Best family mobile plans in Australia

Compare family mobile plans

There are just a handful of providers that offer some form of a family mobile plan where you get a pool of data to share between a specific number of SIMs.

This is different to data gifting which we'll get to later in the guide along with some more details on how to choose the best family plan for your household.

How do I choose the best family plan?

Family mobile plans are more about convenience than saving money, especially with the bigger telcos like Optus, Telstra, and Vodafone.

Their family or SIM-only plans usually come with a higher price tag, but they offer extra perks that smaller providers, focused on budget-conscious households, don't always include.

This inlcudes the option to earn Telstra Plus points for rewards, discounted Optus Sport or Vodafone's popular $5 a day roaming add-on.

What else do I look out for?

Some other key features from providers to keep in mind when comparing family mobile plans is:

While some features may overlap between providers, this highlights each one’s unique strengths.

Alternatively, if you don't mind getting multiple bills, either from one provider or different ones, it could be a good idea to compare other mobile plans.

This way each family member can pick one that suits their data or mobile needs and potentially save money.

Mobile plans with data gifting

Three providers in our database offer data gifting as a feature - More, Everyday Mobile by Woolworths and Belong.

This can be handy if you decide you're okay to skip out on a family mobile plan but you don't mind getting different mobile plans from the same provider.

It'll give you the option to gift each other data if and when the need arises. Here are some terms and conditions to be aware of before you sign up.

Data gifting with More

You can only gift up to 50% of your monthly data allowance and send a minimum of 1GB at least per gift. You can't regift any gifted data that you receive. Prices for More's mobile plans start at $24 a month for 12GB.
Compare plans from More and sign up

Data gifting with Everyday Mobile by Woolworths

Similar to More, you can only gift up to 50% of your included data per recharge and at 1GB increments to another active Everyday Mobile from Woolworths plan with the Data Gifting feature.

Data, once gifted, cannot be re-gifted to any other plan. Prices start at $25 per 30-day recharge for 22GB.

Compare plans from Everyday Mobile and sign up

Data gifting with Belong

You can send data in 1GB increments and up to 5 times a month, You need to have at least 1.3GB in your data bank to send a gift.

Both mobile and data-only plans can give and receive data. Prices for Belong's mobile plans start at $30 a month for 25GB.

Compare plans from Belong and sign up

Frequently asked questions

• What are family mobile plans?

  Mobile providers differ in how they offer family mobile plans, but for the most part, there are two options you'll be given depending on the provider.

  Mobile plans designed for family use: These are specific family plans where you have multiple SIMs under the same account that share a certain amount of data per month, all for a fixed price. Providers that offer this include Optus and ALDImobile.

  Bundling SIMs for your family
  Other providers might allow you to bundle SIM-only plans together. In this case, you'd need to get each plan individually and then bundle them under the same account. All of the data will then be pooled for the entire family to use. Providers that take this approach include Telstra and Vodafone.

• Is it cheaper to be on a family phone plan?

  Family phone plans are more for convenience than a savings strategy.

  Plans from the bigger telcos like Optus, Vodafone and Telstra will end up costing you more in the long run as they're priced at a premium.

  Family phone plans from the likes of ALDImobile and Yomojo may end up being slightly cheaper.

  It pays to know how much data each family member uses each month because it might work out cheaper to get individual plans rather than one big family plan.

• Is the Optus family plan worth it?

  The Optus family plan, or the 4-SIM family plan costs $165 a month for 320GB.

  You get access to features such as McAfee Parental Control, bundling discounts on your streaming subscriptions via Optus SubHub and more.

  But you need to ask yourself if all of that is something you can manage without because there's a chance the entire family doesn't even need that much data and you could save with individual plans from another provider instead.

  You can compare mobile plans for yourself and then for your kids or teens separately if you're happy to let go of the convenience of having mobile plans under one bill.

Written by

Mariam Gabaji

Editor I Tech and utilities expert

Mariam Gabaji is an editor and tech and utilities expert at Finder with 12+ years of experience as a journalist. She's committed to helping households cut through the industry jargon and save money on their bills. Her expertise is often featured in media including the ABC, Yahoo Finance, 9News, 7News, A Current Affair, The Guardian, SBS and Money Magazine. See full bio

Mariam's expertise

Mariam has written 307 Finder guides across topics including:

• Energy
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