I’ve compared the new plans with other networks to see if it’s worth it
Monzo has announced that it’s launching a new mobile network exclusively for customers of its bank account, which incidentally won Bank of the Year at our sister site’s British bank awards just last week. The service will launch this summer and customers will get a discount of 5% each year, with a maximum discount of 30% over time.
I’ve taken a look at Monzo Mobile and compared it with similar SIM-only plans to see if it’s worth it.
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What is Monzo?
Monzo’s a digital bank, known for its bright coral cards. The bank has recently ventured into investments, business banking, kids banking and cashback, and this time, a mobile network.
This is a slightly unusual move for the brand, but mobile phone bills are a regular household expense, so it could be a sign of the direction that Monzo plans to move in — with a goal to help its customers manage their money in more ways than with just banking.
You have to have a Monzo bank account to get access to its mobile network, but the account is free, so there’s no reason you couldn’t sign up just for this.
Monzo Mobile overview
Monzo Mobile is an eSIM-only plan, so it doesn’t offer mobile phones — although I wouldn’t turn down a mobile phone in its unique coral colour. There aren’t even physical SIM cards. The network “piggybacks” off O2, which means you’ll get the same signal as if you were an O2 customer — Andy’s written about how these work before.
If you’re already on a SIM-only plan or your mobile phone contract has come to an end, you can move to Monzo pretty easily. Those locked into a contract will need to wait until the term is up, or pay an exit fee, to move to Monzo.
There’s no annual contract, so there aren’t exit fees and you can switch your plan or leave whenever you want. This gives you the flexibility to just do a month here or there, or to adapt your plan to match your needs.
Monzo’s responding to the persistent annual price rises we see from mobile networks every year by offering an annual loyalty discount instead. You can get a 5% discount each year that you stick around, which maxes out at a discount of 30%.
With all of the plans, you get 5G speeds, you can hotspot from your phone to use your phone signal on other devices, and you can use WiFi calling. You can keep your existing mobile phone number, too.
Costs
Monzo is offering 3 mobile plans, all with unlimited minutes and texts, with the cost depending on the data:
- 10GB for £8 per month
- 30GB for £12 per month
- Unlimited data for £20 per month
It also includes 10GB of EU roaming in the 30GB plan and 25GB of global roaming included in the Unlimited plan, more on this below.
Featured switching deal
Customer rating
4/5
- Switch bonus£180
- Offer endsUnknown
- FSCS Protected? Yes
- Switch bonus requirements Switch using the Current Account Switch Service and close your old account within 60 days of starting the switch
- Deposit requirements Deposit £1,500 in the first 60 days from opening the account
- Direct debits transferred over Set up two Direct Debits before or after the switch from a selected list of household bills
- Existing customers? Can't have held any Santander current account on 1 January 2025
- Restrictions Can't have received a switching bonus from Santander already, offer limited to once per person
- Eligible accounts Open a new or hold an existing Everyday, Edge, Edge Up or Edge Explorer current account
EU roaming included in the 30GB plan
You can use up to 10GB of data in these countries:
- Austria
- Belgium
- Bulgaria
- Croatia
- Cyprus
- Czech Republic
- Denmark
- Estonia
- Finland,
- France
- Germany
- Greece
- Hungary
- Iceland
- Ireland
- Italy
- Latvia
- Liechtenstein
- Lithuania
- Luxembourg
- Malta
- Netherlands
- Norway
- Poland
- Portugal
- Romania
- San Marino
- Slovakia
- Slovenia
- Spain
- Sweden
- Switzerland
- Turkey
- Vatican City
Global roaming included in the Unlimited plan
You can use up to 25GB of data in all of the countries above, plus these:
- Australia
- Canada
- Egypt
- French Guiana
- Gibraltar
- Guadeloupe
- Hong Kong
- Japan
- Malaysia
- Morocco
- New Zealand
- Philippines
- Singapore
- South Africa
- South Korea
- Taiwan
- Thailand
- United Arab Emirates
- United States
- Vietnam
Discounts for loyalty
The main draw to Monzo is that you’ll get 5% off each year as a loyalty discount, up to a maximum of 30% off. This could get your bills down as low as £5.32 per month for the 10GB plan and £13.30 per month for the 25GB plan. This is pretty decent, as this year alone, those with plans linked to inflation saw rises of 7%.
| Data offered | Starting price | After 1 year | With max discount |
| 10GB | £8.00 | £7.60 | £5.32 |
| 30GB | £12.00 | £11.40 | £7.98 |
| Unlimited | £20.00 | £19.00 | £13.30 |
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How does Monzo Mobile compare?
For the 10GB option, both giffgaff and Voxi offered twice the data for £2 more — but if you only need a maximum of 10GB, that may not be worthwhile for you. Lebara offers the 10GB and a huge 50GB plan for less than any of the other ones compared.
Monzo’s Unlimited plan is cheaper than giffgaff, Voxi and Lebara’s plans, and it offers 25GB of global roaming, which isn’t offered by any of the other plans.
| Data offered | Monzo Mobile | giffgaff | Voxi | Lebara |
| 10GB | £8 | Closest: 20GB for £10 | Closest: 20GB for £10 | £5.99 |
| 30GB | £12 | £15 | Closest: 35GB for £15 | Closest: 50GB for £7.99 |
| Unlimited | £20 | £35 | £35 | £25 |
| Roaming | 10GB of EU roaming included in 30GB plan and 25GB of global roaming included in Unlimited plan | 5GB of Europe roaming included in all plans | Not included with any plans | EU roaming included |
| Powered by | O2/Virgin | O2/ Virgin | Vodafone | Vodafone |
How to get Monzo Mobile
You can only join the waitlist for now, and it’ll launch in the summer.
If you already have a Monzo current account and want to join the waitlist, you just need to go to the website on your phone. If you’re not a Monzo customer already, you need to sign up for an account. You can read my full review of the account.
Summary: Is Monzo Mobile any good?
Zoe’s analysis
The launch of Monzo’s own mobile network is a little exciting — namely because it’s a peculiar choice from Monzo. What next? A coffee brand? But ultimately, Monzo is doing exactly what it did with banking — it saw an opportunity to fix a recurring problem and simplify a service.
Those with Monzo already, especially those with existing SIM-only plans, will probably want to give the network a go — If I wasn’t in a contract, I’d probably sign up. The included roaming is really cost-effective — a month of Monzo Unlimited is cheaper than two weeks of roaming outside of Europe with O2 — also that’s assuming you don’t use a roaming eSIM. A lot of phones have dual SIM technology, and the which could allow you to add a SIM just for travel, similar to how some people opt for the Monzo current account for travel.
The annual price drops are a real benefit, especially for those of us that are bitter at the price hikes last year.
Of course, this will only be for you if you’re not looking for a phone with your plan — such as if you’re out of contract, want to buy a phone outright, or want to finance your phone in another way.
