Casting my mind back to when mobiles first hit the market, I still remember the excitement of handing over the £10 note and getting a top-up card. You then got to scratch off the cover, reveal the code, and dial a number to enter it. Then voilà, you could start spending at 10p a text! So what do SIM only deals under £10 actually get you today?
Well, it is fair to say that times have moved on, including my age, which has allowed me to have a contract rather than a pay as you go SIM. But it did make me think, what exactly would £10 a month get you these days in terms of data, minutes and messages? One thing that has changed is the market itself. No longer can phone companies charge 10p a text and 10p a minute. Instead these are often unlimited, and the main thing users focus on is how much data they get!
SIM only deals under £10 at a glance
Prices checked 18 October 2026. They change often, so confirm on the provider’s site before you sign up. I’ve left out the two 100MB plans that Sky offer as the data is very low.
| Network | Data | Per month | Contract | Cost per GB | Worth knowing |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sky Mobile | 1GB | £1 | 24 months | £1.00 | |
| 1pMobile | 5GB | £5 | Rolling 30 days | £1.00 | EU roaming capped |
| SMARTY | 5GB | £6 | Rolling monthly | £1.20 | |
| Sky Mobile | 5GB | £6 | 24 months | £1.20 | |
| Tesco Mobile | 2GB | £7.50 | 24 months | £3.75 | |
| SMARTY | 32GB | £8 | Rolling monthly | £0.25 | |
| giffgaff | 40GB | £8 | 18 months | £0.20 | Boosted from 6GB |
| Sky Mobile | 1GB | £8 | 30 days | £8.00 | |
| Tesco Mobile | 12GB | £9 | 24 months | £0.75 | Needs a Clubcard |
| BT Mobile | 10GB | £10 | Rolling 30 days | £1.00 | EU roaming included |
| 1pMobile | 50GB | £10 | Rolling 30 days | £0.20 | EU roaming capped |
| giffgaff | 80GB | £10 | 18 months | £0.13 | Boosted from 25GB |
| giffgaff | 20GB | £10 | Rolling monthly | £0.50 | |
| giffgaff | 15GB | £10 | Pay as you go | £0.67 | |
| Sky Mobile | 25GB | £10 | 24 months | £0.40 |
Roaming: Tesco Mobile has no EU roaming fees in its 48 Home From Home destinations. Sky Mobile charges £2 a day for most customers, and roaming is free for Sky VIP Diamond customers. 1pMobile and giffgaff cap roaming data, and BT includes EU roaming.
SIM only deals under £10: the ground rules
For the purposes of this look at SIM only deals under £10, we’re assuming a max spend of £10 a month, that it is a SIM only deal, and that we’d be happy with either pay as you go or a contract, and happy to lock in for up to two years. A ✅ means that network had at least one plan at £10 a month or under, and a ❌ means it didn’t make the grade.
SIM only deals under £10, network by network
Vodafone ❌
First up is Vodafone, with nothing to offer! Yep, that’s right. The cheapest SIM only deal offering 1GB of data is £16 a month, increasing to £18.50 from 1st April 2027 and then up to £21 a month from April 2028. So fair to say that for this challenge they don’t hit the mark!
EE ❌
Next up is EE, and they’ve come storming in with a 24 month contract for £16 a month, increasing to £18.50 a month from March 2027 and then ending at £21 a month from March 2028. Ouch, so far this hunt is not looking promising.
BT Mobile ✅
And now for BT Mobile, who are the first to meet my challenge! You get 10GB on a 30-day rolling contract for £10 a month (it was £11), with unlimited minutes and texts, built-in Scam Threat Protect and EU roaming included. It is fair to say that this deal is actually quite exciting. I mean, it offers better value than my old pay as you go scratch card did years and years ago!
Tesco Mobile ✅
Just when I thought BT might be a one-off, next up came Tesco Mobile, offering a 24 month contract for £9 a month and giving you 12GB of data. Now this is a “Clubcard price” so you do need a Clubcard, which you can read all about in my other article. Interestingly this isn’t their cheapest offer either. They also offer 2GB on a 24 month contract for £7.50 a month. This is where some of the analysis becomes important, as mobile providers offer multiple deals at similar prices, and before you know it you can find yourself paying for a bit more data just in case and signing up to more than you need! But that is a different story.
On roaming, Tesco Mobile says there are no EU roaming fees in its 48 Home From Home destinations.
SMARTY ✅
And now for a less well known operator, SMARTY, although they did go through a phase of advertising on TV for a period, I believe. They offer a nice deal at £8 a month, giving you 32GB, and this is on a rolling monthly contract, so no locking in for 2 years!
And they lowered the bar still further, offering a market beating 5GB for £6 a month, also on a rolling contract. Pretty impressive if you don’t need more than 5GB!
1pMobile ✅
A further competitor is 1pMobile, someone that I have used personally. They offer two packages that come in under our £10 price ceiling for this bit of work:
- 5GB for £5.00 every 30 days: unlimited calls and texts, free EU roaming*, 5G included and no speed caps
- 50GB for £10.00 every 30 days: unlimited calls and texts, free EU roaming*, 5G included and no speed caps
*EU roaming covers 46 European destinations, with a 14GB cap per boost while you are abroad.
giffgaff ✅
And now let’s check out giffgaff, a company that is pretty big when it comes to advertising on TV, if memory serves me right! They offer two 18 month contracts: £10 a month for 80GB or £8 a month for 40GB. Both are currently boosted, with their normal allowances being 25GB and 6GB, so check the boost still applies when you sign up.
If a rolling contract is your thing, then they offer £10 a month for 20GB, or pay as you go for 15GB for £10 a month.
O2 ❌
And lastly I went and checked what O2 could offer me, and unfortunately they didn’t come to the party with a competing deal. Offering a 24 month contract at £20 a month, increasing to £22.50 from April 2027 and then £25 from April 2028, this isn’t really one for the budget conscious.
Sky Mobile ✅
Ok, and to end this tour of the mobile websites, I’m going to finish with Sky Mobile, who offer lots of deals under £10! The 24 month deals are: 100MB for £5 a month (a shockingly low amount of data that I wonder if it is a typo!), 1GB for £1 a month, 5GB for £6 a month or 25GB for £10 a month.
And the 30 day deals are 100MB for £8 and 1GB for £8.
One thing worth knowing about Sky is roaming. For most customers it is Roaming Passport Plus at £2 a day across 120 destinations, which includes the EU, with a 25GB fair usage limit per bill cycle. Sky has also made roaming free for its longest serving customers (Sky VIP Diamond, which means over 15 years with Sky), on any Sky Mobile data plan. See Sky’s announcements on £2 a day roaming and free roaming for loyal customers.
Choosing the right SIM only deal for you
Now as with everything, it is never quite as clear cut as always picking the cheapest, especially with mobile phones. Before getting your SIM you should get some key data points to make sure you pick the right one for you, mainly:
- How much data do you use a month? Make sure you don’t buy more “just in case”, or at least make it a sensible buffer.
- How many minutes of calls do you make a month, and is there enough included? It is quite rare these days that calls are not all included, but it does happen.
- How many text messages do you send? This is gradually becoming less relevant as most messaging moves to WhatsApp, Viber, Apple Messages and so on. However, it is still used at times, and some places don’t give you unlimited, though this is rare.
- Do you go abroad? This one is important since the UK left the EU. Gone are the days where mobile companies must allow your home allowances to work abroad by default. Some providers still allow this, but not all do, so if this matters to you then check it out.
- Do you have broadband or TV with someone, or an existing contract phone? Then see what deals that provider may offer you. I’ve seen Vodafone offer an unlimited data package for £10 a month on a SIM if you have broadband with them before, so it is always worth a look. The same thinking applies to TV and sports bundles.
- Check cashback. Sites like Quidco and TopCashback often pay cashback on SIM only deals, so don’t miss what is effectively a free month.
SIM only deals under £10 change often. These prices were checked in October 2026, so always confirm the live figure on the provider’s own website. For more ways to trim everyday bills, take a look at my Spending Habits guide.
References: SMARTY plans, 1pMobile SIM only deals, giffgaff SIM only deals.