Compare every UK broadband & TV deal on like-for-like terms

"Best" depends on what you can buy and what you actually need. BT and Sky win on coverage and customer service. Virgin Media wins on gig speeds where its cable network is live. Alt-nets (Community Fibre, Hyperoptic, YouFibre, CityFibre) often beat them all on price where they have laid fibre. Use our postcode availability check to see which actually serve you, then compare on price for that shortlist.

NOW Brilliant Fibre (around £14/month, 35 Mbps) is the cheapest mainstream entry fibre. For full-fibre, Vodafone Fibre 1 and Plusnet Full Fibre 74 hover around £20-£23/month. Below that you are in social-tariff territory: BT Home Essentials, Virgin Essential and Sky Basics for households on Universal Credit. The full ranking is in our cheapest broadband guide.

A solid rule of thumb: 35 Mbps covers one person on HD streaming and social, 100-200 Mbps covers a four-person household on 4K, video calls and occasional gaming, 500 Mbps+ matters only if multiple people genuinely download large files or play competitive online games. Above gig is currently overkill in the home. The detail is in our fastest broadband guide.

If you move often (renters, students, between jobs), yes, even at the £4-£5/month premium they charge over a 24-month deal. The flexibility avoids a £200-plus early exit fee if you have to leave early. If you have settled and know you will stay 18+ months, the savings of a long contract beat no-contract every time. No-contract broadband guide breaks down the maths.

Almost always, yes. Most UK providers raise prices each April using a CPI + £2 to £3 pounds-and-pence formula. NOW Broadband, Vodafone Pro II and a handful of alt-nets offer fixed-price contracts that lock your monthly figure for the full term. Worth £1-£2/month extra if you want predictable bills. You also have the right to leave fee-free within 30 days of any rise.

"Fibre" (FTTC) means fibre to a green roadside cabinet, then copper into your house. Maxes out around 80 Mbps and is heavily affected by line length. Full-fibre (FTTP) means fibre directly into your property. No copper bottleneck, hits 100 Mbps to multi-gig, far more stable. Always check the line type before judging a plan: "fibre" at 35 Mbps and "full-fibre" at 35 Mbps are not the same product. Detail in our fibre vs cable guide.

Virgin Media uses its own cable network (DOCSIS) and reaches 2 Gb/s on its top plan, faster than most Openreach FTTP. The trade-off is upload speed: Virgin's download is fast but upload is asymmetric, while Openreach full-fibre is closer to symmetric. For video calls, cloud backup and Twitch streaming, full-fibre often feels better. For sheer download throughput, Virgin still wins where it is available.

Compare the TV component separately from the broadband. Strip out the broadband price (use the standalone deal as the baseline) and look at what the TV add-on actually costs. Sky, EE TV and Virgin TV all wrap their TV element inside the bundle price so the marketing makes it look free. Use the TV package comparator to see TV on its own, then add the right broadband alongside.