Best Mobile Phone Plans for Kids
A kid's first plan has one job. It can't turn into a surprise bill. The right answer changes with age, and for a younger child it isn't a phone plan at all.
The brief for a kid's phone is narrower than most. It doesn't need to be fast, it doesn't need to be huge, and it absolutely cannot turn into a bill you didn't see coming. Everything else is negotiable, and the right answer depends more on the kid's age than on any plan comparison.
Start with the age, not the plan
Roughly under 10. A phone is usually the wrong tool here, and a smartwatch with its own SIM is the better one. It handles calls and texts to a contact list you approve, plus location sharing, and it does that without a browser, an app store or a screen a seven-year-old can vanish into for an hour. Telstra runs the two mainstream options. The Watch Plan is $20 a month for a cellular Apple Watch with its own number, and you need a Telstra Upfront plan yourself to add it. Telstra One Number is $8 a month if the child already has a phone on Telstra and the watch just shares that number. A handful of third-party watch SIMs run on the Vodafone network for closer to $12 a month if you don't want a Telstra plan, though you lose the tight integration with the family setup on your own phone.
First phone, roughly 10 to 13. Now it's a real plan, and the choice is simple. Buy the cheapest prepaid plan on a network with genuine coverage where your kid actually spends time. Prepaid because it can't overspend, and coverage because a phone that doesn't work at the school or the sports ground defeats the purpose. The shortlist below starts at $28. The one extra decision at this age is who does the controlling, covered in the next section.
Teenager, 14 and up. Treat it like a normal plan. Step the data tier up, because they're off wifi more and streaming more, and hand them the recharge so it becomes their problem to manage. This is also the age where porting the number to a better plan without starting over becomes a useful thing to know.
Who does the controlling, you or the phone
The default answer, and the right one for most families, is the phone. iOS Screen Time and Android's Family Link or Digital Wellbeing handle app limits, screen time, content filtering and location sharing. They're free, they work on any SIM, and prepaid already caps the spending, so there's nothing the telco needs to add. Set this up on day one whatever plan you land on.
The exception is if you know you won't do that setup, or you want the filtering to happen at the network rather than trusting a kid not to disable it on the device. Spriggy Mobile is the one Australian provider that builds this in. Content filtering, the ability to see who your child is calling, and a remote switch for their data are all part of the plan. It's $30 a month for 25GB on the Optus 5G network, prepaid. That's about $10 a month more than a bare prepaid plan of similar size, and that $10 is essentially what you're paying for, so it's worth it only if the managed controls are something you'll actually use.
Moose Mobile sits in between. Its app lets you run several services under one account and turn a service's data on or off remotely, which is handy for a household with a couple of kids, but there's no content filtering. It's cheaper than Spriggy and runs on the Vodafone network.
The cheap prepaid shortlist
For a first phone where you're handling controls on the device yourself, these are current, verified plans worth starting from. Prices confirmed 27 August 2026.
Boost Mobile is $28 for 8GB on a 28-day cycle, on the full Telstra network. The cheapest entry point with genuinely current pricing, and Telstra coverage means it works almost anywhere a kid goes.
Belong is $34 for 25GB monthly, also Telstra network via the wholesale tier, which is close to indistinguishable from full Telstra outside remote areas. More data headroom than Boost's entry tier, and unused data banks forward.
Amaysim is $30 for 15GB on the Optus network. A reasonable middle ground if you're already on Optus yourself and want everything on one network for easy troubleshooting.
Kogan Mobile is $23 for 25GB monthly on the TPG and Vodafone network, with eSIM support. The pick if the phone is eSIM-only, which is increasingly common on newer entry-level devices, or if the kid's usual haunts have solid Vodafone coverage.
One check before you buy anything
If the phone is a recent model, confirm whether it takes a physical SIM or is eSIM-only before you order a SIM card. Our guide on iPhone SIM card sizes and eSIM walks through which is which. It's a five-minute check that saves a wasted SIM and a return.
The honest verdict
For a primary-schooler, skip the phone and get a smartwatch on a plan. Telstra's Watch Plan at $20 a month is the straightforward pick if you're already with Telstra, and a third-party Vodafone-network watch SIM is the cheaper one if you're not.
For a first phone at 10 to 13, buy the cheapest prepaid plan on a network that works where your kid actually is. Boost at $28 for 8GB is the default. Set up Screen Time or Family Link on the phone the same day, and you've solved the real problem. Only reach for Spriggy's $30 managed-controls plan if you're honest with yourself that you won't do that setup.
For a teenager, it's just a phone plan. Pick a bigger data tier from the full lineup sorted by price and let them manage it.
For the general prepaid-versus-postpaid reasoning behind all of this, prepaid or postpaid covers the case in full.
Providers mentioned
Frequently Asked Questions
- Should a kid's first phone plan be prepaid or postpaid?
- Prepaid, almost always. It physically cannot run up a bill beyond what you've paid for, which is the whole point when you're handing a phone to someone who doesn't yet manage money. If the balance runs out, the service pauses until the next recharge.
- What's a reasonable amount of data for a kid's plan?
- Less than the marketing implies. Most kids on a first phone are on home and school wifi for the bulk of the day, so 8 to 15GB covers a lot of them comfortably. Start low and step up if they consistently run out, rather than paying for headroom nobody uses.
- Is a smartwatch a better idea than a phone for a young child?
- Often, yes, for primary-school age. A watch with its own SIM does calls and messages to an approved contact list plus location sharing, with no browser, no app store and no screen to disappear into. Telstra's Watch Plan is $20 a month for an Apple Watch with its own number. Telstra One Number is $8 a month if the child already has a phone on Telstra and you want the watch to share that number.
- Which telco has parental controls built into the plan?
- Spriggy Mobile is the one that builds them in. Content filtering, call visibility and a remote data switch are part of the $30-a-month plan rather than something you set up on the device. Most other providers leave controls to the phone's own settings, which are free and work on any SIM.
- Can I manage my kid's service from my own account?
- On some providers. Moose Mobile lets you run several services under one login and turn a service's data on or off remotely. On most prepaid brands each SIM is its own account, so you'd manage recharges separately.