The money still favours Sky, by less than it used to. Sky’s 500 Mb is €30 for 12 months, then €67.50 (or a flat €35 on 24 months). Eir’s 500 Mb is €34.99, then €75.99. Eir’s 1 Gb at €39.99 needs a 24-month signature and lands at €85.99; Sky’s gig is €40 on 12 months, then €70. Both firms move their standard price list each April — Sky added €3.50 to standard broadband prices in April 2026 but ring-fences the offer price for the offer term; Eir has published a flat €4 every April from 2027 that hits in-contract customers too.
We score Sky 8.8 and Eir 8.3, and the gap is commercial, not technical — both now carry a thereafter that should send you shopping at month 11. Pick Sky if both can take the order. Pick Eir if the Eircode checker shows Open Eir copper or FTTC and nothing else, or if Eir TV is the bundle you want. Either way, the physical switch between these two is the easiest one in Irish broadband — same socket, no engineer, number kept. Ranking: best broadband for Ireland. Eircode first: check broadband by Eircode.
Quick comparison
Side by side from published August 2026 prices and contract terms — the same data behind our best-broadband ranking. Green highlights the better figure on that row. Speeds are advertised headlines, not lab results we invented. Availability is always by Eircode.
| Sky | Eir | |
|---|---|---|
| Our score | 8.8 | 8.3 |
| Intro from | €30 | €34.99 |
| Thereafter from | €67.50 | €75.99 |
| Headline speed | 500 Mb | 500 Mb |
| Annual rise | Yes | Yes |
| Networks | Open Eir FTTH, Open Eir FTTC, SIRO, NBI | Open Eir FTTH, Open Eir FTTC, NBI, 5G home |
| TV bundle | Yes | Yes |
Sky’s €30 vs Eir’s €34.99 — and the €8.49 gap that stays open in month 13
Month one is a €5 argument: Sky’s 500 Mb Ultrafast Plus at €30 against Eir’s 500 Mb at €34.99. Month 13 keeps the same winner with uglier numbers. Sky lands at €67.50; Eir lands at €75.99. That is €8.49 a month between two bills for the same Open Eir fibre — both of them bills you should not be paying. Over a 24-month stay — 12 at intro, 12 at thereafter — Sky’s 500 Mb works out at €1,170 and Eir’s around €1,332, before a single April letter; Sky’s flat-€35 24-month plan is €840. Value scores reflect it: Sky 8.6, Eir 7.0.
The gig tier is where Eir’s structure bites hardest. Eir’s 1 Gb at €39.99 is a 24-month product that lands at €85.99 — and the 12-month version carries a €149.99 installation fee. Sky’s 1 Gb Ultrafast Max is €40 on 12 months, then €70. Same socket, same €40, but Sky lets you leave a year earlier and charges €16 less when you stay. On 5 Gb — only where the Open Eir cabinet has been upgraded — Sky is €55→€90 and Eir is €49.99→€89.99 on 24 months. Eir wins the sticker; the landing is a wash. Neither charges a setup fee on these plans. Cheapest intros across every retailer: cheapest broadband in Ireland.
Same ONT on the wall — Sky also sells SIRO, which Eir does not
On an Open Eir street, the white ONT box an Open Eir engineer screwed to the wall stays exactly where it is whether the bill says Sky or Eir. Open Eir is a wholesale arm; it installs and repairs for around 30 retailers, its own parent included. That is why ownership is a weak argument for paying Eir more: the fault engineer who turns up for a Sky customer works for Open Eir too. The only thing Eir-branded on a Sky line is the fibre in the duct.
Where the two genuinely diverge is the SIRO map. Sky retails SIRO (symmetrical fibre on the ESB poles) and NBI (the National Broadband Plan). Eir retails NBI too (eir.ie/nbi) and adds 5G home, but it does not sell SIRO. So an estate where the checker shows both SIRO and Open Eir gives Sky two ways to connect you and Eir one. If Open Eir at your address is FTTC, Sky may be able to put you on SIRO full fibre instead; Eir cannot. Network primer: Open Eir vs SIRO vs NBI vs Virgin. The two fibres compared: SIRO vs Open Eir.
Identical 500/100 fibre — the real difference is the router in the box
Do not expect a speed winner on Open Eir FTTH. Both advertise 500 Mb down; the wholesale profile is the same line. Sky lists 500 Mb and 1 Gb at 100 Mb upload; Eir lists 500 Mb at 500/100 and 1 Gb at 1000/200. Speed scores are close — Sky 8.8, Eir 8.5 — and the gap is product mix, not a Dublin test bench. Sky’s SIRO option is what lifts it: SIRO is built symmetrical, even though Sky’s own ads still quote 100 Mb up.
What you will actually notice is Wi-Fi. Eir ships the F3000 (a Sagemcom fibre box with four gigabit ports and dual-band Wi-Fi) on 500 Mb and 1 Gb, with Wi-Fi 6 mesh hubs as add-ons and a Wi-Fi 7 hub on the 5 Gb tier. Sky ships its standard Sky Hub on 500 Mb and the Gigafast+ Hub — Wi-Fi 7, gigabit ports, eight antennas — on 1 Gb and 5 Gb, with Sky Max Pods for dead zones. Both routers are loaned, not yours, and both must go back on cancellation. Either way, the FTTC warning applies: if the Eircode is fibre-to-the-cabinet, you get copper on the last stretch and roughly 100 Mb regardless of logo. Explainer: FTTH vs FTTC vs cable. Wi-Fi fixes: Wi-Fi dead zones.
12 months and a ring-fenced offer vs 24 months and an in-contract €4
Contract is close on the scorecard: Sky 7.0, Eir 6.2. Term first. Sky’s 500 Mb, 1 Gb and 5 Gb are all 12-month minimums (the 24-month 500 Mb variant holds a flat €35 for the whole term — worth it if you know you will stay two years). Eir’s 500 Mb is 12 months, but its 1 Gb and 5 Gb are 24 months. A 24-month Eir gig signed in August 2026 is still in term in April 2027 and April 2028 — two price letters before you are free.
Then the April mechanics. Eir has published a flat €4 rise every April from 2027, applied to in-contract customers, with a Contract Change Notification roughly a month ahead that can open a penalty-free exit. Sky moved its standard broadband prices up by €3.50 in April 2026 but stated that a new customer’s offer price is untouched for the duration of the offer — so a 12-month Sky intro rides out one April unscathed, and the rise only matters once you are on thereafter. That is the cleanest contract difference on this page: Eir’s hike reaches inside the deal, Sky’s waits outside it. Neither is Pure Telecom; both expect you to leave or renegotiate. Letters and exits: April price rises. Leaving early: early termination fees.
Eir’s copper tail vs Sky’s three fibre maps
Eir takes this one, and it is the honest reason to sign with it. Coverage score: Eir 9.6, Sky 8.6. Owning Open Eir means Eir will sell on the last copper pair, the FTTC cabinet at the edge of the village, and the older exchange-only lines that other retailers quietly decline. Sky’s checker is fussier: on a marginal Open Eir line it can simply say no, while Eir says yes at €34.99.
Flip the map and Sky covers more good fibre. Open Eir FTTH where both sell; SIRO in the towns on the ESB poles; NBI on the rural rollout as it passes — which both now retail. A SIRO-only new estate is a Sky address and not an Eir one. So the rule is: if the checker shows only Open Eir copper or FTTC, Eir is your realistic wired option; if it shows any full fibre at all, Sky is probably cheaper on it. Rural round-up: best rural broadband. NBI timing: when is NBI coming.
The sports household vs the one-bill incumbent: the TV decision
TV is where most people actually choose between these two, so price it properly. Sky Stream is a Wi-Fi box over the broadband: Sky Essential TV is €18 for 12 months then €31, Sky Ultimate TV €27 then €41, both with Netflix Basic; Sky Sports is a €45 add-on at standard price. Sky Glass is a bought telly (from €699 for 43 in) on credit. Bundled with 500 Mb, Sky’s broadband-plus-TV intros sit in the mid-€40s to mid-€50s, with a far higher standard price afterwards. If Sky Sports, Premier Sports or the Premier League every weekend is the point of the house, Sky is the cheaper way to get it with broadband — and GAAGO works on either line.
Eir TV is a broadband add-on on its own streaming box: around €49.98 for 500 Mb plus 100-odd channels, rising to about €90.98 after the promo, with a €9.99 activation fee, multiroom at €9.99 a room, and sport via NOW Sports at about €39 a month once the intro ends. It is fine telly for a household that wants RTÉ, Sky Atlantic-free entertainment and kids’ channels on one bill. It is not a sports package. If you would never buy Sky’s TV, ignore it and compare broadband-only; if you would, Sky wins this section before Eir starts. Bundles compared: broadband and TV bundles. Streaming only: best broadband for streaming.
Switcher.ie awards vs the incumbent queue — and how the Sky↔Eir switch actually works
Service score: Sky 9.0, Eir 7.2. Sky took Switcher.ie’s 2026 provider, value and customer-service awards; Eir has spent a decade near the top of the CCPC’s most-complained-about list and sat in its top five again for 2025, alongside Sky. ComReg’s Q1 2026 average was 11 complaints per 100,000 fixed broadband lines, and Eir’s 28% of lines means the sheer volume of tickets is bigger than anyone else’s. On the same Open Eir fault, the engineer is Open Eir’s either way; the difference is how long you wait on hold to get him booked.
The switch itself is the easy part, because it is a retailer change on one socket. Give the new provider your UAN (on the bill) and, if you have one, the landline number you want to keep; the gaining provider runs the move under ComReg’s rules, the old contract ends when the new service starts, and you should never be offline more than one working day — with compensation due if you are. No engineer usually: the ONT stays, the old router goes back in the post, the new one plugs into the same Ethernet port. Moving Sky to SIRO or NBI is a different network and a real install. Walk-through: how to switch broadband. Landline question: do I need a landline.
Which should you choose?
It comes down to the line at the house, then the bill. Here’s the quick way to decide.
Choose Sky if
Open Eir FTTH, SIRO or NBI is at the Eircode and you want the cheapest 12-month 500 Mb bill on the board (€30). You would rather a 12-month term and €67.50 thereafter than Eir’s 24-month gig and €85.99 — or you will take Sky’s flat €35 on 24 months. Sky Stream, Sky Sports or Premier Sports on one bill is a bonus, not the reason. You will diary month 11 and either renegotiate or hop to the next retailer on the same socket.
Check Sky →
Choose Eir if
The checker shows Open Eir copper or FTTC and no SIRO, NBI or Virgin — Eir is the only retailer that will reliably connect that line, and Sky may decline the address. You want Eir TV’s 100-plus channels on the broadband bill and would not buy Sky’s telly anyway. You already have Eir mobile and a single-bill discount actually nets out after modelling €75.99 plus €4 a year from April 2027.
Check Eir →Advertiser disclosure: we earn a commission when you buy through links on this page. This never affects our scores or the winner of each round.
