What do prison calls cost, and how do you cut the bill?
The person inside pays for every call, out of wages of a few pounds a week. Work out what your calls cost, and see what the same calls would cost through a cheaper calls service.
These rules cover England and Wales. In Scotland or Northern Ireland? Start here.
How to save money on prison calls
Three changes cut most families' call bills, in order of how much they save:
1. Use a cheaper calls service
This is the big one, and it does not mean giving up your mobile. Prison calls to a landline number cost less than half the mobile rate: 2.48p a minute against 5.5p on a weekday. A cheaper calls service gives you a landline number that rings your normal mobile. They dial the landline number, your mobile rings, you answer as always. Same call, same phone, half the price. We wrote a full guide on how these services work and how to pick a good one. And if you have a real landline at home, that works too.
2. Save the long calls for the weekend
Weekend rates are cheaper: 3.6p against 5.5p to a mobile. Keeping weekday calls short and having the long catch-up on a Saturday stretches the same credit further.
3. Keep their credit topped up
Credit comes from their prison account. Wages inside are often £10 to £15 a week, and that same money has to cover the The weekly shop inside: toiletries, snacks, vapes, stamps and phone credit, ordered once a week from a list. too. A small regular amount through the free GOV.UK "Send money to someone in prison" service keeps the calls coming. When calls suddenly stop, empty credit is the most common reason, not trouble.
And use the free and cheap channels
- Letters. A stamp, and they get read again and again.
- Email a Prisoner. About 40p a message, printed and delivered inside, often next day.
- Video calls. Most prisons offer them booked in advance, free or cheap.
- Visits. If money is tight, help with travel costs exists: see can you get your visit travel paid?
Why the calls stop when money runs out
Prison calls are paid by the person inside, from phone credit, and nobody can ring them. So the phone bill lands on the person with the least money in the family. That is why the landline saving matters: it is the same conversation for less than half the cost, week after week, for years.
Common questions
How much do prison phone calls cost?
From April 2025, calls from prisons in England and Wales cost 5.5p a minute to mobiles on weekdays and 3.6p a minute at weekends. Calls to landlines are much cheaper: 2.48p a minute on weekdays and 2.2p at weekends. The prisoner pays, from their phone credit.
How can I make prison calls cheaper?
Three big ones. First, use a cheaper calls service: you keep your mobile, but the service gives you a landline number that rings it, so every call charges at less than half the rate. Second, weekend calls are cheaper than weekday calls. Third, keep their credit topped up through the free GOV.UK money service, so they are never buying credit in a panic. Letters, Email a Prisoner and free video calls fill the gaps.
Who pays for prison calls?
The person inside. Calls come out of their phone credit, which they top up from their prison account. That account is filled by prison wages (often under £15 a week) and money sent in by family. You cannot ring them, and they cannot ring you for free.
Why are calls to mobiles dearer than landlines?
The phone company charges more to connect calls to mobile networks. On a weekday, a mobile call costs more than double a landline call. Over a year of regular calls that gap becomes serious money.
How do prisoners top up phone credit?
They move money from their prison account onto their phone credit, usually through a weekly form or an in-cell kiosk. The money comes from wages and from what family send in through the free GOV.UK "Send money to someone in prison" service.
Can they still call me if I go abroad?
Yes. The prison rings the same UK number as always, so if that number is your UK landline or your UK mobile, the call still connects and reaches you wherever you are. Nothing changes on the prison side. The only thing to watch is that some UK mobiles charge you roaming fees to receive calls abroad. A cheaper calls service or a landline number, which forwards to you, avoids that: the prison call ends at a UK number and the forwarding is separate.