Pay As You Go SIMs: cheapest basic rates & no credit expiry
The retailers featured on this page may compensate us when our readers follow links to their websites and make a purchase. More
Find the best traditional pay as you go SIMs, where you top up and pay out of credit. We show the cheapest rates and longest expiry. Last updated: 20th March 2025.
Cheap classic pay as you go SIMs
Only a handful of providers still have proper Pay As You Go
✔ Monthly PAYG bundles are more common
In this guide we’ll go over the mobile networks that offer the best traditional Pay As You Go SIM cards. These providers let you top up with credit and pay for what you use out of that.
These days, only a handful of networks let you pay as you go this way. Most prefer to sell monthly bundles of mins, texts and data. That's no good for infrequent users or remote devices like alarms.
If you usually top up with £5 credit each month anyway, then you might want to consider these options despite being pay monthly plans:
Below, we've ranked the networks based on the cheapest rates per minute, text and data. And looked at any annoying terms and conditions like credit expiring or minimum top ups.
How each network compares
1pMobile have the cheapest PAYG rates in the UK
If you actively want to use your pay as you go SIM, 1pMobile on the EE network are your best choice. As their name suggests, they have the cheapest basic rates in the country, at just 1p per minute, text or MB data:
This is great if you don’t want the commitment of a monthly plan you might not use. You can also save yourself the faff of topping up with credit by taking one of their great value prepaid annual SIMs.
If you’re a very infrequent user though, or just want a SIM for emergencies or incoming calls, 1pMobile won’t be for you. You have to top up with £10 every 60 days to keep your SIM active. You keep all unused credit.
We’re big fans of 1pMobile in general (see our full network review). They offer the closest experience to being on EE directly. Identical coverage and speeds (check their map here), plus extra network features like WiFi calling.
Useful link: All other costs and charges on 1pMobile
giffgaff’s credit never expires on pay as you go
Our top choice for infrequent users is giffgaff. Not only can you get £5 free credit with your first £10 top up here but there’s no minimum top up rules. Your SIM stays active as long as you make a call once every six months.
Here are giffgaff’s basic pay as you go rates:
The trade off for no credit expiry is higher basic rates than 1pMobile. But if your plan is to barely use your SIM then this becomes less important. It’s also possible to get free calls to other giffgaff numbers.
Overall, we like giffgaff as a network. You get excellent reliable coverage through O2, particularly for calls. Their data speeds are beatable but good enough. And they’ve recently added extras like WiFi calling for some phones.
Useful link: Check your coverage on giffgaff
ASDA combine cheap rates and long credit expiry
✔ Lowest PAYG rates on Vodafone’s networkOrder free SIM card
at mobile.asda.com
(opens in a new window)
ASDA are another good option for infrequent users who want to get through their credit in their own time. You only lose your credit if you don’t top up your SIM for 180 days, which is a lot more flexible than 1p.
There is a minimum top up requirement of £5, but that still works out to less than £1 per month. The only downside is their rates are a bit higher than some of the networks above, which frequent users won’t love:
ASDA can be a good alternative to 1p and Talk Home if you’d rather be on Vodafone’s network than EE’s and if you’d prefer not to have to top up regularly. But 1p and Talk Home’s rates are much cheaper.
Useful link: ASDA Mobile FAQs
Talk Home Mobile have low rates but make you top up a lot
Talk Home Mobile are another smaller provider on EE’s network that offer super cheap rates of 1p per min, text and MB of data. You’ll also get 5G where available if you’re on a 5G-ready device.
After taking out a SIM with them you can top up with credit and Pay As You Go right away. They have the same 1p per minute, text and MB of data rates as 1pMobile, making them a brilliant choice for PAYG:
But you will have to top up and use a bit of credit every 90 days otherwise they will suspend your SIM and you’ll lose your credit. You’ll then have to top up to get it working again.
At least you don’t have to use all your credit like on 1p and their minimum top up is a bit more flexible at just £2.50. But they don’t offer WiFi calling or over-the-phone customer service which can be sorely missed.
Useful link: Talk Home’s guide to their PAYG scheme
RWG Mobile are another low cost option on PAYG
RWG Mobile are a smaller, Wales-based provider that say they use Now Mobile’s network, which ultimately means they use EE’s network. They’re worth looking at even if you’re not Welsh, as they offer cheap PAYG rates:
While calls and texts are quite a bit more expensive than on 1pMobile and Talk Home, if you don’t use calls or texts very often then RWG can be a decent choice for using data on Pay As You Go.
You’ll also love that your credit will never expire on RWG. You don’t need to top up with a minimum amount or use a certain amount of credit to keep it active. You can use up your credit entirely in your own time.
To join them you can take a SIM with £1 already loaded. But again, you can get through this credit as you like. Frequent users will love them for their low rates and infrequent users will love the flexibility.
Useful link: See all rates on RWG
Tesco’s Triple Credit can make them good for frequent users
Tesco are another provider on O2’s network that let you pay as you go in the traditional way. And Tesco actually have the exact same rates as giffgaff:
But Tesco’s scheme is a little bit complicated as you can either top up with £10, £15 or £20 to get a triple credit boost. For example, topping up with £10 will actually get you £30 of credit.
The downside is that your boosted credit (the £20 in our example) will go away if you don’t get through it all in one month. So this only really benefits frequent users who’d get through a lot of credit each month.
But your regular credit doesn’t expire if you make a chargeable action at least every 180 days, such as just sending a text to someone. Overall, they’re a decent choice for frequent and infrequent users.
Useful link: Tesco Mobile’s pay as you go rates
Three are flexible but are a bit expensive for PAYG
Of the four main UK networks, only Three offer a traditional Pay As You Go scheme. But we think frequent users will be turned off by their relatively high rates:
The cost of calls and data has gone up massively over time, and they have the highest tariff for calls out of all these networks. So they’re only really good if you use your phone very infrequently.
But they are quite good for this as you only have to use some credit (such as making a call) every 180 days to keep your SIM active. Your credit will never expire if you do that, which infrequent users will love.
You can take a free SIM from their website here. While they only advertise their monthly bundles you can still pay as you go the traditional way. They’re a decent choice if you get good signal on Three near you.
Useful link: See all payg rates on Three
Lebara are an inflexible and expensive option for PAYG
Lebara are the second provider on this list who use Vodafone’s network. But their tariffs are quite high, meaning your usage on Pay As You Go will add up quickly:
And they’re not a very flexible choice either, as you have to use some credit every 90 days or else you’ll lose it. Infrequent users won’t like that at all as it means you can’t get through your data as you please.
Honestly we’d say most people would be better off on a 1-month SIM only plan on Lebara as these come with no contracts or credit checks. Or you could join ASDA as they’re a better option on PAYG in our eyes.
Useful link: Read Lebara’s terms and conditions
Lyca Mobile are expensive and inflexible for PAYG
Lyca Mobile are a budget provider on EE’s network. However, for Pay As You Go they have the highest tariffs of all UK networks. You’ll eat up your credit very quickly at their rates:
Data especially will add up very quickly (just 1GB would cost over £10!) when compared to the networks higher up the list. Their rates per min and text are also high, but not as high as some of the networks above.
You’ll also have to use your SIM for something every 90 days to hold onto your credit. And even if you do that your credit will expire after a year, unlike on some of the providers above that let you keep it forever.
So we can’t really see who would want to join Lyca on PAYG as they’re not the best choice for frequent or infrequent users. You may be better joining on a no-contract 1-month plan or one of the networks above.
Useful link: Lycamobile’s standard UK rates
There’s no traditional PAYG on these networks
Some networks that don’t offer traditional PAYG but do sell flexible monthly plans with no contracts or credit checks. The best in our eyes are SMARTY with low costs on a range of 30-day plans on Three’s network.
Or you can join VOXI who piggyback off Vodafone’s network as all their plans are on decently priced 30-day plans with generous added benefits. Again, there are no contracts on these so basically anyone can join.
You can also join the other large networks on PAYG monthly bundles. O2 are our favourites for this as their “Big Bundles” are decently priced and include data rollover to help you get the most of your data.
Vodafone and EE are also decent, but are quite expensive. They both also include data rollover. You can get a lot of data with these, if you’re set on paying as you go then choose one of the networks above.
Useful link: Our guide to the best 30-day SIM only plans