Best broadband deals in Ireland

The best broadband deal in Ireland in August 2026 is not the smallest number on a billboard. It is an 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, Vodafone’s 500 Mb full fibre is the live teaser at €25 for six months on a 24-month term, then €40 with no further cliff. Sky’s 500 Mb is the cheapest 12-month intro at €30, then a steep €67.50.

Read every tile as a pair. Virgin’s €35 intro (500 Mb or 1 Gb) becomes about €70 / €80. Pure’s 500 Mb is €35 → €50 with no built-in annual hike — €5 dearer than Sky in year one, €17.50 a month cheaper from month 13, and €150 cheaper over two years. Vodafone’s 1 Gb is €35 → €50: €10 more than its 500 Mb, and honest about it. 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 5G at €30 for 24 months and Vodafone’s GigaCube at €25 are different products — 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 — or month 7 on Vodafone’s six-month promos. 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 most of these tariffs in our dataset; Digiweb’s NBI 500 carries a €49.95 activation. Otherwise the jump is the monthly rate.

The 24-month column is intro × the intro months, then thereafter for the rest of two years. It is a model, not a quote: annual rises (Vodafone’s flat €3.50 each April applies in contract), 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.

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 — that is Virgin now, not Vodafone. Do not take a 100 Mb Pure line because it “wins” the intro table if the house actually needs 500.

Two honest footnotes. First, Vodafone no longer prices 500 Mb and 1 Gb the same — the gig is €10 more on the standing price (€50 vs €40), and neither tier jumps when the contract ends. Virgin does price them the same at €35: 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 €85.99 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 the intro

A deal that jumps €35 or more 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, Vodafone’s €15 step to a standing price and Pure’s €15 step with no April letter are the grown-up reads. Eir is the trap.

Vodafone — €25 → €40, and the €40 is the real price

500 Mb full fibre at €25 for six months on a 24-month term (€35 for six months on 12), then €40. 1 Gb is €35 → €50 on 24 months. No thereafter cliff at the end of the contract; the cost is a fixed €3.50 rise each April, in contract. €75 bill credit on 24-month online orders and €10 a month off for Vodafone mobile customers. Sold on Open Eir, SIRO and NBI. Vodafone review.

Sky — cheapest 12-month 500 Mb intro, then €67.50

€30 for 12 months on 500 Mb Ultrafast Plus, no setup fee, sold on Open Eir, SIRO and NBI. Year one is €360 — the lowest on the board. Thereafter is €67.50, and Sky raised standard prices by €3.50 in April 2026. The 24-month version is €35 flat for two years. Take the 12-month only if you will leave at month 12. Sky broadband review.

Pure Telecom — €35 → €50 on 500 Mb, no built-in hike

100 Mb full fibre from €30 → €40; Pure Fibre 500 is €35 → €50; 500 Mb + phone €35 → €55; 1 Gb €40 → €70. ComReg Compare has flagged Pure plans without a built-in annual increase; we score that as no annual price rise. Over 24 months Pure 500 (€1,020) beats Sky 500 on the 12-month plan (€1,170). Same wholesale glass as Sky. Pure Telecom review.

Virgin Media — €35 now, €70–€80 later

500 Mb and 1 Gb both start at €35 (24-month variants at €40). Thereafter €70 and €80. Cable upload is 50 Mb on 500 Mb and 100 Mb on 1 Gb. The €30 activation fee is usually waived on promos, and Virgin now advertises a price lock for the minimum term. Only a bargain in year one, and only on a Virgin street. Virgin Media 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, the 1 Gb now lands on €85.99, and from April 2027 broadband rises by a flat €4 each April. You can often buy the same Open Eir line cheaper from Vodafone, Sky or Pure. Eir review and April price rises.

Digiweb’s NBI Fibre 500 at €34.95 for six months, €49.95 for the rest of year one, then €54.95 (plus €49.95 activation) is the rural teaser; SIRO Gigabit is €37.95 → €49.95 with a €29.95 set-up. 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 teaser that becomes €67.50 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 — Vodafone €25, Pure and Sky €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. Vodafone’s cheapest tariff is 24 months with a six-month promo; 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 — and month 7. 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.

About the author

Darragh Murphy

Broadband & Fixed-Line Specialist

Darragh Murphy has tested and compared Irish broadband services since 2018. He runs matched.ie’s real-world speed and reliability tests across fibre, cable and rural fixed-wireless connections.

8+ years analysing Irish broadband performanceTested 50+ providers including Eir, Virgin Media, Sky and SIROCertified in Cisco Networking and Openreach fibre standardsBased in Galway, regularly covers rural rollout issues