Most visitors to Australia are comfortable with about 1 GB of mobile data per day: enough for maps, rideshare, transport apps, messaging and regular social media. Light users who lean on hotel Wi-Fi can get by on a few hundred megabytes a day, while daily video calls home or lots of video uploads push you to 2 GB or more. How you use your phone matters far more than how long you stay, so here is how to estimate it for your own trip.
What uses data — and what barely does
| Activity | Typical data use |
|---|---|
| Maps and navigation | A few megabytes per hour; offline maps use almost none |
| Uber, DiDi and booking apps | A few megabytes per ride or booking |
| Messaging (text) | Negligible; photos and short videos add up |
| Music streaming | Roughly 40–150 MB per hour, depending on quality |
| Social media with video | Several hundred megabytes to over 1 GB per hour |
| Video calls | Often 0.5–1.5 GB per hour |
| HD video streaming | 1–3 GB per hour |
These figures vary with app settings and screen size, so treat them as a guide rather than exact numbers.
What makes Australia different
- Video calls across time zones. Australia is many hours ahead of Europe and the Americas, so calls home often happen in the evening from your room. If your hotel Wi-Fi is good, use it for those calls and save your plan for the day.
- Photo-heavy days. Beaches, the Great Barrier Reef, the Twelve Apostles and Uluru are places where people share a lot. Uploading full-resolution photos and videos over mobile data is one of the quickest ways to drain a plan; set cloud backups to Wi-Fi only.
- Long road trips. Streaming music or podcasts for hours on the road adds up. Downloading playlists and episodes on Wi-Fi before you set off saves data, and it also keeps the music going where Optus has no signal.
- Domestic flights. Distances are huge — Sydney to Perth is a flight of four to five hours — and you are offline in the air, so flying days often use less data than city days.
- Wi-Fi is common but uneven. Hotels, cafés, libraries and shopping centers usually have free Wi-Fi, and several city centers offer free public Wi-Fi, but it can be slow or time-limited. Remote campsites and roadhouses may have none.
Daily budgets that work for most travelers
- Light — about 300–500 MB per day: maps, rideshare, transport apps, messaging and the occasional search, with social media and calls on Wi-Fi.
- Typical — about 1 GB per day: everything above plus regular social media, photo sharing and a short video call now and then.
- Heavy — 2 GB or more per day: daily video calls, lots of short-form video, uploading videos or working remotely from cafés.
Suggested plan sizes
| Trip | Typical use | Good fit |
|---|---|---|
| Weekend or stopover | Light to typical | 1–3 GB, or a 24-hour pass per day |
| One week, one or two cities | Typical | 5–10 GB |
| Two weeks, east coast | Typical | 10–20 GB, or a smaller plan you top up |
| Three to four weeks | Typical to heavy | 20–50 GB for 30 days |
| Working holiday or long stay | Varies | The 50 GB plan valid for 180 days, topped up as needed |
Our fixed-data plans run from 100 MB for 7 days up to 50 GB for 30 days, plus a 50 GB plan valid for 180 days. Small plans suit a backup or a short stopover; most visitors will be happier with several gigabytes.
Fixed data or 24-hour passes?
Fixed-data plans suit most trips: your data is shared across all days, so a quiet day on the beach leaves more for a busy day in the city. Plans marked Top-up can be refilled on the My eSIM page without installing anything new.
24-hour passes give a daily high-speed allowance, from 500 MB to 10 GB per day. They suit short stays and people who use a lot of data every day, such as remote workers. Each pass shows what happens once the daily allowance is used — some keep you online at 1 Mbps until the pass ends, which is enough for messaging and maps but not for HD video.
If you are adding New Zealand, compare the Australia & New Zealand plan with two separate country plans. Compare all current plans and prices on our Australia eSIM plans list.
Ways to make your data last
- Download offline maps in Google Maps for each city and region before you go — essential for the outback, as our road trip coverage guide explains.
- Turn off video auto-play in social apps, and set photo and video backups to Wi-Fi only.
- Update apps and download shows on hotel Wi-Fi rather than mobile data.
- Check your remaining data on the My eSIM page every few days, and top up before you head somewhere remote.
- See which apps use the most: on iPhone, Settings › Cellular lists data use per app; on Android, look under Settings › Network & internet (or Connections) › Data usage. Turn off mobile data for any app that doesn't need it.
The apps most visitors rely on are covered in our essential apps guide.
Frequently asked questions
Is 1 GB a day enough in Australia?
For most visitors, yes. It covers maps, rideshare, transport apps, messaging and regular social media; daily video calls or streaming need more.
Can I add data if I run out?
Yes, on plans marked Top-up: open My eSIM and add data to the same eSIM. Otherwise you can buy another plan and install it.
Does a road trip use more data than a city break?
Usually not, if you download offline maps and music on Wi-Fi before leaving. Streaming music for hours on the road is what adds up.
Get online in Australia the moment you land
Australia eSIM from $0.90 · QR code by email · Optus