Best 365-day prepaid mobile plan in Australia for March 2025

365-day prepaid mobile plans are one of the best ways to slash your phone bill – when broken down on a cost-per-month basis, they're frequently the cheapest way to get mobile service in Australia.

When we decide which 365-day phone plans are the best, we consider two factors:

• How much data?

• How much does it cost?

The price factor can get complicated, because in our experience, we see the cost of 365-day phone plans fluctuate on a regular basis. As for data, according to the ACCC's figures from June 2023, Australians downloaded an average of 15.9GB of data per month on postpaid plans and 7.5GB on prepaid plans. To be on the safe side, the plans we've recommended below offer the equivalent of at least 14GB per month.

• Is a long-expiry phone plan right for me?

Best 365 day long-expiry prepaid plans

Best 365 day plan overall

Vodafone | 320GB data (26.7GB/month)| 365-day expiry | $219

Vodafone has dropped the price of its highest-data 365-day plan by over $100, bringing it down to just $219 (from $320).

This plan gets you 320GB of total data – that’s the equivalent of 26.6GB per month for only $18.25 per month. This plan does technically come with 100GB of bonus data for the first year, but if you set up automatic recharges (which automatically debits your account each year when the plan is up for renewal) you'll receive the 100GB of bonus data every time.

You can also roll over up to 200GB of unused data when recharging, so if you have left over data when it comes time to renew it will be carried into the next.

Vodafone's 365-day plan includes 5G data at no extra charge, and you also get 6,000 international calls to Zone 1 destinations (which includes the USA and UK) to use each month. This deal ends 7 January if not extended so be sure to get in before then to take advantage of this deal.

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Cheapest long-expiry plan

Catch Connect | 260GB data (21.67GB per month) | 365-day expiry | $200

This Catch Connect long-expiry plan costs $200 and comes with an extra 60GB of data on the first recharge so you get a total of 260GB to use over the 12 months, which equals the equivalent of 21.67GB per month. If you don’t use a whole lot of data, 21.67GB per month should be enough for you as it’s almost 6GB more than the average amount of data used by Australians per month (which is 15.9GB as of June 2023.) In terms of cost, this plan costs the equivalent of $16.67 per month which is a very competitive price, especially given the added 60GB of data.

Catch Connect runs on the Optus 4G Plus mobile network, so there's no 5G access. That might not be important to you, but it's something worth noting. If you’re interested in this plan, make sure you activate by January 28 2025 to take advantage of this deal.

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Best Telstra network long-expiry phone plan

Boost Mobile | 265GB data (21GB/month) (240GB on next recharge)| 365-day expiry | $300

If you want to get connected to the Telstra network but don’t want to pay premium fees by going directly to the source, check out this prepaid plan from Boost Mobile instead. Boost is the only provider that offers Telstra 5G connectivity, thanks to its use of the full Telstra mobile network.

Boost’s $300 SIM with 12 month expiry gives you a decent chunk of data to use each year, which offers 265GB of data for your first 365 days – but be aware that you’ll only get 240GB on subsequent recharges. For that first year, this plan costs the equivalent of $25 per month and gives you 22GB of data.

While this plan does give you access to 5G, do note that download speeds are capped at 150Mbps (5G technically has the potential to reach up to 1Gbps speed or faster), although that kind of cap is common across plans from smaller providers on both the Telstra and Optus networks. As such, you’re arguably not getting the full benefits of 5G, and you may find a more affordable 4G-only long-expiry SIM plan to be just as good when it comes to downloading files, media streaming or browsing the internet.

Is a long-expiry mobile plan right for me?

Reasons to get one...

• Very much a 'set and forget' plan. Pay once each year
• Large amount of data included will suit most customers
• If you use a lot of data one month, you're unlikely need to worry about going over your total allowance

365-day long-expiry phone plans can be a great investment for the majority of users, as they offer a true 'set and forget' structure. Because 365 day prepaid phone plans only require one payment every 365 days, try not to be put off immediately by the initial high cost. When you split it over the course of 12 months, you may find these long-expiry prepaid plans work out to be more affordable than traditional prepaid phone plans, which operate on a monthly basis.

As with any phone plan, the inclusions offered by each provider can differ greatly, which makes it imperative you shop around to find the best deal, which is where we come in. In our experience, we see prices for 365 day prepaid phone plans fluctuate on a regular basis, so what might seem like a great plan one week, might not be the next.

In general, we think 365 day prepaid phone plans can work out to be cost effective. When you split the initial high cost over the course of 12 months, you may find these long-expiry prepaid plans work out to be more affordable than traditional prepaid phone plans, which operate on a monthly basis.

Reasons to not get one...

• Upfront cost can be expensive
• May need to ration data to ensure you don't reach annual allowance

When you're searching for a 365-day prepaid phone plan, you'll want to carefully consider how much data you're realistically going to need. The amount of included data advertised is for the whole duration of the plan and not each month, and once you've made a payment, you'll need to make the included data last 365 days.

One of the main downsides to a 365-day long-expiry prepaid phone plan is that if you do reach your annual data allowance before the 12 months is up, you will need to recharge your service to be able to continue using it. If you do go through all of your data, then your provider will either continue to offer 'unlimited' data but at a much slower maximum speed; will charge you a fee per megabyte or per gigabyte you use; or potentially charge you a full amount and effectively reset your service for another year.

And because these long-expiry mobile plans have an expensive upfront cost, you may find you're unable to pay at the time of recharge, leaving you without a phone plan. You may therefore find the best prepaid plans are a better option for you.