The cheapest broadband in Ireland in August 2026 is not one brand. It is a 12-month teaser, a 24-month 5G promo, or a no-hike independent — depending on whether you mean the number on the ad or the bill in month 13. Ranked by introductory monthly price, Three’s promotional 5G home is the lowest figure we track at €25/month. Among fibre retailers, Sky’s 500 Mb is regularly the cheapest intro at €27.99/month.
The catch is year two. Sky’s 500 Mb thereafter is typically €50/month. Virgin’s €30 intro (500 Mb or 1 Gb) jumps to around €70–€72. Eir’s 500 Mb intro of €34.99 becomes about €75.99, plus a flat €4 April rise from 2027. That is why this page ranks on the intro, then immediately shows the thereafter.
If you care more about not being hiked than winning month one, start with Pure Telecom (often no built-in annual increase; 100 Mb from €30) and Imagine (selected plans frozen to December 2030, thereafter equal to intro on the tariffs we track). Availability still wins: check the Eircode before you fall in love with a teaser. None of the speeds below are lab results — they are the advertised plan figures from our dataset. We do not invent Mbps.
Intro price vs the bill in year two
Irish broadband ads sell month one. The contract sells month 13. Every “from” price on this page is the cheapest introductory monthly tariff we list for that retailer in August 2026. Thereafter is what the same plan typically costs after the intro — or out of contract. Setup fees on these plans are €0 in our dataset; the jump is the monthly rate, not a hidden install.
Read the table left to right: cheapest intro first, then the hangover. Three sits at the top because a 24-month 5G promo can undercut fibre. Sky is the fibre teaser people actually mean when they search “cheapest broadband Ireland”. Pure and Virgin share a €30 intro — and then go in opposite directions.
| Retailer | Cheapest intro | Thereafter | What that intro is | 24-month model |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Three | €25 | €40 | Unlimited 5G, 24-month promo (advertised 500 Mb) | €600 (24 × €25) |
| Sky | €27.99 | €50 | 500 Mb fibre, 12 months | €935.88 |
| Pure Telecom | €30 | €40 | 100 Mb full fibre, 12 months | €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 | €1,331.76 |
| Starlink | €35 | €35 | Residential 100 Mb, rolling monthly | €840 |
| Digiweb | €37.95 | €50 | SIRO Gigabit, 12 months | €1,055.40 |
| Imagine | €40 | €40 | 5G Home Basic (650 GB), monthly | €960 |
| Vodafone | €40 | €55 | 500 Mb or 1 Gb full fibre, 12 months | €1,140 |
The 24-month column is intro × remaining intro months, then thereafter for the rest of two years — except Three (the promo is 24 months at €25) and the rolling monthly plans (Starlink, Imagine) which do not jump. It is a model, not a quote: annual rises, Contract Change Notifications and mid-contract extras can still move the total. 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) and Starlink’s 100 Mb (€840) undercut Sky 500 (€935.88). Virgin’s €30 intro is one of the dearest two-year bills on the board once thereafter hits €70. Rank by intro, pay by year two.
Cheapest fibre intros in August 2026
Strip out 5G and satellite and the fibre/cable teaser board is clearer. Sky 500 Mb Ultrafast Plus at €27.99 is still the number most households should beat. Virgin matches a low intro (€30) on both 500 Mb and 1 Gb — take the gig if you are actually on a Virgin street — but the thereafter is a different planet. Pure’s cheapest line is 100 Mb at €30, not 500 Mb; the 500 Mb + phone bundle is €35, and symmetrical Pure Fibre 500 is €50.
| 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 |
| Digiweb NBI Fibre 500 | €49.95 | €55 | 12 months | 500 / 500 Mb |
| Pure Fibre 500 | €50 | €60 | 12 months | 500 / 500 Mb |
| Imagine Fibre Starter 500 | €55 | €55 | Monthly | 500 / 500 Mb |
Two honest footnotes. First, Vodafone often prices 500 Mb and 1 Gb the same (€40 intro / €55 thereafter) — if SIRO or Open Eir FTTH at the Eircode will take the gig, take it. 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. Rural NBI 500 from Digiweb (€49.95) is not trying to beat a town Sky 500; it is the fibre that actually exists at the pole.
These are advertised plan speeds from the retailer, not independent tests. FTTC “fibre” on Open Eir is still copper on the last stretch and will not match a 500 Mb FTTH headline. Cable upload on Virgin (50 Mb on the 500/1 Gb intros) is not SIRO symmetrical. Check the order summary for FTTH vs FTTC vs cable before you compare two €30 tiles.
No-hike and fair-contract picks: Pure and Imagine
Cheapest intro and fairest contract are different jobs. Pure Telecom and Imagine are the names to run if you would rather not play switcher every April. Digiweb sits in the same conversation on fibre intros we flag as having no built-in annual rise — confirm the order summary, not the marketing site.
Pure Telecom — same wholesale fibre, smaller thereafter step
Pure is Irish-owned and sells Open Eir, SIRO and NBI — the same physical lines as Sky, Vodafone and Eir. ComReg Compare has flagged Pure plans without a built-in annual increase; we score that as no annual price rise in the dataset. Thereafter still exists: 100 Mb goes €30 → €40, 500 Mb + phone €35 → €45, Pure Fibre 500 €50 → €60, 1 Gb €70 → €80. That is a €10 step, not Virgin’s €40 cliff. Full Pure Telecom review.
Imagine — freeze to 2030 on selected plans
Imagine’s 5G Home Basic is €40/month with a 650 GB cap; Unlimited is €50; Fibre Starter 500 is €55. On those three tariffs, thereafter equals intro. Selected plans advertise a price freeze until December 2030 and a leave-anytime pledge on 5G home. Confirm the freeze is on the tariff you join. Wireless will not match SIRO upload; the 5G Basic cap is real. Full Imagine review.
Digiweb — no built-in hike on the fibre intros we track
Digiweb’s cheapest line is SIRO Gigabit at €37.95 (thereafter €50), not a 500 Mb teaser. NBI 500 is €49.95 / €55; NBI 1000 is €44.95 / €55. We list no built-in annual rise — still model the thereafter. Useful when NBI has passed the house and Sky’s 500 intro is not on the rural pole. Full Digiweb review.
No-hike does not mean the price never changes. It means the plan we track does not bake in an April letter the way Eir’s flat €4 rise from 2027 does. Thereafter can still step up when the intro ends. Read the one-pager.
When 5G or satellite is actually cheaper
Three at €25 is the cheapest intro in the ranking because it is a promotional 24-month 5G home tariff, not fibre. Advertised download is 500 Mb — that is a ceiling on a mast, not a line-speed guarantee. Evening cell congestion is the product risk. The 12-month unlimited 5G plan is €44.99 intro / €50 thereafter, which is not cheap compared with Sky 500 fibre. Use the promo when you need internet this week, you are between lets, or fibre is months away. Full Three broadband review.
Starlink Residential 100 Mb is €35 rolling monthly — thereafter is the same €35. Over 24 months that is €840, level with Pure 100 Mb fibre and cheaper than Sky 500’s two-year model. It is still the last-resort product: buy it when fibre and 5G are a no, or while NBI is “coming”. Typical planning speeds are the 100–200 Mb down range, not a SIRO gigabit. Kit terms change; confirm at checkout. Full Starlink review.
Imagine’s 5G sits between those two: dearer than Three’s promo, flatter than fibre teasers, leave-anytime on 5G, freeze on selected plans. None of these three replace NBI or SIRO once the engineer has been. They are how you stay online — and sometimes spend less — until the fibre is live.
How we ranked cheapest broadband
This page is a price ranking, not our overall best broadband in Ireland table. The order above is lowest introductory monthly price first (the cheapest tariff we list for each retailer). Ties break on thereafter, then name. Scores, coverage and contract fairness still appear on each card because a €25 5G promo is not the same product as €27.99 fibre.
- Intro monthly price. The “from” figure is min monthly EUR in our August 2026 dataset — Sky €27.99, Three €25, Pure €30, and so on. We do not average plans or invent a blended rate.
- Thereafter / year two. 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. Three’s cheapest tariff is 24 months; Imagine and Starlink are monthly; most fibre intros are 12.
- Advertised speed, not lab Mbps. SPEED on the cards is the advertised download on the cheapest tariff. We do not publish fake speed-test results. Line-level tests will be added as we instrument homes — see how we test.
- Availability. Open Eir, SIRO, NBI, Virgin cable, 5G and satellite are different footprints. The cheapest brand at a neighbour’s Eircode can be a no at yours.
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.
Our cheapest picks in brief
Sky — cheapest 500 Mb fibre intro
€27.99 a month 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 and you will switch or renegotiate at month 12. Detail in the Sky broadband review.
Three — cheapest number on the board (5G promo)
€25 a month for 24 months on promotional unlimited 5G home, thereafter €40. Advertised 500 Mb is not a wired guarantee. Best when fibre is late or you need a router this afternoon. See the Three review.
Pure Telecom — cheapest honest fibre if you hate the hike
From €30 for 100 Mb, or €35 for 500 Mb + phone. Thereafter is typically €10 above intro, often without a built-in April increase. Same wholesale fibre as the big brands. The Pure review is the contract-fairness read.
Imagine — no thereafter jump on the plans we track
From €40 for 5G Home Basic, €40 after, freeze to December 2030 on selected tariffs. Rural wireless and 5G, plus some fibre. The Imagine review covers the cap, the mast and the leave-anytime small print.
Virgin’s €30 intro is only a bargain in year one, and only on a Virgin street — Virgin Media review. Eir’s coverage is the product; the thereafter is the trap — Eir review. Head-to-heads live in our broadband comparisons.
