When the new NBN 500 plans started landing in September 2025, it was immediately clear that they were poised to become the best option for most Australian homes. The fact that they offer speeds of up to 500Mbps – which I reckon is more than enough for most users – and come in at roughly the same cost (in most instances) as the NBN 100 plans they’ve replaced made for a pretty unbeatable combo.
However, despite generally being good value, there’s still a great variance in the monthly price provider’s charge for the new tier, and the average monthly cost of an NBN 500 plan (excluding any introductory discounting) is still a smidge under AU$95 – AU$94.97 to be exact.
This is just a benchmark figure of course, and you can easily spend less than that by being savvy when shopping for a provider. To help paint a clearer picture, I’ve highlighted a selection of new NBN 500 plans based on specific pricing criteria, so read on to find out how much I think you should be paying for 500Mbps broadband in Australia.
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How does NBN 500 compare to other tiers on cost per megabit?
It’s easy for me to say that NBN 500 plans provide terrific value, but what does the data say? The quick answer is that it largely backs up that assertion.
For a clearer explanation, however, I’ve calculated the cost per megabit across NBN 50, NBN 100, NBN 500, NBN 750 and NBN 1000 plans, factoring in the average monthly price of each tier and the average typical evening speed claims they make.
These calculations not only prove just how much greater value an NBN 500 plan provides over the much slower 50Mbps and 100Mbps plans, but also that a gigabit plan is, in some ways, even more cost effective.
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Speed Tier
Cost per mb
NBN 50
AU$1.69
NBN 100
AU$1.03
NBN 500
AU$0.19
NBN 750
AU$0.15
NBN 1000
AU$0.14
What these figures clearly demonstrate is that on the high-speed plans, you’re getting a lot more megabits – you know, the most important aspect of an NBN plan – for your money, and we all like to get the best bang for buck, right?
These figures also highlight, in the case of NBN 1000 in particular, how much its value proposition has improved over time. I’ve been tracking NBN plan prices and speed claims since 2023, and even comparing these most recent figures with those from September 2024, there’s an improvement.
A year ago, because fewer providers were offering a gigabit plan, the speed claims weren’t as good as they are today and pricing was, on the whole, more expensive with the average cost per megabit being 18c (though shopping around is still strongly suggested, as some NBN 1000 plans are admittedly more expensive now compared to a year ago).. It’s not a huge decrease since, but it’s still encouraging to see the cost come down, rather than go the other way.
For some context on how much other providers are charging for NBN 500, here’s a comparison table of the most popular plans with TechRadar readers:
