By Max Langridge
published
It's entirely possible to get online without having to dig deep into your pockets
Jump to:
- Cheapest NBN 25 plan
- Cheapest NBN 50 plan
- Cheapest NBN plans FAQ
In the current financial climate, saving money wherever you can is a priority, so finding the cheapest NBN plan for your home is something you probably should be thinking about. Fortunately, with so many NBN providers offering internet services in Australia, competition can be fierce and so you’ll often find they attempt to outprice each other to gain your custom.
If you do want to sign up to the cheapest NBN plans in Australia, you are going to have to avoid the major telcos of Telstra, Optus and even Vodafone. While these internet service providers (ISPs) will likely offer a reliable service, it comes at a cost. But, as mentioned earlier, you have a huge selection of other, smaller providers to choose from, who may even offer a faster service.
When looking for the outright cheapest NBN plan, you will have to be realistic in the maximum download speeds you can achieve. By this, we mean you’re going to need to focus on NBN 25 and NBN 50 plans with maximum download speeds of 25Mbps and 50Mbps, respectively (you can get NBN 12 plans but because of the relative similarity in cost between those plans and NBN 25, we’re choosing NBN 25 as our minimum). Faster speeds, which can be found with NBN 100 plans and above, will require you to dig deeper into your pockets.
So, what are the cheapest NBN plans currently available? Read on to find out.
Cheapest NBN 25 plan
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Spintel | Unlimited data | No lock-in contract | AU$44.95p/m (for 6 months, then AU$49.95p/m) (opens in new tab)
The cheapest NBN 25 plan we can find currently comes from Spintel and costs AU$44p/m for the first six months of the plan, before increasing to AU$49.95p/m. However, for this low monthly price, you are limited to just 20Mbps download speeds during the typical busy evening hours of 7pm - 11pm. During all other hours, Spintel’s NBN plan reverts to 25Mbps download speeds.
Total minimum cost: AU$44.95 | Total cost of first year: AU$569.40 | Yearly cost after discount: AU$599.40
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Cheapest NBN 25 plan: Editor's pick
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Spintel might be the NBN provider with the overall cheapest NBN 25 plan, but if it were our money we were spending, we'd kick things up a notch and go with Tangerine, provider of the next most affordable plan.
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Tangerine | Unlimited data | No lock-in contract | AU$44.90p/m (for 6 months, then AU$59.90p/m) (opens in new tab)
Tangerine's NBN 25 plan will set you back more each month compared to Spintel's, but it does give you the full 25Mbps download speeds in return. This could prove to be useful if you live in a two person household and like to indulge in a regular streaming binge session, or if you live by yourself and like to play online games.
Tangerine also scores well with customers who have left reviews online, with the vast majority claiming to receive their advertised speeds and that their connection is reliable.
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Cheapest NBN 50 plan
Now, the criteria you set as a means to determine the cheapest NBN 50 plan might be different to ours. For us, it’s the cheapest cost for the first 12 months of a plan. But, considering you’re free to change your NBN plan whenever you wish, you may base it on the cost for the first six months. It’s during the first six months of an NBN plan that most providers offer a discount, before reverting to their regular price.
NBN 50 is the most popular speed tier in Australia, offering speeds that can comfortably support a household of four, whilst also being affordable. As we alluded to earlier, however, there can be a big variation in the cost of an NBN 50 plan, with those offered by the major telcos costing at least AU$30p/m more than the smaller providers at the bottom end of the budget scale.
So, we’ve picked out two NBN 50 plans. One that is cheapest for the first 12 months, and one that is cheapest for the first six months (there is only 90 cents in it, but a saving is a saving).
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Spintel | Unlimited data | No lock-in contract | AU$54p/m (for 6 months, then AU$64.95p/m) (opens in new tab)
Spintel takes the crown for the cheapest NBN 50 plan over 12 months with a total cost of AU$713.40 and unlike its NBN 25 plan, Spintel promises the full 50Mbps download speed during the busy evening hours. What’s more, Spintel scores highly in online reviews, with a large proportion of customers giving five star reviews for the company’s customer service and network reliability.
Total minimum cost: AU$54 | Total cost for first 12 months: AU$713.70 | Yearly cost after discount: AU$779.40
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Dodo | Unlimited data | No lock-in contract | AU$53.85p/m (for 6 months, then AU$75p/m) (opens in new tab)
Dodo offers the most affordable NBN 50 plan for the first six months compared to any other NBN provider, at AU$53.85p/m. The monthly cost does increase to AU$75 after this introductory period, so you will want to look into switching your NBN plan if keeping costs to a minimum is your main priority.
Total minimum cost: AU$53.85 | Total cost for first 12 months: AU$773.10 | Yearly cost after discount: AU$900
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Cheapest NBN 50 plan: Editor's pick
The two NBN 50 plans mentioned above are both great options for getting connected to the internet at home. But in our opinion there is one NBN provider that is also well worth your consideration: Exetel.
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Exetel | Unlimited data | No lock-in contract | AU$53.95p/m (for 6 months then AU$74.95p/m) (opens in new tab)
Exetel often performs well in the Australian Competition & Consumer Commission's (ACCC) performance reports. In the latest, published in December 2022 (opens in new tab), Exetel delivered 101.5% of advertised plan speeds during the busy evening hours.
Exetel also offers a feature called My Speed Boost Days which let you increase the download speed of your plan to the next speed tier up, for free, five times each month. In the case of an NBN 50 plan, this means you can increase your download speed to 100Mbps, yet the price of your plan stays the same. In our opinion, this represents incredible value, making it our best pick for an NBN 50 plan.
Total minimum cost: AU$53.95 | Total cost for first 12 months: AU$773.40 | Yearly cost after discount: AU$899.40
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Cheapest NBN plans FAQ
What is the cheapest NBN plan?
The cheapest NBN 25 plan currently available comes from Spintel, at AU$49.95p/m after a six-month introductory offer period. However, this only provides 20Mbps download speeds during the busier evening hours. Tangerine's NBN 25 plan gives you the full 25Mbps speeds during all hours for AU$59.90p/m after introductory offers.
Who has the cheapest NBN plans?
While NBN providers can change their pricing at any moment, the NBN providers offering the cheapest plans usually include Spintel, Tangerine and Dodo.
Right now, however, More has some of the cheapest NBN plans in Australia, but only for Commonwealth Bank customers. CBA customers can save 30% on an NBN plan for 12 months and 10% off ongoing following this introductory period.
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Max Langridge
Senior Editor, Tom's Guide AU
Max is a digital content writer for Tom’s Guide in Australia, where he covers all things internet-related, including NBN and the emerging alternatives, along with audio and visual products such as headphones and TVs. Max started his career in his homeland of England, where he spent time working for What Hi-Fi? and Pocket-lint, before moving to Australia in 2018.
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Internet