The best broadband deal in Ireland in August 2026 is not the smallest number on a billboard. It is a 12-month intro you can actually get at the Eircode — and a thereafter you can live with, or plan to leave. Ranked by introductory monthly price among fibre and cable retailers, Sky’s 500 Mb is the live teaser at €27.99, then typically €50.
Read every tile as a pair. Virgin’s €30 intro (500 Mb or 1 Gb) becomes about €70 / €72. Pure’s 100 Mb is €30 → €40 with no built-in annual hike on the plans we track. Vodafone’s 500 Mb and 1 Gb often share €40 → €55. Eir’s 500 Mb is €34.99 → €75.99, plus a flat €4 each April from 2027. The deal is the intro and what it becomes.
This page is fibre and cable only. Three’s promotional 5G at €25 is a different product — see cheapest broadband in Ireland if you want the lowest figure on the whole board. Check the Eircode before you fall in love with a teaser. Advertised speeds, not lab Mbps. August 2026.
Live intros — and what they become
Irish broadband ads sell month one. The contract sells month 13. Every “from” price below is the cheapest fibre/cable intro we list for that retailer in August 2026. Thereafter is what the same plan typically costs after the intro — or out of contract. Setup is €0 on these tariffs in our dataset; the jump is the monthly rate.
| Retailer | Live intro | Thereafter | What that intro is | 24-month model |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sky | €27.99 | €50 | 500 Mb Ultrafast Plus, 12 months | €935.88 |
| Pure Telecom | €30 | €40 | 100 Mb full fibre, 12 months (no built-in hike) | €840 |
| Virgin Media | €30 | €70 | 500 Mb cable (1 Gb also €30 intro / €72 after) | €1,200 |
| Eir | €34.99 | €75.99 | 500 Mb, 12 months + €4 April from 2027 | €1,331.76 |
| Digiweb | €37.95 | €50 | SIRO Gigabit, 12 months | €1,055.40 |
| Vodafone | €40 | €55 | 500 Mb or 1 Gb full fibre, 12 months | €1,140 |
The 24-month column is intro × 12, then thereafter × 12. It is a model, not a quote: annual rises, Contract Change Notifications and mid-contract extras can still move the total. Eir’s April €4 from 2027 is extra on top of that thereafter. It is still the comparison the ad tile will not show you.
Sky at €27.99 looks cheapest among fibre intros. Over 24 months, Pure’s 100 Mb (€840) undercuts Sky 500 (€935.88). Virgin’s €30 intro is one of the dearest two-year bills once thereafter hits €70. Rank by intro, pay by year two. Full year-two maths: cheapest broadband.
The fibre/cable teaser board in August 2026
Strip the marketing language and the live deals are a short list. Take the gig when it costs the same as 500 Mb. Do not take a 100 Mb Pure line because it “wins” the intro table if the house actually needs 500.
| Plan (advertised) | Intro / mo | Thereafter / mo | Contract | Advertised down / up |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sky 500 Mb Ultrafast Plus | €27.99 | €50 | 12 months | 500 / 100 Mb |
| Virgin Media 500 Mb | €30 | €70 | 12 months | 500 / 50 Mb |
| Virgin Media 1 Gb | €30 | €72 | 12 months | 1000 / 50 Mb |
| Pure Telecom 100 Mb | €30 | €40 | 12 months | 100 / 100 Mb |
| Eir 500 Mb | €34.99 | €75.99 | 12 months | 500 / 100 Mb |
| Pure Broadband + phone 500 Mb | €35 | €45 | 12 months | 500 / 100 Mb |
| Digiweb SIRO Gigabit | €37.95 | €50 | 12 months | 1000 / 1000 Mb |
| Eir 1 Gb | €39.99 | €75.99 | 24 months | 1000 / 200 Mb |
| Sky 1 Gb Ultrafast Max | €40 | €60 | 12 months | 1000 / 100 Mb |
| Vodafone 500 Mb or 1 Gb | €40 | €55 | 12 months | 500/500 or 1000/1000 Mb |
Two honest footnotes. First, Vodafone often prices 500 Mb and 1 Gb the same — if SIRO or Open Eir FTTH at the Eircode will take the gig, take it. Virgin does the same at €30: take 1 Gb on a Virgin street. Second, Eir’s 1 Gb is a 24-month intro at €39.99, so two years cost about €960 before the €75.99 thereafter; the 500 Mb 12-month looks cheaper until month 13. Confirm FTTH vs FTTC vs cable on the order — FTTH vs FTTC vs cable.
Which deal is actually cheap after month 12
A deal that jumps €40 is not a deal. It is a teaser. If you will switch or renegotiate at month 12, Sky and Virgin intros can be the right year-one buy. If you will sit, Pure’s €10 step and Vodafone’s €15 step are the grown-up reads. Eir is the trap.
Sky — cheapest 500 Mb fibre intro, then €50
€27.99 for 12 months on 500 Mb Ultrafast Plus, no setup fee, sold on Open Eir, SIRO and NBI. Thereafter about €50. Annual rise clauses are common. Take it if year-one fibre cost is the job. Sky broadband review.
Virgin Media — €30 now, ~€70 later
500 Mb and 1 Gb both start at €30. Thereafter about €70 and €72. Cable upload is 50 Mb on those intros. Only a bargain in year one, and only on a Virgin street. Virgin Media review.
Pure Telecom — €30 → €40, no built-in hike
100 Mb full fibre from €30, thereafter €40. ComReg Compare has flagged Pure plans without a built-in annual increase; we score that as no annual price rise. The 500 Mb + phone bundle is €35 → €45; Pure Fibre 500 is €50 → €60. Same wholesale glass as Sky. Pure Telecom review.
Vodafone — €40 → €55, take the gig
500 Mb and 1 Gb full fibre often sit at the same €40 intro and €55 thereafter. The upgrade is unusually honest. Not the cheapest teaser; one of the saner year-two fibre bills. Vodafone review.
Eir — €34.99 → €75.99, plus €4 each April from 2027
The intro looks mid-table. Thereafter is the dearest mid-tier fibre we track, and from April 2027 broadband rises by a flat €4 each April. You can often buy the same Open Eir line cheaper from Sky or Pure. Eir review and April price rises.
Digiweb’s SIRO Gigabit at €37.95 → €50 is the regional gigabit teaser; NBI 500 is €49.95 → €55. Useful when Sky’s 500 is not on the rural pole. Digiweb review.
How we ranked these deals
This page is a fibre/cable intro-price ranking, not our overall best broadband in Ireland table. Order is lowest introductory monthly price first. Ties break on thereafter, then name. Scores, coverage and contract fairness still appear on each card because a €30 cable cliff is not the same product as a €30 no-hike 100 Mb line.
- Intro monthly price. The “from” figure is min monthly EUR in our August 2026 dataset — Sky €27.99, Pure and Virgin €30, and so on.
- Thereafter. We show it on every card and model 24 months in the table above. That is the ranking the ad will not do.
- Contract length. Most fibre intros here are 12 months. Eir’s 1 Gb is 24.
- Advertised speed, not lab Mbps. SPEED on the cards is the advertised download on the cheapest tariff. We do not invent speed tests.
- Availability. Open Eir, SIRO, NBI and Virgin cable are different footprints. The cheapest brand at a neighbour’s Eircode can be a no at yours — check by Eircode.
Affiliate links never change the order. A commission cannot buy a higher rank. Prices move; every figure here is dated August 2026 and should be confirmed on the order summary and ComReg Compare.
How to use a teaser without getting stuck
The honest way to buy an Irish broadband deal:
- Check the Eircode first. Virgin cannot ride Open Eir. Sky cannot sell fibre that is not there. Check broadband by Eircode.
- Confirm FTTH, not FTTC. A 500 Mb teaser on copper to the door is not the product in the ad.
- Model month 13. If you will not switch, do not pick the flashiest intro.
- Diary the end of the minimum term — and any Contract Change Notification. Irish switching is provider-led: how to switch broadband.
- Skip the TV add-on unless you would pay for Sky or sport anyway. Bundles: broadband TV bundles.
Related: best fibre broadband, no-contract broadband, and broadband comparisons.
