Data-free music streaming

Love listening to music? There are currently three mobile providers that will let you stream music data-free, so you've got more data to use on other online activities.

We're all guilty for chewing through too much data sometimes, so if there's a way for you to save on your monthly data allowance, why not?

With the rise of Spotify and Apple Music, streaming music has become extremely popular. In the past, many providers offered free Spotify streaming in order to draw in customers, but it's become quite a rare mobile plan feature these days.

Currently Telstra, Optus and Boost are the only mobile providers that offer data-free streaming.

What data-free streaming services are on offer?

Here's what Telstra, Optus and Boost Mobile offer in the way of data-free streaming.

Keep in mind that while streaming these services won't use up any of your data, you'll need an individual subscription in place already in order to access it. Telstra, Optus and Boost won't be paying for your monthly subscription fees.

Telstra

  • Postpaid mobile customers can stream Apple Music data-free (subscription required).

Boost Mobile

  • Most Boost prepaid plans come with data-free streaming of Apple Music (subscription required).

Optus

Optus no longer offers data-free music streaming, but does offer its customers bonus data to use on specific video streaming services.

  • Epic Data prepaid plans come with 10GB of bonus streaming data for use with Netflix, Stan and ABC Kids (subscriptions required).

Compare mobile plans with data-free streaming

We've shown mobile plans from Optus, Telstra and Boost below that come with some form of data-free streaming.

1 - 10 of 322
Name Product AUFMP-SIM Data Price Apply Price
Southern Phone Finder Exclusive
PostpaidNo lock-in contract
$15/mth for the first 6 months, then $29/mth. Eligibility criteria, T&Cs apply. Ends 31.1.25
Southern Phone Finder Exclusive
Postpaid
$15/mth for the first 6 months, then $29/mth. Eligibility criteria, T&Cs apply. Ends 31.1.25
Exclusive
  • Unlimited national calls & texts
  • Optus 5G/4G network
50GB
$15
per month
Go to site
View details
Exclusive
$15/mth for the first 6 months, then $29/mth. Eligibility criteria, T&Cs apply. Ends 31.1.25
  • Unlimited standard national calls & texts
50 GB
Data
$15
per month
iiNet Medium Plan
PrepaidNo lock-in contract
$17.50/mth for the first 6 months, then $35/mth. Eligibility criteria, T&Cs apply.
iiNet Medium Plan
Prepaid
$17.50/mth for the first 6 months, then $35/mth. Eligibility criteria, T&Cs apply.
  • Unlimited national calls & texts
  • Vodafone 5G/4G network
50GB
$17.50
per month
Go to site
View details
$17.50/mth for the first 6 months, then $35/mth. Eligibility criteria, T&Cs apply.
  • Unlimited standard national calls & texts
50 GB
Data
$17.50
per month
Circles.Life 6GB Finder Exclusive
PostpaidNo lock-in contract
10GB for $10/mth for the first 6 months, then 6GB for $15/mth. Use promo code LOSTNFOUND10GB. Eligibility criteria, T&Cs apply. Ends 31.12.24
Circles.Life 6GB Finder Exclusive
Postpaid
10GB for $10/mth for the first 6 months, then 6GB for $15/mth. Use promo code LOSTNFOUND10GB. Eligibility criteria, T&Cs apply. Ends 31.12.24
Exclusive
  • Unlimited national calls & texts
  • Optus 4G network
10GB
$10
per month
Go to site
View details
Exclusive
10GB for $10/mth for the first 6 months, then 6GB for $15/mth. Use promo code LOSTNFOUND10GB. Eligibility criteria, T&Cs apply. Ends 31.12.24
  • Unlimited standard national calls & texts
10 GB
Data
$10
per month
Dodo $28
PostpaidNo lock-in contract
$14/mth for the first 3 months, then $28/mth. Eligibility criteria, T&Cs apply. Order by 25.2.25
Dodo $28
Postpaid
$14/mth for the first 3 months, then $28/mth. Eligibility criteria, T&Cs apply. Order by 25.2.25
  • Unlimited national calls & texts
  • Optus 4G/3G network
30GB
No excess data charges
$14
per month
Go to site
View details
$14/mth for the first 3 months, then $28/mth. Eligibility criteria, T&Cs apply. Order by 25.2.25
  • Unlimited standard national calls & texts
30 GB
Data
$14
per month
Belong 40GB
PostpaidNo lock-in contract
Black Friday Deal: 60GB/mth for the first 12 months, then 40GB/mth. Eligibility criteria, T&Cs apply. Ends 12.1.25
Belong 40GB
Postpaid
Black Friday Deal: 60GB/mth for the first 12 months, then 40GB/mth. Eligibility criteria, T&Cs apply. Ends 12.1.25
  • Unlimited national calls & texts
  • Wholesale Telstra 5G/4G network
60GB
No excess data charges
$35
per month
Go to site
View details
Black Friday Deal: 60GB/mth for the first 12 months, then 40GB/mth. Eligibility criteria, T&Cs apply. Ends 12.1.25
  • Unlimited standard national calls & texts
60 GB
Data
$35
per month
felix Subscription Unlimited
SubscriptionNo lock-in contract
$20/mth for the first 3 months, then $40/mth. Use promo code FELIX50. Eligibility criteria, T&Cs apply.
felix Subscription Unlimited
Subscription
$20/mth for the first 3 months, then $40/mth. Use promo code FELIX50. Eligibility criteria, T&Cs apply.
Finder Award
  • Unlimited national calls & texts
  • Vodafone 5G/4G network
Unlimited data
At speeds up to 20Mbps
$20
per month
Go to site
View details
Finder Award
GREEN COMPANY
$20/mth for the first 3 months, then $40/mth. Use promo code FELIX50. Eligibility criteria, T&Cs apply.
  • Unlimited standard national calls & texts
Unlimited data
At speeds up to 20Mbps
$20
per month
Optus Flex Plus $35
PrepaidNo lock-in contract
Black Friday: $12 1st 28 days, ends 4.12.24 + 55GB on 1st 3 recharges, activate by 7.3.25 + Unlimited data weekends with AutoRecharge, ends 16.3.25. T&Cs apply
Optus Flex Plus $35
Prepaid
Black Friday: $12 1st 28 days, ends 4.12.24 + 55GB on 1st 3 recharges, activate by 7.3.25 + Unlimited data weekends with AutoRecharge, ends 16.3.25. T&Cs apply
  • Unlimited national calls & texts
  • Optus 5G/4G network
55GB
$35
per 28 day recharge
Go to site
View details
Black Friday: $12 1st 28 days, ends 4.12.24 + 55GB on 1st 3 recharges, activate by 7.3.25 + Unlimited data weekends with AutoRecharge, ends 16.3.25. T&Cs apply
  • Unlimited standard national calls & texts
55 GB
Data
$35
per 28 days expiry
TPG Small
PrepaidNo lock-in contract
$12.50/mth for the first 6 months, then $25/mth. Eligibility criteria, T&Cs apply.
TPG Small
Prepaid
$12.50/mth for the first 6 months, then $25/mth. Eligibility criteria, T&Cs apply.
Finder Award
  • Unlimited national calls & texts
  • Vodafone 4G network
25GB
$12.50
per month
Go to site
View details
Finder Award
$12.50/mth for the first 6 months, then $25/mth. Eligibility criteria, T&Cs apply.
  • Unlimited standard national calls & texts
25 GB
Data
$12.50
per month
Tangerine 12GB 4G SIM
PostpaidNo lock-in contract
Tangerine 12GB 4G SIM
Postpaid
  • Unlimited national calls & texts
  • Wholesale Telstra 4G network
12GB
$22
per month
Go to site
View details
  • Unlimited standard national calls & texts
12GB
Data
$22
per month
Dodo $33
PostpaidNo lock-in contract
$16.50/mth for the first 3 months, then $33/mth. Eligibility criteria, T&Cs apply. Order by 25.2.25
Dodo $33
Postpaid
$16.50/mth for the first 3 months, then $33/mth. Eligibility criteria, T&Cs apply. Order by 25.2.25
  • Unlimited national calls & texts
  • Optus 5G/4G network
40GB
No excess data charges
$16.50
per month
Go to site
View details
$16.50/mth for the first 3 months, then $33/mth. Eligibility criteria, T&Cs apply. Order by 25.2.25
  • Unlimited standard national calls & texts
40 GB
Data
$16.50
per month
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What is data-free streaming?

Data-free streaming is when your mobile phone company has a deal with an entertainment platform where using that platform won't use up your monthly data limit. It's a rare and limited feature on mobile plans these days, and is only offered by the three providers (which we'll cover in the next section).

Is data-free streaming worth it?

While data-free streaming seems like a nice extra to have, we don't think it's enough of a draw these days to consider signing up to a plan purely for this feature.

Consider what's actually on offer from the three providers above when it comes to data-free streaming. Besides Optus, the other providers only offer data-free music streaming, which doesn't actually use up very much data at all.

  • Example: Streaming Spotify tunes on your phone only uses around 40MB an hour if you're playing music on its default setting. This is nothing compared to using up to 1GB an hour from streaming a standard definition Netflix show.

You're often better off picking a plan that offers you enough data to use when you're out of the house to cover all of your activities, rather than relying on data-free streaming.
That being said, if you need to stream music constantly on your phone using your mobile data for work or leisure purposes, perhaps data-free streaming would be a nice perk.

  • Keep in mind: You still have to pay for the subscription to the individual services. The plans above may come with data-free streaming, but you'll still need to have your own Apple Music/Netflix/Stan subscription to gain access to the services.

What about unlimited mobile plans?

If you think you need a higher data limit so that you can stream music and videos without access to data-free streaming, you might want to consider 'unlimited' data mobile plans.

Some plans, such as postpaid mobile plans from Optus, Vodafone, and Telstra, offer "unlimited" data. You won't be charged for excess data once you've reached your monthly cap, instead your download speed will be reduced (capping it at between 1.5Mbps-25Mbps, depending on the plan/provider).

1.5Mbps is technically enough for streaming standard definition video, but you may still end up with buffering. Luckily, the data caps from these providers are often high enough that you shouldn't run into the slowed down speed caps.

Compare mobile plans today

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Written by

Writer

Sam Baran is a writer for Finder, covering topics across the tech, telco and utilities sectors. They enjoy decrypting technical jargon and helping people compare complex products easily. When they aren't writing, you'll find Sam's head buried in a book or working on their latest short story. Sam has a Bachelor of Advanced Science from the University of Sydney. See full bio

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