Short answer
Vodafone X is not on sale to new customers in August 2026. Open the Vodafone pay-as-you-go shop as a new customer and you get three plans: Data Unlimited 5G at €20, Chat Extra at €20 and Extra Unlimited 5G at €30. No X, no X 5G, no under-26 tab. The old youth microsite, vodafonex.ie, now bounces straight to that same page.
If you already hold a Vodafone X SIM, the offer still renews when you top up €20 (or €25 for X 5G) in one go every 28 days. Vodafone still names both plans in its Auto Top Up guidance. Nothing has been switched off for existing customers that we can see.
If you are under 26 and shopping fresh, do not chase it. The two plans that beat what X used to be are Clear Mobile at €12.99 on the same Vodafone masts, and 48 Student 100 GB at €10.99 if you have a college email. Both are rolling monthly. Both cost less than X did.
What Vodafone X actually was
Vodafone X launched in March 2017 as Vodafone Ireland's youth prepay brand. The pitch was simple: top up €20, get unlimited data for 28 days, plus Spotify or cinema freebies and, later, a "Discover You" platform with free studio space and online courses for 16 to 25 year olds. It spawned a boards.ie thread that ran past 1,800 posts, which tells you how much of the Irish prepay market sat on it.
The last published Vodafone pay-as-you-go pricing sheet (October 2024) is the clearest record of the two plans:
| Plan | Top-up | Data | Calls | Texts | EU roaming |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Vodafone X | €20 every 28 days | Unlimited, capped at 10 Mbps | 100 any-network mins, unlimited 3pm Fri to 11.59pm Sun | 10,000 any-network | Home allowance + 40 GB data |
| Vodafone X 5G | €25 every 28 days | Unlimited 5G, fastest available | 100 any-network mins, unlimited 3pm Fri to 11.59pm Sun | 10,000 any-network | Home allowance + 40 GB data |
Three things defined it. The 10 Mbps cap on the €20 plan, which was fine for Instagram and grim for a hotspot. The weekday minute cap of 100, which pushed everyone onto WhatsApp calls. And the weekend minutes, which were the only genuinely generous voice allowance on a €20 Irish prepay at the time.
On age: the marketing said young people, the Discover You terms said 16 to 25, but the plan was a text-to-opt-in top-up offer with no age check printed in the pricing sheet. That is why the boards thread is full of people well past 25 on it.
How it ended
There was no press release. Vodafone X was quietly dropped from the new-customer range during Vodafone's move to its new vodafone.ie shop in the second half of 2025. The evidence, in order:
- Wayback Machine. vodafonex.ie was last captured as a working site in July 2025. It now serves a one-line redirect to the pay-as-you-go page.
- Christmas 2025 offer terms. Vodafone's November 2025 to January 2026 prepay offers name the "Qualifying Plans" as Data Unlimited 5G, Extra Unlimited 5G and Chat Extra. X is not in the list.
- The live shop, August 2026. The new-customer journey shows the same three plans. X and X 5G still exist as product codes in Vodafone's catalogue and in the Auto Top Up FAQ, which is what you would expect for a plan kept alive for its existing base only.
Commercially it makes sense. Data Unlimited 5G at €20 already gave new customers uncapped 5G data for the same money as the 10 Mbps X plan. Keeping a youth brand with a lower data spec but better minutes was just a second €20 product to explain. Vodafone also has Clear Mobile as its budget fighter on the same radio, and Clear undercuts X by €7 a month.
Still on Vodafone X? What happens next
Your offer keeps renewing. Vodafone's Auto Top Up guidance, live in August 2026, says a customer "on the Data Unlimited 5G, Chat Extra, Smart Extra or Vodafone X Pay as you go plans" needs €20 or more in one transaction every 28 days, and X 5G needs €25. Set Auto Top Up to land a day before the reset and you stay exactly where you are.
Three practical warnings from former X customers:
- Top up the exact offer amount in one go. Two €10 top-ups do not activate the plan. The €20 is consumed by the offer, so your balance shows €0.00 afterwards. That is normal, not a billing error.
- Do not let it lapse. Typically, once you fall off a legacy offer you can only opt back into plans currently on sale. Those are the three below, and none has weekend minutes.
- Do not upgrade to X 5G expecting to keep it forever. It is also legacy. If you want uncapped 5G on Vodafone masts and you are willing to change anyway, Clear at €12.99 is the cheaper move, not a €5 step-up.
What Vodafone sells a new prepay customer now
All three are 28-day top-up offers, and the port-in promotion is a free second top-up until 30 September 2026. Prices from our Vodafone review catalogue:
| Plan | Top-up | Data | 5G | EU roaming | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Data Unlimited 5G | €20 / 28 days | Unlimited | Yes | 45 GB EU roaming | Unlimited Vodafone-to-Vodafone calls and texts, 100 any-network minutes and texts, 100 international minutes |
| Chat Extra | €20 / 28 days | 10 GB | No | Home allowance usable in the EU | 4G only. Data rollover on unused GB |
| Extra Unlimited 5G | €30 / 28 days | Unlimited | Yes | 45 GB EU roaming | 100 international minutes |
Against the old X plan: Data Unlimited 5G wins on data (no 10 Mbps cap, 5G included) and on roaming (45 GB vs 40 GB), and loses on voice. Unlimited minutes are Vodafone-to-Vodafone only, with 100 any-network minutes and no weekend bonus. Extra Unlimited 5G fixes the minutes but costs €30, which is more than double Clear. Chat Extra is a 10 GB 4G plan for people who call more than they scroll.
Year-one cash on a 28-day cycle is 13 top-ups, not 12. Data Unlimited 5G is €260 a year before the free port-in top-up. Keep that number in mind for the next table.
Best under-26 alternatives, August 2026
Ranked for the person who was going to buy Vodafone X: wants unlimited or near-unlimited data, does not want a 12-month contract, and is price-sensitive. Radio matters more than brand, so the host network is in the table.
| Plan | Price | Data | Network | Term | EU roaming | Year one |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Clear Mobile Unlimited 5G Same Vodafone masts as X. Unlimited 5G, rolling monthly, first month free. | €12.99 + €12.99 fee | Unlimited 5G | Vodafone network | Rolling monthly | 23 GB EU/UK roaming | €156 |
| 48 Student 100 GB Cheapest plan with a real student gate. 4G, college email required. | €10.99 | 100 GB 4G | Three network | Rolling monthly | 17 GB EU/UK roaming | €132 |
| 48 Unlimited 5G The unlimited 5G floor on Three radio. No student proof needed. | €12.99 | Unlimited 5G | Three network | Rolling monthly | 20 GB EU/UK roaming | €156 |
| GoMo GoMo Mobile Unlimited 5G on Eir radio at the same €12.99, plus a €12.99 activation fee. App-only. | €12.99 + €12.99 fee | Unlimited 5G | Eir network | Rolling monthly | 23 GB EU roaming | €169 |
| Sky Mobile 10 GB €10 on the same Vodafone masts as X, with Piggybank rollover. 12-month term. | €10 | 10 GB 5G | Vodafone network | 12 months | Free EU and UK roaming | €120 |
| Vodafone Data Unlimited 5G The nearest thing to X still on sale. Same €20, better data, worse minutes. | €20 | Unlimited 5G | Vodafone network | 28-day prepay | 45 GB EU roaming | €260 |
Three notes on the numbers. Clear's year-one figure includes the €12.99 activation fee and the free first month, which cancel each other, so €156 is the real first-year outlay. GoMo's includes the same €12.99 fee with no free month, so its €169 is the real figure. 48 Student is 4G only; that is the trade for being the cheapest line on the page.
Which one to pick
You liked X because Vodafone coverage works where you live
Clear Mobile. Same masts, unlimited 5G with no 10 Mbps cap, unlimited any-network calls instead of 100 weekday minutes, 23 GB EU roaming, €12.99 rolling. It is Vodafone's own MVNO, so the "are MVNOs throttled" question is answered by the owner. The service reputation is better than the parent's, which is the reason we score Clear 9.2 and Vodafone 8.5. Head-to-head with the Three option is in 48 vs Clear.
You are in college and every euro counts
48 Student 100 GB at €10.99. It needs a college email, it is 4G, and 100 GB is more than almost any student burns in a month. If you are a heavy hotspot user or your campus has dead Three coverage, go to 48 Unlimited 5G at €12.99 instead. Full student ranking: best mobile for students.
You want Vodafone branding on the bill
Data Unlimited 5G at €20. It is the only current Vodafone prepay that matches X on the unlimited promise, and it beats X on data quality. Accept that unlimited calls are Vodafone-to-Vodafone only. If you want the bill-pay route instead, Red Unlimited SIM Only 15 is €15 on a 12-month term; the trade-offs are in Vodafone prepay vs bill pay.
You want to keep 28-day prepay discipline
None of the €12.99 rolling SIMs are prepay in the strict sense; they bill monthly until you cancel. If a hard cap on spend is the point, Data Unlimited 5G is the best prepay in this price range on Vodafone radio. Cross-network prepay is ranked in best prepay in Ireland.
Whichever you choose, port the number rather than starting fresh. The steps are in how to switch mobile, and the no-lock-in list is at no-contract mobile.
