Aldi Mobile plans: How do they compare?

Aldi Mobile is always a popular choice for those looking for a budget SIM provider, but are they the right choice for you? As far as SIM-only plans go Aldi plans are cheap, include some extras like international calls, and since they're prepaid come with no commitments. Sound enticing? As enticing as that robot vacuum cleaner in the middle aisle? Lets find out.

Every Aldi Mobile plan is prepaid, but there are a handful of different types of plans within this category. You can opt for 30-day expiry plans, family plans, data-only plans, or to pay as you go.

Aldi's 30-day expiry mobile plans are split into two categories, 4G access and 5G access. Plans with 4G access are cheaper, and have speed caps of 100Mbps. 4G can go faster than that in metro areas but it is still more than enough speed to keep you connected for anything you want to do on your phone. 5G plans start to get a bit more expensive and allow access to Telstra's 5G network, but these too have speed caps. All but the $59/mth plan have the same 100Mbps speed cap as the 4G plans while the $59/mth plan has a 250Mbps cap instead.

A 100Mbps cap on a 5G plan is a less palatable compromise considering that 5G networks can hit above 1Gbps in some areas. Opting for a 5G plan may however result in less network congestion than the 4G plans, depending on the time of day and location.

Aldi has a range of family plans available from just $20 per SIM card. Each of these plans have the same structure, you'll pay a set price for a good chunk of data that is shared between the connected SIMs. These operate in flux however, so if one person uses the lion's share of the data then that won't effect the other.

$55 per month will get you 50GB to share between two SIM cards- the equivelant of $27.50 for 25GB. $95 covers four services and 100GB of data which is $23.75 for 25GB. Or if you've got a big family to feed with data you can split 150GB between six to an equivelant of $20.83 for 25GB.

Each plan comes with an international call and text allotment which is also shared between the SIM holders.

Most Aldi Mobile plans support speeds of up to 100Mbps, with the exception of the $59/mth plan which caps out at 250Mbps. Both 4G and 5G plans have this same speed cap, but 5G plans can benefit from lower congestion in some areas. According to Open Signal, Telstra customers on average see download speeds of 59.6Mbps, which is the fastest of the three Australian networks.

Aldi Mobile's data allowances are about the same as other Telstra MVNO providers. Across the board $29 will generally buy you 25GB of data with any Telstra-powered provider using the wholesale network. The data-to-dollar value is considerably better across the provider's family plans however.

Apart from the cheapest $19 plan, every Aldi Mobile SIM includes unlimited standard calls and texts to 20 international destinations. Additional calls and texts are included to 30 other countries with these inclusions building in relation to the plan's monthly fee.

Additional calls range between 100 - 400 minutes, and everyone gets 50 texts.

Aldi Mobile operates on the Telstra Wholesale network, which has coverage across 98.8% of the Australian population. Of this 98.7% of the population are covered by 4G and at least 75% with 5G. The 3G network will be shut down in mid 2024, so make sure you have a 4G device with VoLTE to stay connected.

The wholesale network is slightly smaller than the Telstra proper network, but it does cover more of the countries than either Vodafone or Optus' networks.

International roaming is notoriously expensive, and it is one place where Aldi Mobile doesn't buck the trend. Aldi doesn't offer roaming packs, instead you'll need to pay as you go in eligible countries which can add up very quickly.

Voice calls, whether it is you calling or recieving, will set you back around $1 per minute, and an SMS will cost $0.50. The worst part, where the costs will really get up there is on data usage. Aldi charges $0.50 per MB when travelling overseas. For reference, there are 1000MB in a GB, meaning 1GB would cost $500. You're much better off looking at other roaming options.

As of the time of writing, Aldi Mobile does not offer eSIM. The provider touts a 3-in-1 SIM which allows for Standard, Micro and Nano SIM cards.

eSIM is becoming more prevelant with Telstra MVNO providers, so Aldi will likely take this up soon enough.

Aldi mobile has a range of ways to make complaints and get support. Naturally the first point of call is the FAQs page, and raising an eSupport ticket through the website. However, customers can also call 2534 (ALDI) for free during business hours (8:00am - 9:00pm Monday to Sunday AEDT) to talk to a representative. 

Customers however sa the customer service is quite poor, with the Product Review rating coming it at 1.8 in that category. Similarly Trustpilot reviews talking about customer service are primarily one star.

There are four ways to recharge an Aldi Mobile plan;

1. Set up auto-recharge
2. Recharge using My ALDImobile Online
3. Use the ALDImobile app
4. Top up by SMS for PAYG plans

Auto-recharge will work similarly to a postpaid SIM plan- simply set up a recurring payment and don't think about it. Every 30 days the alloted recharge fee will be charged and you'll get a new lot of inclusions.

Alternatively you can manually top up onlie using either the Aldi app or the website. This can be done using a credit card or Paypal.

For those on PAYG plans, you can recharge your account by sending an SMS. You'll either need to purchase a voucher instore, and send the word code followed by the voucher number up to the number 590. Otherwise, you can text 590 from your handset with the word Recharge followed by the plan name. These will look like this;

• Recharge PAYG15
• Recharge PAYG25
• Recharge PAYG35