Best Airtel Tariff Plan for Calls in Nigeria (2026)
Airtel now has two prepaid call plans: SmartTALK at 25k/sec flat and SmartLife at 33k/sec with free minutes. TalkMore bundles cut a call to ₦10 a minute.
For most people the pick is SmartTALK. It charges one rate to every network with no daily fee, and there is nothing to keep count of. If you are on the phone every day, buy a TalkMore bundle on top and each minute costs a third less.
That is a shorter list than this page had in 2018, when it compared Smart Premier, Smart Trybe, Smart Value and a Value plan at 11 or 15 kobo a second. None of the four is on Airtel’s website now. The rates and codes below are the ones on Airtel Nigeria’s own pages.
Airtel call plans compared
| Plan | What it is | Calls to all networks | Per minute | What ₦100 buys | Code |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| SmartTALK | Tariff plan | 25k/sec | ₦15 | 6 min 40 sec | *414*1# |
| SmartLife | Tariff plan | 33k/sec, with 3 free minutes for every 6 paid | ₦19.80, or ₦13.20 if every free minute is used | 5 min 3 sec, before any free minutes | *414*2# |
| TalkMore | Call bundle | 16.66k/sec | ₦10 | 10 min, valid for one day | *234*1# |
| Flexi | Calls, data and SMS bundle | Minutes sold together with data | Not sold by the minute | Starts at ₦500 | *234*2# |
SmartTALK and SmartLife are tariff plans. Your line sits on one of them, and every call paid for from your airtime is charged at its rate. TalkMore and Flexi are bundles you buy on top of whichever plan you are on. On both plans a text is ₦6, data with no bundle is ₦4.60 per MB, there is no access fee, and calls abroad are charged at Airtel’s standard international rates.
SmartTALK: the flat rate
SmartTALK is 25 kobo a second to any Nigerian network, which is ₦15 a minute. A ₦1,000 recharge is 66 minutes 40 seconds of calls. That is the whole plan, and the lack of small print is the reason to choose it.
New Airtel customers get a recharge bonus for 180 days: 400% for the first 90 days (100% for calls and 300% for data), then 300% for data only. It is smaller than it sounds, because bonus calls are charged at ₦50 a minute and bonus data at ₦20 per MB. On a ₦1,000 recharge the 400% comes to 20 minutes and 150MB. Airtel says existing SmartTALK customers do not qualify.
SmartTALK is the plan closest to the old Smart Value, and our page on the Airtel Smart Value plan goes through it in more detail.
SmartLife: free minutes back
SmartLife charges more, 33 kobo a second or ₦19.80 a minute, and gives 3 free minutes for every 6 minutes of paid local calls. Airtel’s terms count the 6 minutes within a week, Monday to Sunday, and the free minutes expire after 48 hours.
Six paid minutes cost ₦118.80. Use all 3 free minutes and you have had 9 minutes at ₦13.20 each, which beats SmartTALK by ₦1.80. Use 2 and it is ₦14.85 a minute, about level with SmartTALK. Use 1 or none and you have paid more than SmartTALK would have charged. The full sums are on our page about the Airtel Smart Premier plan, which SmartLife most resembles.
New customers on SmartLife get a one-off ₦1,000 welcome bonus, which Airtel breaks down as 16 minutes of calls and 200MB, and a 100% data bonus on selected plans for 90 days.
TalkMore bundles
The cheapest minute Airtel sells is in a TalkMore bundle. Every size works out at ₦10 a minute for calls to all Nigerian networks.
| Bundle | Price | Minutes | Valid for |
|---|---|---|---|
| TalkMore 100 | ₦100 | 10 | 1 day |
| TalkMore 200 | ₦200 | 20 | 3 days |
| TalkMore 300 | ₦300 | 30 | 5 days |
| TalkMore 500 | ₦500 | 50 | 7 days |
| TalkMore 1000 | ₦1,000 | 100 | 14 days |
| TalkMore 1500 | ₦1,500 | 150 | 30 days |
The bundles are open to every Airtel customer and cover calls only. Texts, data and international calls still come out of your airtime. Unused minutes roll over if you buy another TalkMore bundle before the current one expires. If you do not, they are gone, which is the one way a bundle loses to plain airtime: you need to use more than two-thirds of the minutes for it to beat SmartTALK.
Flexi bundles
Flexi puts minutes, data and 5 SMS in one payment.
| Bundle | Price | Minutes | Data | Valid for |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Flexi 500 | ₦500 | 10 | 400MB | 7 days |
| Flexi 1000 | ₦1,000 | 20 | 1.2GB | 7 days |
| Flexi 2000 | ₦2,000 | 40 | 2.5GB | 30 days |
| Flexi 5000 | ₦5,000 | 100 | 12GB | 30 days |
Compare each with Airtel’s ordinary data plan at the same price and the trade is plain. ₦5,000 on a monthly data plan is 13GB, so Flexi 5000 swaps 1GB for 100 minutes of calls, and those minutes would cost ₦1,500 on SmartTALK. ₦2,000 on a monthly plan is 3GB, so Flexi 2000 swaps 500MB for 40 minutes. If you would have made the calls anyway, both are a good exchange. One thing the ordinary plans have that Flexi’s page does not list is the 2GB of night-time YouTube data Airtel adds to them.
Which one should you pick?
Here is what 150 minutes of calls in a month costs each way.
| How you pay | The sum | Cost |
|---|---|---|
| TalkMore 1500 bundle | 150 minutes at ₦10 | ₦1,500 |
| SmartLife, every free minute used | 100 paid minutes at ₦19.80, 50 free | ₦1,980 |
| SmartTALK | 150 minutes at ₦15 | ₦2,250 |
| SmartLife, no free minutes used | 150 minutes at ₦19.80 | ₦2,970 |
- You call now and then and mostly use WhatsApp: SmartTALK. You pay the lowest plain rate and your airtime waits for you. Airtel keeps a prepaid line and its airtime alive as long as you call, text or recharge once every 90 days.
- You call every day: stay on SmartTALK and buy TalkMore. The ₦1,500 bundle is 5 minutes a day for a month.
- You make long calls several days a week: SmartLife can work, but only if the free minutes get used within their 48 hours. If you would rather not think about it, the bundle is cheaper anyway.
- You want calls and data in one payment: Flexi 2000 or Flexi 5000.
Migration codes and checking your plan
| What you want to do | Dial |
|---|---|
| Change tariff plan | *414#, then choose |
| Go straight to SmartTALK | *414*1# |
| Go straight to SmartLife | *414*2# |
| See which plan you are on | *121#, then “Manage my account”, then “My tariff plan” |
| Buy a TalkMore bundle | *234*1# |
| Buy a Flexi bundle | *234*2# |
| Check a bundle balance | *234*8# |
| Check airtime | *310# |
| Check bonuses and free minutes | *310*1# |
Check your plan before you assume anything. Airtel’s SmartTALK page and its SmartLife page each call their plan the default, so a new SIM could start on either.
What happened to the old plans
Smart Premier (*318#), Smart Trybe (*312#) and Smart Value (*314#) are no longer on Airtel’s website, and the only one of those codes still on it is *312#, which now opens the data plans menu. Airtel’s pages do not say when the plans went or what became of lines that were on them. In July 2024 the Nigerian Communications Commission told mobile operators to simplify their tariff plans by the end of that year, and a list of two is about as simple as it gets.
If *121# still shows an old plan name on your line, call Airtel on 300 and ask what rate you are being charged before you move. Airtel’s site gives no code for going back. We have a page on what replaced each one: Smart Value, Smart Premier and Smart Trybe.
Quick answers
Which Airtel tariff plan is cheapest for calls?
Of the two tariff plans, SmartTALK, at 25 kobo a second (₦15 a minute) to all networks. A TalkMore bundle is cheaper still at ₦10 a minute, and it works on either plan.
What is the code to migrate to another Airtel tariff plan?
*414#. Choose SmartTALK or SmartLife from the menu, or dial *414*1# for SmartTALK and *414*2# for SmartLife.
How do I check my Airtel tariff plan?
Dial *121#, choose “Manage my account”, then “My tariff plan”.
Which Airtel plan is best for calls and data?
A Flexi bundle, bought with *234*2#. Flexi 2000 gives 40 minutes and 2.5GB for 30 days, and Flexi 5000 gives 100 minutes and 12GB.
Which Airtel plan is best for international calls?
Neither plan has a special rate. Both charge Airtel’s standard international rates, which depend on the country you are calling.
