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Best family SIM deals

15th October 2024

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If you’re happy to share a phone contract with family or friends there can be big savings to be had, as many networks offer discounts for having multiple plans or let you share your data allowance between a group, so you’re less likely to end up paying for data you don’t use.

The exact discounts and terms vary from network to network, so we’ve put together this guide, highlighting the best options available. As well as what else to consider when choosing a family SIM deal, so read on, get sharing, and get saving.

Networks offering family SIM deals

Currently, family SIM plans are available on Three, EE, O2, Vodafone, Smarty and Tesco Mobile. Sky meanwhile enables linked accounts to share unused data in a communal "Piggybank".

Best family SIM deals
Network Family Plans Buy Now

Three Connect Together

20% off additional plans

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EE

EE Multi-line discount

Save up to £12 a month on additional plans

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O2 Logo

O2 Multisave

20% discount

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Vodafone Logo

Vodafone additional plans

15% discount

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Smarty

Smarty Group plan

10% discount

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Tesco Mobile

Tesco Mobile Family Perks

"Family Perks" of your choice

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Sky Mobile

Sky Piggybank

Share unused data using communal "Sky Piggybank"

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Three

Three Connect Together
What we like What we don't like
20% discount Discount only applies to allowances
Most plan types are eligible  

For a long time Three didn’t offer any sort of family plan, but now it does. Dubbed ‘Connect Together,’ this gives you a 20% discount off each additional plan you add to your account (up to six additional plans in total).

The discount applies to SIM Only plans, Pay Monthly phone plans, tablet and laptop plans, and even home broadband and mobile broadband plans, so you’re not limited just to phones.

Note though that SIM and broadband plans need to be 12 or 24 months long to be eligible for the discount, and if you have a device plan (such as a smartphone on contract) the 20% discount will only apply to your allowances – not the cost of the device.

As well as giving you a discount, Three’s Connect Together service also lets you manage all of your plans in one place, with one single combined bill, to help keep things simple.

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EE

EE Multi-Line Discount
What we like What we don't like
A potentially large discount High starting prices
Ability to share data between users  

EE offers a Multi-Line Discount, which gives up to a £12 monthly discount off every additional SIM Only, Data Only, or airtime plan, and 10% off additional tablet and laptop plans.

As well as saving you money, this service also allows you to move data around between users with data gifting. So for example, if one person is running low you can send them data from someone else on the account who has a lot left.

Data caps and other toggles – such as whether people on the account can use data abroad – are also available to ensure there are no surprise bills, which is especially handy if you plan to put your kids on the account.

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O2

O2 Multisave
What we like What we don't like
Solid 20% discount  High base prices
Add up to 20 additional connections No discount on plans already on promotion
  Discount only applies to airtime plan

With an O2 Multisave plan you can add up to 20 connections to your plan, which is more than most networks allow.

And you might want to add lots of connections, because doing so can save money, as every additional connection gets a 20% discount off their airtime plan.

Note that this only applies to the ‘airtime’ part of your costs, which means your allowances. It doesn’t apply to the part of your monthly cost that’s paying off your phone.

A range of different types of plan can be added to a Multisave plan too, including tablets, SIM Only, and of course Pay Monthly handset plans. The other connections can also all have different allowances.

There are also various exclusions, for example you won’t get the discount on any promotional plans (ones which are already being sold at less than their normal price).

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Vodafone

Vodafone Additional plans
What we like What we don't like
Reasonable discount at 15% No discount on plans already on promotion
Can add up to 9 additional users Discount only applies to airtime plan

Vodafone keeps things simple with its Additional Plans. Just take out one full price Pay Monthly, SIM Only, tablet, or mobile broadband plan that’s over 30 days long, and you’ll be able to add up to 9 additional lines to your account, each of which gets a 15% discount.

Note however that on Pay Monthly handset plans, the discount only applies to the airtime part of the plan (your allowances) not the phone itself.

There are also some online only discounts of varying amounts on select devices and plans when adding an additional one to your account, saving you up to £720 over the life of the contract at the time of writing.

As with many other family plans, the discount won’t be available for some plans, including some which are already subject to an offer, discount, or promotion.

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Smarty Mobile

Smarty Group plan
What we like What we don't like
Great value plans using Three's network Discount is just 10%
Each member can choose own allowance Plans are billed and managed individually
No contracts  

Smarty Mobile takes a similar approach to Vodafone, with each additional plan getting a 10% discount. That might therefore sound worse than Vodafone’s 15% discount, but bear in mind that Smarty already offers cheap plans.

Plus, every member of the group (which can have up to 8 people in it) can be on their own individual plan with differing allowances, and there are no contracts on Smarty, so members can leave or change their plan whenever they want.

As with many group plans, on Smarty the group owner can also manage every member’s plan in one place, including making payments and purchasing add-ons, so account management is simplified.

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Tesco Mobile

Tesco Mobile Family Perks
What we like What we don't like
Choose the perk that suits you Family Perk savings work out quite small
Change perk each month  

Tesco Mobile lets you add up to 4 additional subscriptions to your account, and, as long as there are at least two of you, you’ll be eligible for ‘Family Perks’. These are monthly perks which include up to 1GB of extra data, up to £2 off your bill, up to 200 Tesco Clubcard points, and up to £2.25 off Tesco Mobile Protect. The exact amount of data/points/discount you’ll get with each perk depends on your monthly tariff price.

Each person on your plan can choose one of these perks each month, and you can change which one you get every month, with the only exception being the Tesco Mobile Protect discount, which you need to have chosen from the start.

Tesco Mobile Family Perks are available on Pay Monthly phone and SIM Only plans, as well as tablet plans and tablet SIMs, but in the case of those last two your perk will always be extra data, so you don’t get the choice.

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Sky Mobile

Sky Mobile family plans
What we like What we don't like
Share unused data with Sky Piggybank No discounts available
Add up to 7 accounts  

One of the standout features of Sky Mobile in general is that it lets you roll over your unused data from one month to the next for up to a year. However, if you add your family’s phones to your account then you all get to share any data that’s rolled over, and up to 7 SIM cards can be added to one account.

Note that you don’t share your normal allowances, but any data that any of you don’t use goes into a communal ‘Sky Piggybank’ which you can dip into as needed.

Sky Mobile Piggybank also allows you to cash in unused data for savings on new phones, tablets, and accessories, with specific rewards changing monthly.

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Which family SIM deal do we recommend?

Of all the current family plan options, our pick for the best one is Smarty’s, as while its 10% discount for additional members isn’t immediately eye-catching, Smarty already offers cheaper plans than most networks as standard.

Better yet, these are just 30-day plans, where a lot of the other options tie you into a contract.

Of course, this won’t be the best option for everyone, so for more guidance on which plan to choose, take a look at the considerations below.

Considerations when choosing a family plan

Data vs discounts

As noted above, family plans tend to be split between those which offer discounts and those which let you share your data, so it’s worth considering which you’d find more useful.

In general, we tend to think that discounts are better (though notably the first person on the account doesn’t usually get a direct discount). Data sharing can be handy if your data use varies from month to month, but if you and the other people on your plan tend to use a fairly standard amount you might find you don’t really take advantage of it.

Contract length and type

Note also that some family plans are only available on certain contract types or durations. For example, while some networks limit you to long contracts on family plans, in some cases there’s more flexibility, with short term plans an option. This is the case with Smarty, which doesn’t tie you into a contract.

Adding people to a plan

In most cases you can add people to your plan (or remove them from it) at any point, but this is always worth checking if you think you might want to add or remove people later.

Other network features

Family plans and the perks that go with them are just one thing to consider when choosing a network. You should also look at their prices (big family plan discounts are less impressive if the standard prices are high) as well as their coverage, speeds, allowances, their tethering and roaming terms, and any other extras they offer, such as Wi-Fi Calling or data rollover.

Editorial Manager

James has been writing for us for over 10 years. Currently, he is Editorial Manager for our group of companies ( 3G.co.uk, 4G.co.uk and 5G.co.uk) and sub-editor at TechRadar. He specialises in smartphones, mobile networks/ technology, tablets, and wearables.

In the past, James has also written for T3, Digital Camera World, Clarity Media, Smart TV Radar, and others, with work on the web, in print and on TV. He has a film studies degree from the University of Kent, Canterbury, and has over a decade’s worth of professional writing experience.

Company director for our 4 websites as follows: 

3G.co.uk
4G.co.uk 
5G.co.uk 
SIMOnly.co.uk

Simon has a first class honours degree in business management and has worked for our companies since 2008. He is responsible for the upkeep of the website, including the price comparison tools and for some editorial content across the site.

He has joint responsibility for 3G.co.uk and SIMOnly.co.uk and is lead Director for 4G.co.uk.

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