Get a free SIM card for your mobile phone: Pay As You Go offerings compared from 20 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 required or upfront fees to pay. 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 usage.
In the table below, we’ve reviewed free SIM card offers from 20 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 lots of mobile networks. Many mobile networks share the same coverage provider: you’ll get identical levels of coverage when using any of these networks. To give an example, VOXI uses coverage from Vodafone and giffgaff uses coverage from O2.
- 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 Pay As You Go SIM card, get a PAC Code from your current network, either online or by text message. You can then pass this PAC Code 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.
Best Pay As You Go SIM Card Offers
At present, VOXI is our top pick amongst the UK’s Pay As You Go offerings. They offer flexible one-month bundles with 99% 4G coverage from the Vodafone network.
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VOXI by Vodafone 20% of our readers choose to join VOXI*
Customers signing up to VOXI can get 6GB of data along with endless social data for £10/month. Heavy data users can get 15GB of data for £15/month, 45GB of data for £20/month or unlimited data at 5G speeds for £35/month. Customers buying a 30-day bundle from VOXI will also receive unlimited calls, unlimited texts and “endless social data”. This allows you to access Snapchat, Instagram, WhatsApp, Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Viber and Facebook Messenger without using your normal data allowance. Most VOXI customers decide to convert their credit into a one-month bundle. However, if you decide not to do this, you can use VOXI at 30p/minute and 14p/text. Access to mobile data will require you to buy a bundle from £10/month. |
VOXI is Vodafone’s low-cost Other popular choices amongst readers of our website include giffgaff and 1pMobile. Both of them offer low Pay As You Go rates (giffgaff with their one-month goodybags and 1pMobile with their low Pay As You Go rates):
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giffgaff 11% 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 6GB of data along with unlimited minutes and unlimited texts. Your goodybag allowances can be used in both the UK and Europe. For lighter users, giffgaff’s £8 goodybag can give you even bigger savings (you’ll get unlimited minutes, unlimited texts and 2GB of data for £8/month). Alternatively, if you’d like a larger data allowance, you can get 15GB of data for £15/month or a massive 80GB of data for £20/month. Always On data is available for £25/month (giving you unlimited downloads with the first 80GB per month at full 4G speeds). On giffgaff, you’ll get free calls and texts to other giffgaff members (to qualify, you’ll just need to top-up your phone at least once every 3 months). giffgaff also offers discounted rates for international calling. |
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1pMobile 9% of our readers choose to join 1pMobile*
A unique requirement of 1pMobile is you’ll need to top-up your phone with at least £10 of credit every 120 days. This is equivalent to £30 of credit per year. If you don’t meet the £10 every 120 days minimum top-up requirement, your 1pMobile account will be closed and your phone number will be lost. For this reason, 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). |
If you’d like the lowest possible Pay As You Go rates, Other major Pay As You Go providers include:
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EE 6% of our readers choose to join EE*
For light users not buying a pack, calls will cost 35p/minute and texts will cost 15p each. Access to 3G & 4G internet is only available when you buy a Pay As You Go pack. The cheapest available pack is the £5 Everything Pack which gives you 100 minutes, 250 texts and 150MB of data. For more information, please read our full review of EE Pay As You Go. |
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O2 5% of our readers choose to join O2*
At the time of writing, you can get £10 of extra credit on O2 when you top-up your SIM card and buy a £10, £15, £20 or £30 Big Bundle within 28 days of ordering your SIM. Simply text FREE10 to 21500 once you’ve received and topped up your SIM card. You’ll also get access to discounts and offers through O2 Priority. For more information, see our full review of the Big Bundles SIM card. O2 also offers some UK & International Bundles for customers wanting an allowance of international minutes. Tip: If you’re a regular mobile user, giffgaff offers much more data for a lower monthly price. For £10/month, you’ll get 6GB of data on giffgaff (versus just 3GB on O2). giffgaff is owned by O2 and uses the O2 network for coverage. Find out more about giffgaff. |
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Three 6% of our readers choose to join Three*
For customers not buying a Pay As You Go bundle, Three charges 10p/minute, 10p/text and 5p/MB. This applies to all customers ordering a SIM card from the 14th February 2020 onwards. Prior to this, Three offered a 321 tariff where customers would pay 3p/minute, 2p/text and 1p/MB. 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 Three’s network. |
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Vodafone 3% of our readers choose to join Vodafone*
Regular mobile users should buy a 30-day Big Value Bundle. For instance, a £10/month top-up will give you 250 minutes, unlimited texts and 3GB of data. You can rollover your unused allowances when you automatically renew your bundle. Occasional or light mobile users can choose Vodafone’s Pay As You Go 1 tariff instead. On Pay As You Go 1, you’ll be charged 20p/minute, 20p/text and 20p per 5MB of data (capped at £1/day for unlimited minutes, unlimited texts and up to 500MB of data). Order Vodafone SIM card (Free) → Tip: VOXI is Vodafone’s low cost sub-brand, offering much more data for the same price. You can get unlimited minutes, unlimited texts, 6GB of data and endless social data for £10/month. Find out more about VOXI. |
EE offers 250 minutes, unlimited texts and 1GB of data on their 
On 
Three offers a “supercharged” Pay As You Go service with Data Pack bundles starting from £10/month. For a £10 top-up, you’ll get unlimited minutes, unlimited texts and 10GB of data. The allowances within your bundle can be used in the UK and 
Vodafone offers a choice of two tariffs on Pay As You Go.The following virtual network operators also provide a Pay As You Go service:
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1pMobile 9% of our readers choose to join 1pMobile*
On 1pMobile, you’ll pay 1p/minute, 1p/text and 1p/MB. There is no ongoing monthly charge for using your 1pMobile SIM card. You’ll get 3G and 4G coverage from the EE network. At present, 1pMobile has the lowest Pay As You Go rates of any mobile network in the UK. However, it’s worth bearing in mind that they require you to top-up by at least £10 every 120 days (equivalent to £30 per year). If you don’t top-up by at least £10 every 120 days, your account will be closed and your phone number will be lost. For this reason, 1pMobile may not be suitable for very light users wanting a SIM card mainly for emergencies. |
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ASDA Mobile 29% 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 range of competitive 30-day bundles. For instance, you can get 600 minutes, unlimited texts and 7GB of data for £10/month. Alternatively, there’s 2.5GB of data for £7/month or 10GB of data for £15/month. To take advantage of the offer, you should order a free SIM card from the ASDA Mobile website. |
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CMLink 0.7% of our readers choose to join CMLink*
CMLink is a Pay As You Go provider, designed for customers who have a connection to China. Customers can buy a bundle on CMLink from £5.99/month, with 1000 international minutes being included for calling Mainland China and Hong Kong. Customers can also roam at no extra charge when travelling to Mainland China and Hong Kong. In the UK, customers on CMLink have access to 3G and 4G coverage on EE. |
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giffgaff 11% of our readers choose to join giffgaff*
giffgaff is a low-cost mobile service running on the O2 network. They currently offer 6GB of data for £10/month, with this goodybag also including unlimited minutes and unlimited texts. Heavy data users can get 15GB of data for £15/month or 80GB of data for £20/month. Always-On data is available for £25/month. For more information, see the giffgaff website. |
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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, iD Mobile’s 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 4GB 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 so an iD Mobile SIM card will not work in a 2G-only device. |
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Lebara Mobile 0.7% 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 international phone calls included on the plan. For instance, you’ll currently get 100 international minutes, unlimited UK minutes, 1000 UK texts and 3GB of data for £10/month. Alternatively, light users can pay Lebara Mobile’s discounted rates to call abroad from 1p/minute. Lebara Mobile offers 2G, 3G and 4G coverage from Vodafone. For more information, see our full Lebara Mobile review. |
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Lycamobile 0.7% 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 charged at 19p/minute and texts to a UK mobile are charged at 19p each. You can read our full review of Lycamobile here. |
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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). In July 2018, customers remaining on Orange Pay As You Go were migrated to EE. |
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The Phone Co-op 2% of our readers choose to join The Phone Co-op*
The Phone Co-op (previously known as 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. In June 2018, The Phone Co-op became a part of The Midcounties Co-operative. Since the merger, you’ll earn 12 points for every £1 you spend on the network, which is equivalent to 5% back on your spend. |
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RWG Mobile 1% of our readers choose to join RWG Mobile*
RWG Mobile advertises itself as “the mobile network for Wales”. It uses coverage from the EE network, and offers bilingual customer support in both English and Welsh. |
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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 bundle costs £10/month and gives you 500 minutes, 5000 texts and 4GB of data. For lighter users not buying a Rocket Pack, Tesco Mobile also has the Triple Credit tariff. Here, you’ll pay 25p/minute, 10p/text and 10p/MB. However, when you top-up your phone with £10, you’ll get £20 of bonus free credit which lasts for one month. For more information, please read our full review of Tesco Mobile Pay As You Go. |
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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 offers 4G connectivity and has Everything Pack bundles that are very similar to T-Mobile’s Smart Packs. 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. |
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Vectone Mobile 0.4% 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. |
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Virgin Mobile
As of August 2019, Virgin Mobile is no longer available to new Pay As You Go customers. Previously, it was possible to buy a JAM Pack bundle from £10/month on Virgin. However, these bundles weren’t very competitive and they were restricted to 3G download speeds on the EE network. If you’re looking for an alternative mobile network that uses EE coverage, we’d recommend getting an ASDA Mobile SIM card. They offer 4GB of data for £10/month (twice what was previously available on Virgin Mobile’s JAM Packs) along with faster 4G coverage from EE. Virgin Mobile still continues to offer Pay Monthly SIM cards. |
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VOXI 20% of our readers choose to join VOXI*
VOXI is Vodafone’s low-cost Pay As You Go network. Customers can buy a one-month bundle from £10 with unlimited minutes, unlimited texts, 6GB of data and endless social data included. For more information, read our full review of the VOXI network. |
ASDA Mobile offers a free Pay As You Go SIM card with 
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 VOXI.
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 15th December 2019 to the 15th March 2020.
** 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.
Shaun McDonald said:
There’s also Zevvle who have tiered pay as you go data with option of either pay as you go calls and texts or unlimited. Very useful if you have spiky data usage from month to month as you don’t need to worry about the out of bundle charges or coping and changing which bundle you are on.
A new mobile network, Zevvle, is launching and giving away 1 million shares. You can sign up at https://zevvle.com/signup?rid=DDC124 🚀
James Hanlon said:
Now retired and looking for the cheapest of cheap PAYG for the odd phone call when I am out. Don’t want a monthly contract of any sort as I won’t get value for money. Just want to keep in touch with friends.
Ken replied:
Hi James,
Thanks for your comment. Take a look into my recommended SIM cards for light mobile users, which don’t require you to top-up every month.
Hope this helps,
Ken
James Hanlon replied:
Thanks Ken for your prompt service. I will look into one of the providers that you sent me. Much obliged!
Edward Elliott said:
Try smarty PAYG on the 3 network £10 for 30gb unlimited texts and phone calls