Who is Honest Mobile and are its Sim deals good value?

A new challenger mobile network has emerged to offer customers something different, with an unusual pricing method that rewards, rather than punishes, loyal customers. 

Find out who Honest Mobile are and how their loyalty scheme works. We’ll also cover the deals they offer and evaluate whether they are good value compared to the rest of the market. 

Discover the best and worst mobile networks, or use our switching service to compare mobile contract and SIM-only deals.

Who is Honest Mobile?

Honest Mobile uses Three’s network infrastructure and claims its goal is to make telecoms better, particularly for families. It aims to cut out unexpected costs and confusing contracts, and help people save money rather than spiral into higher costs.

The loyalty penalty is notorious across many industries, from mobile and broadband to insurance and mortgages – the longer a customer stays with a provider, the more they pay each year. This has been particularly problematic with mobile contracts, with recent years seeing annual increases by some providers of nearly 18%. 

The core of Honest's strategy is that their customer’s bills drop by 0.41% every month they stay with the provider. This accumulates up to a maximum discount of 30%. We’ve seen various discounts and price freezes in the mobile market, but this is a slightly different innovation.

It also says it (and you, as a customer) will help save the planet – as the UK's first certified B Corporation mobile network, and carbon negative network, it's committed to consider people and the planet.

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What Sim deals does Honest Mobile offer?

Honest Mobile offers three data packages, unlimited, 10 GB and 4 GB, and each is available as a 30-day Sim, 12 month Sim or a family plan. A 12 month deal gives you an additional saving on top of the loyalty saving.

30 day Sims with unlimited calls and texts

• Unlimited data - drops from £25 a month to £17.50 after two years of loyalty
• 10 GB of data - drops from £17.50 a month to £12.25 after two years of loyalty
• 4 GB of data - drops from £13.50 a month to £9.50 a month after two years of loyalty

12 month Sim with unlimited calls and texts

• Unlimited data - drops from £22.50 a month to £17.50 after two years of loyalty 
• 10 GB of data - drops from £15.75 a month to £12.25 after two years of loyalty
• 4 GB of data - drops from £12.15 a month to £9.50 a month after two years of loyalty

Family plans of up to 10 Sims

For a 30 day rolling plan with four Sims:

• Unlimited data - drops from £80 a month to £70 after two years of loyalty
• 10 GB of data - drops from £56 a month to £49 after two years of loyalty
• 4 GB of data - drops from £43.20 a month to £37.80 after two years of loyalty

Changing your mobile provider is easier than ever. Find out more in our guide on how to switch mobile provider. Or if you're in the market for a new handset, our mobile phone reviews highlight great value models for under £200.

Are Honest Mobile's Sim deals good value?

Honest says its unlimited deal is chosen by 60% of customers. Starting at £25 (30-day) or £22.50 a month, let's see how it compares with the market:

Honest Mobile Unlimited data deals

Big Four unlimited Sim deals

• EE -  £35 (30-day), £32 (12 month), increases by £1.50 a month on April 1st
• O2 - £36 (30-day), £34.99 (12 month), increases using the Retail Price Index rate of inflation + 3.9%, it’s new pricing method after the regulation change is unconfirmed 
• Three - £30 (30-day), £24 (12 month), increases by £1.50 a month on April 1st
• Vodafone - £45 (30-day, £35 (12 month), increases by £1.80 a month on April 1st

Smaller networks unlimited Sim deals

• Smarty - £20 (30-day)
• Lebara - £25 (30-day), £22.50 (12 month)
• iD Mobile - £18 (30-day), £17 (12 month)
• Asda Mobile - £24 (30-day)

This means you could save as much as £20 a month with Honest Mobile compared to using the big four, even before the loyalty price discount starts to kick in. 

Honest’s deal is of a similar price to several available from smaller networks. However, it’s also clear that even cheaper deals are available – for example, iD Mobile’s deal being £7 cheaper than Honest. 

Honest Mobile lower data deals

It’s a different story for Honest’s lower data packages, which are expensive for 10 GB or 4 GB. Plenty of networks offer 10 GB or more for far less than £17 or £15. Even with the loyalty discounts taken into account, you'll save far more by picking an Sim from one of the other virtual network providers – we highlight our picks below.

Does Honest Mobile offer free EU roaming?

Alongside its unusual pricing structure, Honest’s EU policy is somewhat unorthodox. It offers five days of free EU roaming, then charges £2 a day from day six onwards. 

You can use your data allowance up to a limit of 20 GB while roaming. This is more generous than networks that charge from the start or only allow 5 GB or 12 GB of free roaming, but isn’t as good as the market leading offerings from Lebara and iD Mobile. Both networks allow up to 30 GB of EU roaming. 

Having an eSim instead of a physical Sim card could save you time and money, find out more in our guide to mobile phone eSims: what is an eSim and how does it work?

Our top Sim-deal picks

On the lookout for a new Sim? Check our top picks below, updated each month.

Best low data Sim deal

Ideal for light users, there are a range of low-data deals available at rock-bottom prices from rival networks to the traditional 'big four'. Here's our current pick:

Best medium data Sim deal

If you need a bit more data each month, but still stick to wi-fi fairly often, you can still get a good price on Sim that will deliver. 

Best high data Sim deal

For those who like streaming and browsing a lot away from wi-fi zones, a high-data Sim deal offers peace of mind that you won't go over your allowance. 

Check out our guide on how to save money on mobile roaming charges