Good deal: 20GB for $18 for a whole year

Jacqui Dent - Editorial Strategist

Last updated 24 October 2019

One of the newest mobile carriers on the Australian market, Circles.Life, is offering its 20GB plans at the special discounted price of $18 per month.

Customers who redeem the offer will enjoy the discount price for the next 12 months. After that time, their plan will return to Circles.Life's standard plan pricing of $28 for 20GB. Plans are no-contract which means you can leave any time either before or after promo pricing ends.

That is hands-down the cheapest price on a 20GB SIM-only plan that we know about. Here's how the offer compares:

#1	Pivotel	Pivotel 25GB Mobile Swift Plan 25GB data On the Vodafone 4G Mobile Network Deal: Incl. 50% off - $11.45/mth for first 6 months, then $22.90/mth ongoing. Offer ends 31.10.2026. T&Cs apply. $11.45/mth Min. cost $11.45 Go to Site	$11.45/mth Min. cost $11.45	Go to Site
#2	SpinTel Editor's Pick	SpinTel Editor's Pick $23 Mobile Plan 25GB data at download speeds up to 150Mbps Optus 5G in selected areas with 5G devices ex. NT WhistleOut Special: Enjoy $11 off for the first 6 months for new customers - $12/mth for first 6 months, then $23/mth $12.00/mth Min. cost $12 Go to Site	$12.00/mth Min. cost $12	Go to Site
#3	Moose Mobile	Moose Mobile Moose 23 SIM Only 30GB data at download speeds up to 150Mbps On the Vodafone 4G Mobile Network Deal: Get 30GB for $14 – Includes $9 off for first 6 months, then reverts to $23. Offer ends 30.06.27 $14.00/mth Min. cost $14 Link not supplied	$14.00/mth Min. cost $14	Link not supplied
#4	Swoop	Swoop 30GB SIM Only 5G 30GB data at download speeds up to 150Mbps Vodafone 5G Network in selected areas with 5G devices Deal: Includes $11 off for first 6 months - $14/mth for first 6 months then $25/mth after that. Offer ends 30.06.27 $14.00/mth Min. cost $14 Go to Site	$14.00/mth Min. cost $14	Go to Site
#5	Dodo	Dodo Small Mobile Plan 25GB data at download speeds up to 150Mbps Optus 5G in selected areas (exc NT) with a 5G device $25.00/mth Min. cost $25 Go to Site	$25.00/mth Min. cost $25	Go to Site
#6	Tangerine Telecom	Tangerine Telecom 30GB 5G Mobile SIM 30GB data at download speeds up to 150Mbps Uses parts of Telstra’s 5G and 4G mobile networks Deal: 50% off plan fees for 4 months - $15/mth for 4 months then $30/mth. Offer available until withdrawn. $30.00/mth Min. cost $15 Go to Site	$30.00/mth Min. cost $15	Go to Site
#7	Aussie Broadband	Aussie Broadband Saver 5G SIM Plan 20GB data at download speeds up to 150Mbps Optus 5G in selected areas with 5G devices ex. NT $30.00/mth Min. cost $30 Link not supplied	$30.00/mth Min. cost $30	Link not supplied
#8	More	More 30GB 5G Mobile SIM 30GB data at download speeds up to 150Mbps Uses Telstra Wholesale 4G/5G mobile networks Deal: Get $10/mth off new mobile plans for 36mths, then $4/mth ongoing when you sign up with a CommBank debit or credit card. Ends 31.3.27 $33.00/mth Min. cost $33 Link not supplied	$33.00/mth Min. cost $33	Link not supplied
#9	Belong	Belong 25GB Mobile Plan 85GB data at download speeds up to 150Mbps Uses parts of Telstra’s 5G and 4G mobile networks Deal: Includes 60GB monthly bonus data for first 12 months when you activate your new service by 04.11.26. T&Cs apply. $34.00/mth Min. cost $34 Link not supplied	$34.00/mth Min. cost $34	Link not supplied
#10	Coles Mobile	Coles Mobile $35 Mobile Plan 45GB data at download speeds up to 100Mbps Optus 5G in selected areas (exc NT) with a 5G device Deal: Only $12 for 45GB (incl. $23 off first renewal). Offer ends 27.10.26 $35.00/mth Min. cost $12 Link not supplied	$35.00/mth Min. cost $12	Link not supplied

To redeem the discount, you'll need to sign up with Circles.Life by November 30 and activate your SIM card by December 31.

Be aware that Circles.Life starts all customer billing periods on the 1st of the month, which means that, if you sign up for the offer today, you'll pay approximately $4.50 for 5GB, which will last you until the end of the month. Then on November 1 you'll be billed the full $18 for the full 20GB.

Yeah, it's confusing.

And that's not the only way Circles.Life plans are unusual. Rather than sell a range of plans, this telco offers a single base plan, which customers can then build on with "add-on" data or "boost data".

Circles.Life's "boost data" is a once-off purchase of 3GB for $6. Boost data is intended to be used as an emergency top-up if you run over your cap and your buffer data. You can add "boost data" to your plan as many times as you like during the month.

"Add-on" data, on the other hand, is an extra 20GB for $10. You can buy add-on data as a once off, or apply it to your plan every month. But you can't buy it more than once per month.

Add-on data essentially makes your Circles.Life plan 40GB for $28 per month (with the 12-month special offer). Here's what that looks like:

But here's where it gets interesting: switching on "add-on data" mid-month allows you to get the full 20GB top-up, charged at a pro-rata rate. An example on the Circles.Life website states that "if you turned on the 20GB for $10 add-on on 15 November, you'll only pay $5 for the add-on for that month, but you will still get the full 20GB allocated to your plan."

Understanding this takes some mental contorting, but essentially, add-on data is a life hack to score a cut-price 20GB every month, by switching it on only when you need it.

Thinking of switching to Circles.Life? See our guide on how to keep your current phone number.

Jacqui Dent

Editorial Strategist

Jacqui Dent is an Editorial Content Strategist at WhistleOut Australia, where she writes about mobile phone plans, NBN plans and everything in between. Over her ten-year career, she has worked to provide informed advice to the public, first in the sphere of writing and now in the world of consumer tech. Jacqui has also written about consumer telco products for Business Insider, Pedestrian and the 50Up Club.

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