Plusnet vs BT broadband: which is best?

Plusnet vs BT at a glance

Plusnet vs BT: cost

Plusnet comes in quite a bit cheaper than BT.

Plusnet's basic Fibre package, offering standard fibre optic broadband at average speeds of 66Mbps, costs £24.99 per month at the time of writing. BT, meanwhile, charges £35.99 for a similar speed.

You'll find a similar situation at the top of the range as well - spring for a 900Mbps package and you'll pay around £8 more per month if you get it from BT.

Plusnet vs BT: Average broadband speeds

When it comes to the speeds offered by their most widely available fibre broadband products, there’s not much to choose between Plusnet and BT.

You'll find almost identical speeds from both providers, especially if you're looking for ultrafast full fibre broadband - namely 66Mbps, 145Mbps, 300Mbps, 500Mbps, and 900Mbps.

The only differences right now are that Plusnet still offers an ADSL broadband package, with speeds of 10Mbps; and BT offers some slower entry-level fibre optic plans with speeds averaging 36Mbps or 50Mbps.

Plusnet vs BT: broadband packages

Both providers offer a similar range of broadband packages.

Plusnet's are notably well priced with decent speeds and are available on 12-month or 24-month contracts, giving you the option of a much shorter commitment than BT’s 24-month minimum terms.

Both offer a really large range of fibre and full-fibre packages to choose from, with similar speeds on the cards.

If you're looking for speeds on the lower end of the range, however, you'll notice a couple of differences. Plusnet is the only one of the two to offer basic ADSL broadband (speeds of 10Mbps), and BT has fibre packages with speeds of 36Mbps and 50Mbps - while Plusnet fibre starts at a faster 66Mbps.

All Plusnet and BT packages come with unlimited downloads. So you won’t have to worry about running up extra charges for exceeding a download limit.

You can get a sense of how Plusnet's packages shape up in the table below: 

And you can see what BT has to offer here:

Plusnet vs BT: phone service

In a relatively recent development, both BT and Plusnet now offer their standard fibre and full fibre broadband without landline rental.

That doesn’t necessarily mean that your home won’t be connected to the internet via telephone wires, but does mean that you won’t pay for line rental.

To get this BT broadband without a home phone you’ll need to choose a broadband-only package from BT and you should be aware that you won’t be able to make or receive any calls on your phone. Calls to emergency numbers are barred too. 

If you do decide to take a phone with your BT package, though, you’ll get pay as you go calls as standard. So you’ll only pay for the calls you make.

But if you use your phone regularly you have the option to sign up for add-ons, such as Unlimited Minutes or International Freedom (for cheap calls to 36 overseas locations). 

You'll see a similar story with Plusnet, too. All packages are broadband-only by default, with the option to add a landline service if you want to. Just like with BT, you can sign up for add-ons that get you extra domestic or international calls.

At the time of writing, adding a landline to a BT broadband package sets you back an extra £5 per month, while Plusnet's calls packages start from £6.53 per month. Depending how much you use your home phone, you may find one provider gives you a better deal than the other.

Plusnet vs BT: TV

Plusnet no longer offers broadband and TV packages in a conventional sense, after withdrawing its YouView-based set-top box and bundles from sale.

It used to offer BT Sport as an add-on. However, since BT Sport rebranded to TNT Sports, you now have to sign up to it separately via discovery+. Put simply, Plusnet no longer offers its own TV service nor any add-ons.

BT’s TV service, which is based on the YouView set-top box, is excellent, as are the BT TV and discovery+ apps that let you watch while you’re on the move.

BT TV also offers a massive array of standard definition and HD channels and premium content.

As well as TNT Sports channels, you can add channels and streaming services from month to month. So you can dip in and out as you wish.

At the time of writing, options include Netflix, Prime Video, britbox and NOW TV passes, that get you the best of Sky TV on a rolling-contract basis.

Plusnet vs BT: fibre broadband

There's very little difference here. If you’re fortunate enough to live in an area covered by the Openreach full fibre infrastructure, Plusnet and BT’s fibre packages actually offer very similar speeds.

What’s more, because their standard fibre packages use the same parts of the Openreach network, they’re widely available and are on offer in the same locations.

Plusnet vs BT: download limits

All Plusnet and BT packages come with unlimited downloads, so you’re free to steam video, play online games and do anything else online with no risk of running up charges for exceeding a usage limit.

It’s also worth noting that what’s known as ‘truly unlimited’ too.

That means Plusnet and BT will not deliberately slow down your service at peak times.

Plusnet vs BT: extras

One major point of difference between BT and Plusnet when it comes to value-adding extras is that BT customers benefit from a nationwide network of five million Wi-Fi hotspots, so they’re able to save mobile data while they’re out and about.

Plusnet does not offer anything comparable to this.

There’s no comparable discount scheme with Plusnet, but it does give you money-off when you recommend Plusnet broadband to a friend.

Plusnet and BT both regularly sweeten their broadband deals with free gifts and incentives, such as vouchers, rewards and gadgets.

All packages from both providers come with free routers, as well as security software.

Plusnet vs BT customer: service

As numerous glowing reports from the telecoms regulator Ofcom testify, Plusnet’s customer service is excellent. It’s consistently rated the UK’s very best provider for support.

BT customer service isn’t anything like as highly regarded, with scores from Ofcom that are about average for the broadband sector.