How many Kiwis do we survey for our ratings?

Canstar surveyed 1768 Kiwis who have an account with a prepaid mobile provider and asked for their feedback on their mobile provider. The outcomes reported in these ratings are measured via Pureprofile's accredited online research panel.

What criteria are used to rate prepaid mobile providers?

Respondents rate their satisfaction with their natural gas suppliers from zero to ten, where zero is extremely dissatisfied and ten is extremely satisfied. Brand satisfaction was rated by respondents on the following criteria: Overall satisfaction: measures consumer satisfaction with a prepaid provider as an individual score NOT a combined total of all criteria. Accessibility of provider: it's easy to contact the provider to make a query or for help, either online, in person, in-store, or over the phone. Billing: the billing provides accurate details of phone usage and costs, so it's easy to work out if you are on the correct plan for your phone/data 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. Value for money: the provider's plans offer great value for money when comparing services and extras with price.

How do we determine the winner?

The winning brand receives the highest overall rating once all the scores from each category are combined and averaged.

Which prepaid mobile providers do we rate?

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. Skinny Kogan Mobile 2degrees Warehouse Mobile Spark One NZ Find more information on our Most Satisfied Customer methodology.

The past winners of Canstar's Prepaid Mobile Award: 2024: Skinny 2023: Skinny 2022: Skinny 2021: Skinny 2020: Skinny 2019: Skinny 2018: Skinny 2017: Skinny 2016: Skinny 2015: Skinny

What other awards and ratings does Canstar present?

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.

Best Prepaid Mobile Phone Providers in New Zealand

Written by

Bruce PitchersNZ Editor

26 Jun, 2025

Best-rated Prepaid Mobile Providers in NZ

Consumer Ratings

Consumer Ratings

Consumer Ratings

Consumer Ratings

Consumer Ratings

Consumer Ratings

Most Satisfied Customers

The nation's phone users rate Skinny the No.1 choice for prepaid mobile for the eleventh year in a row.

About Canstar's Most Satisfied Customers Prepaid Mobile Award

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

We ask Kiwi prepaid customers 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:

1768 Customers Surveyed
11 Providers Assessed
6 Providers Shortlisted
1 Award Winner

Read our methodology

The best prepaid mobile provider in NZ

The brands rated are listed below in order of best overall satisfaction. Prices correct 08/01/2026.

1. Skinny

Congratulations to Skinny for once again winning Canstar's Most Satisfied Customers | Prepaid Mobile Award. The award has been running since 2015, and Skinny has taken out top honours every year, which is a remarkable feat, given the competition in the prepaid mobile sector.

This year Skinny achieves another great set of ratings from its customers. It earns a top 5-Star rating for Overall Satisfaction, and further 5 Stars for Customer Service, Billing and Accessibility of Provider. Across all other categories it earns great 4-Star ratings.

Skinny Mobile is a division of Spark. However, instead of offering all the extras that Spark bundles with its plans, like free and half-price Spotify, Skinny concentrates on the basics – calls, texts and data – at a reduced price.

Skinny has six different monthly plans, which cater for all budgets and mobile-use needs. 5G is currently included in all Skinny plans at no extra cost.

Skinny also offers weekly plans, although they work out slightly more expensive.

Four-weekly plans

$8 Plan: 250MB data & 100 mins & unlimited texts to NZ/OZ
$17 Plan: 1.5GB rollover data & 200 rollover mins & unlimited texts to NZ/OZ*
$27 Plan: 4GB rollover data & 300 rollover mins & unlimited texts to NZ/OZ*
$40 Plan: Endless data (speeds reduce after 10GB) & unlimited calls & texts to NZ/OZ**
$50 Plan: Endless data (speeds reduce after 40GB) & unlimited calls & texts to NZ/OZ**
$70 Plan: Endless data (no max speed cap) & unlimited calls & texts to NZ/OZ**

Yearly plans

Skinny also offers two 12-months plans, that offer considerable savings. The data, call and text allowances renew every 28 days.

$296 Plan: 4GB rollover data & 300 rollover mins & unlimited texts to NZ/OZ*
$439 Plan: Endless data (speeds reduce after 10GB) & unlimited calls & texts to NZ/OZ **

*Extras: Unlimited mins to other Skinny mobiles **Extras: Hotspotting

2. Kogan Mobile

Kogan was founded by entrepreneur Ruslan Kogan 25 years ago in Australia as an online own-brand electrical goods retailer. Since then it’s grown into a huge company, selling a wide range of products on its NZ and OZ websites.

Here in Aotearoa, it owns online retailer MightyApe.co.nz. However, despite its size, the Kogan Mobile brand is still a small player in the market. But it’s deserving of greater attention, because if you’re after a cheap, no-frills phone plan, Kogan Mobile’s pre-paid deals are some of the cheapest around.

It's worth noting that while Kogan Mobile gets a 5-Star rating from its customers for Network Coverage it uses the same mobile network as One NZ, which only receives 3 Stars in the coverage category. This is because our awards are based on customer perception, rather than actual coverage. For more on the different mobile networks in NZ see below.

Kogan keeps it simple with just four pre-paid phone plans. And just two pre-paid periods: 31 Days and 365 Days.

Kogan offers a discount if you pay for a 12-month plan upfront, as shown:

31-day | 365-day plans

$15 Plan: 1.5GB data & unlimited calls & texts to NZ/OZ | $160 per year (= $13.59 per 31 days)
$25 Plan: 4GB data & unlimited calls & texts to NZ/OZ | $250 per year (= $21.23 per 31 days)
$35 Plan: 15GB data & unlimited calls & texts to NZ/OZ | $330 per year (= $28.03 per 31 days)
$55 Plan: 32GB data & unlimited calls & texts to NZ/OZ | $490 per year (= $41.62 per 31 days)

3. 2degrees

2degrees offers eight prepaid monthly plans, plus four two-week plans. And each, except the cheapest $8 monthly plan, comes with a great perk: a free hour of data each day to use at a time that suits your data needs:

Prepaid (calendar month)

$8 Plan: 150MB data & 100 mins & unlimited texts to NZ/OZ
$15 Plan: 1GB data & 100 mins & unlimited texts to NZ/OZ
$20 Plan: 2GB data & 200 mins & unlimited texts to NZ/OZ
$25 Plan: 3GB data & 250 mins & unlimited texts to NZ/OZ
$35 Plan: 4.5GB data & 300 mins & unlimited texts to NZ/OZ
$45 Plan: 10GB data & unlimited calls & texts to NZ/OZ
$60 Plan: 50GB data & unlimited calls & texts to NZ/OZ
$85 Plan: Endless data (no max speed cap) & unlimited calls & texts to NZ/OZ

Prepaid (fortnightly: 14 days)

$11 Plan: 1.25GB data & 100 mins & unlimited texts to NZ/OZ
$19 Plan: 4GB data & 150 mins & unlimited texts to NZ/OZ
$24 Plan: 7GB data & unlimited calls & texts to NZ/OZ
$34 Plan: 40GB data & 250 mins & unlimited texts to NZ/OZ

NB: All plans offer unlimited calls to other 2degrees mobiles, hotspotting, free voicemail and are 5G ready.

4. Warehouse Mobile

Warehouse mobile offers a range of five easy-on-the-pocket prepaid mobile plans. The ability to call beyond NZ and Australia makes them a great option for those who want to stay in touch with family and friends overseas. Warehouse mobile uses the 2degrees mobile network.

Prepay (four-weekly)

$9 Plan: 300MB data & 100 mins & unlimited texts to NZ/OZ (and 13 other destinations*)
$15 Plan: 1.25GB rollover data & 200 rollover mins & unlimited texts to NZ/OZ
$25 Plan: 4GB rollover data & 300 rollover mins & unlimited texts to NZ/OZ
$35 Plan: 6GB rollover data & unlimited calls & texts to NZ/OZ
$45 Plan: 30GB rollover data & unlimited calls & texts to NZ/OZ

All plans offer voicemail, free calls to other Warehouse Mobile numbers.

*Other destinations include standard landline or mobile numbers in: NZ, Australia, China, England, Scotland, Wales, the US, India, Canada, Germany, Israel, Puerto Rico, Brazil, Mexico, Malaysia, Singapore and South Korea. Exclusions apply including Alaska and Hawaii.

5. Spark

All of Spark's prepaid plans come with a Spotify discount, and more expensive plans offer free Spotify data and Data Stack.

Data Stack: earn 100MB of data every 28 days when you stay on an eligible Spark Prepaid Value Pack, up to a maximum of 10GB. Unused Data Stack does not roll over.

Prepay (four-weekly)

$17 Plan: 750MB data & 100 mins & unlimited texts to NZ/OZ + 10% Spotify Premium discount
$21 Plan: 1.5GB rollover data & 200 mins & unlimited texts to NZ/OZ + 10% Spotify Premium discount
$25 Plan: 2.5GB rollover data & 250 mins & unlimited texts to NZ/OZ + 10% Spotify Premium discount, free Spotify Data
$35 Plan: 4GB rollover data & 300 mins & unlimited texts to NZ/OZ + $7 Spotify Premium discount, free Spotify Data
$50 Plan: 10GB rollover data & unlimited calls & texts to NZ/OZ + $7 Spotify Premium discount, free Spotify Data
$65 Plan: 25GB rollover data & unlimited calls & texts to NZ/OZ + $7 Spotify Premium discount, free Spotify Data
$85 Plan: Endless data (speeds reduce after 80GB) & unlimited calls & texts to NZ/OZ + $7 Spotify Premium discount, free Spotify Data

All plans offer: rollover on call, text and data limit, hotspotting and Data Stack (not $17 plan).

6. One NZ

One has seven prepaid plans. There are four cheaper plans, $30 and under, two endless data plans that offer unlimited data with speed caps after data limits, and one unlimited max-speed plan.

All unused rollover data lasts up to a year. DataUp on Rollover plans offers up to 100% free data if your plan renews regularly.

Prepaid (calendar month)

$10 Plan: 250MB data & 100 mins & unlimited texts to NZ/OZ
$17 Plan: 1GB data & unlimited calls & texts to NZ/OZ + DataUp
$22 Plan: 2GB data & unlimited calls & texts to NZ/OZ + DataUp
$30 Plan: 3GB data & unlimited calls & texts to NZ/OZ + DataUp
$50 Plan: Endless data (speeds reduce after 6GB) & unlimited calls & texts to NZ/OZ
$70 Plan: Endless data (speeds reduce after 50GB) & unlimited calls & texts to NZ/OZ
$85 Plan: Endless data (no max speed cap) & unlimited calls & texts to NZ/OZ + 250 mins & 50 texts to 20 international destinations

Other prepaid providers not rated by Canstar

Not all mobile prepaid plan providers in the market qualify for our ratings (based on minimum survey sample size), but that doesn’t mean they’re not worth considering. Here are more providers to check out before making a decision.

Kiwi Mobile
Mighty Mobile
Rocket Mobile

Kiwi Mobile

Kiwi Mobile's two phone plans deliver unlimited data, capped at download speeds of of 1.2Mbps once you hit one of five data caps. The plans are unique because once you hit your data cap, if you don't want your data speed slowed to 1.2Mbps, you can opt to move up to the next data tier. You can do this manually through the Kiwi Mobile app, or do it automatically. If you opt to increase your data limit, the daily cost of your plan rises accordingly for those days of additional data.

However, whatever data/price tier you end up on by the end of the month, when the next billing cycle comes around (there are 12 per calendar year), your plan automatically resets back down to your original plan.

Choice Lite Plan

Data Tiers	Cost
1GB	$0.59/day ($17.95/m)
1.5GB	$0.89/day ($27.07/m)
2GB	$1.19/day ($36.20/m)
3GB	$1.49/day ($45.32/m)
4GB	$1.79/day ($54.45/m)

Choice Plan

Kiwi Mobile's Choice plan allows you to link up to four users. If there are two linked plans, both receive a discount of 15c per day, and if you link three or four plans that saving increases to 30c per day:

Data Tiers	Cost for 1 Plan	Cost for 1/2 Plans	Cost for 3/4 Plans
5GB	$1.30/day ($39.54/m)	$1.15/day ($34.98/m)	$1/day ($30.42/m)
10GB	$1.60/day ($48.67/m)	$1.45/day ($44.10/m)	$1.30/day ($39.54/m)
20GB	$1.90/day ($57.79/m)	$1.75/day ($53.23/m)	$1.60/day ($48.67/m)
30GB	$2/day ($60.83/m)	$1.85/day ($56.27/m)	$1.70/day ($51.71/m)
100GB	$2.10/day ($63.88/m)	$1.95/day ($59.31/m)	$1.80/day ($54.75/m)

Each plan features:

Endless data – all plans have endless data till max speed limit, then reduced to 1.2Mbps
Talk & Text – unlimited NZ/OZ
5G – plans are 5G ready
Hotspot – included with all plans

Mighty Mobile

Mighty Mobile is a pre-paid telco service from online retailer Mighty Ape. It piggybacks on the One NZ network, so offers premier coverage across the country.

Like Rocket Mobile's plans, Mighty Mobile's point of difference is that the data speeds on its cheaper plans come already capped, albeit at speeds that still permit video streaming.

Mighty Mobile’s plans are available in monthly, or you can pay for 12 months upfront for a discount, as shown.

Prepaid monthly | yearly plans

$40 Plan: Endless data up to 10Mbps & unlimited calls & texts to NZ/OZ | $399 per year (= $33.25/m)
$50 Plan: Endless data up to 50Mbps & unlimited calls & texts to NZ/OZ | $499 per year (=$41.58/m)
$80 Plan: Endless data (no speed cap) & unlimited calls & texts to NZ/OZ | $799 per year (= $66.58/m)

Rocket Mobile

Rocket Mobile is a mobile-phone provider that offers a unique range of prepaid data plans that use One NZ's mobile network.

Rocket Mobile's plans all offer endless data, although its three cheaper plans have data speed caps, albeit at levels that still permit video streaming.

Prepaid monthly

$30 Plan: Endless data up to 2Mbps & unlimited calls & texts to NZ/OZ
$40 Plan: Endless data up to 10Mbps & unlimited calls & texts to NZ/OZ*
$45 Plan: Endless data up to 40Mbps & unlimited calls & texts to NZ/OZ*
$75 Plan: Endless data (no max speed cap) & unlimited calls & texts to NZ/OZ + 5G ready*

*Group plans are also available: $5 off the $40 and $45 plans, and $25 off the $75 plan.

Choosing the best prepaid provider

All utilities – mobile, internet, power, electricity – only really come in one flavour: electricity is electricity, gas is gas, and access to a mobile service is pretty much the same whatever provider you use.

The only differences come down to the price and the associated packing of the phone products, for example value-added extras and customer service.

So it's not surprising to see that for the overwhelming majority of phone users in our survey (36%), satisfaction with their provider comes down to one thing: Value for Money.

Customer Service (22%) is also important, rating only slightly higher than Network Coverage at 19%. As we mention above, perceptions of Network Coverage are interesting, as there are only three main mobile networks in the country, which are used by multiple phone providers (see below). And up until the roll-out of 5G, all three mobile phone networks were pretty consistent at delivering reliable coverage to around 98% of Kiwis. However, now that 5G is proliferating, big differences in ultrafast network coverage are appearing, as all three networks update to the latest 5G tech.

Here’s the full rundown of what the consumers in our survey say are the main things they consider when rating their prepaid providers.

Value for Money: 36%
Customer Service: 22%
Network Coverage: 19%
Accessibility of Provider: 13%
Billing: 10%

FAQs about Canstar's Prepaid Mobile Award

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.