giffgaff review 2025: now with eSIM and WiFi calling!

SIM Sherpa rates giffgaff as safe pair of hands
☆☆☆☆☆ (3/5, good)

“There’s no denying the main point of joining giffgaff is to get O2’s coverage in a more economical way than joining directly. Many also like how giffgaff is run like a community and are fiercely loyal.

But there are better alternatives available. giffgaff don’t do speed well. They’re the slowest provider on average. They don't do WiFi calling or VoLTE well either now they’ve finally started offering them.

Though it’s not all doom and gloom. We like that you can get an eSIM. It’s good to see EU roaming still included. And both giffgaff’s phone contracts and SIM only plans are commendably flexible.

Yet we can’t shake the feeling that with only slow, online-only customer services, giffgaff are a bit no-frills but without the bargain basement prices to soften the blow. giffgaff aren’t bad. They just excel at nothing!”

giffgaff's SIM only deals

FAQs about giffgaff

Which network does giffgaff use?

giffgaff uses the O2 network on 2G/3G/4G/5G.

Can you get WiFi calling on giffgaff?

Yes but the support for older Android phones is limited. So check their page before you sign up.

Does giffgaff have 4G calling?

Yes but your phone will need to be supported. Their list of Android devices is still very short.

Does giffgaff use 5G?

Yes, all their SIM only Goodybags come with 5G data as standard and all phone contracts where the model supports 5G as a feature.

Does giffgaff have an app?

Yes they do. And it’s pretty decent. Download for Android or iPhone.

Can I move my number to giffgaff?

Yes. You’ll need a PAC from your old provider. Text the word PAC to 65075 from your old SIM to get a code you can then give to giffgaff, which lets the move your number across.

Coverage is excellent on giffgaff, particularly for 5G

giffgaff are a sub-brand of O2 that were set up as a budget alternative with the interesting quirk of being partly run by their customers. As such, they get full access to O2’s 2G/3G/4G/5G network.

The best part about this is their excellent coverage for calls and texts (2G/3G). In fact, while other networks have started phasing out 2G/3G, their hosts will only start converting their 3G masts to 4G in 2025.

So you get more time to upgrade if you’re on a 3G/2G-only device before losing the ability to connect to signal. The 3G/2G switch off will let them improve 4G coverage, so it’s not like there’s no upside to it.

giffgaff are behind the other networks for 4G coverage, but they still cover a huge amount of the country. You’ll stay on 4G basically all the time in urban areas, but you’re more likely to lose it in rural areas.

Finally, 5G is a strength on giffgaff. They have it in this long list of 3200+ locations and coverage in these places tends to be widespread. Coverage is a strength on giffgaff, but check near you before joining.

Useful link: Read differences between giffgaff and O2

Data speeds are a bit disappointing on giffgaff

There have long been rumblings from giffgaff customers that their service is slower than O2. Or that your SIM gets "deprioritised" in congested areas vs O2 customers. Our tests have never managed to replicate this.

Either way, speeds aren’t a strength on giffgaff. We did get 4G downloads up to 95 Mbps in city centres. More often we sat around 15-20 Mbps in suburbs or 5 Mbps in smaller places. Opensignal measured 23.1 Mbps.

For 5G, we found that you have to manually switch on 5G data in your giffgaff account (see how you do it here). That’s unusal and seems to only ever be the case on O2-based networks.

Useful link: Our guide to networks with the best 5G

WiFi calling is clearly in its early stages on giffgaff

giffgaff are one the very last networks to begin offering WiFi calling and VoLTE (4G calling). Their indoor call signal is generally a strength so it hasn't hugely mattered. So how is it?

Well, firstly, giffgaff say it is currently only supported on these phones. But despite our Android test phone being on there and doing multiple updates, we could not get either WiFi calling or VoLTE to work on giffgaff.

iPhones tend to have less issues but for now, it's hard to recommend giffgaff's WiFi calling feature. They need to rapidly expand the phone support. This is getting more important with upcoming 2G and 3G switch offs.

These haven't happened yet on O2, which is good, because you could quickly find yourself not being able to make calls on giffgaff. All our calls worked on conventional 3G, instead of 4G or WiFi.

Useful link: Our guide to the networks with WiFi calling

There's an impressive number of extra network features

giffgaff have just added the ability to get an eSIM (a digital alternative to a plastic SIM card). You can't join on one but you can get a traditional SIM delivered in one working day, then switch to eSIM in the app like this.

We've done it ourselves. It's very easy and the switch worked within minutes once you've given the app permission to change your eSIM settings. Hopefully, you'll just be able to join straight on an eSIM soon.

Another good extra network feature is free access to 8000 O2 WiFi hotspots and WiFi on the Underground (just follow the instructions here). That can help you save data. Tethering is allowed on giffgaff.

Call forwarding is included on giffgaff. They’re one of the few budget networks to include this feature. But you don’t get visual voicemail, which displays your voicemails and lets you sort through them one by one.

Overall, it’s actually a decent set of additional network features.

Useful link: How to get free WiFi on giffgaff

Inclusive EU roaming is nice but some might hit limits

Many other UK mobile providers have removed inclusive EU roaming from their plans, so we really like that giffgaff let you still roam in these EU destinations on all their plans at no added cost.

Best current giffgaff SIMs

giffgaff let you use your calls and texts in the EU like at home on all their plans. Your data usage is limited to 5GB while there, but lots of users won’t hit that limit. If you do, you'll start paying at these rates.

You don’t get any inclusive worldwide roaming on giffgaff, so you’ll have to top up at pay at these rates to roam outside the EU. You’ll like eat through your credit fast and O2 may be a better choice for this.

giffgaff are a good choice if you only want to go on short trips to the EU and just want to check some maps and social media. Heavier users might want to look elsewhere.

Useful link: Using your phone abroad help guide

The flexibility of their plans is an excellent benefit

giffgaff offer two kinds of deals. You can either take a 1-month deal or 18-month contract. You get the flexibility to switch to a bigger or smaller plan on both and you don’t have to pass a credit check for either.

Their 1-month deals let you leave giffgaff without giving notice. If you try to do that on an 18-month contract you’ll have to pay a fee. But their 1-month plans are a bit more expensive per month.

Best current SIM only plans on giffgaff

Another benefit is that their plans essentially have spending caps built into them. You can’t spend money on extras without first topping up with credit, so there won’t be any nasty surprises on your bill.

The way giffgaff set up their plans is a benefit in and of itself as you can really make sure your plan suits your needs and budget. And there are a few other things giffgaff do well that we go more into below.

Useful links: Compare phone contracts | Compare SIM only deals

They also offer some useful smaller benefits

giffgaff allow you to call abroad by topping up with credit and paying at their international rates. Calls to some countries (such as the USA) are as low as 3p per min, making them a good choice for calling abroad.

You can also get extra rewards for bringing friends or family members onto giffgaff. You’ll get £5 for each friend you refer which you can get as credit, as money back via Paypal or you can donate it to charity.

giffgaff also offer special deals on select services. They call them “member perks” and come in the form of things like £25 off a phone repair service and other things that may come in handy (see them all here).

Finally, giffgaff won't raise prices for the rest of the year. But the trade off of their low costs is that you miss out on benefits like data rollover and free data streaming that fellow O2 users Sky offer.

Useful link: Our guide to the best networks for calling abroad

✔ There are better options for Pay As You Go than giffgaff

Not a lot of networks still let you pay as you go in the traditional way where you top up with credit and pay for your mins, texts and data. But giffgaff still let you do this, you don’t need to buy a monthly plan.

The big downside is that giffgaff have increased their rates to the point where you’re usually just better off joining a monthly bundle than paying as you go:

25p per minute + 10p per text + 10p per MB data = £0 a month (0‑month contract)
See full deal

In our rankings for the cheapest PAYG networks, giffgaff are in the middle of the pack. But they’re a much more expensive choice than 1pMobile who offer tariffs of 1p per min, text and MB of data.

You can call other giffgaff numbers for free if you top up with £10 every three months. And as long as you use some credit every six months, it won’t expire. But we think most would be better off on a monthly plan.

Useful link: All giffgaff payg rates

✔ giffgaff’s phone deals are some of the most flexible

giffgaff base tier phone contracts on finance agreements (basically loans) where the cost of paying off your phone and your monthly goodybag or 18-month usage contract (mins, texts, data) are on separate bills.

So you get the flexibility to switch your plan up or down each month. Or if you’re on a 1-month plan you get the freedom to leave giffgaff at the end of the month while still paying them for the cost of your phone.

And you can set your own upfront cost. You can set it higher to reduce your monthly payment. And you can choose a contract length to suit your budget and reduce your contract length by paying lump sum amounts.

While it’s more expensive than buying from the manufacturer, giffgaff offer good value on their phone deals. The downside is that it can be harder to pass a credit check, but if you can they’re an excellent choice.

Useful link: giffgaff's latest phone range

Their customer service is a bit of a weak spot

giffgaff have an estimated two million customers and as such should be large enough to appear in Ofcom’s network complaints data. But they don’t since they’re not technically a pay monthly network.

This is usually the easiest way of telling whether or not a network are good at resolving their customers’ issues. But without it we can’t really say how good their customer service is outside of our own experience.

They’re able to keep costs low by not having call centres. That can be a bit frustrating if you’re someone who prefers to call up your network when you run into an issue to get it solved directly.

At least they now have an online chat, but we haven’t tested it. If you can’t get help that way then you can submit a question to their community forums, but this can be slow. It’s the trade off for budget costs.

Useful link: How to get help on giffgaff