Feature Articles

Which telco offers the best SIM-only, no contract plan in Singapore? Updated: 30th May 2019

By James Lu & Vijay Anand - 1 Jun 2019

Which telco offers the best SIM-only, no contract plan in Singapore? Updated: 25th March 2019

 

With multiple MNVOs and a fourth telco, TPG, about to enter the market, Singaporeans have never had more choice when it comes to picking their telco service provider. 

Smart consumers know that the best deals in mobile right now are SIM-only plans, as they tend to give you a lot more data, and often at a lower monthly cost. It does mean that you have to buy your phone without a subsidy, but it also gives you the flexibility of changing your phone whenever you want (as opposed to waiting until you're due to re-contract).

Additionally, while some telcos offer SIM-only plans with 12-month contract periods, it doesn't make sense to lock yourself into one of these, as telcos are constantly updating their SIM only plans with better and better packages. In just the first half of 2019, we've seen massive plan overhauls from all three major telco vendors. Keeping yourself to a no-contract plan gives you the freedom to jump to the best deal as soon as it becomes available. A lot of these new plans also give bonuses for being one of the first customers to sign up, so you don't want to be stuck waiting out your existing contract before switching providers.

But who's offering the best deal SIM-only, no contract plan right now? We find out based on various price tiers.

Value plans (~$20/month)

  Circles.Life M1 Singtel Giga
(by StarHub)
MyRepublic Zero1
Plan Flexi Plan SIM-Only GOMO 25GB Uno 18 1GB to Unlimited
Monthly Data 1GB 30GB 20GB 25GB 1GB

1GB

Talk Time 30 mins 1,000 mins 200 mins 1,000 mins 1,000 mins 200 mins
SMS 10 1,000 200 1,000 1,000 200
Monthly Add-ons
  • 1GB data (S$8)
  • 2GB data (S$12)
  • 30 mins  + 10 SMS (S$5)
  • $10 Bundle Pack Add-on (10GB, 100 mins)
  • $20 Bundle Pack Add-on (50GB, 100 mins) 
  • $50 Bundle Pack Add-on (150GB, 10,000 mins)​​​​
  • 10GB data, 100 mins, 100SMS (S$10)
  • 1GB data (S$2)
  • 1GB data for specific apps (S$1)
  • Jetset giga pass for roaming (S$5)
  • 1GB data (S$5)
  • 3GB data (S$12)
  • 8GB (S$30)
  • None
Notes
  • One time registration fee of S$50
  • No free incoming calls
  • SMS charged at 5 cents
  • Free Caller ID
  • Free Caller ID
  • Unlimited free calls to three M1 numbers
  • Free Caller ID
  • No excess data charges 
  • No roaming data option
  • Full digital service only
  • Free Caller ID
  • Free incoming calls
  • 2-month rollover data
  • No excess data charge
  • Free Caller ID
  • One time registration fee of S$10.70
  • No excess data charges (1GB @ 4G, managed thereafter)
  • Free Caller ID
  • Data roaming option coming soon
Price S$0/month S$25/month S$20/month S$25/month S$18/month S$9.90/month


The cheapest deal here is obviously Circles.Life's S$0 Flexi Plan. However, unless you're a very low usage customer, you will probably have to top up for some additional services, and the add-on options are actually quite expensive. Additionally, it's worth noting that incoming calls are not free on Circles.Life, so if people call you frequently (which includes anyone you don't know, like telemarketers), you'll quickly burn through your 30 mins of bundled talk time. Topping up for additional talk time is also quite expensive, at S$5 for just 30 mins more.

The overall best deal here is Singtel's new GOMO plan (GOMO stands for Get Out More Often), which gives you a massive 20GB data, and the most amount of talk time and SMSes for just S$20/month. StarHub's new Giga sub-brand has a good option at S$25/month if you need a lot of data + talk time and some roaming options, but as the lowest cost tier comparison here, Singtel's GOMO is still the attractive option.

 

Basic Plans (~$30/month)

  Circles.Life M1 Singtel Giga
(by StarHub)
MyRepublic Zero1
Plan Base Plan SIM-Only GOMO + S$10 add-on 25GB Smart 35 3GB to Unlimited
Data 20GB 30GB 30GB 25GB 12GB (+3GB for MyRepublic Broadband customers) 3GB (+12GB for 12 months) 
Talk Time 100 mins 1,000 mins 300 mins 1,000 mins 1,000 mins 200 mins
SMS 25 1,000 300 1,000 1,000 200
Monthly Add-ons
  • 1GB data (S$6)
  • 2GB data (S$10)
  • Unlimited data (4G speeds capped at 20GB - S$20)
  • 100 mins (S$4)
  • 25 SMS (S$1)
  • Unlimited 
    incoming calls (S$2)
  • Unlimited outgoing calls (S$16)
  • $10 Bundle Pack Add-on (10GB, 100 mins)
  • $20 Bundle Pack Add-on (50GB, 100 mins) 
  • $50 Bundle Pack Add-on (150GB, 10,000 mins
  • 10GB data, 100 mins, 100SMS (S$10)
  • 1GB data (S$2)
  • 1GB data for specific apps (S$1)
  • Jetset giga pass for roaming (S$5)
  • 1GB data (S$5)
  • 3GB data (S$12)
  • 8GB (S$30)
  • None
Notes
  • No free incoming calls
  • Free Caller ID
  • SMS charged at 5 cents
  • Unlimited Whatsapp usage (does not include video calls)
  • Free Caller ID
  • Unlimited free calls to three M1 numbers
  • Free Caller ID
  • No excess data charges
  • No roaming data option
  • Full digital service only
  • Free Caller ID
  • Free incoming calls
  • 2-month rollover data

 

  • No excess data charge
  • Free Caller ID
  • No excess data charges (15GB @ 4G, managed thereafter)
  • Free Caller ID
  • Data roaming option coming soon
Price S$28/month S$25/month S$30/month S$25/month S$35/month S$29.99/month

StarHub's new Giga service is a great new option that still competes well in this tier and most certainly better than StarHub's only S$25 SIM Only plan. However the overall best here goes to M1's new SIM-only base plan, which has a more generous data cap and better add-on options. You're getting quite a lot for just S$25 per month and has displaced our previous recommendation for Singtel's GOMO.

 

Mid-range plans (~$50/month)

  Circles.Life M1 MyRepublic Singtel StarHub Zero1 Zero Mobile
Plan Base Plan +Unlimited Data (capped at 20GB for 4G speeds add on) SIM-Only + $20 Bundle Pack Mega 55 GOMO + S$10 add-on (x2) S$25 SIM Only + 50GB worry-free data add-on 9GB to Unlimited Zero Xs Unlimited Data
Data 20GB (+20GB) 80GB 18GB (+8GB for MyRepublic Broadband customers) 40GB 55GB (+10GB for bonus data for 12 month) 9GB (+18GB for 12 months)  Unlimited
(managed speeds after 45GB usage)
Talk Time 100 mins 1,100 mins 1000 mins 400 mins 100 mins 450 mins 100 mins
SMS 25 1,000 1000 400 0 450 100
Monthly Add-ons
  • 1GB data (S$6)
  • 2GB data (S$10)
  • Unlimited data (4G speeds capped at 20GB) (S$20)
  • 100 mins (S$4)
  • 25 SMS (S$1)
  • Unlimited 
    incoming calls (S$2)
  • Unlimited outgoing calls (S$16)
  • $10 Bundle Pack Add-on (10GB, 100 mins)
  • $20 Bundle Pack Add-on (50GB, 100 mins) 
  • $50 Bundle Pack Add-on (150GB, 10,000 mins)​​​​
  • 1GB data (S$5)
  • 3GB data (S$12)
  • 8GB (S$30)
  • "Roam like home" international roaming packages (start at S$6). Full details here.
  • 10GB data, 100 mins, 100SMS (S$10)
  • 1GB data (S$3) 
  • 10GB data (S$10)
  • 50GB worry-free data (S$20)
  • Unlimited weekend data (S$6) 
  • Unlimited data for selected chat, social and video apps (from S$6). Full details here.
  • 300 / 800 / Unlimited talk time mins (S$6 / S$10 /  S$18)
  • 500 SMS (S$3)

None

None
Notes
  • No free incoming calls
  • Free Caller ID
  • SMS charged at 5 cents
  • Unlimited Whatsapp usage (does not include video calls)
  • Free Caller ID
  • Unlimited free calls to three M1 numbers

 

  • No excess data charges
  • Free Caller ID
  • Free Caller ID
  • No excess data charges
  • Unlimited weekend data for 12 months
  • Free Caller ID
  • Free International Roaming
  • SMS charged at 5.35 cents
  • No excess data charges (27GB @ 4G, managed thereafter)
  • Free Caller ID
  • No roaming data option
  • Free Caller ID
  • No roaming data option
Price

S$48/month

S$45/month

S$55/month

S$40/month

S$45/month

S$39.99/month

S$49.95/month

The most affordable and well-rounded plan here is Singtel's GOMO, which has a base price of S$20 and gives you 20GB data, 200 minutes, and 200 SMSes. But if you buy two S$10 add-ons, you get 40GB data, 400 minutes, and 400 SMSes, all for just S$40/month.

If you can cough up a little more at S$45/month, M1's new SIM-only base plan with its S$20 add-on bundle pack offers a staggering 80GB of data and 1,100 minutes of talk time and 1,000 SMSes! StarHub's option comes close, but it loses out with inadequate talk time, so you'll have to top-up a little bit to get a more usable figure.

 

High-end plans

  M1 MyRepublic StarHub Zero Mobile
Plan SIM-Only + $50 Bundle Pack Ultimate 80 S$80 SIM Only Zero X
Unlimited Everything
Data 180GB 80GB 60GB (+10GB bonus data for 12 months) Unlimited
(managed speeds after 45GB usage)
Talk Time 11,000 mins 1000 mins 500 mins Unlimited
SMS 1,000 1000 0 Unlimited
Monthly Add-ons

 

  • $10 Bundle Pack Add-on (10GB, 100 mins)
  • $20 Bundle Pack Add-on (50GB, 100 mins) 
  • $50 Bundle Pack Add-on (150GB, 10,000 mins)​​​​
  • 1GB data (S$5)
  • 3GB data (S$12)
  • 8GB (S$30)
  • "Roam like home" international roaming packages (start at S$6). Full details here.
  • 1GB data (S$3) 
  • 10GB data (S$10)
  • 50GB worry-free data (S$20)
  • Unlimited weekend data (S$6) 
  • Unlimited data for selected chat, social and video apps (from S$6). Full details here.
  • 300 / 800 / Unlimited talk time mins (S$6 / S$10 /  S$18)
  • 500 SMS (S$3)
  • None
Notes

 

  • Free Caller ID
  • Unlimited free calls to three M1 numbers
  • No excess data charges
  • Free Caller ID
  • Unlimited weekend data for 12 months
  • Free Caller ID
  • Free International Roaming
  • SMS charged at 5.35 cents
  • Free Caller ID
  • No international roaming data option
Price S$75/month S$80/month S$80/month S$59.95/month


The cheapest deal in the high-end tier is Zero Mobile's Zero X plan. However, unlike our past comparisons where Zero Mobile is an easy recommendation, it's no longer as competitive as the previous tier's offering from M1, which costs less and offers much more.

Having said that, for a true high-end plan, M1's refreshed SIM-Only plan with the $50 add-on bundle option comes out on top in every comparison possible - data, talk time, SMS, add-on options, roaming service and more.

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