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MSC Monthly Mobile Award 2026

Best Monthly Mobile Plans

Compare monthly mobile plan providers rated best by Kiwi phone users in Canstar's 2026 Most Satisfied Customers Monthly Mobile Award.
Written by
Bruce Pitchers's profile picture
Bruce PitchersNZ Editor

Best-rated Monthly Mobile Plan Providers in NZ

Contact logo
Consumer Ratingsstarstarstarstarstar
Spark logo
Consumer Ratingsstarstarstarstarstar
Nova Energy logo
Consumer Ratingsstarstarstarstarstar
2 Degrees logo
Consumer Ratingsstarstarstarstarstar
Mercury Energy logo
Consumer Ratingsstarstarstarstarstar
One NZ logo
Consumer Ratingsstarstarstarstarstar
MSC Monthly Mobile Award 2026

Most Satisfied Customers

Contact is rated No.1 by Kiwi phone users as the country's best monthly mobile provider.

Contact logo



About Canstar's Most Satisfied Customers Monthly Mobile Award

Canstar's Most Satisfied Customers Monthly Mobile Award reveals the mobile phone provider that delivers the best consumer satisfaction to its customers.

We ask Kiwi mobile users with monthly plans to rate their satisfaction with their providers by Overall Satisfaction, as well as important criteria such as Customer Service, Network Coverage and Value for Money.

Numbers crunched by Canstar's researchers:

  • 2301 Customers Surveyed
  • 11 Providers Assessed
  • 6 Providers Shortlisted
  • 1 Award Winner

Read our methodology

The best monthly mobile provider in NZ

The brands rated are listed below in order of best overall satisfaction.

Prices correct 06/07/2026.

1. Contact

Contact logo

Contact takes home our Monthly Mobile Award in part due to the great value offered by its phone plans. For it's notable that in our awards ratings, Contact is the only mobile provider to earn a five-star rating for Value for Money.

Contact's cheapest plan has roll-over data, while the rest come with capped max-speed unlimited data. The two most expensive plans allow you to add additional group members for significant discounts:

  • $16Plan: 2GB carryover data, 200 carryover mins to OZ, unlimited texts to NZ/OZ
  • $35 Plan: Endless data (speeds reduce after 5GB) & unlimited calls & texts to NZ/OZ
  • $45 Plan: Endless data (speeds reduce after 20GB) & texts to NZ/OZ*
  • $60Plan: Endless data (speeds reduce after 75GB) & texts to NZ/OZ*

* Add up to four group members on the same plan for $25/m each.

2. Nova

Nova is another energy company that has branched out into telco products. It has four endless data monthly plans, and offers discounts if you bundle with its other services.

All plans allow you to add up to five people on a group plan for $39/m each:

  • $39 Plan: Endless data (speeds reduce after 5GB) & unlimited calls & texts to NZ/OZ
  • $49 Plan: Endless data (speeds reduce after 10GB) data & unlimited calls & texts to NZ/OZ
  • $59 Plan: Endless data (speeds reduce after 20GB) data & unlimited calls & texts to NZ/OZ
  • $69 Plan: Endless data (speeds reduce after 40GB) & unlimited calls & texts to NZ/OZ

All plans offer hotspotting, fee voicemail, and are 5G ready.

3. Spark

Spark offers six endless data plans:

Endless data plans:

  • $43 Plan: Endless data (speeds reduce after 3GB) & unlimited calls & texts to NZ/OZ + 10% Spotify Premium discount
  • $50 Plan: Endless data (speeds reduce after 6GB) & unlimited calls & texts to NZ/OZ + 10% Spotify Premium discount
  • $65 Plan: Endless data (speeds reduce after 75GB) & unlimited calls & texts to NZ/OZ + 10% Spotify Premium discount and free Spotify data
  • $75 Plan: Endless data (speeds reduce after 150GB) & unlimited calls & texts to NZ/OZ + $7 Spotify Premium discount and free Spotify data + similar group plan for $40/m
  • $90 Plan: Endless data (no max speed cap) & unlimited calls & texts to NZ/OZ + international talk and texts + free Spotify Premium ($20.99/m) + similar group plan for $45/m
  • $95 Plan: Endless data (no max speed cap) & unlimited calls & texts to NZ/OZ + international talk and texts + free Netflix Standard ($25.99/m) + similar group plan for $45/m

Each plan offers:

  • Hotspotting and voicemail
  • Free data for Spotify music
  • 10% Spotify Premium discount (except on : $75+ plans)
  • Add $20 Kids Plan (except on: $43 plan)

Kids $20 plan:

Spark also offers a dedicated plans for kids, up to 17.5 years of age:

  • Features: 100 minutes & 100 texts to NZ – 2GB data, half of which is allocated by parents.
  • Extras: Hotspotting, save 10% on Spotify Premium

4. Mercury

Mercury has two rollover monthly plans, plus three that offer endless data, with max-speed caps:

Rollover data monthly plans:

  • $19 Plan: 1.25GB rollover data & 250 mins & unlimited texts to NZ/OZ
  • $29 Plan: 2.5GB rollover data & 350 mins & unlimited texts to NZ/OZ

Endless data monthly plans:

  • $39 Plan: Endless data (speeds reduce after 5GB) & unlimited calls & texts to NZ/OZ
  • $59 Plan: Endless data (speeds reduce after 50GB) data & unlimited calls & texts to NZ/OZ
  • $79 Plan: Endless data (speeds reduce after 150GB) data & unlimited calls & texts to NZ/OZ

5. 2degrees

2degrees offers four monthly plans that have carryover data, plus one endless data plan.

Carryover data plans come with a great perk: a free hour of data each day to use at a time that suits your data needs. Four allow you to add up to five extra people at discounted rates to form a group plan:

  • $35 Plan: 3GB data & unlimited calls & texts to NZ/OZ
  • $45 Plan: 6GB data & unlimited calls & texts to NZ/OZ
  • $55 Plan: 15GB data & unlimited calls & texts to NZ/OZ
  • $65 Plan: 80GB data & unlimited calls & texts to NZ/OZ
  • $80 Plan: Endless data (no max speed cap) & unlimited calls & texts to NZ/OZ

Group deals: add up to 5 group plans for others on either the same plan or one of a higher value:

  • $45 Plan – Group members for $25/m
  • $55 Plan – Group members for $30/m
  • $65 Plan – Group members for $35/m
  • $80 Plan – Group members for $40/m

6. One NZ

One NZ keeps it simple, with four mobile plans, two of which are eligible to be teamed up with companion plans for a considerable discount:

  • $40 Plan: 3GB data & unlimited calls & texts to NZ/OZ
  • $50 Plan: Endless data (speeds reduce after 6GB) & unlimited calls & texts to NZ/OZ
  • $73 Plan: Endless data (speeds reduce after 50GB) & unlimited calls & texts to NZ/OZ + 250 mins & 50 texts to 20 international destinations + group plan from $37/m
  • $88 Plan: Endless data (no max speed cap) & unlimited calls & texts to NZ/OZ + 250 mins & 50 texts to 20 international destinations + group plan from $42/m

All plans offer hotspotting, fee voicemail, One NZ rewards and are 5G ready. They also offer One NZ's satellite text facility.

Choosing the best monthly mobile plan provider

Across all of our consumer award surveys, Value for Money is always cited as a stand-out factor driving satisfaction, closely followed by Customer Service.

And this is reflected by the feedback we received from our monthly mobile customers, with Value for Money cited as most important by 29%, and Customer Service by just under a quarter (22%).

Here's the full rundown of what the Kiwis in our survey say are the main things they consider when rating their monthly mobile providers:

  • Value for Money: 29%
  • Customer Service: 22%
  • Network Coverage: 17%
  • Plan Management: 12%
  • Sign-up & Activation: 12%
  • Billing Transparency: 8%

FAQs about Canstar's Monthly Mobile Award

Canstar surveyed 2301 Kiwis who have a monthly mobile account and asked for their feedback on their mobile provider.

  • The outcomes reported in these ratings are measured via Pureprofile's accredited online research panel.

Respondents rate their satisfaction with their providers from zero to ten, where zero is extremely dissatisfied and ten is extremely satisfied. Brand satisfaction was rated by respondents on the following criteria:

  • Billing transparency: bills provides accurate details of phone usage and costs, so it's easy to work out if you’re on the correct plan for your phone needs.
  • Customer service: the customer service provided by the mobile provider is helpful, prompt and of a high standard.
  • Network coverage: the mobile phone provider's network offers good access to 4G signals in both urban and rural locations, and is making progress expanding its 5G coverage.
  • Plan management: the mobile provider provides tools and data to allow customers to easily manage their data usage, and to ensure they're on the plan best-suited to their needs.
  • Sign up & activation: its easy, quick process to sign up for the phone plan and activate the account.
  • Value for money: the provider's plans offer great value for money when comparing services and extras with price.

The winner is the brand Kiwis rate highest for the things that matter most to customers, based on overall satisfaction. To see how we crunch the numbers, check out our methodology.

Brands must have received at least 30 responses to be included, so not all brands available in the market have been compared in this survey. The brands rated in this survey are listed below in order of best overall satisfaction.

  • Contact
  • Nova
  • Spark
  • Mercury
  • 2degrees
  • One NZ

Find more information on our Most Satisfied Customer methodology.

The past winners of Canstar's Monthly Mobile Award:

  • 2025: Skinny
  • 2024: 2degrees
  • 2023: 2degrees
  • 2022: 2degrees
  • 2021: Skinny
  • 2020: 2degrees
  • 2019: 2degrees
  • 2018: 2degrees
  • 2017: 2degrees
  • 2016: 2degrees
  • 2015: 2degrees

Canstar presents Most Satisfied Customer Awards for products and services across a range of consumer categories. Canstar's expert research team also awards financial products and providers that deliver outstanding features, service and value for money. Canstar's Innovation Excellence Awards showcase products and services that break new ground when it comes to helping Kiwi consumers.

You can find the full list of Canstar's Awards and Star Ratings here.

Bruce Pitchers's profile picture
Bruce PitchersNZ Editor

Bruce Pitchers is Canstar's NZ Editor. An experienced finance reporter, he has three decades’ experience as a journalist and has worked for major media companies in Australia, the UK and NZ, including ACP, Are Media, Bauer Media Group, Fairfax, Pacific Magazines, News Corp and TVNZ. As a freelancer, he has worked for The Australian Financial Review, the NZ Financial Markets Authority and major banks and investment companies on both sides of the Tasman.
In his role at Canstar, he has been a regular commentator in the NZ media, including on the Driven, Stuff and One Roof websites, the NZ Herald, Radio NZ, and Newstalk ZB.
Away from Canstar, Bruce creates puzzles for magazines including Woman’s Day and New Idea. He is also the co-author of the murder-mystery puzzle book 5 Minute Murder.


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