The Finder app is here! 🥳🥳 Download the new Finder app!
Get your savings sorted.Take control of your money with the all-new Finder app. Now available for free for iOS and Android. It's your new way to save, sorted.
What does Vodafone offer? Vodafone has plenty to offer in the mobile space, with prepaid, postpaid and handset plans available. These can be bundled with Vodafone's NBN and mobile broadband plans for extra savings.
Product highlights: Get unlimited "Streaming speed" data on Plus plans, bonus data on fixed-term contracts and extended 35-day prepaid expiry periods.
Watch out for: The "unlimited" data on Vodafone's Plus plans is limited to 1.5Mbps, which is considerably slower than typical 4G speeds. This can be sufficient for basic browsing, but watching videos and downloading files will likely take much longer than normal.
Vodafone phone plans
Vodafone's phone plans explained
Vodafone takes a slightly different approach to mobile phone plans than other telcos. It treats handset repayments and plan repayments separately, allowing you to switch between plans for your current handset every month without penalty. There's no minimum term for the plans, either, so you could cancel after just one month if you wanted to. The catch there is you'd have to pay out the remaining handset costs in one lump sum rather than over the course of 12, 24 or 36 months.
All Vodafone's Red Plus phone plans come with unlimited standard talk and text. Data caps range from 10GB up to 150GB, but Vodafone often runs promotions offering bonus data for the life of your plan.
Vodafone's core prepaid offerings are its Combo Plus plans, each of which packs unlimited standard talk and text along with a fair chunk of data. While the cheapest Combo Plus plan runs on a 28-day expiry, the higher-tier options feature extended 35-day expiries and come with an allotment of international minutes for calling friends and family overseas.
Folks who prefer paying as they go will want to consider Vodafone's aptly-titled Pay and Go plans. These benefit from 6-month and 12-month expiry periods, with all usage charged against your prepaid balance.
For the most part, Vodafone's SIM-only postpaid plans follow the same basic structure as its Red phone plans. Unlimited talk and text is bundled in at all price points, and the 12-month postpaid plans feature the same data caps and international call inclusions as Vodafone's Red and Red Plus phone plans. Only the month-to-month postpaid plans differ significantly, with lower data caps and fewer international minutes in exchange for the freedom of a no-lock-in contract.
Plus phone and SIM-only plans let you continue browsing after exhausting your monthly data cap at no extra cost
Bonus data offers are quite generous
Plenty of international minutes for calling overseas
Vodafone's positioning in the local market has long been one of offering superior value at a given price point compared to the big players in the telco space.
Typically you'll find larger data allowances at a given price point on a Vodafone plan, although that is somewhat tempered by a slightly smaller coverage map than the Telstra or Optus networks. That's only likely to be a concern for more regional or rural users, with Vodafone investing heavily in its network in metropolitan and larger regional centres in recent years.
Vodafone removing handset "plans" in favour of what are effectively outright phone sales at 0% interest rates makes it an interesting comparison against Telstra or Optus for any given handset offered by all three carriers.
On the surface, Vodafone may come across as lower cost because it will often list the 36-month payment term for a handset, but you've got to qualify that with the fact that you must maintain a mobile plan with Vodafone or pay the rest of the handset plan out immediately.
As such, it's vital to look not only at the per-month cost but also the total cost of a plan over 12, 24 or 36 months. For example, here's what you'd pay for an iPhone XS 64GB on Vodafone, Telstra or Optus over 24 months:
Vodafone's deals compare quite favourably against the big players for handsets, but it's smart to ensure that you're getting the mix of extras and coverage you need.
In SIM-only terms, it depends on your average spend. Taking a $60 per month standard term, here's how Vodafone compares against other postpaid SIM-only providers:
Vodafone doesn't have a large quantity of MVNOs on its network, with the most notable onboard player being Kogan Mobile and its range of prepaid mobile plans. Here's how Kogan Mobile's plans compare against Vodafone's own offers in that space:
Why should you consider Vodafone?
Vodafone's reputation is one of selling high-value plans on its own network, so if you're a particularly heavy data user, its top-tier plans can often represent great value. Like most providers, its postpaid plans charge a flat $10 per GB of excess usage, helping to keep your costs under control.
Vodafone Australia is part of the global Vodafone group and that gives the carrier certain unique advantages for travellers. While competitors Telstra and Optus sell roaming packages as add-ons to your existing plan, Vodafone postpaid customers can take advantage of Vodafone's Red roaming deal, which charges you a flat $5 per day of usage to access whatever inclusions you've got on your existing plan. For longer-term usage that might not be the most cost-effective way to roam, but for shorter visits, it's an extremely simple and competitive offer.
While the structure of its contract plans with bundled handsets removes most of the subsidy you might expect on higher-tier plans, from time to time Vodafone does offer loyalty discounts at certain plan tiers for selected handsets.
If you're unsure about the Vodafone network, Vodafone also offers the Vodafone Network Satisfaction Guarantee on its plans, with 30 days to trial out the service. If you're not happy with what you're getting, return any device and all you'll pay is any excess charges incurred within the first 30 days.
Vodafone prepaid recharge options
There's a wide variety of ways to recharge your Vodafone prepaid mobile phone service depending on your personal preference. As with many prepaid plans, it's worth reading the terms and conditions to determine if there are advantages to recharging earlier than your expiry period in order to take advantage of any rollover bonuses, which may vary by plan.
Via MyVodafone app. Vodafone provides a dedicated smartphone app for managing your prepaid use, including recharges. It's available for free for iOS (download here), Android (download here) or Windows Phone devices (download here)
Recharge via SMS. You can recharge your Vodafone prepaid service via text message, sending a specific keyword to enable an automatic recharge as long as you've already assigned a credit card to your account.
Via voucher. Recharge vouchers for Vodafone prepaid services are available from a wide variety of mass market retailers as well as at any Vodafone store. Vouchers do have specific expiry dates, so it's important to apply them at the right time otherwise you may find they have expired. You can redeem vouchers through Vodafone's web portal or the MyVodafone app.
Vodafone mobile deals
Deals last updated on 2020-04-10 at 6:03:41
Phone deals
Save $120 - pay $50/mo. instead of $60/mo. for 12 months. T&Cs apply.
Alex Kidman was the tech and telco editor at Finder and is now a freelance technology writer. He's been a technology writer with experience spanning more than 20 years, writing and editing at Gizmodo, CNET, PC Magazine, Kotaku and many more. Alex has a Bachelor of Arts from the University of New England and a serious passion for retro gaming.
365 Day & Long Expiry Prepaid Mobile Plans April 2020We help you make the most of every recharge with these top-value 365 day & other long expiry prepaid plans. We've selected picks on each major network, and broken down the pros & cons of the plans for easy comparison.
Vodafone 5G: What you need to knowVodafone's 5G network will be available from early 2020, joining rivals Telstra and Optus with just a few key differences worth knowing about.
In the prepaid plans, it is written that there are certain selected countries you can call or text to outside Australia for 1000 or 90 minutes. How can I find what those selected countries are and what are the 1000 or 90 minutes per month?
You can find the fine print or specific details of most mobile phone plans by checking out their Critical Information Summary (CIS). Please check out the CIS of a specific mobile phone plan, from the mobile network’s homepage, to know the selected countries that are included in 1000 standard minutes of a specific mobile plan.
Thanks for your inquiry. Please note that we are not affiliated with any company we feature on our site and so we can only offer a general advice.
There is a variety of mobile plans that Vodafone is offering. The list of countries that is included in making international calls depends on the plan that you will get.
We suggest going to Vodafone official website to view the list of countries that is included in each plan.
How likely would you be to recommend finder to a friend or colleague?
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
Very UnlikelyExtremely Likely
Required
Thank you for your feedback.
Our goal is to create the best possible product, and your thoughts, ideas and suggestions play a major role in helping us identify opportunities to improve.
Important information about this website
finder.com.au is one of Australia's leading comparison websites. We compare from a wide set of banks, insurers and product issuers. We value our editorial independence and follow editorial guidelines.
finder.com.au has access to track details from the product issuers listed on our sites. Although we provide information on the products offered by a wide range of issuers, we don't cover every available product or service.
Please note that the information published on our site should not be construed as personal advice and does not consider your personal needs and circumstances. While our site will provide you with factual information and general advice to help you make better decisions, it isn't a substitute for professional advice. You should consider whether the products or services featured on our site are appropriate for your needs. If you're unsure about anything, seek professional advice before you apply for any product or commit to any plan.
Products marked as 'Promoted' or 'Advertisement' are prominently displayed either as a result of a commercial advertising arrangement or to highlight a particular product, provider or feature. Finder may receive remuneration from the Provider if you click on the related link, purchase or enquire about the product. Finder's decision to show a 'promoted' product is neither a recommendation that the product is appropriate for you nor an indication that the product is the best in its category. We encourage you to use the tools and information we provide to compare your options.
Where our site links to particular products or displays 'Go to site' buttons, we may receive a commission, referral fee or payment when you click on those buttons or apply for a product. You can learn more about how we make money here.
When products are grouped in a table or list, the order in which they are initially sorted may be influenced by a range of factors including price, fees and discounts; commercial partnerships; product features; and brand popularity. We provide tools so you can sort and filter these lists to highlight features that matter to you.
We try to take an open and transparent approach and provide a broad-based comparison service. However, you should be aware that while we are an independently owned service, our comparison service does not include all providers or all products available in the market.
Some product issuers may provide products or offer services through multiple brands, associated companies or different labelling arrangements. This can make it difficult for consumers to compare alternatives or identify the companies behind the products. However, we aim to provide information to enable consumers to understand these issues.
Providing or obtaining an estimated insurance quote through us does not guarantee you can get the insurance. Acceptance by insurance companies is based on things like occupation, health and lifestyle. By providing you with the ability to apply for a credit card or loan, we are not guaranteeing that your application will be approved. Your application for credit products is subject to the Provider's terms and conditions as well as their application and lending criteria.
Please read our website terms of use and privacy policy for more information about our services and our approach to privacy.
In the prepaid plans, it is written that there are certain selected countries you can call or text to outside Australia for 1000 or 90 minutes. How can I find what those selected countries are and what are the 1000 or 90 minutes per month?
Hi Dylan,
Thank you for your enquiry.
You can find the fine print or specific details of most mobile phone plans by checking out their Critical Information Summary (CIS). Please check out the CIS of a specific mobile phone plan, from the mobile network’s homepage, to know the selected countries that are included in 1000 standard minutes of a specific mobile plan.
I hope this helps.
Kind regards,
Jason
what international calls does vodafone give and to which countries?
Hi Rukshana,
Thanks for your inquiry. Please note that we are not affiliated with any company we feature on our site and so we can only offer a general advice.
There is a variety of mobile plans that Vodafone is offering. The list of countries that is included in making international calls depends on the plan that you will get.
We suggest going to Vodafone official website to view the list of countries that is included in each plan.
Hope this helps. Have a nice day!
Cheers,
Rench