On Vodafone’s Pay As You Go 1, you’ll pay £1 per day for unlimited minutes, unlimited texts and 50MB of data.

In the UK, Vodafone offers a plan called Pay As You Go 1 where you can use your mobile phone for £1 per day. This gives you unlimited minutes, unlimited texts and 50MB of data to use the same day.

There are no regular monthly charges on Vodafone Pay As You Go 1. Instead, you’re only charged on the days that you actually use your mobile phone for calling, texting or using data over the mobile network. On days when you don’t use your mobile phone (or when you only use wi-fi), you won’t pay anything that day.

In this article, we’ll review Vodafone’s Pay As You Go 1. We’ll start by looking at how the price plan works, how much it’ll cost you and what the £1 daily charge includes. We’ll then compare it to Vodafone’s Pay As You Go bundles and similar price plans that are available on other networks. Finally, we’ll look at the coverage on Vodafone and how you can keep your current phone number when moving to the plan.

Order Vodafone Pay As You Go 1 SIM Card (Free) →

Vodafone Pay As You Go 1

Pay As You Go 1 Charges & Rates

On Vodafone’s Pay As You Go 1 price plan, there are no regular monthly charges. You’ll only pay on the days that you actually use your mobile phone for calling, texting or mobile data on Vodafone’s 3G and 4G network.

The daily charge of £1 gives you unlimited UK minutes, unlimited UK texts and 50MB of mobile data for the rest of the day. It doesn’t include things like special rate calling (e.g. to an 084 or 087 number) or international phone calls which continue to be charged for separately.

There are certain things that won’t trigger the £1 daily charge. For instance, if you’re only using the internet over Wi-Fi at home, you won’t be charged for this by Vodafone. Also, incoming phone calls and text messages are free. These also won’t trigger a £1 daily charge.

Because there’s no minimum daily charge or required monthly top-up, this makes Pay As You Go 1 an ideal option for light users who don’t use their phone every day.

Order Vodafone SIM Card (Free) →

£1 Daily Charge

One of the key features of Vodafone’s Pay As You Go 1 is the £1 daily charge. When you trigger this £1 charge, you’ll get unlimited minutes, unlimited texts and 50MB of data to use for the rest of the day.

Only standard UK phone calls, text messages, MMS picture messages and mobile data usage will count towards your £1 daily spend limit. Other things such as special-rate phone calls and international phone calls are charged for as an additional service, outside of the £1 daily charge.

If you use more than 50MB of data in one day, you’ll be offered Vodafone’s £1 Data Extra add-on. This gives you another 50MB of data to use on the same day. You can only buy the Data Extra add-on once every day. For this reason, the maximum amount of mobile data you can use is capped at 100MB per day.

Prior to the 12th January 2021, the £1 daily charge would allow you to use up to 500MB of data in one day. In addition, you were only charged 20p/minute, 20p/text and 20p per 5MB of data before you reached the £1 daily limit. On the 12th January 2021, this was changed so a £1 charge would be applied as soon as you use your mobile phone. The inclusive data allowance was also reduced from 500MB to 50MB per day.

Pay As You Go Bundles

As an alternative to Pay As You Go 1, Vodafone also offers a number of Big Value Bundles. These are 30-day plans giving you an allowance of minutes, texts and data to use at any time over the 30-day period. It will typically work out to be better value buying a bundle if you use your phone for more than 10 days per month.

The following Pay As You Go bundles will give you a monthly allowance of minutes, texts and data from £10/month:

NetworkMinutesTextsDataMonthly
Cost
VodafoneUnlimitedUnlimited7GB£10.00
VodafoneUnlimitedUnlimited20GB£15.00
VodafoneUnlimitedUnlimited40GB£20.00
VodafoneUnlimitedUnlimited100GB£30.00

As well as Vodafone’s own Pay As You Go bundles, you should also consider getting a Pay As You Go bundle from VOXI instead. VOXI is the low-cost sub-brand of Vodafone offering better value bundles and larger amounts of data. For instance, you can get unlimited minutes, unlimited texts, 30GB of data and endless social media data for £10/month.

The following table shows a list of VOXI’s Pay As You Go bundles:

NetworkMinutesTextsDataMonthly
Cost
VOXIUnlimitedUnlimited30GB£10.00
VOXIUnlimitedUnlimited20GB£12.00
VOXIUnlimitedUnlimited90GB£15.00
VOXIUnlimitedUnlimited100GB£20.00
VOXIUnlimitedUnlimitedUnlimited£30.00

On VOXI, you’ll benefit from the same coverage as customers on Vodafone. It’s also possible to access 5G on VOXI from £15/month, with endless video streaming on YouTube, Amazon Prime Video, Netflix, My5, TVPlayer and UKTV Play.

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

In the past, Vodafone also offered a range of Freebie deals on Pay As You Go, where you’d get a 30-day allowance every time you topped up your phone by £10 or more (e.g. Freebie Minutes, Freebie Texts, Freebie Data and Freebie International Minutes). Unfortunately, the Freebie deals are no longer available to new customers.

Changing To Pay As You Go 1

If you’re an existing Vodafone Pay As You Go customer, dial 41146 for free on your mobile phone to opt-in to the Pay As You Go 1 plan. By opting-in, you’ll lose any benefits associated with your current plan (including your current Big Value Bundle or your Freebie allowance if you have one).

If you’re not currently a Vodafone Pay As You Go customer, you can join by ordering a free SIM card from the Vodafone website.

Minimum Usage Requirement

On Vodafone’s Pay As You Go 1, there’s no need to top-up every month and your credit won’t expire providing your SIM card remains active. To keep it active, you should top-up your phone or make a chargeable outbound phone call at least once every 180 days.

Comparison to Alternatives

On Vodafone’s Pay As You Go 1, you’ll pay £1/day for unlimited minutes, unlimited texts and 50MB of data.

If you’re a light user who only uses their phone from time to time, it’s possible you’ll get good value from Pay As You Go 1.

The plan is particularly well suited for people who only use their mobile phone for a few days each month (e.g. on trips away from home or for emergency usage). This is especially the case if you use it a lot on the days when you do (e.g. for making lots of phone calls on one day). For instance, someone using their mobile phone for 4 days each month would only pay £4 for their monthly usage on this plan.

The Pay As You Go 1 plan isn’t well suited for people who use their mobile phone every day. For instance, you’ll pay around £30 per month if you use your phone every day (even for a relatively small amount of usage each day).

On rival networks, lower Pay As You Go charges are available. For instance, 1pMobile (which uses coverage from EE) charges just 1p/minute, 1p/text and 1p/MB. This may or may not work out to be cheaper, depending on how you use your mobile phone.

If you use your mobile phone for more than 10 days each month, you’ll normally be better off getting a Pay As You Go bundle. This gives you an inclusive allowance of minutes, texts and data. For instance, you can get unlimited minutes, unlimited texts, 30GB of data and endless social media for £10/month on VOXI:

NetworkMinutesTextsDataMonthly
Cost
VOXIUnlimitedUnlimited30GB£10.00
giffgaffUnlimitedUnlimited20GB£10.00
O2UnlimitedUnlimited10GB£10.00
EE500Unlimited8GB£10.00
VodafoneUnlimitedUnlimited7GB£10.00

Please see our guide to Pay As You Go bundles for a in-depth comparison of available Pay As You Go deals.

Handsets

There are two ways to join Vodafone Pay As You Go 1.

If you already have a mobile phone that you’re happy to use, order a Pay As You Go 1 SIM card from the Vodafone website (choose the option to “get a free SIM” about half way down the page). You can top it up from as little as £5 to get started. Depending on where your mobile phone was purchased, it might be necessary for you to unlock your phone.

If you’d like a new mobile phone, you can also buy one from the Vodafone website. At the time of writing, you can buy a new Pay As You Go phone for as little as £1, with a minimum initial top-up of £10 required.

Network & Coverage

2G, 3G & 4G Coverage

Customers on the Pay As You Go 1 price plan can access Vodafone’s 2G, 3G and 4G networks in the UK. At present, 99% of the UK’s population is covered by Vodafone’s 2G, 3G and 4G network.

Before joining Vodafone Pay As You Go, we’d strongly recommend checking the coverage in your area. You can do this by entering your postcode on Vodafone’s online coverage map:

Check Vodafone Coverage (vodafone.co.uk) →

Unfortunately, 5G coverage is not available on the Pay As You Go 1 plan.

For more information, see our Vodafone network and coverage overview. You can also read our guide on how mobile coverage works in the UK.

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).

On Vodafone’s Pay As You Go 1, it’s possible to use tethering or personal hotspot without any restrictions. This makes it a convenient option for getting connected on multiple devices on the go. However, the 50MB per day allowance might not go very far when you tether, so you’ll need to keep a close eye on how much data you’re using.

Keeping Your Phone Number

If you’re moving from another mobile network to join Vodafone Pay As You Go, it’s a straightforward process to keep your current phone number.

Start by getting a PAC Code from your current mobile network. You can get one through your mobile network’s website or app, or by texting PAC to 65075. This nine-digit code authorises Vodafone to take control of your phone number.

Once you’ve gotten a PAC Code from your old network, order a free Pay As You Go SIM card from Vodafone’s website. When the new SIM card arrives, place it inside your mobile phone and provide your PAC Code to Vodafone through this form on their website.

After providing your PAC Code to Vodafone, your phone number transfer will normally take place on the next working day. Unfortunately, it isn’t possible to transfer Pay As You Go credit from your old network to Vodafone so you should try to use it up before moving your phone number over.

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

PAC Code Finder: Transfer Your Phone Number to Vodafone

Select your current mobile network:

  More Options

Frequently Asked Questions

What is Vodafone Pay As You Go 1?
Vodafone’s Pay As You Go 1 is a price plan for people who only use their mobile phone from time to time. There are no regular monthly charges on Pay As You Go 1. You’ll just pay £1 per day when you use your mobile phone for unlimited UK minutes, unlimited UK texts and up to 50MB of data.
What are the charges on Vodafone Pay As You Go 1?
Each day, Vodafone will charge you £1 as soon as you use your Pay As You Go 1 SIM card for making an outbound call, sending an outgoing text message or when you use mobile data over Vodafone’s 3G or 4G network. The £1 daily charge unlocks unlimited minutes, unlimited texts and 50MB of data for the rest of the day.

If you only use your phone for receiving an incoming phone call or text message, or if you only access the internet on your phone using Wi-Fi, you won’t be charged the £1 fee for that day.

Can I use Vodafone Pay As You Go without topping up every month?
Yes. There’s no need to top-up every month on Vodafone Pay As You Go 1. The only requirement is you’ll need to keep your SIM card active by topping it up or making a chargeable outbound call every 180 days.
How does Pay As You Go 1 compare to Pay As You Go bundles?
Vodafone also offers a range of Big Value Bundles from £10/month on Pay As You Go. In general, Pay As You Go 1 works out to be better value if you use your mobile phone less than 10 days per month. If you use your mobile phone more often than this, a Big Value Bundle or a VOXI bundle may work out to be better value.
What coverage will I get on Vodafone Pay As You Go 1?
You’ll get access to 99% population coverage on Vodafone’s 2G, 3G and 4G networks in the UK. Unfortunately, 5G coverage isn’t currently available to Pay As You Go 1 customers.
Can I keep my current phone number?
Yes. It’s a straightforward process to keep your current phone number. Simply ask your current mobile network to provide you with a PAC Code. You can get one through your mobile network’s website or app, or by texting PAC to 65075. After activating your new Vodafone SIM card, you can submit the PAC Code through this page to get your phone number moved over.

More Information

For more information about Vodafone Pay As You Go 1, please see the official Vodafone website.

Your Comments 102 so far

We'd love to hear your thoughts and any questions you may have. So far, we've received 102 comments from readers. You can add your own comment here.

  • Hi, this is interesting info. I’ve just spent the best part of an hour on chat with Vodafone and they tried their best to get me on this PAYG 1 plan but glad I’ve read this first. I have sent for a Giff Gaff sim card and it arrived this morning but the info that comes with it makes no mention of the basic PAYG plan – only the monthly payment ones and I don’t want to give them any details until I know what I’m getting into. Any suggestions please?

    • Hi Viv,
      Thanks for your comment. On giffgaff, you’ll just need to choose the option to add regular Pay As You Go credit to your account. If you do that, you’ll be on their regular Pay As You Go plan with no need to buy a goodybag bundle each month.
      Hope this helps,
      Ken

  • This problem of PAYG users being charged a pound when no mobile phone activity has taken place is a widespread issue that users are posting on various sites as well as this one. Looking at my purchase history I can see one pound being charged over multiple days at exactly 0026 when I am in bed. Some days there have been more than one exactly at 00.26. In response to my formal complaint I was advised to disable wifi assist ( It is already disabled). I believe, from reading and agreeing with another post elsewhere that what is happeneing is that a phone has regular low level interactions (“handshakes”?) with the network,saying in effect “I am here”. These will probably involve exchange of tiny amounts of data. When as little as 1KB of data triggers a £1 charge it amounts to a marginal cost of £1000 per MB over which you will have absolutely no control. No one appears to be denying that this is taking place the issue for me is whether it is acceptable commercial practice. I feel unable to accept their resolution and I will be asking for a letter of Deadlock which, I understand, will enable me to alert Ofcom.

  • I have had the same problem since January 12.
    I have had to contact them five times. Today they told me the.only way to stop it is for them to disconnect my wi fi which I have not used. As far as I am aware they have not done this and I am going to make a formal complaint. Each timeI have contacted them I get a different reason for them taking a £1.I am going to take this further by initially making a formal complaint.

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