By Vodafone Red plans give you access to 5G, along with larger data options and some advanced features. Compare Vodafone Red and Vodafone Basics plans.
In the UK, Vodafone offers ‘Red’ plans from £15 per month, as well as cheaper ‘Basics’ plans that start from just £7 per month.
On the Red plans, you’ll have access to Vodafone’s 5G network, and a choice of data allowances that go up to 200GB per month. In contrast, the Vodafone Basics plans are restricted to 4G coverage and a maximum of 60GB data per month.
For most people, we still think Vodafone Basics is a better value choice. Although you’re restricted to 4G coverage, this can still give you download speeds of around 25Mbps on average. That’s fast enough for pretty much anything you’d like to do on your phone, including streaming Ultra HD video. The Basics plans go up to 60GB per month, which is enough for most users (as the average UK mobile user only needs 8GB per month). The shorter 12-month contract also gives you more flexibility, compared to Vodafone Red.
If you’re looking for a more fully-featured option, Vodafone Red gives you access to 5G with download speeds that are up to 10 times faster than 4G. You can also choose from a range of data plans going up to 200GB per month, but you’ll need to commit to a 24-month contract for the best deal. You’ll also be able to add Vodafone OneNumber (for smartwatches, tablets and Alexa), and you’ll have access to international calls and premium-rate calls (additional charges will apply).
In this article, we’ll compare Vodafone Red and Vodafone Basics, looking at the features available on each and the best value deals. We’ll also look at how you can keep your phone number when you move to Vodafone.
| Why Vodafone Red? |
|
|---|---|
| Red Deals: |
Increases annually on 1 April by £1.80 |
| Why Vodafone Basics? |
|
| Basics Deals: |
Increases annually on 1 April by £1.00 |
| Coverage: | 99% population coverage (check postcode) |
Contents
Vodafone Red & Vodafone Basics Compared
If you’re joining Vodafone as a Pay Monthly mobile customer in the UK, you’ll be able to choose between a Vodafone Red and Vodafone Basics plan. You can also choose Vodafone Unlimited if you want a plan with unlimited data.
The following table shows a side-by-side comparison of Vodafone Red and Basics:
| Red | Basics | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Price From: |
From £15 per month | From £7 per month | |
| Annual Price Increase: | Increases annually on 1 April by £1.80/month | Increases annually on 1 April by £1/month | |
| Minutes: | Unlimited | Unlimited | |
| Texts: | Unlimited | Unlimited | |
| Data: | Up to 200GB data | Up to 60GB data | |
| Speeds: | 4G & 5G (up to 10x faster than 4G) |
4G (typically 25Mbps) |
|
| Contract Length: | 24 months (1 month & 12 month also available) |
12 months | |
| Inclusive Features |
|||
| UK Coverage: | ✔ 99% coverage | ✔ 99% coverage | |
| VeryMe Rewards: | ✔ Yes | ✔ Yes | |
| Personal Hotspot: |
✔ Yes | ✔ Yes | |
| Additional Features |
|||
| International Roaming: | ✔ From £2.25 per day (plans with inclusive roaming available) |
✔ From £2.25 per day | |
| OneNumber: (for watches, tablets & Alexa) |
✔ From £7.50 per month | ✘ Not available | |
| International Calls: | ✔ Charges apply | ✘ Not available | |
| Premium Calls (to 09): |
✔ Charges apply | ✘ Not available | |
| Inclusive Entertainment: | ✔ From £8 per month extra | ✘ Not available | |
What is Vodafone Red?
If you’re looking for a more fully-featured mobile network experience, it’s best to choose a Vodafone Red plan, as opposed to Vodafone Basics. This gives you access to the following benefits, which are not available when you choose Vodafone Basics:
- You’ll have access to 5G coverage on Vodafone Red plans. Unlike the Vodafone Basics plans which are limited to 4G, you’ll have complete access to Vodafone’s 5G network on Red. If you’re using a compatible 5G phone in a 5G coverage area, your average download speeds will be around 150-200Mbps (about 10 times faster than 4G). You’ll also have access to more network capacity, which is handy if you’re using a phone in a busy urban area.
- You can use your number on a smartwatch, tablet or Alexa (charges apply). On Vodafone Red plans, you’ll be able to add the OneNumber service from an extra £7.50 per month. This gives you connectivity on your smartwatch or tablet, with the ability to share your data as well. You’ll also be able to make and receive phone calls on Alexa devices.
- You’ll be able to call international and premium-rate numbers (charges apply). If you’d like to call an international number or a premium-rate number (beginning with 09), this is only possible when you choose a Vodafone Red plan. Having said that, additional charges will apply for this and there are normally cheaper ways to do it (e.g. using FaceTime or WhatsApp).
- You’ll be able to choose a ‘Euro Roam’, ‘Global Roam’ or ‘Entertainment’ plan. On Vodafone Red, you can upgrade your plan to ‘Xtra Euro Roam’ or ‘Xtra Global Roam’. This will give you inclusive roaming, either in 51 European destinations or 83 worldwide destinations. There’s also the option to add Entertainment to your plan (for inclusive YouTube Premium or Amazon Prime). Additional charges will apply for this upgrade.
The following table shows the best Vodafone Red deals that are currently available:
| Plan | Data | Monthly Cost (will rise each April by £1.80) |
|
|---|---|---|---|
Red
| 3GB data | £15.00 per month 24 month contract | See deal |
Red
| 8GB data | £18.00 per month 24 month contract | See deal |
Red
| 50GB data | £21.00 per month 24 month contract | See deal |
Red
| 150GB data | £25.00 per month 24 month contract | See deal |
Red
| 200GB data | £28.00 per month 24 month contract | See deal |
The Vodafone Red plans are subject to an annual price increase of £1.80/month on the 1st April.
To get the best prices, you’ll need to get your Vodafone Red plan on a 24-month contract. It’s also possible to get Red SIM-only plans on a shorter 1-month rolling or 12-month contracts. However, you’ll generally need to pay quite a bit extra for this, so most people will choose the 24-month option.
If you want a plan with more than 200GB data per month, Vodafone also offers unlimited data plans.
What is Vodafone Basics?
If you’re looking for a more affordable and flexible SIM-only plan, Vodafone Basics is available from £7 per month on a 12-month contract. You’ll get access to Vodafone’s 4G network on this plan, with 99% population coverage across the UK. There’s also access to VeryMe Rewards.
There are a number of limitations worth being aware of on Vodafone Basics:
- You won’t have 5G coverage on Vodafone Basics. On Vodafone Basics, you’re restricted to Vodafone’s 4G network. In our opinion, this shouldn’t really be a deal-breaker as 4G is already fast enough for pretty much anything you’d like to do on your phone (including video calls & watching ultra HD video). The main downside is that you might need to wait a little bit longer for large downloads, though this might not be that noticeable (e.g around 10 seconds more for a typical app to download). You also won’t get the additional capacity benefits that are available on 5G.
- Vodafone Basics offers up to 60GB data per month. In our opinion, that’s more than enough for the vast majority of users. According to Ofcom (2023), the average UK mobile user consumes around 8GB data per month. However, if you’re a heavy user needing more than 60GB per month, Vodafone Basics won’t be suitable for you.
- Some rarely-used features are not available on Vodafone Basics. For instance, you won’t be able to make international phone calls or premium-rate calls to numbers beginning with 09. You can, however, continue to do this through apps such as FaceTime and WhatsApp (which are cheaper as well). In addition, OneNumber isn’t compatible with Vodafone Basics. However, this only makes a difference if you have a smartwatch or tablet that you’d like to connect to your plan.
- Vodafone Basics is for new customers only. Vodafone Basics is only available to new Vodafone Pay Monthly customers. This means, for instance, it isn’t possible to switch from Vodafone Red to Vodafone Basics.
The following table shows the latest Vodafone Basics deals:
| Plan | Data | Monthly Cost (will rise each April by £1) |
|
|---|---|---|---|
Basics
| 6GB data | £7.00 per month 12 month contract | See deal |
Basics
| 40GB data | £8.00 per month 12 month contract | See deal |
Basics
| 60GB data | £10.00 per month 12 month contract | See deal |
The Vodafone Basics plans are subject to an annual price increase of £1/month on the 1st April.
Prior to March 2022, international roaming was not available on Vodafone Basics. It’s now available from an extra £2.25 per day (the same price that’s charged on Vodafone Red). Unlike on Vodafone Red, there’s no way to upgrade to an ‘Xtra Euro Roam’ or ‘Xtra Global Roam’ version of the plan.
On Vodafone Basics, there are no download speed limits on the 4G network: you’ll get Vodafone’s fastest-available 4G speeds. In contrast, some other networks have download speed limits (e.g. on EE’s No Frills plan).
Keeping Your Phone Number
If you’re switching from another mobile network to Vodafone, it’s a straightforward process keeping your current phone number.
To do so, start by contacting your old mobile network and asking them for a PAC Code. This is a nine-digit code that authorises the transfer of your phone number to Vodafone. You can get a PAC Code through your mobile network’s website or app, or by texting PAC to 65075.
Once you’ve gotten a PAC Code from your current network, you can order your new plan from Vodafone’s website. During the order process, you’ll be able to provide your PAC Code. Alternatively, you can wait for the SIM card to arrive and then provide the PAC Code through this online form. Your phone number transfer will then normally take place on the next working day.
For a step-by-step guide on transferring your phone number to Vodafone, please select your current mobile network from the drop-down menu below:
More Information
Please see Vodafone’s official website to learn more about their Vodafone Red and Vodafone Basics plans.
Tony said:
Hello,
I theory yes, however Vodafone does it somehow that GBs disappear very quickly even if all attachments closed and you do literally nothing. My previous comment was that 1.3GB disappeared just browsing linkedIn, news, and checking emails with no video or music in 5 days. So I was keeping the only one app opened Vodafone writing that comment, and 0.1GB has just been written off! Miracle by Vodafone! So to do anything and listen to music it’s a must to have unlimited. Thinking about leaving Vodafone though.
Tony said:
Hello,
Just moved from Basic 5GB plan (I paid £18+ for some reason) to Red 5GB plan which is £15.
Recently noticed, even being on the previous plan, GB started disappearing very quickly even if you don’t do anything but browsing LinkedIn, etc. 5 days and 1.3 GB has gone. No music, no film watching, nothing, very basic stuff like reading news and checking emails, not downloading anything huge.
I have no idea how Vodafone does that … I’m not saying they are cheating but that’s interesting how they do it anyway.
Ken replied:
Hi Tony,
Thanks for your comment. Out of interest, what does the data usage monitor on your smartphone say and how does this data usage differ from what Vodafone is reporting? I’d personally be really surprised if they’re measuring your data usage incorrectly. Instead, it’s often the case that something’s running in the background (e.g. background app updates, cloud sync & backup services, etc) meaning data is consumed on your device in the background without you knowing.
Ken
Tony replied:
Hi Ken,
Thank you. Probably I went to the wrong forum. Sorry. I meant what I said. I don’t do sync or cloud services as I simply don’t use it. My phone is not backed up for ages, that’s what my phone says. How it can be running in this case.
I just don’t need to back up. Nothing on it literally. What can be run without me knowing. All apps closed. Switched off and on. Looked a couple of times on LinkedIn and Facebook. 0.1 Gb have gone. I think Vodafone is trying to trick us burning our Gbs somehow thinking we are going to go for more allowance paying them more. They are wrong. When my Gbs finish I’ll turn mobile data off.
Ken replied:
Hi Tony,
That’s very strange – I’m not quite sure why that’s happening. If you were to contact Vodafone, they should be able to give you more details on the charges including how they were calculated if you’d like to interrogate it further.
Ken
R Temps said:
Hi.. I am coming to the end of a Vodafone Red Entertainment pack, which had 25gb + Spotify/Sky and Global Roaming included.
It seems that the new policies on offer will not have Global Roaming included, rather, they will charge £5/day usage for North America. Or am I wrong?
I was told by a representative that if I stay on my contract, I will only lose the ‘Entertainment Option’ ie. Spotify/Sky, but will still have Global Roaming included..
I travel to North America once a month and would like to have North America included in my price plan, as opposed to paying a ££ daily rate.
Any help or suggestions for another carrier?
Many thanks,
Ken replied:
Hi there,
It’s still possible to get Global Roaming Plus, which gives you up to 25GB of data each month for use in 77 destinations including the USA, Canada and Mexico. To get it, you’ll need to choose the Unlimited Max price plan which starts from £30/month on a SIM-only basis. Entertainment will cost you an extra £6/month so the total package with Entertainment starts from £36/month.
Hope this helps,
Ken
Miss I don't know said:
Also, will the speed only matter if you are not on WiFi or does it apply when you are on WiFi as well? Thank you.
Ken replied:
Hi there,
The speed limit only applies when you’re using Vodafone’s network for data. If you’re using a Wi-Fi network (e.g. at home or outside), the speed limits will not apply.
Hope this helps,
Ken
Miss I don't know said:
Hi Ken, thank you for the summary. I currently use a red plan with Vodafone and am due to upgrade. I’m just not sure which plan, red again or unlimited lite? Am worried if I choose lite my Internet browsing will be significantly slower? Is this the case? Or does it only matter when you download? Will it be significantly slower watching videos? Please help! Thank you! Miss I don’t know 🤷♀️
Ken replied:
Hi there,
Thanks for your comment. Do you know how much data you currently use? If it’s a lot less than 20GB per month, I’d probably recommend going for the Red plan. This is because you probably don’t need the unlimited data allowance, can save a couple of pounds every month and have uncapped download speeds. If you often use more than 20GB per month, the Unlimited plans would be more worth considering.
With regards to how much of a slowdown you’ll see, I’ve written a bit more about this here. Unlimited Lite should probably be fine for most day-to-day usage (browsing, email, instant messaging, etc) but online video streaming will essentially be limited to standard definition.
Ken
T Griffith said:
Really good summary – have just been trying to decide on whether to switch from BT to Vodafone Red plan and speaking to them via instant message was told that the Red plans are limited to 2-5Mbit/s download speed?
Your summary seems to suggest this isn’t the case (which would make sense – the unlimited plans seem to be price-pointed based on the data download speeds whereas the red plans are price-pointed based on total data. It would be odd if the red plans were speed and capacity limited).
Can I ask where you got your information from?
Ken replied:
Hi there,
The Vodafone Red price plans aren’t speed limited (the 1GB plan gives you uncapped 4G speeds, whereas the 5GB and 20GB plans give you uncapped 4G/5G speeds). This is stated on the Vodafone website, but you can also check with them directly via their web chat if you’d like to make sure! This should be accessible through a little pop-up on the right hand side of this page.
Hope this helps,
Ken
Ken