariff. For £10/month, you’ll get 250 minutes, 1000 text messages and 2GB of internet. For lighter users, the Classic Pay As You Go tariff will be a more attractive option. You’ll pay just 3p/minute, 2p/text and 1p/MB, with no need to top-up your phone every month. Alternatively, the International SIM card allows you to call other countries from 1p/minute. Customers joining O2 Pay As You Go will get access to discounts and offers through O2 Priority. For more information, read our full review of the Big Bundles and Classic Pay As You Go SIM cards. Tip: For £10/month, giffgaff offers unlimited minutes and an extra 1GB of data. giffgaff is owned by O2 and uses the O2 network for coverage. Find out more about giffgaff. |
| Three 7% of our readers choose to join Three*
Regular users can save money by buying an All-in-One bundle. Bundles start from £10/month for 3000 minutes, 3000 texts and 1GB of internet. The allowances on your All-in-One bundle can also be used in 71 Feel At Home destinations including most of Europe, the USA, Australia and more. Importantly, it isn’t possible to use a 2G-only handset on Three. This is because Three doesn’t provide any 2G coverage. Your handset will need to support at least 3G coverage to work on the Three network. |
| Vodafone 3% of our readers choose to join Vodafone*
For regular mobile users, it’s possible to buy a 30-day Big Value Bundle (e.g. 250 minutes, unlimited texts and 2GB of internet for £10/month). You can rollover unused allowances when you automatically renew your bundle, and will also get about 5% of your top-up back through Vodafone Rewards. For occasional and light mobile users, Vodafone offers the Pay As You Go 1 tariff. On Pay As You Go 1, you’ll be charged 20p/minute, 20p/text and 20p per 5MB (capped at £1/day for unlimited minutes, unlimited texts and up to 500MB of data). If you’re under-30, it could be worth joining VOXI instead. VOXI is a sub-brand of Vodafone for people aged between 16 and 30. VOXI offers unlimited minutes, unlimited texts and 2GB of internet for £10/month. You’ll also get unlimited data for use on selected social media and instant messaging applications. |
EE offers 250 minutes, unlimited texts and 1GB of internet on their 
O2 offers a choice of three tariffs on Pay As You Go.
Along with O2, Three is one of the UK’s cheapest mainstream mobile networks for traditional Pay As You Go usage. They charge 3p/minute, 2p/text and 1p/MB: the same as what O2 charges and just a little more expensive than 1pMobile.
Vodafone offers a choice of two different types of Pay As You Go tariff.The following virtual network operators also provide a Pay As You Go service:
| 1pMobile 9% of our readers choose to join 1pMobile*
1pMobile is a virtual network operator using coverage from EE. The network charges just 1p/minute, 1p/text and 1p/MB: the lowest Pay As You Go rates currently available on any network in the UK. Customers joining 1pMobile need to be aware that a top-up of at least £10 is required every 120 days. If no top-ups are added to your account for more than 120 days, it will be closed automatically and your phone number will be lost. Because of this, we’d only recommend choosing 1pMobile if your typical monthly spend will exceed £2.50/month (otherwise, a non-refundable balance will build up over time on your account). |
| ASDA Mobile 32% of our readers choose to join ASDA Mobile*
 For light users, ASDA Mobile has competitive Pay As You Go rates of 8p/minute, 4p/text and 5p/MB. There’s no need to top-up every month, and your credit won’t expire providing your account remains active (you just need to use your phone at least once every 180 days). You can top-up on ASDA Mobile from just £1 each time. Regular users can buy a bundle from ASDA Mobile for better value usage. It’s possible to get a 3GB of internet along with 600 minutes and unlimited texts for £10/month. Alternatively, there’s 1GB for £7/month and 6GB for £15/month. To qualify, order a free SIM card from ASDA Mobile. ASDA Mobile provides 2G, 3G and 4G coverage from EE. This gives them 99% population coverage. |
| Co-operative Mobile 0.9% of our readers choose to join Co-operative Mobile*
The Co-operative Mobile charges 8p/minute, 4p/text and 10p/MB when you’re browsing the internet (this works out to be around £1/day if you’re using 10MB of data). For regular users, it’s possible to buy an all-inclusive bundle from £10/month. The most popular bundle from Co-op costs £10/month and gives you 500 minutes, 1000 texts and 1GB of 3G internet. As of June 2018, the Co-operative Mobile is part of The Midcounties Co-operative. You’ll earn 12 points for every £1 you spend on the network, which is equivalent to 5% back on your spend. |
| giffgaff 27% of our readers choose to join giffgaff*
giffgaff is a low-cost mobile service running on the O2 network. They offer 3GB of internet along with unlimited minutes & texts for £10/month. Alternatively, heavy users can get 8GB of data for £15/month, 20GB of data for £20/month or Always-On data for £25/month. For more information, please see the giffgaff website. |
| iD Mobile 2% of our readers choose to join iD Mobile*
iD Mobile is the own-brand mobile network from the Carphone Warehouse. Having launched in December 2016, the iD Mobile Pay As You Go service uses coverage from Three. Customers on iD Mobile Pay As You Go will pay 3p/minute, 2p/text and 1p/MB. Alternatively, customers can convert their credit into a one-month bundle such as 500 minutes, unlimited texts and 1GB of data for £10/month. It isn’t possible to use a 2G-only handset on iD Mobile (as with Three, iD Mobile doesn’t have any 2G coverage). |
| Lebara Mobile 1% of our readers choose to join Lebara Mobile*
Lebara Mobile is a specialist provider of international calling. You can buy a 30-day bundle from £10/month with inclusive international calling (e.g. 100 international minutes, unlimited UK minutes and 3GB of UK internet). Alternatively, light users can use traditional Pay As You Go to call abroad from 1p/minute. Lebara Mobile offers 2G, 3G and 4G coverage from Vodafone. For more information, please read our full review of Lebara Mobile. |
| Lycamobile 0.8% of our readers choose to join Lycamobile*
Lycamobile is another specialist provider of international calling. They offer international calls from 1p/minute and international text messages for 19p each. Domestic calls to a UK mobile are 19p/minute and texts to a UK mobile are 19p each. You can read our full review of Lycamobile here. |
| Orange
As of February 2015, it’s no longer possible to order a SIM card from Orange. Customers are instead advised to join EE Pay As You Go. EE has 4G connectivity and allows you to browse the internet from £1/week. Alternatively, ASDA Mobile gives you coverage from EE but at a much lower cost (8p/minute, 4p/text and 5p/MB). Customers already on Orange Pay As You Go (e.g. on the Dolphin plan) can stay on the Orange network for as long as they like. |
| Tesco Mobile 2% of our readers choose to join Tesco Mobile*
For regular mobile users, it’s possible to buy a Rocket Pack bundle from £5/month. The most popular Rocket Pack costs £10/month and gives you 500 minutes, 5000 texts and 3GB of 4G internet. For lighter users not purchasing a Rocket Pack, Tesco Mobile has the Triple Credit tariff. Here, you’ll pay 25p/minute, 10p/text and 10p/MB. When you top-up your phone with £10, you’ll also get £20 of bonus free credit which will last for one month. For more information, please read our full review of Tesco Mobile Pay As You Go. |
| T-Mobile
As of February 2015, it’s no longer possible to order a T-Mobile SIM card. Customers wanting to join T-Mobile are instead advised to join EE. EE has 4G connectivity and offers Everything Pack bundles that are very similar to the Smart Packs previously offered by T-Mobile. Alternatively, ASDA Mobile offers 4G coverage from EE with better value monthly bundles from £5/month. Customers already on T-Mobile can stay on their existing plan for as long as they like. |
| Vectone Mobile 0.6% of our readers choose to join Vectone Mobile*
Vectone Mobile is a specialist provider of international calling. See our international calls price comparison table to see how Vectone Mobile compares to rival networks. |
| Virgin Mobile 1% of our readers choose to join Virgin Mobile*
On Virgin Mobile, you can buy a Pay As You Go JAM Pack bundle from £10/month. The £10 JAM Pack will give you 500 minutes, 500 texts and 2GB of internet. This is restricted to 3G speeds, as 4G coverage is only available to Virgin Pay Monthly customers. If you choose not to buy a JAM Pack or run out of your inclusive allowances, you can use traditional Pay As You Go for 40p/minute, 15p/text and £2/day for up to 200MB of internet. This is amongst the most expensive Pay As You Go rates in the UK, so we’d strongly recommend choosing a lower-cost network if you’re a light user. |
| VOXI (Under-30s Only) 0.9% of our readers choose to join VOXI*
VOXI is a youth-orientated Pay As You Go mobile service from Vodafone. Available exclusively to customers aged between 16 and 30, VOXI offers a choice of three 30-day plans. Their cheapest is a £10/month plan with unlimited minutes, unlimited texts, 2GB of internet and unlimited social media usage. You can order a free SIM card from the VOXI website after which you’ll need to submit proof of age to activate your SIM card. This can either be done online or in a Vodafone retail store. |
Tesco Mobile offers a choice of two Pay As You Go tariffs: there’s 
For more information about any of the tariffs listed on this page, please click through to the mobile network’s website. Our recommended deal is currently to order a free SIM card from giffgaff.
If you’re asked to specify the size of SIM card required in your phone (e.g. Standard SIM, Micro SIM or Nano SIM), please see our guide to smartphone SIM card sizes.
The “£10 top-up buys” calculation is based on a user who tops up by £10 every month. If you top up less regularly than once every month, your allowances may run out before the next top-up.
* Statistics on mobile network chosen by readers of this article. Based on the number of Free SIM click-throughs from the 16th April 2018 to 15th July 2018.
** Mobile internet charges. For networks that charge on a per-megabyte basis, we have given the average daily data cost for a smartphone user consuming 10MB of data. If you’d like to create a custom comparison using a different estimate, you can enter your own estimated data figure on our interactive Pay As You Go price comparison table.
John said:
On the GiffGaff site they only seem to allow UK sim card delivery, delivery to the U.S. is not an option.
Ken replied:
Hey John,
Thanks for your comment. I believe the giffgaff website is sometimes a little bit glitchy. If you’re not able to order a SIM card from outside the UK, try visiting the giffgaff.com homepage and then ordering a SIM card from there. I think that normally solves it.
Ken
John replied:
Ken,
Yes, the GiffGaff website is glitchy ordering from the homepage also fails due to an error message requiring that a U.K. valid phone no. beginning with 07 be used in the email box. That would seem to qualify as a GLITCH (Glitch Gaff) and not encouraging!
John
Peter said:
When a PAYG tariff quotes, for example 3p per minute for calls, does that cover call to phones using other networks as well as your own network? Does it include calls to landlines? I’m only asking about calls within the UK.
I’m trying to help a disabled person on limited income. She needs a large key handset and I’ve found the one for her but calculating the cost of using it is difficult.
Ken replied:
Hi Peter,
Thanks for your comment. Typically, most networks charge the same rate for calling UK landlines and mobiles. In our price comparison table here, the headline rate listed is the cost for calling mobiles on another network. However, some of them also provide free same-network calls & very rarely, a slightly lower rate when you’re calling landlines.
Hope this helps,
Ken
Francis Caves replied:
IF she has a 3G phone then a “3” PAYG SIM is cheap at 3p/ min, 2p/ text and 1p/MB.
Otherwise O2 has the same, but you don’t need a 3G phone. CHECK the coverage first.
Eddy said:
Hi,
Are you aware of any PAYG data bundle/add-on/package that lasts for more than 30 days or a month? I can”t find one and the only long lasting alternative is 1p per Mb (e.g. Three PAYG) which is a bit expensive (i.e. £10 per Gb of data).
Thank you.
Ken replied:
Hi Eddy,
Thanks for your comment. Out of interest, could you explain the reason for wanting to have a bundle that lasts for more than one month? If it’s because you use data infrequently, but you typically need a lot of data when you need it, you could have a look at Vodafone’s Pay As You Go 1 (£1/day on the days when you use your phone for unlimited minutes, unlimited texts and 500MB of internet). In theory, this would allow you to use up to 5GB of data for £10, but you’re restricted to only 10 days of usage. Alternatively, if you’re a fairly light user, you could go for a slightly cheaper deal where unused data allowances roll over.
If you do actually want a Pay As You Go bundle lasting for more than 30 days, I believe there are a number of mobile broadband tariffs offering this (e.g. lasting for up to 12 or 24 months). For instance, Three offers 24GB of data for £60 within up to 24 months validity (works out at around £2.50/month for 1GB of data).
Hope this helps,
Ken
Ateeq replied:
Hi Ken,
Which are the other networks that offer mobile broadband tariffs that last at least 6 months?
Thanks
Ken replied:
Hi Ateeq,
I haven’t actually done a full comprehensive analysis of this, but I’m only currently aware of Three that offers such a package. You might be able to achieve a similar outcome using traditional Pay As You Go tariffs, though the price of doing this is likely to be much more expensive.
Ken