Last Updated on 8 May 2026 by Dan Wilderness
Hello everyone! Like many people I’d seen the adverts for Lebara Mobile at the airport, and thought it was a brand mainly targeting travellers looking to call abroad. However on my most recent SIM switch, I’ve changed from O2 to a dirt cheap Lebara Mobile Plan, and thought I’d provide a review today.
Quick verdict on Lebara Mobile
We’ve found Lebara Mobile an absolutely excellent mobile network with great coverage and speed despite the rock bottom price. Getting EU roaming thrown in as a bonus is the cherry on the cake.
How we tested Lebara Mobile
I’ve been using Lebara as my main mobile network for well over half a year now, using it at home, on the tube so we’ve been able to build up a really good sense of it’s performance in a variety of situations.
I switched from O2 so it’s been a clear test in moving from a traditional large name phone network provider to moving to a smaller but cheaper option.
Who are Lebara Mobile?
I was a little bit surprised to find out Lebara was a UK company given the initial focus, but they are! They started life providing international calling calls back when phonecards were a thing, before evolving into a full fledged mobile network.
Why is Lebara Mobile so cheap?
Many people will have seen the adverts for Lebara but like myself actually feel it’s so cheap that the price point becomes a point of caution – it must be an inferior service at that rate.
There’s a couple of reasons for the cheap prices:
Firstly they’re extremely tightly focused to keep running costs down. They sell phones but not packages, and simply focus on their core SIM phone plan offering without extras. It means you lose perks, but cheap prices are usually better.
However there’s a simple reason for the price which is shared by a number of networks beyond the big names. Like many of these smaller mobile networks, Lebara uses a process called piggybacking (a full explainer on this below) but effectively you get exactly the same service as if you’re on the main Vodafone network.
However the biggest reason is their setup is designed to piggyback off the Vodafone network…..
What is Piggybacking?
Piggybacking is a service where a smaller mobile network pays for access to one of the big major networks to use their signal. It’s cheaper because the firms that piggyback can use the signal, but Lebara also don’t have to maintain the wider infrastructure costs in the same way (they just indirectly contribute through it via the licensing of their right to piggyback),
If you’re on a ported network, the important point there is nearly no difference in service no matter if you go with the big or small provider.
(In extremely congested data times, the big network will be prioritised ahead of the smaller network, but this doesn’t happen often in modern times).
This can save you a lot of money, as the bigger networks tend to be a bit more expensive – which is mainly rooted in an unjustified fear from people they’ll get an inferior service.
Does Lebara Mobile actually perform well?
Let’s home in on how Lebara has performed for me.
Does Lebara mobile offer a good signal strength?
So the important thing is to check how strong Vodafone coverage is in your area – with Lebara you are using exactly the same Vodafone network for a cheaper price and this will be the key determinant in how strong the signal is.
For me, I actually found my signal improves, and I’ve consistently had a 5 bar service where I live in Surrey and commute to Central London, just because Vodafone is slightly stronger in the area than O2 was.
Does Lebara Mobile offer good data speeds?
I’ve found I consistently get uninterrupted 5G service and have not noticed any speed difference at all to my old O2 plan.
How well does Lebara Mobile work abroad?
Taking Lebara on my holiday to Greece I was able to use the inclusive EU roaming which worked without hassle and was as fast as at home in the UK
Conclusion of Lebara Mobile Performance
Yes, I have absolutely zero complaints, and cost aside, feel I’m actually getting a slightly better service than I was with O2, barring missing O2 Priority.
What Lebara Mobile deal do I have?
I managed to net a deal via USwitch of paying £6.95 a month for 15GB data and unlimited calls and texts, with a £2.95 a month introductory period. That’s on a monthly rolling contract with no commitment.
That’s not even the best deal available anymore – you can pay the same now for 20GB of data, also via USwitch, or they have a range of points for data usage at different price points.
We’ve consistently found the best deals on USwitch, and it’s also worth looking directly at offers with Lebara.
Do I need to take out a contract with Lebara Mobile?
No, many of their plans are simply a monthly rolling contract you can cancel anytime. If ordering from the Lebara website, you can go with 12 month plans which generally offer a 10% discount.
Does Lebara Mobile offer any extras?
Inclusive EU Roaming (in most states) + India Roaming
Getting inclusive minutes in a number of EU countries plus India is the main one, which is a good extra for me as I travel quite a bit. You also get good price rates on international calls outside the included network, linked to Lebara’s history as an international operator.
You can find a full list of where Lebara offers inclusive roaming on their website here.
Other extras and rewards
Beyond this, there’s not really much else – you’re not getting anything like O2 Priority or Vodafone VeryMe rewards with a network like Lebara, just paying less.
There is an extras page through the Lebara mobile app, but we didn’t find anything we’d particularly give review credit for – a couple of competitions and a deals page which was largely just a cashback store (beaten by TopCashback or QuidCo).
Overall Lebara Mobile Review
Verdict: We’ve been really impressed with Lebara Mobile so far and haven’t really got any complaints. It’s simple, cheap and we love the fact that even with that we get EU roaming as well.
Let’s start with service – our SIM arrived quickly and easily. Once up and running, we found service was excellent – coverage was good (check your local area for Vodafone’s network though!), calls were clear and 5G data was fast.
We’d particularly recommend Lebara to people making frequent international calls, owing to the competitive rates offered outside of the roaming area.
So why did we knock off half a star? Only because we think there’s very rare exceptions where people who use one of the incentives programmes associated with the bigger networks may be able to extract a little more value if there’s a perk they consistently use, but finding ones worth it elsewhere is becoming increasingly rare.
Advantages:
- We struggled to find deals much cheaper
- Mobile and data service just as good as big networks
- Some EU Roaming included.
- Monthly contracts without a commitment.
- Good international rates
Disadvantages
- No loyalty/rewards programme
FAQs about Lebara Mobile
Lebara don’t sell bundles in the way most providers do – just SIM only plans or handsets only, which you can combine yourself.
You can check if a specific country is included in Lebara’s Roaming plans at the Lebara website here.
Yes you can, or use a pay as you go approach. You can see specific packages and pay as you go charges on the Lebara website here.
Yes, an E-Sim is an option for all Lebara plans.
No, Lebara does not cap data speed on it’s UK plans, subject to the Lebara fair use policy.
Yes you can, subject to the Lebara fair use policy.
And that’s it!
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