giffgaff May price rise: deal options if you're thinking of switching network
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If you've been hit by giffgaff's price increase on their £5 and £7.50 goodybags, here are some similarly priced deals on other networks to consider. Last updated: 26th April 2019
giffgaff's price increases
Some giffgaff prices are rising - so should you switch?
✔ goodybag prices going up in May
There are loads of good reasons to stay with giffgaff. They're still the cheapest way to get on the O2 network on a flexible 1-month deal. And they pay you for getting new members to join and help existing ones.
They price rises will cost you between 50p and £1 extra a month, which you might decide is worth it to avoid the faff of changing to a new provider.
But if you're unhappy with the cost of your goodybag going up, we've put together a few suggestions of other networks that are worth looking at for similar prices. Or you can just compare the whole market below too.
When you move provider, it's easy to keep your number. And to cancel with giffgaff, all you have to do is turn off auto-renew on your goodybag and spend any credit you've got left.
£5 goodybag alternatives
What’s changing on giffgaff’s £5 goodybag?
✔ More minutes but more expensive
Up until 9th May 2019, here’s what you used to get for £5 on giffgaff:
Now they’ve increased that price to £6 a month but thrown in twice as many minutes as compensation:
Below, we look at other mobile networks to check whether you could be getting better value for the same price elsewhere.
Get unlimited minutes on Sky Mobile for £6 a month
If you wanted to stick with a provider that uses the O2 network like giffgaff, then Sky Mobile are worth a look. For the same £6 a month, you can get unlimited minutes and more data:
Admittedly, you’ll need to be willing to commit to a longer 12-month deal for this but you’ll get a better value deal with some additional benefits to reward you.
If you have Sky TV, you’ll be able to stream their TV apps without using data, and you can switch to a different plan mid-contract if you find it’s not working for you.
Useful links: See Sky's SIM only plans | Keep your number
iD Mobile’s £5 deal has more minutes and data
✔ iD Mobile use the Three network for 4G/3GCheck iD's Coverage
at idmobile.co.uk
(opens in new window)
If you didn’t want to commit to a longer deal and still get better value, have a look at iD Mobile’s £5 deal, which is on a 1-month contract and gives you more minutes and data than giffgaff:
Moving to iD Mobile would mean you’re no longer with a provider using the O2 network, so it’s worth checking iD Mobile’s coverage with their map here in advance before switching.
There’s some nice benefits on iD Mobile that you don’t get on giffgaff too, like keeping unused data for next month so you’ve got another chance to use what you’ve paid for.
Useful links: Read our iD Mobile review | Keep your number
SMARTY’s £6 deal gets cheaper if you don’t use the data
On the face of it, SMARTY’s 1-month deal below costs the same per month but does give you unlimited minutes instead of the 300 you’d get on giffgaff:
But if you barely use any data, it’s worth knowing that SMARTY will pay you back £1 per GB of data you don’t use as a discount off your next month’s plan.
That means you actually pay as little as £5 a month for the deal in the end once the discount has applied.
SMARTY use Three’s network, not O2’s, so it’s worth checking their coverage before switching.
Useful links: See all SMARTY's SIM only plans | Keep your number
You could also switch to Pay As You Go
If you were just ticking along at £5 a month and not really using your full minutes or data, you could think about moving to pay as you go.
1pMobile offer the UK's cheapest pay as you go rates with this tariff:
They use the UK's largest mobile network EE for their coverage (you can check your signal here at 1pMobile.com). You can read what happened when we ordered their SIM here in our 1pMobile review.
You have to keep your SIM topped up with at least £10 every 4 months (works out to £2.50 a month) to keep it active. But you get to keep all the credit you top up with (it never expires).
Useful link: See 1pMobile's 1p mobile tariff
£7.50 goodybag alternatives
What’s changing on giffgaff’s £7.50 goodybag?
✔ Double minutes for 50p more
Before giffgaff’s price increase, here’s what you used to get for £7.50 a month:
That’s now gone up to £8 a month and giffgaff have doubled the number of minutes to 500:
If you’re now thinking about switching as a result, we list some of your alternatives below.
iD Mobile’s £7 deal is cheaper with more minutes
If you want to stick to a 1-month deal, then iD Mobile have a cheaper deal than giffgaff and you’ll get more minutes for your money too:
It’s worth remembering that the mobile network you’ll be using will change from O2 to Three if you move from giffgaff to iD Mobile. So check your iD signal here to make sure you're covered.
You'll get to keep any data you don't use for next month with iD Mobile too, which is a benefit you don't get with giffgaff, so it's cheaper with extra benefits.
Useful links: See all iD Mobile benefits | Keep your number
SMARTY’s £7 deal will cost less if you don’t use data
Even though SMARTY’s £7 deal is more expensive than iD’s (but cheaper than giffgaff), it could actually work out cheaper when you consider SMARTY pay you back the cost of unused data.
So you’re getting unlimited minutes instead of 500 on giffgaff and you’re saving money against the £8 cost on giffgaff.
SMARTY use Three’s network, not O2’s, so it’s worth checking their coverage before switching.
Useful links: See all SMARTY's SIM only plans | Keep your number
Compare all SIM only plans
How giffgaff compare with all SIM only deals
We picked out the closest deals above, here's a bigger range of more plans
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