Compare broadband by feature
Your postcode decides what you can order. Features decide which of those deals you should actually pick. Choose the lens that matters most to your household, speed, price, contract, technology, provider type, usage or protections, and this page walks you through each with the numbers that matter in 2026.
- By speed
- By technology
- By price tier
- By contract length
- By provider type
- By what you do
- By protections
Compare by speed
Three speed numbers exist for every deal, and they are not the same number. The advertised speed must be achievable by at least half of customers under Ofcom's voluntary code. Your Guaranteed Minimum Speed is the address-specific floor you get in writing at sign-up, and it carries exit rights. Real-world performance is what independent measurement sees at 8pm. Compare on the second and third, not the first.
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Light use
Email, browsing, the odd call, one person streaming.
Comfortable at30 to 60 Mbit/s -
Standard household
Several devices, regular streaming with some 4K, calls, gaming.
Comfortable at100 to 300 Mbit/s -
Heavy household
Simultaneous 4K streams, cloud syncing, big downloads, several gamers.
Comfortable at500 Mbit/s and up -
Multi-gigabit
Content creation, heavy simultaneous uploads, headroom hunters.
Sold at1 to 7 Gbit/s, often symmetric
One asymmetry to watch: major providers traditionally sell far more download than upload, while altnets often sell them equal. If your household uploads for a living, video calls, cloud backup, creative work, symmetric matters more than another hundred megabits down. The speed and needs hub turns what your household does into a number.
Compare by technology
The technology on your line sets the ceiling no deal can advertise past. Six technologies serve UK homes in 2026, and the gap between the bottom and the top of this chart is the whole story of the fibre rollout.
Three practical notes. FTTC's quieter constraint is upload, capped at 20 Mbit/s for the whole home. ADSL2+ is not a long-term option: the copper services beneath it close in January 2027, covered in our copper switch-off guide. And 4G or 5G home broadband sits alongside this ladder rather than on it, typically delivering 30 to 100 Mbit/s on 4G and 200 to 500 or more on strong 5G, useful where the fixed options are weak. The full head-to-head lives in full fibre vs FTTC vs cable vs 4G and 5G.
Compare by price tier
UK broadband pricing settles into five bands. The bars show typical introductory monthly prices in August 2026; the right tier is the cheapest one that covers your household's busiest hour, and for eligible homes that is the first bar, not the second.
- Social tariffs, if eligible £15 to £20
- Entry level, 30 to 100 Mbit/s £20 to £25
- Mid tier, 100 to 300 Mbit/s £25 to £35
- Premium, 500 to 900 Mbit/s £35 to £45
- Multi-gigabit, 1 Gbit/s and up £45 to £60+
Typical introductory ranges, August 2026. Mid tier is the best speed-per-pound for most households, and altnets often include symmetric upload at that price.
The first bar deserves more attention than it gets. Households on Universal Credit, Pension Credit and similar benefits qualify for social tariffs such as BT Home Essentials at £15 for 36 Mbit/s or £20 for 67, Sky Broadband Basics at £20, Vodafone's Pro Voucher scheme, Virgin Media Essentials and NOW Basics. Citizens Advice puts the average loyalty penalty at £113 per customer per year, £451 million across the UK, falling hardest on the households these tariffs exist for. Eligibility and how to apply: social tariffs UK. For everyone else, what the country actually pays is in average monthly broadband cost.
Compare by contract length
Four shapes of commitment: 24 months buys the lowest monthly price and the least freedom, 18 is the common default, 12 keeps an annual escape hatch at a small premium, and rolling monthly costs noticeably more for the right to leave on 30 days' notice. Whichever you pick, the April rise rides along for every year of it. Since Ofcom's January 2025 rule, that rise must be a fixed pounds-and-pence figure you can see before signing.
- BT, EE, Plusnet, Virgin Media (new) £4, so £48 a year
- Vodafone, Virgin Media (in-contract) £3.50, so £42
- Sky, TalkTalk, Three £3, so £36
- Some altnets, including B4RN £0, flat pricing
What each April 2026 monthly rise adds across a full year of contract, per provider announcements. Qualifying contract dates vary: Vodafone applies to contracts after 2 July 2024, TalkTalk after 12 August 2024, Three after 1 September 2024.
This is why total contract cost, not the headline, is the only fair comparison: introductory months at one price, remaining months at the standard price, plus the rises, plus any setup fee. The long version of every trap is in in-contract price rises 2026, exit and setup fees, cancelling without fees and how to save money on broadband.
Compare by provider type
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The majors
BT, EE and Plusnet are all BT Group on Openreach. Sky bundles TV, Virgin Media runs its own cable network, Vodafone mixes Openreach with CityFibre, TalkTalk plays value, Three is mobile-based, NOW is Sky-owned.
Pick for: availability everywhere, bundles that are genuinely used, standardised rights handling.
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Wholesale altnets
CityFibre's network in roughly 60 cities, sold through brands like Cuckoo and, in places, Vodafone. Netomnia sold through YouFibre, symmetric at every tier and up to 7 Gbit/s at the top, with Brsk on it in some areas.
Pick for: speed-per-pound and symmetric upload.
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Own-build altnets
Hyperoptic in apartment blocks across the big cities. Community Fibre in London up to 3 Gbit/s symmetric. Regional builders: Toob, Brsk, Trooli, BeFibre, Lit Fibre, each strong where they have dug.
Pick for: the best deal on your specific street, when they have built to it.
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Community and rural
Gigaclear builds in rural pockets of Oxfordshire, Gloucestershire, Devon and beyond. B4RN, a community-owned cooperative in Lancashire and adjacent areas, sells symmetric gigabit at a flat price with no mid-contract rises.
Pick for: rural addresses the mainstream builds have not reached.
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Service-led specialists
Zen Internet, the long-running UK customer service satisfaction leader, retailing across several networks. Worth its premium when support quality is the feature you are buying.
Pick for: the calmest possible relationship with your ISP.
The full market runs past 500 retailers; our directory insights maps it, and the glossary decodes it.
Compare by what you actually do
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Working from home
Symmetric upload and business-hours reliability beat raw download. Altnets often win here; majors match only on higher full-fibre tiers.
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Streaming-heavy homes
A 4K stream uses roughly 25 to 30 Mbit/s, so peak-time consistency at 8 to 10pm matters more than the headline. Entry full fibre handles most streaming homes.
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Gaming households
Latency and stability decide matches, not gigabits. Full fibre and cable typically beat FTTC; independent latency measurement is the tiebreaker.
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Tight budgets
Check social tariff eligibility before comparing anything else: £15 to £20 a month, and barely advertised.
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Renters and movers
Contract flexibility is the feature: 12-month or rolling terms, low setup fees, and the 14-day cooling-off as the safety net.
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TV bundle homes
A bundle is only value if you would pay for the TV anyway. Price broadband-only against the bundle before believing the saving.
Compare by protections
The least-used lens, and the one that decides how bad a bad month gets. UK rules give every consumer contract a spine of rights; providers differ in what they add on top and which schemes they have joined.
- The speeds code: the major providers all subscribe; some altnets do too. Subscription is what makes the Guaranteed Minimum Speed and its exit right real, so check it for smaller providers.
- Automatic compensation: the majors participate, and the rates from 1 April 2026 are £10.34 a day for a total loss after two full working days, £32.31 for a missed engineer appointment and £6.46 a day for a late start. Current figures always in our rates guide.
- The Telecoms Consumer Charter, introduced February 2026, adds sector-wide commitments on accurate sign-up information, fair terms and transparent pricing across majors and many altnets.
- One Touch Switch: most providers are in, and our One Touch Switch guide covers the process. A few altnets and smaller ISPs are not yet, which makes switching to or from them a manual job; the switching hub covers both routes.
- Rises and pricing: the pounds-and-pence rule means no CPI surprises on consumer deals signed since January 2025, and a handful of altnets skip mid-contract rises entirely.
One method, whatever the lens
Postcode first, to see what exists at your door. Then your primary lens to narrow, your secondary lenses to refine, and total contract cost to rank what is left. Behind every ranking on this site sits the same twelve-factor score, three factors each on cost, speed and service, two on value, one on rights, governed by four principles: consumer value first, regulatory accuracy, total-cost transparency, and majors and altnets marked on the same scale. The full workings are in how we rank deals and the methodology hub, with the short version at why trust us.
Check your postcode, see every network at your address, then apply whichever lens matters most to your household.
Independent and free. See how we earn and our Connected Nations 2025 analysis.Frequently asked questions
Why does feature-based comparison matter for UK broadband?
Because a postcode check answers what you can order, not which one to pick. With ten or more deals at a typical address, a lens, speed, price, contract, technology, provider type, usage or protections, turns an overwhelming list into a shortlist that reflects what your household actually needs. Postcode first, feature second, total contract cost to decide.
How should I compare UK broadband by speed?
On three numbers, in this order of trust: your address-specific Guaranteed Minimum Speed, which comes with the right to leave penalty-free if speeds stay below it after a 30-day fix window; independently measured real-world performance, especially at the 8 to 10pm peak; and only then the advertised speed, which must be achievable by at least half of customers. As a guide, 30 to 60 Mbit/s suits light use, 100 to 300 a standard household, 500 and up a heavy one.
How does contract length affect total broadband cost?
Longer terms buy lower monthly prices and more exposure to April rises: a £4 monthly rise adds £48 across every year of contract that follows it. Total cost is introductory months at the introductory price, remaining months at the standard price, plus rises and setup fees. A cheap 24-month headline can cost more across the term than a pricier 12-month one, so always compare the full-term figure.
How do UK broadband technology types compare in 2026?
Full fibre leads: up to about 1.8 Gbit/s on the Openreach line with 900 Mbit/s typical at retail, symmetric on higher tiers, and reaching 79 percent of English homes. Virgin Media cable reaches about 16 million premises at around 1.1 Gbit/s. FTTC tops out at 80 down and 20 up, G.fast at about 330 in limited areas, and ADSL2+ at 24 with its underlying copper closing in January 2027. 4G and 5G home broadband sits alongside, at 30 to 100 and 200 to 500 or more respectively where signal is strong.
What do the UK broadband price tiers look like?
Five bands by introductory monthly price: social tariffs at £15 to £20 for eligible households, entry level at £20 to £25 for 30 to 100 Mbit/s, mid tier at £25 to £35 for 100 to 300 and the best speed-per-pound, premium at £35 to £45 for 500 to 900, and multi-gigabit at £45 to £60 plus, reaching 7 Gbit/s symmetric on YouFibre. Judge every tier on total contract cost, not the introductory number.
How do UK provider categories compare?
Majors offer availability, bundles and standardised rights: BT, EE and Plusnet are one group on Openreach, Sky leads on TV, Virgin Media runs its own cable, Vodafone mixes Openreach with CityFibre, and Three is mobile-based. Altnets, wholesale networks like CityFibre and Netomnia plus builders like Hyperoptic and Community Fibre, often win on symmetric upload and price. Community networks like B4RN and rural builders like Gigaclear cover ground the rest have not reached, and Zen leads on service.
How should usage shape the choice?
Match the deal to the household's dominant job. Home working wants symmetric upload and daytime reliability. Streaming wants peak-time consistency, at roughly 25 to 30 Mbit/s per 4K stream. Gaming wants low, stable latency. Tight budgets should check social tariff eligibility first, renters should weigh contract flexibility, and TV bundles only count as value if the TV would be paid for anyway.
What regulatory protections should I compare?
Five: whether the provider subscribes to the speeds code, which makes the Guaranteed Minimum Speed and its exit right real; whether it participates in automatic compensation, paying set rates when repairs, installations or appointments fail; the Telecoms Consumer Charter commitments from February 2026; One Touch Switch membership, which decides how painful leaving will be; and the pounds-and-pence rise rule, with a few altnets skipping mid-contract rises entirely.
How we put this together. Written by Adrian James and reviewed by Dr Alex J. Martin-Smith, from Ofcom's published framework, provider announcements for April 2026, and Citizens Advice loyalty penalty research, current at August 2026. Majors and altnets are treated on the same scale regardless of commercial relationships. The framework behind it: how we rank deals, our editorial policy, affiliate disclosure, AI disclosure, accessibility statement and about us. Spotted an error? Use the corrections process, read the corrections log, or contact us.
References
- Citizens Advice. (2023). The real cost of hidden deals: Loyalty penalty in essential markets [Press release]. https://www.citizensadvice.org.uk/about-us/media-centre/press-releases/mobile-and-broadband-companies-not-being-upfront-about-better-renewal-deals/
- Ofcom. (2025, November 19). Connected Nations UK report 2025. Office of Communications. https://www.ofcom.org.uk/phones-and-broadband/coverage-and-speeds/nations-report-2025
- Ofcom. (n.d.). Automatic compensation for landline and broadband customers. Office of Communications. Retrieved August 4, 2026, from https://www.ofcom.org.uk/phones-and-broadband/saving-money/automatic-compensation
- Ofcom. (n.d.). Voluntary code of practice on broadband speeds. Office of Communications. Retrieved August 4, 2026, from https://www.ofcom.org.uk/phones-and-broadband/quality-of-service/voluntary-codes-of-practice