Compare Boost Mobile vs Amaysim phone plans

About Boost Mobile vs Amaysim

While the big three networks regularly fight it out to gain your business, there is just as much competition between smaller telcos. Not only do these providers need to offer plans with enough value for money to lure you away from the likes of Telstra, Optus and Vodafone, but they also need to compete against each other for your business.

Often with these Mobile Virtual Network Operators (MVNOs), the most competition tends to be how much data can be packed in for the lowest prices. While other MVNOs may use parts of Optus and Telstra’s networks, Amaysim and Boost have both been acquired by Optus and Telstra, respectively.

Amaysim and Boost Mobile specialise in prepaid phone plans and are generally known for offering good value for money, with both providers having won Canstar Blue’s Most Satisfied Customers for Prepaid Plans over the years (Amaysim in 2019 and 2023, and Boost Mobile in 2018). Still, there are a couple differences between these telcos — let’s take a look to see how Amaysim and Boost Mobile compare.

Amaysim vs Boost Mobile: Phone plans and prices compared

Both Amaysim and Boost Mobile offer prepaid phone plans, and all plans from both telcos include unlimited standard national calls and SMS. One of the biggest differences is the suite of plans on offer. Amaysim offers five plans which all run on a 28-day expiry period along with a short-term 7-day plan, and one 182-day plan, and two 365-day plans. Boost offers five plans on a 28 day expiry, a 7-day plan and two 12-month plans. Both telcos also offer some international call value, but that varies between plans.

Both telcos also have additional offerings beyond the prepaid phone plans. Amaysim offers a range of mobile broadband data-only plans, home NBN plans as well as a range of brand new phones from brands like Apple, Samsung and Google that you can buy outright. Boost Mobile offers refurbished mobile phones, watches and tablets that can be bought outright. Both telcos also offer international roaming packs that you can add on to your existing plan.

When comparing these two telcos, the price points for these plans are fairly similar — both telcos have plans around the $20, $30, $40 and $50 price points, but you’ll notice the biggest difference is with the data inclusions. While Amaysim does offer more data at these price points, Boost Mobile is still quite generous with what it is offering. For example, Amaysim’s cheapest plan is $22 with 10GB of data, while Boost’s starts at $26 with 7GB of data. However Boost offers 5G network access on its cheapest plan, while Amaysim doesn’t.

Amaysim plans

Amaysim keeps things fairly straightforward, with a range of five plans all across a 28-day expiry period, one short-term plan, one 182-day plan and two 365-day plans. All plans include unlimited standard national calls and SMS. All five of the 28-day plans include access to 5G with capped download speeds of 150mbps. The $30 plan includes unlimited standard international calls to 28 countries including Canada, China, India, Malaysia, New Zealand, South Korea, the UK and USA, while $40 and $50 plans include calls to 42 countries.

As for data, inclusions start from 10GB and go all the way up to 120GB, which is plenty if you like to do a lot of web browsing, or video and music streaming.

If you’d prefer to ‘set and forget’ your prepaid plan, there are three long-expiry plans available, with two plans over 365 days and one over 182 days, all of which include unlimited data banking but 4G network coverage only with speeds capped at 100Mbps.

Amaysim offers four international roaming packs that are on 365-day expiry periods. Amaysim’s roaming packs vary in what they include between data, call and text limits, so which pack you may choose will depend on what you want to use. The packs can be stacked on top of each other if you run out of data or minutes while overseas and any left over inclusions will be rolled over onto your next roaming pack if purchased before the expiry period runs out.

Boost Mobile plans

Boost Mobile also offers a range of 28-day plans along with a short-term plan and three 12-month plans. There are also a few more advantages to selecting this telco, with 5G access included on all plans, although some plans have speed caps. Data rollover is also available, but not on all plans.

All of the 28-day plans, excluding the cheapest 28-day plan plan, also include unlimited standard international calls to 20 countries, along with a set number of minutes to an additional 30 countries, while you’ll get 300 standard texts to any country. The cheapest 12-month plan also has some international call and text inclusions.

Boost offers international roaming plans starting from $20 for 15 minutes of calls and 15 texts to select countries and 1GB of data on a 3-day expiry. Boost has two other roaming options with slightly more call, text and data inclusions on longer expiry periods. Boost’s roaming packs can be stacked on top of one another if you run out of any of your inclusions while overseas.

Amaysim vs Boost Mobile network coverage

Amaysim operates on the Optus 4G and 5G networks while Boost Mobile operates on the Telstra 4G and 5G networks.

Telstra’s network is the biggest in Australia, which means with Boost, you’ll have more coverage throughout the country, reaching 99.7% of the population. Although Optus isn’t too far behind and still reaches 98.5% of Australia’s population.

Boost Mobile is actually the only MVNO to have full access to the Telstra network through a special arrangement, and it also offers access to the Telstra 5G network on all of its plans, however most plans include a speed cap. Amaysim also offers access to Optus’ 5G network, however it isn’t available on all plans and also has capped speeds.

Amaysim vs Boost Mobile: Which is better?

As you might have seen, both telcos offer very similar phone plans when it comes to the basics, so you need to look into further detail to work out which provider is going to have the best plan for you.

Boost Mobile does have the wider network coverage through Telstra, but Amaysim’s coverage with Optus will still cover the majority of Australians. There is little difference between the prices of the telcos, but Amaysim does have slightly cheaper plans — although not by much.

Ultimately, when comparing phone plans from Amaysim and Boost, you’ll want to consider what is going to suit your needs more. It’s a close race between the two and determining which telco is best, will come down to what you want from a phone plan.

Choose Amaysim if:

• You want more data allowances for a slightly cheaper price
• You want flexible international roaming package options

Choose Boost if:

• You want 5G access on a cheaper plan than Telstra with  reasonably fast  download speed caps
• You want a refurbished phone, smartwatch or tablet along with your new plan

About our phone experts

Jasmine Tait: Content Assistant

Jasmine Tait is a Content Assistant within Canstar Blue’s editorial team. Jasmine graduated from the Queensland University of Technology with a Bachelor of Fine Arts, majoring in Creative Writing with a minor in Communications. Jasmine has previously edited for a variety of publications including ScratchThat magazine and Seaglass Literary. When Jasmine isn’t working, you can usually find her reading or spending time with her friends and family.

Josh Filosi: Data Insights Analyst

Josh Filosi is Canstar’s Data Insights Analyst, and helps develop and deliver the methodology for Canstar Blue’s Value Rankings and Awards for the telco industry. He holds a double-major in Economics and Behavioral Science, and enjoys interpreting complex data. Connect with Josh on LinkedIn.