EE vs Vodafone is the comparison that decides where a lot of UK phone money goes in 2026, and the honest answer is that the two networks no longer compete on the same terms. EE still tops Ofcom and RootMetrics testing for raw 5G reach, while Vodafone has become VodafoneThree, a merged operator with the largest combined customer base in the country. Below we use live operator pricing and the latest Ofcom coverage data to say who should pick which, and where the cheaper option is genuinely good enough.
- EE unlimited-data SIM-only starts at £26 a month on a 24-month deal (5G.co.uk listing), with a 600GB monthly fair-use cap and 5G included.
- Vodafone’s Unlimited Plus SIM is £26 a month in its 2026 summer sale, down from a £44 list price, with uncapped speed and roaming in 52 European destinations.
- Ofcom’s Connected Nations 2025 (published 19 November 2025) puts EE 5G geographic coverage at 42 to 49 percent versus Vodafone at 9 to 17 percent.
- The Vodafone and Three merger completed on 31 May 2025, creating VodafoneThree, which is investing £11 billion over 10 years in 5G Standalone.
- EE’s 5G Plus now reaches 75 percent of the UK population, according to EE’s June 2026 newsroom.
EE vs Vodafone on coverage in 2026
Coverage is where the two operators separate most clearly, and the gap is wider than the marketing suggests. Ofcom’s Connected Nations 2025 report, published on 19 November 2025 and based on July 2025 data, records EE 5G geographic coverage at 42 to 49 percent of UK landmass, against 9 to 17 percent for Vodafone. That is a roughly three-to-one lead for EE on the map, and it shows up most in rural and edge-of-town areas where Vodafone’s older 5G footprint thins out fastest.
The catch for Vodafone is that those figures predate the full benefit of the merger. By the end of 2025, VodafoneThree said it had removed 16,500 square kilometres of notspots, and its 28.6 million customers can now roam automatically onto whichever of the two networks is strongest in a given spot. So the lived Vodafone experience in 2026 is improving faster than a single 2025 coverage line implies, even if EE still wins the headline number today. If you live somewhere with patchy service, our step-by-step eSIM guide for EE, VodafoneThree and O2 makes it easy to trial a network before you commit.
For 5G Standalone, the gap narrows. Ofcom reported 5G SA outside premises ranging from 49 to 85 percent across the operators that have deployed it, and both EE and VodafoneThree are pushing SA hard. VodafoneThree’s £11 billion plan is explicitly aimed at a national 5G Standalone build, which is the technology that improves latency and battery life rather than just peak speed.
How the 5G speeds and reliability compare
Raw reach is one thing, but day-to-day speed is what most buyers feel. EE leans on its RootMetrics record, marketing itself as the UK’s most reliable network and rolling out 5G Plus, its higher-capacity layer, to 75 percent of the UK population per its June 2026 newsroom update. That covers more than 44 million people in England, 2.1 million in Wales, 3.3 million in Scotland and nearly a million in Northern Ireland.
Vodafone answers with plan tiers that gate your speed rather than your data. On its standard Unlimited plan, download speed is capped at 100Mbps, while Unlimited Xtra, Unlimited Plus and Unlimited Premier remove that cap and give you the fastest speeds available, with Premier adding a Speed Boost of up to twice the rate. EE does not split its unlimited tiers by speed in the same way, so on EE the unlimited plan is genuinely uncapped on speed and only soft-limited at 600GB of monthly usage. For heavy streamers, that simpler EE structure is easier to reason about. Our look at EE’s 5G Plus rollout across UK towns goes deeper on where the fastest tier actually lands.
EE wins the coverage map three to one, but on price the merged Vodafone now matches it pound for pound on unlimited data.
SIM-only prices and what you pay each month
On headline price the two are remarkably close in mid-2026. EE’s unlimited-data SIM-only plan starts at £26 a month on a 24-month deal, rising to £28.50 and then £31 in the later contract years, with 5G included and the 600GB fair-use threshold. Vodafone’s 2026 summer sale lists its Unlimited Plus SIM at the same £26 a month, cut from a £44 list price, with uncapped speed and European roaming included. That promotional parity is the single biggest reason this comparison is live again.
| Plan | Monthly price | MTW read |
|---|---|---|
| EE Unlimited SIM-only (24m) | £26 (then £28.50/£31) | Uncapped speed, 600GB fair use, best coverage |
| Vodafone Unlimited Plus (sale) | £26 (was £44) | Uncapped speed, 52-country roaming, sale price |
| Vodafone Unlimited (standard) | From ~£21 tier | Speed capped at 100Mbps, cheapest unlimited |
| Vodafone Unlimited Premier | £48 | Speed Boost, 84-country roaming, overkill for most |
| Vodafone 50GB Red | £21 | Sensible mid-tier if you never hit unlimited |
Below unlimited, Vodafone has the broader ladder of capped plans, with named tiers such as 50GB Red at £21, 100GB at £24, 120GB at £26 and 200GB at £29 a month. If you genuinely use 30 to 60GB, that 50GB Red plan is often better value than either operator’s unlimited deal. One thing to watch on both: airtime prices rise every April, and Vodafone confirms a £2.50 annual increment on airtime plans. We flagged the same mid-contract rise mechanics in our EE iPhone deals breakdown, and it applies to SIM-only too.
It is worth noting that EE has pulled its consumer SIM deals off third-party comparison sites such as CompareDial, so you increasingly have to price EE on ee.co.uk directly. That makes head-to-head shopping slightly more effort, but it does not change the underlying numbers above.
Perks, bundles and what comes free
Both operators try to lock you in with household extras rather than airtime alone. EE pushes EE One, which unlocks when you hold EE Broadband and EE Mobile on the same account and hands you up to £20 a month off new or upgraded mobile plans, plus data gifting between family phones and an automatic unlimited-data boost on eligible plans. EE One bundles start from £40.99 a month for a family tier and climb to £67.99 for the gamer tier.
Vodafone counters with Vodafone Together, which discounts broadband and mobile bought together and which Vodafone claims can save families up to £3,550 a year across a full household stack. On entertainment, the £34-a-month Unlimited Plus plus Entertainment plan adds a choice of streaming benefit and 500 EU international minutes. The shape is similar on both sides: the real savings appear when you also take home broadband, so a single SIM buyer should not over-weight these perks. If you are buying for a household, our guide to the best iPhone alternatives in the UK pairs neatly with a Together or EE One bundle.
Roaming, contracts and the small print
Contract terms split the two more than the prices do. EE’s unlimited SIM comes in both a flexible 30-day rolling form and the cheaper 24-month deal, and it gives you 50GB of inclusive roaming data abroad before charges apply. Vodafone’s structure is roaming-tier led: standard plans cover 52 European destinations, while the £48 Unlimited Premier widens that to 84 worldwide destinations. If you travel beyond Europe regularly, Vodafone’s top tier is the cleaner answer; if you mostly travel in the EU, EE’s included allowance is plenty.
The bigger structural point is the merger itself. Because Vodafone is now VodafoneThree, a Vodafone SIM increasingly inherits Three’s spectrum and sites, which is why its coverage trajectory is steeper than EE’s even though EE leads today. Ofcom has also cleared VodafoneThree to trial direct-to-device satellite coverage, which we covered in our VodafoneThree phone-to-satellite explainer. EE has no equivalent consumer satellite story in 2026, so for true not-spot resilience the merged Vodafone has the more interesting roadmap. Buyers bringing an unlocked handset should also confirm eSIM support, as we did for the Xiaomi 17T eSIM on EE and VodafoneThree.
Where to buy or check coverage next
Before you commit to either network, check the practical details in this order. Run your postcode through both operators’ coverage checkers on ee.co.uk and vodafone.co.uk, because the only number that matters is the one at your home, work and commute. For SIM-only, price EE directly on ee.co.uk since it has left comparison sites, and price Vodafone on vodafone.co.uk where the summer-sale £26 Unlimited Plus deal currently sits. If you want a handset on contract, compare the same phone at Currys, Argos and John Lewis as well as the carriers, because retailer bundles sometimes undercut the operator’s own airtime-plus-device maths.
Two consumer-rights checks apply to both. First, every airtime plan rises annually in April, so factor the £28.50 and £31 EE step-ups, or Vodafone’s £2.50 increment, into the true cost over 24 months. Second, you have 14 days to cancel a distance-sold contract under UK rules, which is your window to test real-world coverage on a fresh SIM. The same upgrade discipline we applied to the Samsung Galaxy S26 UK pricing applies here: the sticker price is rarely the price you pay across the full term.
| What we like | What we would watch |
|---|---|
| EE leads Ofcom 5G geographic coverage 42-49% vs 9-17% | EE prices are no longer on comparison sites, so harder to shop |
| Vodafone matches EE at £26 unlimited in its summer sale | Vodafone’s cheapest unlimited tier is speed-capped at 100Mbps |
| VodafoneThree merger adds Three’s sites and a satellite roadmap | Both raise airtime prices every April mid-contract |
Our verdict
For buyers who put coverage and reliability first, especially anyone rural, anyone who commutes through patchy areas, or anyone who simply wants the fewest dead spots, we would pick EE. Its 42 to 49 percent 5G geographic coverage and RootMetrics reliability record are a real, measured lead, and its uncapped unlimited plan at £26 is the simpler heavy-user deal. For price-led city buyers, light-to-medium users, and anyone who wants flexible roaming or a household bundle, we would pick Vodafone. The £26 Unlimited Plus summer deal matches EE on price while adding 52-country roaming, the capped 50GB Red plan at £21 is the value pick if you do not need unlimited, and the merged VodafoneThree network is improving faster than any single 2025 figure shows. The one thing that would flip our call is your postcode: if Vodafone’s checker shows full 5G at home and EE does not, take Vodafone and save the effort. Check both coverage maps before you sign.
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