Airtel 5G unlimited plans: what qualifies and what it costs

Airtel's rule, in place since mid-2024, is simple: prepaid plans with 2GB a day or more include unlimited 5G data. Three conditions apply: a 5G-capable phone, Airtel 5G coverage where you are, and fair use. Airtel treats more than 300GB in 30 days as commercial use.

The August 2026 changes moved the entry point up. The ₹299 plan, with 1.5GB a day, was replaced by ₹349 with 2GB a day, 100 SMS a day and unlimited calls for 28 days, about 16% more. Reported extras include Apple Music for six months and Adobe Express Premium. On the same day Airtel withdrew its ₹579, ₹619 and ₹649 plans, and the ₹859 plan became ₹899 (1.5GB a day for 84 days, which doesn't qualify for unlimited 5G).

If you mostly use Wi-Fi and need the SIM for calls and OTPs, you don't need a data-heavy plan. The cheapest unlimited-calling plan with service validity reported in August 2026 is ₹199 for 28 days with 2GB of data in total and 100 SMS a day.

Since TRAI's December 2024 amendment to its consumer protection rules, operators must offer at least one plan with only voice and SMS, valid for up to 365 days. Airtel's are ₹469 for 84 days and ₹1,849 for 365 days. They are the answer to "Airtel unlimited calling plan without data". Spread over a year, the 365-day plan costs about ₹142 per 28 days.

Airtel doesn't publish a separate incoming-only plan that we could verify. The safe way to keep receiving calls is to keep any validity plan active.

Long plans cost less per month, and dropping data cuts the price further. The chart converts each plan to a 28-day cost so you can compare them directly.

Most unlimited plans include 100 SMS a day, and voice-only plans come with an SMS allowance too. If you send more, Airtel sells SMS packs and small add-on vouchers in the Airtel Thanks app. Their prices and benefits, including low-value packs people search for by price, change often, so read the details in the plan list instead of relying on older lists.

Airtel's family option is on postpaid, where add-on connections share one bill. We haven't covered its prices here because we couldn't verify the current list. If your family is on prepaid, separate ₹349 plans give each person their own 2GB a day and unlimited 5G.

No industry-wide tariff hike has been confirmed for 2026. Some analysts have forecast a 12–15% rise for October to December 2026, but that is a forecast. If a hike lands, a long-validity plan bought earlier keeps its price until it expires.