Telstra, Optus and Vodafone roaming compared, and what each one leaves out

Side by side

Ships and planes sit outside that ordinary destination comparison. Maritime and aeromobile networks have their own rates and exclusions, which we have separated in our guide to roaming on cruise ships and planes.

If you are at the point of choosing a plan, our best travel eSIM guide for Australians compares the current options and their practical trade-offs.

Optus wins on the numbers, clearly

Half Telstra’s price for two and a half times the data, in nearly twice as many destinations, on a rolling 24 hour clock rather than one that flips at Australian midnight. From Optus’s own explainer:

“Optus Daily Roaming which includes 5GB of data and unlimited standard talk and text (Mobile Phone plans only, Fair Go policy applies) to use every 24 hours. Optus Daily Roaming costs $5 per 24 hours / 5GB of data.”

There is no reading of the headline figures where Optus is not the best of the three. If roaming is a meaningful part of why you pick a carrier, that is your answer.

What each one takes back

Telstra: the day that ends at Australian midnight

On non-Upfront plans, a Day Pass day is not 24 hours:

“International Roaming Day Pass inclusions expire for: Upfront Plans 24 hours from your service being used. Non-Upfront at 11.59pm Australian Eastern Standard Time (AEST). Any unused data expires at the end of each day”

In London that is about two in the afternoon. Use a gig in the morning, the clock resets over lunch, and an evening of maps and messages is a second chargeable day.

Telstra’s own documents also disagree about this. The marketing page and the Critical Information Summary both say Upfront plans get a rolling 24 hours. Telstra’s Our Customer Terms, last changed 31 October 2025, says a Day Pass Period runs “from 00.01 to midnight AEST” with no Upfront exception. We are not going to tell you which applies to your account. We are telling you the documents say different things.

Second thing Telstra takes back: on non-Upfront plans, running out of data auto-charges you.

“If you reach your Day Pass data allowance: Upfront Plans will get an SMS with the option to buy a Data Top-Up. Non-Upfront Plans will automatically get a Data Top-Up”

$10 per 2GB, added without asking, with no published limit.

Optus: no roaming at all outside Zone 1

The Zone 1 list is 153 destinations and covers everywhere Australians commonly go. If you step outside it on a Choice Plus plan, you do not get expensive roaming. You get nothing:

“Unfortunately, if you’re traveling to a Zone 2 destination, you won’t be able to use roaming on your service. Using WiFi is recommended whilst in other destinations.”

Optus also auto-renews aggressively:

“If you use your data earlier than 24 hours, we’ll automatically add a further $5 charge and you’ll have another 5GB to use.”

Charged to your card immediately, with no published cap on how many times. 5GB a day is a lot, so most people will never see a second charge. It is still worth knowing the ceiling is your card rather than a number Optus has set.

Vodafone: the speed capped data is unavailable

This is the biggest and least advertised catch of the three.

Many Vodafone plans are sold as a block of full speed data followed by unlimited data at a capped speed, usually 1.5, 2, 10 or 25Mbps. That capped portion is what makes the plans look generous. None of it works overseas:

“You can only use Included Data allowance while $5 Roaming, not the remaining data which is capped at speeds up to 1.5Mbps, 2Mbps,10Mbps or 25Mbps depending on your chosen plan while in Australia.”

So a plan advertised as 50GB then unlimited at 2Mbps is a 50GB plan when you travel. Work out your real full speed number before deciding $5 a day covers you.

Vodafone also caps roaming at 90 days per calendar year, per service, and day 91 is not a cutoff:

“If you’ve used your 90 day/year allowance for $5 Roaming, you’ll then be charged at our Pay As You Go Roaming rates.”

Those rates are $1 per MB. Under $5 Roaming, extra data is $0.005 per MB. That is a two hundred fold jump, applied automatically.

The one thing all three do that is worth knowing

Receiving a text is free on all three and does not start a charge. Receiving a call does.

Telstra: “Receiving an SMS will not trigger your Day Pass.” Optus lists “Receiving SMS” under usage that will not trigger a charge. Vodafone: “Receiving a text or MMS is free and is not a Trigger Event.”

That asymmetry is the single most useful fact in this article, because it is what makes running a travel eSIM alongside your Australian number work. Keep the carrier line on with data roaming off, do not make or answer calls, and your bank codes and two factor messages still arrive at no cost. Keeping your Australian number covers the settings.

Two cautions. Voicemail can bite: Optus says diversions set to busy, no reply or unreachable “may trigger the service”, and Telstra says switching roaming off “will not prevent charges from being incurred if Voicemail/MessageBank is used”. Vodafone is the exception, treating forwarding to voicemail as free. And all three charge you if somebody rings and you answer.

Eligibility is where most people come unstuck

All three products are postpaid only, and postpaid is not enough on its own.

Telstra excludes about eighteen named plans, mostly the expensive ones that already bundle a roaming allowance, including the $129 Mobile plan, the $199 Ultimate plans and Premium Mobile plans.

Optus works the other way and lists only what qualifies: Optus Choice Plus, Plus Family, Plus Promo, Choice Plus Data, Plus Kids, Business Choice Plus, Business Choice Data Plus, Business Teams Plus and Qantas plans. Everything else gets the $10 Roaming Pass or standard rates.

Vodafone has the longest exclusion list: Holding Plans, Holding Plan 200MB, Assured Plans, Stay Connected Plans, Red Cap Plans and Relief MTM Plans, plus Red or SIM Only Modem plans signed up after 2 July 2020, plus Mobile Broadband plans signed up between 31 August 2016 and 12 April 2017. It also requires you to be an Australian Permanent Resident.

We have put all three eligibility rules in one place in which Australian phone plans actually include roaming.

Prepaid is worse on all three

If you are prepaid, none of the above applies to you.

Optus prepaid is the best of the three by some distance, and the $45 pack at 10GB over 28 days is a genuinely good product. Telstra prepaid is the safest, because there is no pay as you go rate to fall into. Vodafone prepaid has the harshest fallback rate published by anyone.

Roughly a third of Australian mobile services are prepaid, and all three carriers reserve their good roaming product for postpaid. That is a deliberate choice, not an oversight.

Where a travel eSIM sits

Not as a replacement for any of these on a short trip. As an alternative when one of four things is true.

Your trip is long. $10 a day on Telstra for a fortnight in Bali is $140. Our Indonesia 20GB plan is $24.95 and lasts 30 days.

Your plan is not eligible, which catches more people than the advertising suggests.

You are prepaid, where all three products get materially worse.

You want the number fixed before you go. Prepaid data has one price, paid once, with nothing accruing while you are away.

For a short trip on an eligible postpaid plan, especially on Optus, the carrier product is convenient, includes your own number for calls, and requires no setup. We are not going to pretend otherwise.

The verdict

If you are choosing a carrier and roaming matters: Optus, comfortably.

If you are already with Telstra: the Day Pass is fine for short trips. Watch the Australian midnight rollover on non-Upfront plans and the automatic top-ups.

If you are already with Vodafone: check your full speed allowance before you rely on it, and count your roaming days if you travel often.

If you are on any of them and prepaid: you are on the weakest version of each product, and this is where a travel eSIM starts making sense earliest.

Our destination pages have the plans, and every price is in Australian dollars.

Questions people actually ask

Which Australian carrier has the best international roaming?

Optus, on the published figures. $5 per 24 hours for 5GB plus unlimited standard talk and text across 153 destinations, against Telstra’s $10 for 2GB in most of the world and Vodafone’s $5 for no additional data at all.

Does Vodafone really not give you any data?

Correct. The $5 lets you use your existing plan allowance overseas. It does not add any, and the speed capped portion of your plan is excluded.

Will any of them charge me if I do not use my phone?

Only if something uses it. Data (including background data on Telstra and Optus), sending a text, making a call or receiving a call all start a charge. Receiving a text does not, on any of the three.

Which one has the longest day?

Optus and Vodafone both run a rolling 24 hours from first use. Telstra’s non-Upfront plans end at 11.59pm Australian Eastern Standard Time regardless of where you are.

What happens if I go over the daily data?

Telstra charges $10 per 2GB, automatically on non-Upfront plans. Optus automatically adds another $5 for another 5GB. Vodafone charges $5 per gigabyte. None of the three publishes a cap.

Is there a limit on how long I can roam?

Vodafone caps it at 90 days per calendar year per service, then moves you to $1 per MB. Telstra and Optus publish no cap.

Which is best if I am on prepaid?

Optus, whose $45 pack gives 10GB over 28 days across 125 destinations and rolls over if you rebuy before expiry.

Sources

All figures, quotes and eligibility rules retrieved 17 August 2026 from carrier-owned sources. Telstra: International Roaming, Day Pass Critical Information Summary, Our Customer Terms Part I, Prepaid International Roaming. Optus: Daily Roaming explained, International Roaming, Prepaid roaming. Vodafone: International Roaming, roaming terms January 2026, postpaid terms July 2026, Prepaid Roaming Add-ons. Our prices from our own product pages, same date.

Written by Lachlan, who runs The SIM Shop from Brisbane and answers the support email himself.