Ken's Tech Tips

November 24th, 2011

We compare free Pay As You Go SIM card offerings from 15 of the UK’s mobile operators.

Whether you’re a very occasional mobile phone user or a heavy phone user who’ll use hundreds of minutes each month, great deals can be had on Pay As You Go if you shop around. As Pay As You Go tariffs don’t lock you in for 24 months, competition is fierce in the Pay As You Go market as companies are constantly competing for customers.

Pay As You Go tariffs make it easy to control the amount you spend: once you’ve run out of credit you’ll need to top up and because they’re not a credit product no credit check is required. The downside of Pay As You Go compared to Pay Monthly is that you won’t get the “free” or subsidised phones which come with a traditional mobile phone contract.

We think Pay As You Go is great if you’ve already got your own mobile phone which you’re happy to keep. By inserting a free Pay As You Go SIM card into your phone, you can take advantage of some great deals and cheap calls and texts. In this guide, we’ve got a comprehensive list of free SIM card offers from 15 of the top mobile operators. These include the big name networks, low-cost mobile operators and specialist networks for international calling. Several of the SIM card include free credit once you’ve activated them.

The most choice amongst “Ken’s Tech Tips” readers is giffgaff. They offer 250 minutes, unlimited texts and unlimited internet on a £10/month goodybag. Outside of a goodybag bundle, calls cost 10p/minute, texts cost 6p each and accessing the web costs 20p/day. Calls, texts and video calls to other giffgaff members are free. You can get a free SIM card from giffgaff here or read our in-depth giffgaff review.

• Keeping your phone: Remember that your mobile phone must be unlocked for you to switch network.
• Keeping your number: If you wish to keep your phone number, you will need to request a PAC code from your current network and provide this to your new network. Our PAC Code Finder will walk you through this process.
• Checking coverage: To find out what coverage is like where you live on a given network, see our guide to checking coverage in your local area.
• Check out Pay Monthly too. If you make a lot of calls or have a smartphone, you may get a better deal on a SIM Only contract. See our guide to the best value SIM-only smartphone tariffs.

Network	Information	Get SIM Card
	READER’S PICK: MOST POPULAR IN 2011 giffgaff is currently the most popular Pay As You Go offering amongst Ken’s Tech Tips readers. Running on the O2 network, giffgaff charges 10p/minute, 6p/text and 20p/day for 20MB of internet. This is less than half of what most mainstream networks charge. All calls, texts and video calls between giffgaff members are free. Giffgaff customers can buy ‘Goodybag’ bundles – £10/month buys 250 minutes, unlimited texts and unlimited internet. See our giffgaff review for more information.	Order SIM card » Free
	O2 offer 5 Pay As You Go Tariffs. 3 of their tariffs offer free stuff with every top-up: choose from free texts and internet or free O2-to-O2 calls & texts when you top up £10/month. Alternatively, opt for the O2 Simplicity tariff which offers unlimited texts from £7.50/month. Calls are 25p/minute and texts are 12p each on O2. giffgaff is a low cost alternative to O2 which uses the O2 network.	Order SIM card » Free
	Vodafone offer a range of “freebee” tariffs – with every top up of £10/month, you’ll get either free texts and internet, free calls to Vodafone or free calls abroad. You could also opt for a “Freedom” bundle – £10/month buys you 100 minutes, 300 texts and 50MB internet. Standard rates are 21p/minute for calls, 10p per text message and £1/day for internet.	Order SIM card » Up to 2 free SIM cards
	Orange have a range of Pay As You Go “animal” tariffs. Depending on which tariff you choose, you’ll get different freebies with each top-up: free texts and internet on Dolphin, free evening and weekend calls/texts with Canary, free music with Monkey or free international calls with Camel. All tariffs come with Orange Wednesdays which offers 2-for-1 cinema tickets and Pizza Express on Wednesdays. Calls cost 25p/minute, texts are 12p each and internet is up to £2/day on Orange.	Order SIM card » Free
	Three’s Pay As You Go tariff comes with 150MB free internet every time you top up. Calls cost 26p/minute and texts cost 11p each or you could purchase an “All in One” bundle: £10 buys an allowance of 100 minutes, 3000 texts and 500MB internet which lasts for a month.	Order SIM card » Free
	With every £10 top-up, you’ll either get 100 free minutes, unlimited texts or 60 international minutes all of which last for 30 days. Outside of your inclusive allowances, calls cost 25p/minute, texts are 10p each and internet is £1 per day.	Order SIM card » Free
	ASDA Mobile offers a flat rate of 10p/minute, 6p/text and 50p/MB for data. ASDA uses the Vodafone network. We think ASDA offers great value for light phone users who don’t use a smartphone. giffgaff offers a better value proposition for those with a smartphone and those who can take advantage of free giffgaff-to-giffgaff calls and texts.	Order SIM card » Free
	Ikea Family Mobile charges a flat rate of 8p/minute and 4p/text. Ikea Family Mobile is unique in that it allow you to choose your own “golden” phone number.	Order SIM card » Free (requires top-up)
	Lebara Mobile is a specialist international calls provider. They offers international calls from as low as 1p/minute and 12p for an international text message depending on which country you’re calling. Calls within the UK cost 10p/min and texts are charged at 12p each.	Order SIM card » Free
	LycaMobile is another specialist international calling provider. They offer calls to Europe from 1p/min and international calls from 4p/minute. Calls to UK phone numbers cost 10p/min whilst texts cost 10p each. See full tariff information.	Order SIM card » Free
	Talkmobile from the Carphone Warehouse charges a flat rate of 25p/minute, 12p/text and 25p/day for mobile internet. See full tariff information.	Order SIM card » Free (requires £5 top up)
	Tesco Mobile charges 25p/minute, 10p/text and offers mobile internet for £2/week. They run a “triple your credit” promotion whereby a £10 top-up will be tripled up to £30.	Order SIM card » Free
	Tesco Mobile Lite charges 8p/minute and 4p/text. See full tariff information.	Order SIM card » Free
	Vectone Mobile charges 10p/minute for calls and 10p per text message. Customers topping up will recieve free calls and texts to other Vectone Mobile customers for 4 weeks. See our in-depth review of Vectone Mobile.	Order SIM card » Free
	Virgin Mobile’s “Addict” tariff charges 26p/minute for calls and 10p for text messages. With a £10 top-up you’ll get 300 free texts. Alternatively, you’ll get unlimited texts and 1GB internet free with a £15 top-up. See full tariff information.	Order SIM card » Free

* The “Reader’s Pick” selection is giffgaff. The “Reader’s Pick” is determined from the number of SIM card orders during 2011 for each mobile network through the Ken’s Tech Tips website (as of 24th November).

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About Ken

My mission is to demystify the world of mobile technology for general audiences and to communicate how mobile technology can enhance every aspect of our daily lives. I've been maintaining the Ken's Tech Tips website since 2004. I have experience communicating mobile technology and presenting new mobile products both online and offline, including at various trade shows and events. You can check out my profile or drop me an e-mail.

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