Boost Mobile is one of the most popular providers on the Telstra network, and it's no surprise as to why. Its plans are often cheaper than what Telstra itself offers, but you still get access to the entire Telstra network.
But if you want to get the most out of your phone plan, you may be wondering exactly how Boost stacks up to Big T. To help, we've gone over how the pair compare on key aspects like data, international calls, international roaming, and extras.
Boost vs. Telstra: Data inclusions
Boost
Boost has a range of 28-day prepaid plans priced between $26 per recharge and $74 per recharge. Most options include bonus data on your first three recharges. Here are Boost's 28-day prepaid plans:
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#1
|
Boost Mobile
$26 Prepaid
$26
Per 28 Day Renewal
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|
#2
|
Boost Mobile
$39 Prepaid
$39
Per 28 Day Renewal
|
|
#3
|
Boost Mobile
$49 Prepaid
$49
Per 28 Day Renewal
|
|
#4
|
Boost Mobile
$59 Prepaid
$59
Per 28 Day Renewal
|
|
#5
|
Boost Mobile
$74 Prepaid
$74
Per 28 Day Renewal
|
Just note that the $26 recharge and $74 recharge are only available as an eSIM. This means you need an eSIM-compatible device to get these mobile plans.
Boost also has prepaid plans with a 12-month expiry. This means you'll only need to recharge once per year. These are as follows:
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#1
|
Boost Mobile
$300 Prepaid
$300
Per 12 Month Renewal
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#2
|
Boost Mobile
$365 Prepaid
$365
Per 12 Month Renewal
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Boost Mobile plans all have 5G, but most are subject to speed caps. Every plan is capped to 150Mbps, other than the $59 28-day recharge which has a 250Mbps speed cap, or the $74 28-day recharge, which is uncapped. Uncapped plans are able to go as fast as network conditions allow.
Telstra
Telstra has a much wider range of plans than Boost, spanning prepaid, SIM-only, and phone-with-a-plan categories. You can pay as little as $13 for a seven-day 5GB recharge or as much as $217.70 per month for a 24-month 1TB iPhone 16 Pro Max plan with 300GB of data.
Here are Telstra's SIM-only plans, called Upfront plans. All of these can be paired with a mobile handset (with additional monthly repayments):
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#1
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Telstra
$65 Basic Upfront SIM Plan
$65/mth
Min. cost $65
Link not supplied
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#2
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Telstra
$75 Essential Upfront SIM Plan
$75/mth
Min. cost $75
Link not supplied
|
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#3
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Telstra
$99 Premium Upfront SIM Plan
$99/mth
Min. cost $99
Link not supplied
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Every Telstra Upfront plan has 5G, and their speeds are uncapped. Most Telstra prepaid plans have their 5G speeds capped to either 150Mbps or 250Mbps.
Tangerine's "Speedy NBN" plan is our pick for the best NBN 100 plan for March.
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Tangerine Telecom
Speedy NBN
$65.90/mth
Min. cost $65.90
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Boost vs. Telstra: Coverage
Boost
Boost is the only Telstra-powered provider (other than Telstra) that has access to the full Telstra network. The full Telstra network reaches 99.7% of the Australian population, while the Telstra wholesale network used by other Telstra-powered providers such as Belong, Superloop, and ALDI reaches 98.8% of the population. Boost also has access to the Telstra 5G network.
Telstra
Unsurprisingly, Telstra also has access to the full Telstra network for its plans. As aforementioned, this reaches 99.7% of the Australian population. In addition, Telstra's 5G network now reaches more than 91% of the population. Telstra plans to have 95% of the population covered with 5G by the middle of 2025.
You can check Telstra network coverage using the tool below:
Telstra full vs. wholesale network coverage
See our guide to learn more about how the full Telstra network differs from the Telstra wholesale network, as well as the key difference between popular providers offering plans on these networks.
Boost vs. Telstra: Phones
Boost
Boost doesn't sell phones on a plan. It does, however, have a whole range of refurbished devices available outright, such as the iPhone 11, iPhone 12, iPhone 13, iPhone 14, and Samsung Galaxy S24. All refurbished devices bought through Boost include a free $39 SIM card.
Boost started selling refurbished smartphones in 2019, partnering with device supplier Alegre. Alegre says it completes a 72-point check to ensure all refurbished phones perform at a high standard and have enough battery capacity left. In addition, it only sources Australian-compliant phones that have been wiped and cross-checked against a police database.
Refurbished smartphones may have minor cosmetic damage including scuffing or light scratches on the screen, but won't have any cracks.
You can read more about how Alegre refurbishes a smartphone here, and pros and cons of refurbished smartphones here.
Telstra
Telstra has a wide range of devices available on a plan, including the latest handsets from Apple, Samsung, and Google. These are available on 12-month, 24-month, and 36-month repayment options. Here's a quick look at some of the phones available on a Telstra plan:
iPhone 16 128GB
- 6.1 inch display
- Rear Cameras: 48MP, 12MP
- Front Camera: 12MP
Galaxy S25 256GB
- 6.2 inch display
- Rear Cameras: 50MP, 10MP, 12MP
- Front Camera: 12MP
Pixel 6 Pro 128GB 5G
- 6.7 inch display
- Rear Cameras: 50MP, 48MP, 12MP
- Front Camera: 11MP
215
- 2.4 inch display
- 128MB int. memory (useable capacity will be less)
- Released in October 2020
A94 5G
- 6.43 inch display
- Rear Cameras: 48MP, 8MP, 2MP, 2MP
- Front Camera: 16MP
Boost vs. Telstra: Contracts
Boost
Since Boost only sells prepaid plans, they're all contract-free by nature. You're free to switch up recharges on a month-to-month basis, or leave at any time without paying any early exit fees. Just be aware that if you take up one of Boost's 12-month expiry SIMs, you will forfeit any unused data when you leave, and can't get a refund for any months left in your term.
Telstra
All Telstra plans are contract-free. That means you can step up or down in plan size, or leave, at any time, without penalty on all Telstra SIM-only and prepaid plans.
If you're on a handset plan with Telstra, you can still leave at any time without penalty, but you will have to pay out the remaining value of your phone.
Boost vs. Telstra: International calls
Boost
Boost plans worth at least $39 per recharge include unlimited international standard calls to 20 countries, as well as a further 300 minutes to 30 selected destinations and 300 standard text messages to any country.
The 20 countries you can get unlimited calls to are as follows:
Brazil, Canada, China, France, Germany, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Ireland, Japan, Malaysia, Netherlands, New Zealand, Singapore, South Korea, Taiwan, Thailand, United Kingdom, USA, Vietnam.
And the 30 selected destinations are as follows:
Argentina, Austria, Bangladesh, Cambodia, Chile, Colombia, Denmark, Finland, Greece, Iran, Iraq, Israel, Italy, Kuwait, Mexico, Nepal, Norway, Pakistan, Peru, Philippines, Poland, Qatar, Romania, Saudi Arabia, Serbia, South Africa, Spain, Sri Lanka, Sweden, UAE
Telstra
Telstra Upfront (SIM-only or with a new phone) plans include unlimited SMS and MMS from Australia to all destinations, and 30 minutes of standard calls from Australia to overseas numbers. Further minutes can be purchased starting from an extra $10 per month.
Telstra Prepaid plans with recharges worth at least $35 come with international minutes included. A $35 recharge gets you 300 minutes to Zone 1 countries, 60 minutes to Zone 2 countries, and $5 minutes to Zone 3.
Zone 1 countries are as follows:
Canada, China, Denmark, Germany, Guam, Hong Kong, India, Ireland, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, New Zealand, Norway, Puerto Rico, Romania, Singapore, South Korea, Spain, Sweden, UK, USA, US Virgin Islands, Vietnam.
Zone 2 countries are as follows:
Argentina, Bahamas, Bangladesh, Bermuda, Brazil, Brunei, Cambodia, Chile, Columbia, Costa Rica, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Dominican Republic, Faroe Islands, France, French Guiana, Greece, Greenland, Hungary, Iceland, Iran, Israel, Italy, Kenya, Kuwait, Laos, Lebanon, Liechtenstein, Mexico, Mongolia, Nepal, Netherlands, Nigeria, Pakistan, Palestinian Authority, Philippines, Peru, Saudi Arabia, Slovak Republic, Sri Lanka, South Africa, Taiwan, Thailand, United Arab Emirates, Venezuela.
Zone 3 countries are as follows:
Austria, Comoros, Croatia, East Timor, Egypt, Fiji, Ghana, Mauritius, Papua New Guinea, Poland, Russia, Samoa, Serbia, Solomon Islands, Surinam, Switzerland, Tonga, Turkey, Vanuatu, Zimbabwe.
Boost vs. Telstra: International roaming
Boost
Boost has three international roaming packs available for its prepaid customers, lasting up to 14 days. Boost's roaming works in 42 countries. Here are its packs:
| Pack | Price | Inclusions |
|---|---|---|
| Three-day expiry | $20 | 15 mins, 15 texts, 1GB |
| Seven-day expiry | $30 | 30 mins, 30 texts, 3GB |
| 14-day expiry | $40 | 60 mins, 60 texts, 5GB |
Telstra
Customers on Telstra Upfront plans can buy a Telstra International Day Pass if they would like to roam overseas. This gets you 2GB of data and unlimited talk and text for $5 per day when roaming in New Zealand, and $10 per day in more than 70 countries. The international day pass expires daily at midnight AEST.
If you go over your 2GB of daily data, Telstra will bill an extra $10 and a further 2GB of roaming data to your account. This data has a 31-day expiry, and can be used on subsequent days whenever you go over your initial 2GB.
Telstra prepaid customers have access to roaming packs too. These are as follows:
| Pack | Price | Inclusions |
|---|---|---|
| Three-day expiry | $10 | 15 mins, 15 texts, 400MB |
| Seven-day expiry | $15 | 25 mins, 25 texts, 2GB |
| 14-day expiry | $25 | 50 mins, 50 texts, 4GB |
Prepaid roaming packs only cover 35 countries.
Boost vs. Telstra: Data rollover
Boost
All of Boost's 28-day prepaid plans have data rollover. If you recharge before expiry, all your unused data will be added to your next recharge. That means if you get to the end of the month with 1GB left on your plan, you'll get the opportunity to use that 1GB next month only. Beyond that, your data is gone.
Boost's seven-day and year-long recharges do not include data rollover.
Telstra
Customers on Telstra Upfront plans can't bank any unused data, but the feature is available on prepaid. You can save up to 200GB of unused data, provided you recharge your plan before expiry. Any data remaining at the time of recharge will be automatically moved to your data bank.
Recharges must be a minimum of $10 to qualify, and you'll need to have an active recharge to access your data bank. Your stored away data doesn't expire unless you cancel your service, or switch to another postpaid or prepaid option.
You can access your data bank even if you move to a lower-cost recharge.
Data rollover isn't available on Telstra's six-month and 12-month recharges.
Boost vs. Telstra: Excess fees
Boost
Since Boost mobile plans are prepaid, you simply won't be able to use your data if you go over your allowance. Of course, you won't be charged any excess fees either. Instead, you can choose to either recharge early or purchase a data top-up. You can get a $5 pack for 1GB with a seven-day expiry, or a 4GB pack for $20 with a 28-day expiry.
Telstra
Telstra does not charge excess fees on postpaid and Upfront plans. If you go over your allowance, you'll have your service capped to speeds of 1.5Mbps.
Boost vs. Telstra: Free stuff and extras
Boost
Boost plans offer great value and features, but don't have any extras.
Telstra
Telstra plans used to come with a bunch of extras, but the main benefit you get now is the Telstra Plus perks program. This includes:
- $13.50 adult movie tickets ($11.50 for child tickets) for Event and BCC cinemas. A $3 surcharge applies for sessions after 5pm on a Saturday, public holidays, and special events
- Discounted tickets to select sporting events
- Presale tickets for select concerts and events
As part of Telstra Plus, you'll earn 10 points per dollar spent on your monthly bill. Once you accumulate enough, you can redeem your points for a shiny new gadget or a discount on a pricier, shinier, newer gadget.
The value of a Telstra Plus point seems to range somewhere between 0.3 cents and 1 cent, depending on the item you're after.
These are the most popular NBN 50 plans with WhistleOut users this week:
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#1
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Kogan Internet
Silver Unlimited
$59.90/mth
Min. cost $59.90
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#2
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Tangerine Telecom
Value Plus NBN
$59.90/mth
Min. cost $59.90
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#3
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MATE
Ripper nbn 50/20
$60/mth
Min. cost $60
Link not supplied
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#4
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Exetel
Extra-value nbn50
$60.99/mth
Min. cost $60.99
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#5
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Buddy Telco
Value nbn - Unlimited
$63/mth
Min. cost $63
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#6
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Moose NBN
nbn 50/20 Premium
$63.80/mth
Min. cost $63.80
Link not supplied
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#7
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Superloop
Extra-value nbn50/20
$67/mth
Min. cost $67
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#8
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Dodo
nbn50 Unlimited Plan
$68.90/mth
Min. cost $68.90
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#9
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Swoop
nbn® Home Everyday
$69/mth
Min. cost $69
Link not supplied
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#10
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iiNet
nbn50 Liimitless
$69.99/mth
Min. cost $69.99
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