Prepaid SIM for kids: keeping a child's line loaded, on your terms
A prepaid line cannot spend money that is not on it, which is the whole reason it ends up on a child's phone. This page is the parent's side of that: what a top-up decides, what it honestly cannot, and how often to do it.
What you are actually buying for a child's phone
Credit on a line that already exists. There is no SIM to order here, nothing posted to your address and no eSIM profile to download — the card comes from an operator or a shop, and the prepaid SIM overview covers where and how. What this page adds is everything that happens afterwards.
Why prepaid rather than a contract is a question with a table behind it, and that table is on the same overview page. The short version is the part parents care about: a line with no credit stops. It does not carry on and bill you.
A ceiling they cannot lift
Whatever is on the line is the most that can be spent on it. No overage, no surprise on a bill at the end of the month, and no way for a tap in an app to reach your card — because your card is not attached to their phone.
You decide when more arrives
Every load is a decision you make on the day. Nothing here renews on its own and there is no scheduled top-up to switch on, so the line never quietly refills itself while you are not looking.
From wherever you are
All it takes is their number with its country code — the phone in your hand does not have to be the phone being topped up. Useful at work, on a trip, or when the handset in question is upstairs.
What a top-up controls, and what it does not
A top-up is a spending limit, not a parental-control product. The difference matters before you rely on it for anything.
It decides
- How much the line has to spend, and therefore the most that can go on it before you act again.
- When more arrives — the day and the moment are yours.
- Whether it is plain credit or one of the operator's data packs, where that operator sells them for that number.
- Nothing else. That is the honest length of the list.
It does not decide
- Which apps, sites or videos the phone can reach. Filtering lives in the handset's own settings and in whatever the operator offers on their account.
- How long the screen stays on, or when. No top-up has ever set a bedtime.
- Who they can call or message. Credit is credit; it does not know who is at the other end.
- What they spent it on, or who they contacted. We never see a line's balance or its history — nobody outside the operator can.
So the useful mental model is a wallet with a fixed amount in it, not a supervised account. If you need filtering or time limits as well, they come from the phone's own settings and from the operator — and they work perfectly happily alongside a line you keep topped up from here.
How often to top up a child's line
Not how much — that is a question about the phone's usage, and it is answered on pay as you go. This is the rhythm, which is a question about you and them.
| Rhythm | What it teaches | What it costs you | Where it goes wrong |
|---|---|---|---|
| Only when it runs out | Nothing, really — the phone simply stops until somebody notices. | Least admin until the day it matters, then it is urgent. | The call you wanted them to be able to make is the one that does not happen. Worth avoiding on a phone carried for safety. |
| A set day each week | A budget with a visible edge: spend it early and the week is long. | Four orders a month, each with its own service fee. | It becomes your recurring chore. Nothing here renews on its own, so the reminder has to be yours. |
| Once a month, larger | Planning over a longer horizon, which suits an older child. | One order, one fee — the cheaper shape of the three. | A bad week early on leaves three quiet ones. Some parents keep a small mid-month load in reserve for exactly that. |
The fee column is worth a moment: our service fee is charged per order, so four small loads carry it four times and one larger load carries it once. It is not a flat figure — it depends on the country, the operator and the amount, and it is on screen before you confirm. Recharge prices and offers works that arithmetic through properly.
Before the first top-up
Four things to settle once. After that it is a minute, whenever you need it.
Load their number- Their number written down in full, with its country code, somewhere that is not the phone itself. A handset you cannot unlock is the usual reason a parent cannot top up in a hurry.
- That the line really is prepaid. A SIM that has been moved to a contract is refused by the operator, and the amount comes back in full with the reason they gave.
- Airtime or a data pack. A child's phone is mostly a data device, and plain credit spent on video at the operator's own rate goes quickly — sizing a bundle is the decision behind that.
- What happens at zero, agreed out loud. Whether they ask, wait for the set day, or do without is a rule worth having before the first time it matters.
Questions parents ask
Payment, refunds and delivery questions are answered in the help centre.
Open the help centreDo you sell prepaid SIM cards for children?
No. Nothing is sold or posted here — this is a top-up service, so it adds credit to a prepaid number that already exists. Get the SIM from an operator or a shop, then use this page to keep it loaded.
Can a top-up block apps, sites or screen time?
No. It sets how much the line can spend and nothing else. Filtering, app limits and screen time live in the phone's own settings and in whatever tools the operator offers on their account — none of that is reachable from a top-up, ours or anybody's.
Can I see what my child spent the credit on?
Not through us. We never see a line's balance or its call and data history — that sits with the operator, and their app or account page is where it can be looked at by whoever holds the line. What you get from us is a receipt for each order you place.
Does my child need an account, a card or the app?
None of the three. The order is placed and paid for on your side; on theirs the operator simply applies the credit. There is nothing for them to accept, install or sign into.
The line is registered in my name. Does that change anything?
Not for topping it up — the number is the only thing the order needs, whoever the operator has on file for it. Who may hold a line, and at what age, is set by the operator and by local rules, so that side is a question for them rather than for us.
Can I set it to top up automatically every week?
No, and deliberately. There is no scheduled or recurring top-up here, so nothing charges you on its own. A free account keeps the number in a contact book and repeats a past order in one tap, which is as close as it gets — you still choose the day.
Where to go next
This page is the parent's decision. The pages around it are the line, the money and the sending.
If the phone is going travelling with them, the travel SIM page covers roaming against a local SIM, and prepaid against contract goes deeper than the overview's table.
Their number is all it takes
Enter it with the country code, pick an amount from the operator's own list, and the credit is usually on the line inside a minute.