O2 offers Pay As You Go bundles from £10/month. Compare their top-up bundles, including Big Bundles & Rolling Plans.

In the UK, O2 offers a range of Pay As You Go bundles, starting from £10 per month. Available with no contract & no credit check, you can choose from a range of Big Bundles and Rolling Plans for your phone.

At present, you can get up to 10GB data for a £10 monthly top-up on O2. You’ll also get unlimited UK minutes and unlimited UK texts. There’s also data rollover included, along with access to O2 Priority and O2 Rewards.

Get O2 Pay As You Go SIM Card (Free) →

When you order a Pay As You Go SIM card through this link on the Big Bundles plan, you can claim £10 of free Pay As You Go credit once you’ve activated your SIM card.

In this article, we’ll review O2’s Pay As You Go service, along with the Big Bundles and the Rolling Plans that are available on it. We’ll also look at the features included, along with the coverage available and how you can keep your current phone number when you switch to O2.

Bundles From: £10 per month
Contract Length: No contract & no credit check
Rolling Plans:
  • 10GB data for £10
  • 30GB data for £15
  • 50GB data for £20
  • 150GB data for £30

Rolling plans are online-only and require automatic monthly payments to be set up.

Big Bundles:
  • 8GB data for £10
  • 25GB data for £15
  • 40GB data for £20
  • 125GB data for £30
Coverage: 99% population coverage on 4G
(check postcode)

Bundles & Pricing

O2 is one of the UK’s largest Pay As You Go mobile networks. They currently offer two types of Pay As You Go plan:

In both cases, there’s no contract and no credit check required. You’ll also benefit from data rollover, O2 Rewards, O2 Priority and EU roaming on both types of plan.

The following table shows a side-by-side comparison of O2’s Big Bundles and Rolling Plans:

Big Bundles Rolling Plans
Plans From: £10 per month £10 per month
Data Allowances
£10 per month: 8GB data 10GB data
£15 per month: 25GB data 30GB data
£20 per month: 40GB data 50GB data
£30 per month: 125GB data 150GB data
Plan Features
Payment Method: Manual top-up or
automatic payments
Automatic payments only
UK Minutes & Texts: Unlimited Unlimited
International Calls: None (£10 & £15 bundle)
50 minutes (£20 bundle)
250 minutes (£30 bundle)
None (£10 rolling plan)
100 minutes (£15 & £20 rolling plan)
500 minutes (£30 rolling plan)
Data Rollover: Yes (core data only) Yes (core data only)
EU Roaming: Yes (up to 25GB) Yes (up to 25GB)
More Information: O2 Big Bundles Webpage O2 Rolling Plans Webpage

Big Bundles

On O2’s Big Bundles plan, you can convert your Pay As You Go credit into a one-month allowance of UK minutes, texts and mobile data.

At present, you’ll get 8GB data for £10 per month. There’s also a £15, £20 and £30 Big Bundle available with even more data.

The following table shows O2’s Big Bundle plans:

NetworkMinutesTextsDataMonthly
Cost
O2UnlimitedUnlimited8GB£10.00
O2UnlimitedUnlimited25GB£15.00
O2UnlimitedUnlimited40GB£20.00
O2UnlimitedUnlimited125GB£30.00

Order O2 Pay As You Go SIM Card (Free) →

As a special offer, you’ll get £10 of free credit when you order your O2 Big Bundles SIM card online. Upon arrival, you’ll have 28 days to activate your SIM card. You can then text FREE10 to 21500 to claim your £10 of free credit.

You’ll get 50 international minutes included on the £20 Big Bundle and 250 international minutes included on the £30 Big Bundle. These are valid for calling 42 destinations.

In the past, O2 also offered a £5 Big Bundle. This is no longer available for new customers.

Rolling Plans

For a larger data allowance, it’s worth choosing one of O2’s rolling plans instead of a Big Bundle.

To get a rolling plan, you’ll need to order your SIM card online. When it arrives, you’ll need to set up automatic monthly top-ups before you’re able to buy a rolling plan. The automatic top-ups can save you time as there will be no need to manually top-up your phone every month. At the same time, you’ll retain the flexibility to pause, change or cancel your plan at any time.

You’ll get 10GB data on O2’s £10 rolling plan (increased from the 8GB data allowance on the £10 Big Bundle). For even more data, you can choose the £15, £20 or £30 rolling plans.

The following table shows O2’s rolling plans:

NetworkMinutesTextsDataMonthly
Cost
O2UnlimitedUnlimited10GB£10.00
O2UnlimitedUnlimited30GB£15.00
O2UnlimitedUnlimited50GB£20.00
O2UnlimitedUnlimited150GB£30.00

Order O2 Rolling Plan SIM Card (Free) →

You’ll also get 100 international minutes included on the £15 and £20 rolling plans from O2. Meanwhile, customers choosing the £30 rolling plan will get 500 international minutes included every month. These are valid for calling 42 destinations.

Bundle Codes

If you already have an O2 Pay As You Go SIM card, you can buy a Big Bundle through the My O2 app. Alternatively, you can send a text message as follows:

Bundle Required Bundle Code for Opting In
£5 Big Bundle (no data) Text BIGBUNDLE5 to 21300 – for existing customers only
£10 Big Bundle (with 8GB data) Text 10DATABB to 21300
£15 Big Bundle (with 25GB data) Text 15DATABB to 21300
£20 Big Bundle (with 40GB data) Text 20DATABB to 21300
£30 Big Bundle (with 125GB data) Text 30DATABB to 21300

For customers ordering a new SIM card through this link, it’s also possible to get £10 of free Pay As You Go credit by sending a text message as follows:

O2 Pay As You Go Offer SMS Code for Opting In
£10 of free credit
(available for 28 days only after your ordering SIM through this page)
Text FREE10 to 21500

It isn’t possible to buy a rolling plan by text message. Instead, you’ll need to order and activate your O2 rolling plan SIM card online.

Pay As You Go Rates

Top Up Logo

If you don’t have an active Pay As You Go bundle on your account, you’ll pay O2’s standard Pay As You Go rates for any usage. These are 55p/minute, 30p/text and £2/day for up to 100MB of data.

The following table shows the out-of-bundle rates on O2 Pay As You Go:

Calling Rates:
Voice Calls 55p/minute (any network, any time)
Calls to Voicemail 35p/call (when outside of allowances)
Calls to Special Rate Numbers 55p/minute access charge
+ service charge from the company you’re calling
Messaging Rates:
Text Message (SMS) 30p
Picture Message (MMS) 55p
Internet Rates:
Mobile Data £2/day

The prices in this table are stated for UK-to-UK only. If you’re travelling abroad or making an international phone call, higher charges will normally apply. Source for pricing information: O2 [1, 2].

If you have an old O2 SIM card on the Classic Pay As You Go plan, the Pay As You Go rates listed above will not apply to you.

O2 Pay As You Go Features

Data Rollover

You can benefit from data rollover on both the Big Bundles and rolling plans from O2. This is only available when your bundle renews automatically (so you’ll either need to have automatic top-ups, or you’ll need to top-up manually before your current bundle expires).

To give an example, if you have 1GB of unused data on the £10 Big Bundle, you’d receive an extra 1GB of data in the following month’s bundle. This would increase your data allowance from 8GB to 9GB per month. Data rollover is only available on your core data allowance, and excludes promotional data.

O2 Rewards & O2 Priority

As an O2 Pay As You Go customer, you’ll benefit from both O2 Rewards and the O2 Priority programme.

  • With O2 Rewards, you’ll earn up to 10% of your top-ups back as a reward (5% for your first six months, then 10% after the first six months). This can be taken in the form of Pay As You Go credit, or used for discounts elsewhere (e.g. at an O2 store, at Ticketmaster or for selected high street vouchers).
  • With O2 Priority, you’ll get exclusive access to Priority Tickets at gigs and other events across the UK. You can also benefit from other offers and freebies, such as a free coffee and a free sausage roll from Greggs each week.

Inclusive European Roaming

O2’s Pay As You Go plans come with inclusive roaming in 43 European destinations. You’ll be able to use the minutes, texts and data from your plan at no extra cost when you travel (up to a maximum of 25GB data per month).

For more information, see O2’s guide to roaming in Europe.

Network & Coverage

In the UK, O2 offers 99% population coverage. If you’re using an O2 Pay As You Go SIM card, you’ll have access to 2G, 3G and 4G coverage from O2.

Before you sign up for O2 Pay As You Go (either Big Bundles or a Rolling Plan), we’d strongly recommended checking O2’s coverage in your area. You can do this by entering your postcode on O2’s online coverage map:

Check O2 Coverage (o2.co.uk) →

It’s worth checking the coverage available at your home address, as well as other places where you regularly spend a lot of time (e.g. at your workplace, school, university, etc).

Unfortunately, 5G coverage isn’t currently available to O2 Pay As You Go customers. If you’d like access to 5G, you’ll need to get an O2 Pay Monthly SIM card instead. Alternatively, there are other 5G Pay As You Go providers using coverage from O2 (e.g. giffgaff).

Keeping Your Phone Number

If you’re switching from another mobile network to O2, it’s a straightforward process to keep your current phone number.

Start by asking your current mobile network to provide you with a PAC Code. You can get this through your mobile network’s website or app, or by texting PAC to 65075.

Once you have the PAC Code from your old network, order your new Pay As You Go phone or SIM card from O2’s website. When it arrives, you’ll be able to provide the PAC Code to O2 through this online form. Once you’ve submitted the form, the phone number transfer will be scheduled (normally for the next working day).

For a step-by-step guide on moving your phone number to O2, please select your current mobile network from the drop down menu below:

PAC Code Finder: Transfer Your Phone Number to O2

Select your current mobile network:

  More Options

Unfortunately, it isn’t possible to move Pay As You Go credit from your old mobile network to O2. For this reason, you should try to use it up before you move your phone number to O2.

Frequently Asked Questions

What Pay As You Go bundles are available on O2?
O2 currently offers the following Pay As You Go bundles:
  • £10 Big Bundle: Unlimited minutes, unlimited texts and 8GB data.
  • £15 Big Bundle: Unlimited minutes, unlimited texts and 25GB data.
  • £20 Big Bundle: Unlimited minutes, unlimited texts and 40GB data. Also includes 50 international minutes to 42 destinations.
  • £30 Big Bundle: Unlimited minutes, unlimited texts and 125GB data. Also includes 250 international minutes to 42 destinations.

If you’re happy to set up automatic monthly payments, you’ll get even more data included on O2’s rolling plans. For instance, the £10 rolling plan comes with 10GB data per month.

How do I get £10 of free credit on O2 Pay As You Go?
When you order an O2 Pay As You Go SIM card through this link, you’ll get £10 of free credit when you activate it and top-up your SIM card within 28 days. Once you’ve done this, text FREE10 to 21500 to claim your £10 of free credit.
How much do I need to top-up by each time?
On O2’s Pay As You Go service, there’s a minimum top-up of £10 each time. This would convert into a £10 Big Bundle giving you unlimited UK minutes, unlimited UK texts and 7GB data for one month.
What are the standard Pay As You Go rates on O2?
If you don’t have an active Pay As You Go bundle on your account, you’ll pay 55p/minute and 30p/text. You’ll also pay £2/day for using data on your phone. Because this can very quickly add up, we’d only recommend using your phone if you have an active bundle on your account.
What coverage will I get on O2 Pay As You Go?
You’ll get 99% population coverage on O2’s 2G, 3G and 4G mobile networks in the UK. You can check the availability of coverage in your area by entering your postcode on O2’s online coverage map.
Will I get access to 5G on O2 Pay As You Go?
No. 5G coverage isn’t currently available on O2’s Pay As You Go service. For access to 5G, you’ll need to choose an O2 Pay Monthly plan, or another 5G plan using coverage from O2.
Can I keep my current phone number?
Yes. It’s easy to keep your current phone number. Simply ask your current mobile network to provide you with a PAC Code. This can be obtained through your mobile network’s website or app, or by texting PAC to 65075. You should then provide this PAC Code to O2 once you’ve ordered your Pay As You Go plan.

More Information

For more information, please see O2’s official website. You can also order a free Pay As You Go SIM card from O2.

Your Comments 98 so far

We'd love to hear your thoughts and any questions you may have. So far, we've received 98 comments from readers. You can add your own comment here.

    • Hi Dan,
      Thanks for your comment. Unfortunately, the Volt benefits are only available on O2’s Pay Monthly SIM cards so you won’t be able to get it on O2’s Pay As You Go or rolling plans 🙁 Sorry about that!
      Ken

  • O2 seem to take a Humpty Dumpty approach to their terminology*. For me PAYG means that if you don’t use the service you don’t pay. £10+ pm rather invalidates that.

    * “When I use a word,’ Humpty Dumpty said in rather a scornful tone, ‘it means just what I choose it to mean — neither more nor less.’

    • Hi Pete,
      I do agree somewhat, though there is an important advantage compared to one-month rolling Pay Monthly plans in that you can decide to pause your plan at any time without your SIM card getting disconnected from the mobile network. For instance, you can decide to buy a one-month bundle for November and then switch it off for December (whilst still being able to receive incoming calls, text messages, etc). You could then resume it at some point next year. That gives you a bit of extra flexibility which some people find quite helpful (e.g. they’ll only buy a bundle in the months where they actually need it).
      Ken

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