By Three offers unlimited data plans from £20 per month. See Three’s best unlimited data deals & compare the plans available.
In the UK, Three is currently offering unlimited data for just £20 per month (reduced from the normal price of £24 per month on Three’s website). You’ll get unlimited data and 5G coverage with no hidden limits (either on how much you can download or on the maximum download speeds available).
Alongside their £20 unlimited data plan, Three also offers a range of other plans to choose from with unlimited data. This includes a £23 unlimited data plan (12 month contract). There are also ‘Unlimited Value’ and ‘Unlimited Complete’ plans with inclusive roaming and Paramount+.
Get Unlimited Data for £20 per month →
In this article, we’ll review Three’s unlimited data plans. We’ll look at the features you’ll get included and how Three’s unlimited data plan compares to other networks. We’ll also look at Three’s 4G & 5G coverage, and how you can keep your current phone number when you switch to Three.
| Prices From: | £20 per month |
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| Contract Length: | 1 month, 12 month or 24 months |
| Unlimited Data Deals: |
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| Inclusive Features: |
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| Fair Usage: | No fair usage limits or speed restrictions. Personal use only. |
| Coverage: |
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Contents
Three Unlimited Data Plans
In the UK, Three currently offers “truly unlimited data” plans from £20 per month. This is discounted from the normal price of £24 per month.
On all of Three’s unlimited data plans (including ‘Unlimited Lite’), you’ll get unlimited UK minutes and unlimited UK texts. You’ll also get unlimited personal hotspot, along with 5G at no extra cost. There’s also the Three+ app for exclusive offers from a range of brands such as Cineworld and Caffè Nero.
If you choose one of Three’s Unlimited Value or Unlimited Complete plans, you’ll also get an inclusive Paramount+ subscription and inclusive international roaming. For customers buying a new handset on these plans, there’s also an extended 36-month warranty. Unlimited Complete plans also include a screen repair.
The following table shows a side-by-side comparison of Three’s unlimited data plans:
| Unlimited Lite | Unlimited Value | Unlimited Complete | |
|---|---|---|---|
 |
 |
 |
|
| Monthly Price | |||
| 24 month plan | £20 per month (normally £24/month) |
£23 per month (exclusive plan) |
£26 per month (exclusive plan) |
| 12 month plan | £23 per month (normally £28/month) |
£28 per month (exclusive plan) |
£33 per month (exclusive plan) |
| 1 month rolling | £31 per month | – | – |
| Inclusive Allowances | |||
| Minutes & Texts |
Unlimited | Unlimited | Unlimited |
| Data | Unlimited | Unlimited | Unlimited |
| Personal Hotspot | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ |
| Speed | 5G with no speed limits | 5G with no speed limits | 5G with no speed limits |
| Additional Plan Features | |||
| Three+ Offers |
✔ Yes | ✔ Yes | ✔ Yes |
| Paramount+ | ✘ No | ✔ First half of plan | ✔ Entire plan |
| Inclusive Roaming | ✘ Chargeable | ✔ 14 days per year | ✔ 28 days per year |
| Additional Phone Plan Features | |||
| Extended Warranty | ✘ Standard warranty (12-24 months) | ✔ Yes (36 months) | ✔ Yes (36 months) |
| Screen Repair | ✘ No | ✘ No | ✔ One repair |
In the following section, we’ll look at each of these plans in more detail.
Unlimited Lite
For most people, we’d recommend Three’s £20 unlimited data plan. This will give you unlimited data at the lowest possible price. You’ll also benefit from an exclusive discount against the normal price of £24 per month.
If you’re looking for a shorter and more flexible tariff, the 12-month unlimited standard plan at £23 per month is also worth considering.
| Plan | Data | Monthly Cost (will rise each April by £1.50) |
|
|---|---|---|---|
Lite
| Unlimited data | £20.00 per month 24 month contract | See deal |
Lite
| Unlimited data | £23.00 per month 12 month contract | See deal |
Lite
| Unlimited data | £31.00 per month 1 month contract | See deal |
You won’t get inclusive roaming on the Unlimited Lite plan. Instead, you’ll pay the standard Go Roam rates for using your mobile phone abroad (£2 per day to use your phone in Europe, and £5 per day to use your phone in Go Roam destinations around the world).
Unlimited Value
For inclusive access to the Paramount+ service and 14 days of inclusive roaming each year, you can upgrade to an Unlimited Value plan (available from £23 per month). Although it’s £5 per month more expensive than Unlimited Lite, it’s still cheaper than buying the standard plan at the normal price of £24 per month.
On Unlimited Value, you’ll get an inclusive subscription to Paramount+ (worth £6.99 per month), lasting for the first half of your plan. This means, for instance, you’ll get a 12-month Paramount+ subscription on a 24-month plan, or a 6-month Paramount+ subscription on a 12-month plan.
In addition, you’ll get 14 daily Go Roam passes to use with your plan each year, allowing you to use your mobile phone abroad at no extra cost in 71 destinations. Depending on where you’re travelling to, this can save you up to £5 per day when you travel abroad.
| Plan | Data | Monthly Cost (will rise each April by £1.50) |
|
|---|---|---|---|
Value
| Unlimited data | £23.00 per month 24 month contract | See deal |
Value
| Unlimited data | £28.00 per month 12 month contract | See deal |
If you buy a mobile phone on an Unlimited Value handset plan, you’ll also get an extended warranty lasting for 36 months. This compares to the standard manufacturer warranty (12 months on Apple devices and 24 months on other devices).
Unlimited Complete
If you’re looking for the most fully-featured plan, you can get Three’s £26 Unlimited Complete plan. This comes with Paramount+ included for the entire length of your plan. You’ll also get 28 daily Go Roam passes to use each year.
| Plan | Data | Monthly Cost (will rise each April by £1.50) |
|
|---|---|---|---|
Complete
| Unlimited data | £26.00 per month 24 month contract | See deal |
Complete
| Unlimited data | £33.00 per month 12 month contract | See deal |
In addition, customers buying a mobile phone on an Unlimited Complete plan will get an extended warranty lasting for 36 months. You’ll also get one inclusive screen repair, should it be required.
Download Speeds
Regardless of which plan you choose, you’ll get 5G at no extra cost, with no hidden download speed limits or fair use limits. This is confirmed on Three’s website:
All SIMs are 5G Ready at no extra cost.
Our Unlimited data plans are the best, because the data is truly Unlimited and you never need to worry about your next bill. There are no speed caps, no data caps, and no hidden limits when you’re using our Unlimited data in the UK.
When you’re connected to Three’s 5G network, you can expect average download speeds in excess of 200Mbps. In some cases, you may even be able to get peak download speeds of up to 1,000Mbps (1Gbps) when you’re connected to 5G. As Three’s 5G network uses 100MHz of contiguous spectrum, this allows them to offer faster download speeds than other UK networks.
Alternatively, if you’re using Three’s 4G network, you can expect an average download speed in the region of 20-30Mbps. This can vary substantially depending on your location, with peak download speeds of 300Mbps sometimes being available on 4G.
Fair Usage Policy
On Three, there’s no fair usage limit for unlimited data inside the UK. Instead, the main restriction is that you can’t use the service for “commercial, resale or fraudulent purposes”.
Is there any limit on Unlimited data?
There’s no hidden caps or limits when you use Unlimited in the UK. You’ll get all the access to the internet you’d normally need, without hefty bills. So you can binge to your heart’s content. But use of our services for commercial, resale or fraudulent purposes isn’t allowed. You can read more about this in our Terms for Three Services.
If you’re travelling outside the UK, a fair use limit will apply for the Go Roam service. This is 3000 minutes, 5000 texts and 12GB data per month. A daily fee of £2 will apply for using Go Roam in Europe and a daily fee of £5 for using Go Roam Around The World. This is unless you have an Unlimited Value or Complete plan, in which case you’ll get a certain number of daily Go Roam passes included each year.
Three has been offering unlimited data plans in the UK since 2010. Previously, these plans were referred to as having all-you-can-eat data to emphasise the fact there were no hidden fair usage limits.
Prior to September 2019, Three had a 1,000GB per month threshold that was used to identify non-permitted commercial usage of their service. Three has confirmed to us in writing that this 1,000GB per month threshold is no longer in place, with all of their unlimited data customers now having no data cap on their plan.
Comparison to Alternatives
At present, you’ll pay £20 per month for Three’s unlimited data SIM card. It’s one of the UK’s best value unlimited data plans, especially when you consider the uncapped 5G speeds available.
| Network | Data | Monthly Cost (will rise each April by £1.50) |
|
|---|---|---|---|
| Unlimited data | £20.00 per month 24 month contract | See deal |
If you’re looking for a shorter 12-month plan, Three also has a £23 unlimited data SIM card:
| Network | Data | Monthly Cost (will rise each April by £1.50) |
|
|---|---|---|---|
| Unlimited data | £23.00 per month 12 month contract | See deal |
Finally, if you’re looking for maximum flexibility, Three has a £31 rolling monthly plan. However, this works out to be comparatively expensive. Instead, you could consider getting your unlimited data SIM card from SMARTY. SMARTY offers unlimited data for £16 per month with no contract, and 5G coverage from the Three network.
| Network | Data | Monthly Cost | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Unlimited data | £16.00 per month 1 month rolling | See deal |
| Unlimited data | £31.00 per month 1 month contract Monthly cost will rise each April by £1.50 | See deal |
Other Mobile Networks
If you’re also considering other mobile networks for your unlimited data plan, the following table shows a side-by-side comparison of the available options:
| Network | Data | Monthly Cost | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Unlimited data | £16.00 per month 1 month rolling | See deal |
| Unlimited data | £20.00 per month 24 month contract Monthly cost will rise each April by RPI inflation plus 3.9% | See deal |
| Unlimited data | £20.00 per month 24 month contract Monthly cost will rise each April by £1.50 | See deal |
| Unlimited data | £22.50 per month 12 month contract | See deal |
| Unlimited data | £25.00 per month 24 month contract Monthly cost will rise each April by CPI inflation plus 3.9% | See deal |
| Unlimited data | £25.00 per month 18 month contract | See deal |
| Unlimited data 100Mbps max speed | £27.00 per month 24 month contract Monthly cost will rise each March by £1.50 | See deal |
| Unlimited data 100Mbps max speed | £27.00 per month 24 month contract Monthly cost will rise each April by £1.80 | See deal |
| Unlimited data | £35.00 per month 1 month rolling | See deal |
For more information, see our full guide to unlimited data plans in the UK.
Network & Coverage
4G & 5G Coverage
In the UK, Three offers 99.8% population coverage on 4G and more than 56% population coverage on 5G. You can get average download speed in excess of 200Mbps on Three’s 5G network, with peak download speeds of 1,000Mbps (1Gbps).
Before you join Three, we’d strongly recommend checking the coverage in your area. You can do this by entering your postcode on Three’s online coverage map:
Check Three Coverage (three.co.uk) →
You’ll also get Wi-Fi Calling and 4G Calling included on all of Three’s unlimited data plans (subject to you having a compatible device).
For more information, see our guide to Three’s mobile network coverage.
Tethering & Personal Hotspot
Tethering or personal hotspot refers to the process of sharing your smartphone’s internet connection with another device (e.g. with your laptop or tablet). It’s a convenient way of sharing your unlimited data allowance with other tethered devices.
On Three, there’s no limit on how much data you can share through tethering or personal hotspot. In addition, there’s no limit on how many devices you can connect at the same time. This differs from several other networks (such as EE, giffgaff and O2) who limit tethering to a maximum of 12 devices at the same time.
Prior to October 2018, Three had a separate 30GB data allowance for tethering on their plans. This separate 30GB allowance was scrapped in 2019 as a result of net neutrality. Therefore, you can now use as much data as you like for tethering and personal hotspot.
International Coverage
On Three’s unlimited data plans, you can pay a fixed daily charge to use your UK allowances abroad in 71 destinations.
If you’re travelling to most European destinations, you’ll pay a fixed charge of £2 per day. A fair usage limit of 12GB per month will apply, with further usage being surcharged at 0.3p/MB.
If you’re travelling to a Go Roam Around The World destination, you’ll pay a fixed daily charge of £5/day. This comes with a fair usage limit of 3000 minutes, 5000 texts and 12GB data per month. If you exceed these limits, you’ll need to wait until the following month for your roaming data allowance to refresh.
You’ll get a certain number of daily Go Roam passes included when you choose an Unlimited Value or Unlimited Complete plan from Three.
Keeping Your Phone Number
If you’re joining one of Three’s unlimited data plans, it’s a straightforward process keeping your current phone number.
Start by asking your current mobile network to provide you with a PAC Code. You can get one by texting PAC to 65075, or requesting it online through your mobile network’s website or app. You can then order your new phone or SIM card from Three’s website.
When your new phone or SIM card arrives from Three, fill out this form on their website. After submitting your PAC Code through the form, Three will schedule the transfer of your phone number (normally for the next working day). In the meantime, you’ll continue to receive a service from your old provider.
For step-by-step instructions on transferring your phone number to Three, please select your current mobile network from the drop-down menu below:
For more information, see our full guide to transferring your phone number between networks.
Frequently Asked Questions
| How much do unlimited data plans cost on Three? | At present, you can get unlimited data for £20 per month on Three. This is reduced from the normal price of £24 per month on Three’s website.
Three’s unlimited data plan includes 5G at no extra cost, along with access to the Three+ app and unlimited personal hotspot usage. If you choose an Unlimited Value or Unlimited Complete plan, you’ll also get Paramount+ included, along with some daily Go Roam passes. |
|---|---|
| Is there a fair usage limit for unlimited data on Three? | No. There are no fair usage limits for unlimited data inside the UK. The only requirement is that you use it for your own personal usage and not for commercial, resale or fraudulent purposes.
If you’re travelling abroad to another country and using the Go Roam offer, a 12GB per month fair usage limit will apply when abroad. |
| What download speeds will I get? | You’ll have access to 5G at no extra cost on Three’s unlimited data plans. This gives you average download speeds of around 200Mbps, so long as you’re within Three’s 5G coverage area. You can access peak download speeds of up to 1,000Mbps on 5G.
On Three’s 4G network, you’ll normally be able to access download speeds of around 20-30Mbps. In some cases, this can go up to a maximum of 300Mbps. |
| Can I use tethering or personal hotspot on Three’s unlimited data plans? | Yes. You can use tethering or personal hotspot to share your unlimited data allowance with other devices. There’s no limit on how much data you’re able to share through tethering and no limit on how many devices you’re able to connect at the same time. |
| What coverage will I get on Three? | Three offers the following coverage in the UK:
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| Can I keep my current phone number? | Yes. You can keep your current phone number when you switch to Three. Just ask your current mobile network to provide you with a PAC Code. You can get one through their website or app, or by texting PAC to 65075. You’ll need to give this PAC Code to Three after you sign up. |
More Information
For more information about unlimited data on Three, please see Three’s official website.
You may also find it useful to read our overview of unlimited data plans in the UK.
Dave Johnson said:
I tether my smart tv to my phone as broadband is not in our area. I have absolutely no problem doing this.
3s supply is perfect, so much so I bought a sim only for my wife and she to has no problem.
3 are the best supplier I’ve ever used.
graham dale said:
i just have the 3 router/dongle but keep running out of data is there a unlimited data deal for me to upgrade to?
Ken replied:
Hi Graham,
Thanks for your comment. If you like, you can order an unlimited data SIM card from Three for £16 per month, which you can use inside your router or dongle.
Hope this helps,
Ken
Melany said:
After being with Tesco for 6 years, I thought long and decided to go with three. This was January this year.
In the beginning first 4-5 weeks everything seemed fine with my all you can eat data, but now I am certain it is throttled. I’m using my phone as hotspot, and right now, as I type, I’m struggling to download the three app.
The speed is reading 0.53mbps with a ping of 480ms..shambles.
I’ve been trying to download the three app for the past hour, as stupidly, it’s the only way you can contact three…due to coronavirus they say.
But they haven’t stopped or reduced the monthly charge they take out of my account.
Terrible absolutely terrible