Cheapest broadband at a glance · May 2026
£21
cheapest mainstream fibre, per month
£12
cheapest social tariff (Virgin Essential)
+£14
typical out-of-contract price jump if you don't re-shop
£0
setup fee on most 24-month online sign-ups
Prices shown are entry-level fibre (35-67 Mbps), May 2026. Always confirm the live price with the provider before sign-up.
The cheapest UK broadband deals right now
Here are the genuinely cheap entry-level fibre deals in May 2026, ordered by their true monthly cost over 24 months (intro price, all upfront fees, and any known in-contract rises rolled into one number). A £21 deal with a £40 upfront fee is not cheaper than a £23 deal with no upfront fee, the calculator below lets you check that for any deal you find.
| Provider | Deal | Avg speed | Monthly | Upfront | Term |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Now Broadband |
Brilliant Fibre | 36 Mbps | £21 | £0 | 12 months |
 Onestream |
Superfast Fibre | 67 Mbps | £22 | £0 | 24 months |
 Vodafone |
Fibre 1 | 38 Mbps | £23 | £0 | 24 months |
 Plusnet |
Full Fibre 74 | 74 Mbps | £25 | £0 | 24 months |
 Cuckoo |
Fast Fibre | 67 Mbps | £26 | £0 | 12 months (rolling) |
 Sky Broadband |
Essential | 36 Mbps | £27 | £0 | 18 months |
 BT |
Fibre Essential | 36 Mbps | £29 | £0 | 24 months |
Prices and availability verified May 2026. Specific deals change frequently; always confirm with the provider before signing up. Speeds shown are the provider's advertised average download speed for the package.
For most UK households on a typical Openreach line, Now Broadband's Brilliant Fibre at £21/month is the cheapest mainstream deal that doesn't need eligibility checks. Onestream and Vodafone are the cheapest full-fibre options where FTTP is live. None of these have setup fees, and all run on the same Openreach network as BT and Sky, meaning the line quality and reliability are identical.
What you'll actually pay per month
Enter any deal you're looking at. The calculator spreads the upfront fee and any in-contract rise across the whole contract so you can compare apples with apples.
Intro price the provider quotes.
Usually 12, 18 or 24.
Setup, activation or delivery.
From April each year (post-2025 rules).
Total over contract
True monthly cost
What you really pay per month on average.
vs the £21 cheapest
Calculation includes upfront fee plus monthly intro price, plus in-contract rise applied for the months after the first April. Out-of-contract roll-over pricing not included, always set a reminder to re-shop.
Social tariffs: the cheapest broadband most people don't know exists
If you receive a means-tested benefit, you almost certainly qualify for a social tariff, a discounted broadband plan most major providers are required to offer. The catch: they don't advertise them, and uptake remains around 5% of eligible households. If you qualify, these are the cheapest legitimate broadband deals in the UK by some margin.
| Provider | Tariff | Speed | Monthly price |
|---|---|---|---|
 Virgin Media |
Essential Broadband | 15 Mbps | £12.50 |
| Vodafone |
Fibre 1 Essentials | 38 Mbps | £12 |
| BT |
Home Essentials 2 | 36 Mbps | £15 |
 Hyperoptic |
Fair Fibre 50 | 50 Mbps | £15 |
 Community Fibre |
Essential 10 | 10 Mbps | £12.50 |
| Sky Broadband |
Broadband Basics | 36 Mbps | £20 |
Eligibility: Universal Credit, Pension Credit, Employment and Support Allowance, Jobseeker's Allowance, Income Support. Documentation is checked against the DWP database during sign-up.
All UK social tariffs come with no exit fees: you can leave any time and switch back to a regular deal if your circumstances change. There is no credit check, and the price is fixed for the contract term, no mid-contract rises.
Four hidden costs that make "cheap" broadband expensive
1. The intro-pricing trap
Many providers advertise the price for the first half of the contract, then quietly raise it for the remaining months. From January 2025, Ofcom requires any in-contract rise to be stated in pounds and pence (not as a CPI percentage), but providers still bake mid-contract rises in. Always read the small print: "price after month 12" is the number that matters.
2. Upfront fees that erase the saving
A £40 setup fee on a 12-month contract adds £3.33/month to the true cost. On a 24-month contract, it's £1.67/month. Most mainstream broadband providers waive these online, if your quote shows one, search the provider name plus "no upfront fee" before signing.
3. The out-of-contract cliff edge
When your minimum term ends, the price rolls over to a standard rate that can be £10-£20 more per month. Ofcom requires providers to warn you before the change happens, but most customers don't act. A 30-second phone call asking for retention pricing, or switching at the moment your contract ends, almost always brings the bill back to where it was.
4. Bundled extras you never asked for
The cheapest fibre deal stripped down to "just broadband" is consistently cheaper than the same fibre with line rental, anti-virus, parental controls or a "premium" router. None of these are required for FTTC or FTTP to work. If you don't make landline calls, refuse the line rental; if you don't need anti-virus, refuse the add-on. The "Essential" or "Basic" tier is usually the right one.
Stop overpaying
Most UK households can save £100-£200 a year
A 5-minute call with our broadband team will tell you exactly how much you're overpaying versus the cheapest deal you qualify for at your address.
Cheap broadband without a phone line
The "broadband-only" market widened sharply when Openreach started removing landline copper in 2023, ahead of the PSTN switch-off in January 2027. Most FTTP packages no longer include a phone line at all by default; if you want one, it's an optional digital voice add-on.
In May 2026, the cheapest no-phone-line broadband deals are:
- ✓Virgin Media M125 from £25/month, 132 Mbps, no phone line included.
- ✓Hyperoptic Fibre 50 from £22/month (in eligible blocks), symmetrical 50 Mbps, no phone line.
- ✓Community Fibre 150 from £20/month (London only), symmetrical 150 Mbps.
- ✓Vodafone Full Fibre 100 from £25/month, 100 Mbps download, 100 Mbps upload, no landline.
- ✓BT Full Fibre 100 from £28/month, 150 Mbps, no analogue line (BT Digital Voice optional).
For most households the question of "broadband with or without a phone line" no longer exists: from 2027, all UK fixed-line phones will be digital voice running over your broadband connection. If you make a lot of landline calls, factor in around £5-£8/month for a digital voice add-on.
Selectra's broadband expert answers your questions
Everything UK households ask before signing up for a cheap broadband deal.
Genuinely cheap entry-level fibre starts at around £21-£24/month over a 24-month contract from providers like Now Broadband, Onestream, Cuckoo and Vodafone's entry-level Fibre 1. Eligible low-income households can get BT Home Essentials 2 at £15/month or similar social tariffs from Sky, Virgin Media, Vodafone, Hyperoptic and Community Fibre. Anything advertised below £18/month is either a social tariff or hides a large upfront fee.
Because most contracts run on an introductory price for the contract term, then roll over to a much higher "standard" or "out-of-contract" rate. The jump can be £10-£20 a month. From April 2025, Ofcom banned percentage-based in-contract price hikes tied to CPI or RPI, so any contract advertised after January 2025 must instead state in-contract price rises in pounds and pence. Out-of-contract roll-overs are still unregulated. Always set a reminder for one month before your contract ends and re-shop.
Yes, and they remain hugely under-used. Just over 5% of eligible households take one up. If you receive Universal Credit, Pension Credit, Employment and Support Allowance, Jobseeker's Allowance or Income Support, you can switch any time to a fixed-price social tariff like BT Home Essentials 2 (£15/month, 36 Mbps), Virgin Media Essential Broadband (£12.50/month, 15 Mbps), Vodafone Fibre 1 Essentials (£12/month, 38 Mbps) or Hyperoptic Fair Fibre (£15/month, 50 Mbps). No exit fees, no credit check, and you can leave when you like.
Almost never. Rolling-monthly deals come with higher upfront fees (£40-£80) and higher monthly prices, because providers can't recover the install cost over a long contract. They only make sense if you genuinely need flexibility (renting, moving in under 12 months, on a student term). For anyone planning to stay put, a 24-month contract from the same provider is typically £6-£12 a month cheaper.
Not necessarily. Speed depends on the network reaching your home, not the brand selling it to you. A £22/month Plusnet Fibre deal runs on the same Openreach cabinet as a £30/month BT Fibre deal: the line capacity is identical, the difference is the support package, router quality and any bundled extras. The exception is gigabit FTTP, where the cheapest deals (Vodafone, Plusnet, Now) are usually £5-£10/month cheaper than the priciest brand-name option on the same speed tier.
Three things in order: 1) call and threaten to leave at the end of your contract term, retention teams routinely match competitor pricing, often shaving £8-£15 a month off a "standard" rate. 2) Switch to paperless billing and Direct Debit if you haven't already, both can knock £2-£5 off. 3) Drop unused extras: line rental for a landline you never use, premium router, anti-virus add-ons. The cheapest broadband bill is almost always the one without the bolt-ons.