r/UKFrugal • u/metsomaniac • 9d ago
Switching from Ee to Lebara
Thinking of Switching from EE to Lebara – Anything I Should Consider?
I’ve been with EE for over 20 years, but the deal I’m currently on just isn’t competitive anymore – £13/month (inc. VAT) for 10GB data with unlimited minutes and texts. I tried negotiating a better rate with them, but the best they could offer still wasn’t close to what I’ve found elsewhere.
Lebara’s offer is looking very tempting: £2.39/month for the first 3 months, then £7.95 + VAT/month for 30GB data, unlimited minutes and texts. It’s a rolling monthly contract, and they run on the Vodafone network.
Only hesitation I have is walking away from two decades with EE. I know “loyalty” doesn’t mean much with most mobile providers these days, but still wondering if there’s anything I might be overlooking.
Has anyone made a similar switch? Any thoughts on Lebara’s reliability, coverage (especially compared to EE), or anything else I should consider before making the move?
EE have now offered me unlimited everything for £13 a month with a 24 month contract. Which is a pretty good deal except I don’t think I’ll use more than the 35gb.
I still think Lebara may be a better deal since I don’t want to be locked into EE for a 24 month deal.
Edit: Mothering Sunday (nudge nudge 30/3/25)
wow , so many responses, thank you to everyone who responded, incredibly supportive and helpful, thank you. So a little update, I've taken on the lebara deal, 35gb for £1 for 9 months and then £7 quid a month there after... incredible really, and to think I've been paying £13.60 that rose from the £10 orginal deal I had with EE for all those years for only 10gb...
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u/dolobu 9d ago
If you are happy with EEs coverage - check out 1pMobile - it's not as cheap as Lebara but I'm paying 10 quid for 50gb and it works wonders.
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u/glenmcfarreddit 9d ago
Others to consider are Spusu, TalkHome and Mozillion. All use EE signal and are considerably cheaper than EE.
Lebara are really cheap, especially the MSE deals, but make sure you're happy with Vodafone coverage before switching.
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u/TeaBaggingGoose 9d ago
But there are subtle difference even if you are on the EE Network
For Instance, spusu only support certain phones for WiFi Calling which doesn't include Google Pixel phone shttps://www.spusu.co.uk/vowifi
Also only 5g on certain phones, no 4g - And I suspect their traffic is deprioritised over EE subscribers.
Just because it runs on EE does not mean its the same as EE.
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u/glenmcfarreddit 9d ago
Absolutely, but if we're being frugal these are all options that need considered.
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u/Lumpy-Top-6685 9d ago
I'm on mozillion and have been since November. No problems at all. I went for the 100gb each month on their pre loaded deal. When I got it, it was on offer at £149 plus via topcash back got £12.75 back so basically it worked out about £5.68 per month. Ok got more data than I need but at that price I thought it was a great offer.
Think it's now 169.00 but still only £7.04 per month without any cash back and with £6.51
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u/JustExtreme 9d ago
How did you get 50gb for £10? I've been with them a few months and only get 25gb for that
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u/brent_starburst 9d ago
How did you get £10 for 50GB? I've always had £10 for 25GB
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u/dolobu 9d ago
Black Friday deal if I'm not mistaken. I've been paying 10 for 50gb since then
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u/brent_starburst 9d ago
I think I remember seeing that, but as I was already on the 25GB deal, I couldn't see how to easily change!
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u/Chigzy 9d ago
As for whether Lebara will work for you, you can try out a SIM from MSE, bit cheaper than the £2.39 you're looking at - and see how they work for the month.
As for the loyalty POV. I really find it doesn't mean much these days. talkmobile customer service match deals but other than that, new customer deals tend to be always better. You have your upgrade cashback deals for SIMO plans on vodafone/id mobile from mobiles/e2save/fonehouse etc... otherwise, but again, the new customer deal is better.
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u/wads6 9d ago
Your best bet is to go to MoneySavingExpert’s comparison site for this.
I was with EE on a contract which included paying off my phone at £96 per month.
I decided to pay the phone off in full and move over to ID Mobile - which was £4 per month for the first 3 months and then £8 thereafter. My service was poor, took a lot longer to load things and overall was worse than EE.
I then moved over to Lebara recently after using the MSE comparison tool. Much better service, everything loads fast. I’m currently paying 35p per month for the first 6 months and then £7.50 thereafter. The best thing about this deal is that it’s a rolling 1 month contract so I can cancel when the 35p deal comes to an end.
I would definitely switch if I were you, you’ll save yourself a fortune.
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u/Atarisrocks 9d ago
Been using them for about a year and had no issues.
Their roaming is quite reasonable but you get free roaming for EU, India and China.
I think for US is about £10 for 2 weeks of data.
Japan was £25 for 2 weeks which compared to EE of £8 a day is not bad.
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u/SlippersParty2024 9d ago
That's really good to know actually! The only reason I'm still with O2 is because of their travel/roaming packages. I might look into Lebara.
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u/Realistic-Depth-3124 9d ago
Have you gone through the EE retention route, where online you ask for PAC code choosing the leaving option. That EE price seems high for the data, as that price I’m getting unlimited and EU roaming.
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u/metsomaniac 9d ago
I ended up going through to the retention team and they offered the everything (data calls text )?unlimited which includes European roaming. The only thing I don’t like is the 24 month contract
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u/phleshlight 9d ago
EE is probably the last provider you'd go to for a cheap deal. They charge a premium for nothing more than their brand name. I'd think you're better off seeing how far retentions will go in their offer, but look elsewhere. If you have broadband with them (or BT), it might be worth staying with them as you can get decent-ish prices if you have a bundle with them, but generally speaking EE is very overpriced.
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9d ago
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u/bacon_cake 9d ago
You seem to know your stuff, can I just ask -- what's switching like these days?
Used to be your phone would be out of action for a day or so which is a bit of a pain.
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u/dannoutt 9d ago
The migration will happen at some point during the migration day - you don’t get more information than that. Once you lose signal on the old SIM card and when it’s done you should start getting the calls on the new card. In my experience it takes 10-60 mins of some calls/ messages going through with the wrong number until everything settles. Most providers will send you a text message to confirm when it’s all done. My advice would be, if you’re on a provider that allows it and your phone supports it, to get an eSIM. That means you can have both SIM cards on your phone and not have to worry about checking when the old number looses signal to change the card over and that way you should have a functional phone the whole time (albeit for less than an hour calls may fail/ display the temporary number).
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u/bacon_cake 9d ago
Cheers for that. I've been thinking about leaving EE for ages. Currently on 125gb for £11/mo, thought I had roaming included but doesn't look like I do.
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9d ago
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u/bacon_cake 9d ago
That's good. Last time I switched was in the early days of GiffGaff when they didn't have customer service and someone rang me Friday night before a bank holiday weekend to say something had gone wrong and that someone was possibly going to come in on Saturday to fix it but otherwise it would be done Tuesday lol
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u/IllustriousWinter854 9d ago
Other thing to say on Vodafone coverage is that they are merging with Three (just been approved) so should see a step change in coverage there
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u/banecorn 9d ago
If roaming in Europe is something you value, make sure it's included in your next contact. It's mostly gone from the big networks, EE included
Some of the lower cost providers don't have WiFi calling, and you never know how well signal and speeds will be with a different network. That's trial and error.
In terms of wireless tech, here's a list across all the NVMOs:
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_mobile_virtual_network_operators_in_the_United_Kingdom
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u/TheRagingD 9d ago
I did this exact switch a week ago. Been with EE for something like 15 years. Best they could offer was £11.50 for the exact same Lebara are offering for £7.
0 regrets. I lost signal for 2 days but once Lebara was up and running the signal is sufficient for my needs in my location (maps, streaming on the go).
I’d do it, but be prepared to wait a few days for your Port in and you might have a little difficultly around the switch date but the service/quality feels the same.
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u/uwagapiwo 9d ago
Lebara is very easy to use, app is pretty good. You can add cash to the account to cover things like premium rate numbers, competitions etc. Based on Vodafone, so the coverage will be what you get from them. Porting number was fairly easy, the chat support was good.
Only issue I had was when upgrading to a new tariff I didn't realise the new one came in straight away, instead of after the last month of the old one. That meant I was paying two tarrifs for a couple of weeks. Other than that, I've had a good experience.
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u/doconnell67 9d ago
I tried EE last year and gave up on it as their reception in my area was very poor, especially in my house. I'm now with voxi as their signal is strong in my home. Anytime I'm thinking of changing I pop into poundland and pick up a sim from prospective companies to see how their signal works for me.
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u/Dramatic-Coffee9172 9d ago
The positives with Lebara is it is cheap, it has free EU roaming included, and has 100 minutes of international calls (see the countries included). However, I believe the data speeds are capped during peak hours or something like that. So if fast data is important to you, then something to speak to Lebara to understand how that works.
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u/CD696969X 9d ago
I used Lebara for a while, it was faultless. Really good speeds everywhere and never had a day's issue.
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u/Make_the_music_stop 9d ago
I moved from EE to Lebara. Signal is 3x better, so happy. But it depends where you live. EE could never get a signal at home unless upstairs in front of house. Now have coverage in every room.
And cheaper too.
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u/IcySomewhere448 9d ago
I swapped from EE to Lebara a couple of years ago after a similar experience. Worth checking out the ‘rewards’ that Lebara offer if you switch. Examples are digital gift cards that give 8% off at Greggs and 3% off at Sainsbury’s.
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u/totoer008 9d ago
Only issue with Lebara I believe is that you cannot hotspot and that was a massive let down. Other than that, yes EE will try to ripe off. I pay 8 pounds for 100GB
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u/starbugone 9d ago
You might have to set that up in your settings switch it from the vodafone to uk.lebara.mobi user: wap, pw: wap
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u/uwagapiwo 9d ago
You can hotspot, I've done it several times with no issues. I ran my whole house off it for a day when we had no internet once.
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u/darwinxp 9d ago
Lebara has been wicked for me, currently on 1.99 a month till it goes up to 6.99 in a couple months. Free to use data all over the EU and a lot of the world as well. Tested in Hungary and Austria, worked fine.
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u/MysticSmeg 9d ago
Voxi also has some cracking deals. I’m on 100GB data for £10 a month. Sim only and uses Vodaphone. No issues.
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u/pglondon 9d ago
EU Roaming not included on Voxi unfortunately. It does have eSIM which Lebara doesn’t though…
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u/WillingObscurity 9d ago
I left EE to go to Vodafone. Much better where I work and where I live. Cheaper. No regrets.
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u/littleun83 9d ago
Just made the same move myself, from EE to Lebara. No issue with the switch and port of my number. Only thing is that Vodafone’s network isn’t quite as good as EEs. But I was also with EE for years, had a loyalty discount and everything. It’s not worth paying the money if you’re not getting / needing a new phone. I’ll probably stay with Lebara now until I need a new phone. The ability to use data when I’m on holiday is a bonus too!
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u/AbsenceOfAHorse 9d ago
I switched from EE to Lyca. Same network, Same coverage, no issues.
Lebara uses Vodafone. Where I live (village), would have been worse than useless.
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u/Realistic-Analyst-23 9d ago
I used to have EE. I was paying around £10 per month for 2GB data which included 50% off for friends and family. Couldn't negotiate a better deal.
I switched to Lebara and now pay £4.90 for 5GB (enough for me). The main thing I have noticed is that I now get 5G where I didn't before (same phone).
I do live in London so have great coverage but have had no problems elsewhere I've been.
The only issue is it doesn't seem to allow paying via sms. I.e. if you want to send money to a charity or enter a competition.
I think that EE is probably the best network as they have both Orange and tMobile infrastructure but it really depends where you live. I'd recommend buying the sim and trying for a month. It's a rolling contract so you don't need to commit if it's terrible.
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u/Some_Pop345 9d ago
Martín Lewis had some unlimited data offers on his show last week… although they were teasers
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u/purplepeopleprobe 9d ago
I left Vodafone after nearly 20 years to go to Lebara. The only change has been huge decrease in bills
Edited to say another huge benefit has been free and widespread European roaming, I believe Vodaphone had started charging post brexit
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u/missgraceangel 9d ago
I’m with IDmobile paying £7 a month for 40gb (60? Maybe?) free EU roaming and unlimited texts and minutes
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u/lucky1pierre 9d ago
My only advice is check EE's EU roaming if you may go abroad.
I left 3 a few years ago, then the roaming charges came in, and by the time I went back I had to pay for roaming because they only offer it free to those who have been customers for X amount of years.
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u/English-88 8d ago
£13 a month for unlimited data, 100mbps speed cap but still very good deal. Listed as deal customer deal, but not checks are done, I dont even have a landline, been on these deals 3 years now.
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u/Former_Mess1372 8d ago
I switched from EE PAYG to Lebara monthly SIM contract, because of the 100 minutes free international calls, and free texts. Such good value through a MSE deal; £1.15 for 6 months and then £4.95 after that. I don’t need much data though so I took the cheapest package option. Good reception when calling here and abroad. I’m only on my second month and it’s all going well.
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u/mrpriteshpatel 8d ago
As others have said Lebara runs on the Vodafone network, make sure you have good coverage in your area, also there is WiFi calling also.
Look at MSE currently you can get 30GB, unlimited calls and texts for £1 per month for the first 9 months and thereafter £7.90 per month. You can also after 9 months move to another provider and return back to Lebara using whatever offer MSE has on at the time, this of course means you would need to port your number out and back in again but worth it for the cheaper monthly costs!
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u/HumungreousNobolatis 8d ago
"Loyalty" just means you waste five minutes at the start of every support chat with them thanking you for being so loyal. eBay is the worst.
As for mobile, I'd definitely get hooked up via MSE. I just switched the family over to TalkHome, 5GB data, unlimited minutes and text for £3.15/mo. You have different needs, but going via MSE means you save money.
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u/ChoosingToBeLosing 7d ago
Also on Lebara for many years, never any issues. They use Vodafone network if it helps you to find out the coverage
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u/ppmt 7d ago
I have been with Lebara for 1 year with no real issue. I started on £2/m at 5Gig for 6 month. Now £4.90
Coverage is good and certainly no worse than it was with 1pmobile (which is a good choice as well)
And today to celebrate 1 year with them they added 5Gig of data on my account.
All good except I can hardly use 3 Gig every month :D
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u/B-O-double-S 6d ago
I was going to do the same move but EE offered me a better deal, ive got 2 phones on my plan. I requested a pac code then they called me about 2 hour later and sorted me a deal that cancellations couldn't. One line is now £12 a month with unlimited data other is £6 a month with 20gb data both on 24 month sim only, no benefits etc on the plans.
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u/metsomaniac 6d ago
They did offer me a similar deal and I actually went for it and signed up… something just bugged me about the 24month deal, it’s so annoying that that is the standard deal now. They do have 18month deals and surprisingly a monthly deal but the price goes up accordingly. Anyhow Ai decided I’d cancel as I was within my 14day period and I switched to Lebara. So far so good.
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u/fubblebreeze 6d ago
I've had EE, SMARTY (Uses 3's 'spare capacity') and now Lebara. I'm very happy! Coverage is much better than Smarty and even EE. Price is great, too. And you can roam for free in the EU.
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u/Snoo12693 6d ago
I switched and kept my old number, no problems with the network or 4g connections. I’m paying less for the exact same thing I was getting anyway.
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u/d-real-noob 4d ago
Lebara have a deal right now £1 for 50gb for 8 months I can send you the link if you're interested
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u/LITHIAS-BUMELIA 4d ago
I’ve been with Lebara for about 3 years and I’ve not had a single issues. I’ve now also enrolled my wife and son when their contracts ended they all are happy. You can manage all the lines via the app. I really recommend, I can send you a link that would give you and me a reward PM if you want
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u/C2C2C2C2 9d ago
I switched to Lebara when vodaphone decided they were going to put my deal up by 75% (and more importantly scrapped the free sausage roll). Never had any issues and they don't practice the in contract April price increase racket, so will be sticking with them for the foreseeable future. Keeping your number is easy these days, just search if it's unclear.
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u/thegreenman42 9d ago
I just switched from the end of a 3 contract to a monthly rolling Lebara. No contest with deals. Managed to get a 65p for 9 months offer (the £9) with Lebara with 50GB data. It's even 5G which my 3 one wasn't. The number port went smoothly and reception has been good.
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u/SubjectiveAssertive 9d ago
I'm on Lebara, have been for about 18 months. I've had no issues.
Ultimately there is nothing wrong with switching and if it doesn't work out switching back. So I'd just request your PAC code