A 1300 number costs between $0 and $4,500+ upfront depending on the number type, plus a monthly access fee of $10–$35 and per-call charges that vary by call origin and forwarding destination. For most small to medium businesses, the all-in monthly cost sits between $35 and $150, though businesses with high mobile call volumes can pay significantly more without realising why.
This guide breaks down every cost component clearly so you can budget accurately and avoid the surprises that catch businesses off guard.
What Is a 1300 Number and Why Do Businesses Use One?
A 1300 number is a national inbound phone number that lets customers anywhere in Australia reach your business on a single, consistent number. Rather than being tied to a physical line, it operates as a virtual number — calls are routed through the telecommunications network and forwarded to wherever you designate: a mobile, a desk phone, a call centre, or a cloud phone system. You can even split calls across multiple destinations based on time of day, the caller's state, or staff availability.
The practical appeal is straightforward. A business in Parramatta can present a national number on its website, and a customer calling from Cairns, Fremantle, or Hobart has no idea they are reaching a two-person office. That credibility effect is one reason 1300 numbers have become a standard tool for Australian businesses of every size, from sole traders through to enterprise operations with hundreds of staff.
Callers pay a standard local call rate from a landline, which on most bundled plans today effectively means they pay nothing extra. The business absorbs the remaining cost through a combination of monthly access fees and per-call charges.
The Three Components of 1300 Number Pricing
Understanding what you will actually pay requires separating 1300 number costs into three distinct components. Providers often bundle these together in marketing material, which obscures where your money is actually going.
1. Number Acquisition Cost
The first cost is acquiring the number itself. This is typically a one-off fee paid when you claim the number, and it varies enormously based on the type of number.
Standard random numbers — sequences like 1300 742 553 that carry no particular pattern — are available from most providers at no cost or for a nominal admin fee. These are allocated from a pool managed through the Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) and represent the most economical entry point. The majority of small and medium businesses operate on a standard number without any noticeable commercial disadvantage.
Smart numbers and phonewords are a different proposition entirely. A smart number is one with a memorable numeric pattern — 1300 111 222 or 1300 100 100, for example. A phoneword converts the dial pad into letters to spell a word or phrase, such as 1300 LAWYERS or 1300 CLEANER. These numbers are auctioned through ACMA's SmartNumbers marketplace, and desirable combinations attract significant demand. Prices typically start around $250 for lightly contested numbers and can exceed $4,500 for high-value phonewords in competitive categories like finance, legal, or real estate. Investing in the right phoneword can meaningfully improve advertising recall, but the acquisition cost needs to be weighed against realistic return on investment for your specific business.
2. Monthly Access Fee
Once you hold the number, you pay a recurring monthly fee to keep it active and connected to your routing configuration. This fee covers platform access, the call routing infrastructure, and whatever features your plan includes — things like interactive voice response (IVR) menus, time-based routing, state-based routing, call recording, live reporting dashboards, and integrations with CRM systems.
Entry-level plans with basic routing typically sit around $10–$15 per month. Mid-tier plans that include IVR, reporting, and more sophisticated routing logic generally range from $20–$35 per month. Some providers offer higher-tier plans for businesses that need advanced features like call queuing, wallboards, or API integrations, and these can reach $50–$80 per month or more. Understanding how inbound call routing works helps you decide which features are genuinely useful for your operation versus which ones you are paying for but never using.
3. Per-Call Charges
This is where most businesses encounter unexpected costs, and it is the component that deserves the most scrutiny before you commit to a provider or plan.
Calls to your 1300 number are charged to you based on two variables: where the call originates (landline or mobile), and where you forward it (landline or mobile). These two variables combine to create meaningfully different cost outcomes.
When a caller dials from a fixed landline and you forward the call to a fixed landline, the per-minute rate is typically the lowest available — often between $0.05 and $0.12 per minute. This is the cost scenario providers tend to use in their headline pricing examples.
When a caller dials from a mobile — which is how the majority of Australians make calls today — the origination cost is higher, and the charge to your account increases accordingly. Mobile-originated calls can cost $0.15 to $0.30 per minute depending on your plan and provider. If you are also forwarding that call to a mobile rather than a fixed phone, some providers apply an additional mobile termination charge on top. A busy business receiving mostly mobile-to-mobile traffic can find itself paying three to four times the headline rate shown in provider advertising.
Many providers offer included call packs or flagfall structures rather than pure per-minute billing, which can simplify budgeting for businesses with predictable call patterns. Volume-based pricing is also common — the per-minute rate decreases as monthly call volumes increase, which benefits businesses that grow their inbound call traffic over time.
Worked Cost Example: Two Business Scenarios
The table below illustrates how costs differ between a low-volume business and a moderate-volume business with a different call mix.
| Cost Component | Scenario A: Low Volume | Scenario B: Moderate Volume |
|---|---|---|
| Call volume | 50 calls/month | 200 calls/month |
| Average call duration | 3 minutes | 4 minutes |
| Call origin | Mostly landline (80%) | Mostly mobile (85%) |
| Forwarding destination | Office landline | Staff mobiles |
| Monthly access fee | $15 | $25 |
| Per-call charges (est.) | $18–$25 | $110–$160 |
| Estimated monthly total | $33–$40 | $135–$185 |
Scenario A represents a local service business — a plumber or accountant — who receives a modest number of enquiries and operates from a fixed office. Scenario B represents a business with distributed staff, a strong mobile advertising presence, and customers who predominantly call from smartphones. The gap between these two outcomes is large, and it is almost entirely driven by the mobile origination and mobile termination components.
Hidden Costs to Watch For
Beyond the three main components, a handful of additional charges can inflate your bill in ways that are not immediately obvious when you sign up.
Minimum call duration billing is common and frequently overlooked. Some providers charge a minimum of 30 or 60 seconds per call regardless of actual duration. If you receive a high proportion of short calls — someone checking your trading hours, for instance — you may be paying for significantly more call time than was actually used.
Contract lock-in periods vary widely. Some providers offer month-to-month flexibility, while others require 12 or 24-month commitments with early termination fees. This matters if your business is scaling quickly or if you decide to switch providers after trialling the service.
Configuration change fees appear on some plans. If your business needs to update call routing — adding a new staff member's mobile, changing after-hours forwarding, or setting up a new IVR option — some providers charge an administration fee per change. On a plan where routing flexibility is a key selling point, this can be a frustrating ongoing cost.
Some providers also charge a setup fee distinct from the number acquisition cost, covering provisioning and initial configuration. This is more common on older-style telco plans than on modern cloud-based platforms, but it is worth confirming before you commit.
How 1300 Number Costs Compare to 1800 Numbers
A common question when budgeting is whether a 1300 number or an 1800 number makes more commercial sense. The key difference comes down to who pays for the call.
With a 1300 number, the caller pays a local call rate from a landline (effectively nothing on most bundled plans), and the business absorbs the remaining cost. With an 1800 number, the call is entirely free to the caller — the business absorbs the full cost of every call regardless of origin. This makes 1800 numbers more caller-friendly, which is why they are often used by businesses where reducing friction for the customer is a commercial priority: helplines, complaint lines, health services, and large consumer-facing businesses.
The trade-off is that 1800 number per-call charges are meaningfully higher than equivalent 1300 charges because the business is picking up the full origination cost. For a high-volume operation receiving hundreds of calls per month, this difference is material. For most small to medium businesses, a 1300 number delivers the professional presence of a national number at a lower ongoing cost.
Is a 1300 Number Worth the Investment?
Framed purely as a cost, the monthly outlay for a 1300 number is modest. Framed as a return on investment question, the answer depends on what you are using it for.
For any business advertising nationally — through Google Ads, radio, print, or outdoor media — a single consistent national number is significantly easier to track, remember, and include in creative than a local number that signals geographical limitation. The ability to measure call conversions from specific campaigns is alone worth the monthly fee for businesses running paid advertising.
For multi-location businesses, a 1300 number solves a practical problem. A single advertised number can route callers to the nearest location, the least busy team, or a central reception depending on your routing rules. This removes the awkward experience of a customer calling the wrong branch and being transferred, and it gives your marketing a unified identity rather than a patchwork of location-specific numbers.
For professional services — lawyers, accountants, consultants, financial advisers — a 1300 number provides a clean boundary between professional and personal communications. Staff do not need to give out personal mobile numbers, calls are logged and can be recorded for compliance purposes, and the business retains control of client relationships even when a staff member leaves.
If you are choosing a number for a new business and want to understand how to pick one that will serve you long-term, the guide on how to choose the perfect 1300 number covers both practical and strategic considerations worth reviewing before you commit.
Frequently Asked Questions
Q: Is there a free 1300 number option in Australia?
A: Yes. Standard random 1300 numbers are available from most providers at no acquisition cost. You will still pay a monthly access fee (typically $10–$20) and per-call charges, but the number itself costs nothing upfront. Premium smart numbers and phonewords are the ones that carry a one-off purchase price.
Q: How much does a 1300 number cost per month on average?
A: For a small business with moderate call volumes — say 50 to 150 calls per month, with a mix of landline and mobile origination — expect an all-in monthly cost of $35 to $100. Higher-volume businesses or those with predominantly mobile-to-mobile call traffic will generally pay $150 or more per month.
Q: Can callers from mobiles reach my 1300 number?
A: Yes. Any Australian caller can reach a 1300 number from a mobile or a landline. However, callers on mobile plans may be charged by their carrier for the call (unlike a landline where local call rates apply), which is worth noting if your customer base is highly mobile-centric. If free calling for mobile users is a priority, an 1800 number removes this consideration entirely.
Q: What happens to my 1300 number if I change providers?
A: 1300 numbers are portable under Australian telecommunications regulations, meaning you can transfer your number to a new provider without losing it. The porting process typically takes a few business days. Check whether your current provider charges an exit or porting fee before initiating a transfer.
Q: Are 1300 numbers charged differently on different call plans?
A: Yes, and this is worth comparing carefully. Some plans charge per minute with a flagfall, some charge per call with a block of included minutes, and some offer a flat monthly fee covering a set volume of calls. The best structure for your business depends on your typical call duration and volume — a business with many short calls benefits from a different structure than one with long consultative calls.
Ready to Get Your 1300 Number?
Pickle provides 1300 numbers for Australian businesses with transparent pricing, no hidden fees, and flexible routing that grows with your business. Whether you need a standard number to get started quickly or a premium phoneword to power a national advertising campaign, the team can walk you through your options.
Call us on 1300 688 588 or email [email protected] to discuss which plan suits your call volumes and business goals.