Top up a pay as you go phone, and know where the credit goes
Adding credit is the easy part — it takes a number and about a minute. The part nobody explains is what happens to that balance afterwards: what draws it down, how much is worth putting on, and how to see what is left.
Where the credit goes
A pay as you go balance is one pot that several things draw from, each at its own rate. This is the answer to "I only made two calls, where did it all go?".
The names for that pot change with the market — the UK, Ireland and Australia mostly say pay as you go, much of the rest of the world says prepaid — but the model underneath is identical: the line holds a balance, you spend it, and nothing is billed at the end of the month. It is why this page and the prepaid SIM overview describe the same kind of line: one covers the SIM, this one covers the money on it.
| What you do | How the balance is charged | Worth knowing |
|---|---|---|
| Outgoing calls | By the minute, at the operator's standard rate | The rate depends on the number you are calling — another country, or another network at home, is not always the same price |
| Texts | Per message sent | Picture and group messages are normally priced apart from plain texts |
| Data with no bundle running | By the megabyte, at the operator's standard rate | This is the line that empties a balance fastest — a bundle exists precisely to stop it |
| Premium and short-code numbers | At the rate set by whoever runs that number | Bundles and allowances do not usually cover these, so they come straight out of the balance |
| Using the phone abroad | At the operator's roaming rate for the country you are in | A separate rate card from the one at home; check it before you travel |
None of those rates are ours and we do not publish them — they belong to the destination operator and sit on that operator's own site. What we do is put the credit on the number; how fast it goes is between the phone and the network.
Is there a monthly top-up?
Three different worries hide inside that question, and separating them answers it properly. Two of the three are simply not how prepaid works.
A bill at the end of the month
No. That is what a contract does. A prepaid line takes the money before the service, not after, so nothing arrives later and there is nothing to cancel. The six practical differences are on the prepaid SIM overview.
A minimum you must load each month
Not from us. Every order here is a single payment to a single number, made when you decide to make it — nothing is scheduled, nothing repeats and no card is kept. That answer in full is on recharge and subscriptions.
A bundle that renews itself
Only where the line's owner arranged it with the operator, who then takes the price out of the balance on their own schedule. It is their arrangement, not a condition of the SIM — plans and tariffs covers how that works.
Operators generally want to see a line used from time to time, and suspend one that goes quiet for long enough. How long, and what counts as activity — some networks accept a top-up, others want an outgoing call or text — is the operator's rule and varies enormously between countries. So "no monthly top-up" is a fair description of prepaid; "never needs topping up" is not. How that clock behaves, and what happens once a line has actually expired, is set out on the prepaid SIM overview.
Which is why there are two quite separate reasons to put money on a line: to use it, where the balance pays for calls, texts and data as they happen; and to keep it, where a small load exists only to reset that clock on a number nobody is really using. The first is sized by habit, the second by the operator's window.
A bundle changes what the balance pays for
Most operators let you turn part of a pay as you go balance into an allowance. Which of the two you want depends on how predictable the month is.
Plain credit
Sits on the line until you spend it, at the standard rates above. Nothing to choose, nothing to renew.
- Right for a phone that is barely used, or kept for emergencies.
- Right when you cannot predict the month and do not want to buy an allowance you will not finish.
A bundle bought out of it
A fixed allowance for a fixed period, at the operator's bundle price rather than the per-minute or per-megabyte one.
- Right for anything that uses data regularly — that is where the gap between the two prices is widest.
- Sizing one is its own decision: how much data you actually need sets out how to pick without overbuying.
Which of the two a given number can take is the operator's catalogue, not our menu — it loads once the number is entered. For a SIM in a tablet or a router rather than a phone, the same choice is set out on the prepaid data SIM page.
How much to put on
There is no right answer, only a right question: what does this phone have to survive until you next think about it?
Kept for emergencies
A phone in a glovebox or a drawer needs very little credit but needs the line to stay active. Small and regular beats one big load that then sits untouched — how long a prepaid line lasts explains what the operator is actually counting.
Calls and texts, not much else
Work out roughly how many minutes a week the phone really makes, then add a margin for the calls you cannot plan. Keeping a small buffer above zero is worth more than topping up to the exact figure.
Used every day
At this level the balance is mostly there to buy a bundle with, plus a little headroom for whatever the bundle does not cover. Loading enough for the bundle and a margin beats topping up twice.
- The values on offer are the operator's own, priced in the destination's local currency. Any minimum is theirs too.
- What we add is separate and is not a flat number — it depends on the country, the operator and the amount, and the exact figure is on screen before you confirm.
- Nothing repeats. There is no auto top-up here, so a large load is a decision you make once — why nothing renews on its own.
Seeing what is left
The balance lives with the operator, so they are the ones who can show it. There are usually three ways, and every network publishes its own.
Worth being clear about what we send instead: a completed order returns the operator's reference code on the success page and by e-mail. That is proof the credit was applied — it is not a reading of the balance, and we cannot look one up for you.
- The operator's own app or website. The fullest view — balance, what was charged and when, and any allowance still running.
- The short code they publish. Most networks have a number you dial from the handset to hear or read the balance back. It differs by operator, so take it from their site rather than from a forum.
- The text after a charge. Some networks send the remaining balance by SMS after each call or top-up. Where that happens, the recipient sees it on the phone without asking.
When the balance hits zero
Less dramatic than it sounds, and quick to undo.
What stops
The outgoing side: calls you place, texts you send, and data once any bundle is finished. What carries on — incoming calls, texts, emergency numbers — is set by the operator's rules for that line, not by us, so check theirs if it matters.
What fixes it
A top-up, from any device with a browser. The phone with no credit does not have to be the one placing the order — all that is needed is its number with the country code, so a flat balance never leaves you stuck. Most loads land in 5 to 60 seconds.
Anything still uncredited after 30 minutes is re-queued against the operator automatically, and refunded in full if the retry fails too. A SIM the operator will not load at all, because it is expired, blocked or no longer prepaid, is refused up front and refunded with the reason it gave. The delivery policy lists every case, and what to do when a payment stalls covers the other half of the journey.
Pay as you go questions
Payment, refunds and account questions live in the help centre.
Open the help centreIs pay as you go the same as prepaid?
Yes. Different markets picked different words for the same arrangement — a line that holds a balance you spend, with no monthly bill behind it. Whichever name your operator uses, the top-up works the same way.
Can you tell me how much credit is on the phone?
No. The balance sits with the operator and only they can show it — through their app or site, or the short code they publish for the handset. What we return is the reference code for the order you placed, which confirms the credit was applied.
Why did the credit disappear so quickly?
Usually data with no bundle running, which is charged by the megabyte at the standard rate, or a call to a premium or short-code number, which is priced by whoever runs it. The operator's own itemised view is the place to confirm which.
Does pay as you go credit expire?
That is the operator's rule and it varies by network and country — some expire unused credit, some only require the line to be used now and then. Their terms are the authority. What a period of silence does to the line itself is covered on the prepaid SIM page.
Can I set it to top up automatically when it runs low?
Not here. Nothing on this site renews or charges you on its own — every order is a single payment you make deliberately. A free account keeps your history and repeats a previous top-up in one tap, which covers most of the same ground.
Do I need the phone in my hand to top it up?
No. Enter the number with its country code from any device and the credit is applied by the operator at their end — the handset needs no internet connection, and it does not need to be the one paying.
Where to go next
This page is the balance itself. The rest of the journey is next door.
Doing it for the first time? The six-step walkthrough runs from account to confirmed delivery. For the vocabulary from scratch, mobile recharge explained is the plain-English version, and why prepaid prices keep climbing is the background to the rates on this page.
Running low? It takes a number.
Pick the country, type the number, choose an amount from the operator's own list. The balance is back before you have put the phone down.