How much do prison calls cost?
Where the call lands sets the price. The person inside pays, and what they can spend each week is capped.
Checked against the published rates and spending limits.
The short answer
5.50p a minute to a mobile. 2.48p to a landline.
Weekday rates, England and Wales. About 55% less to a landline.
The same £10 of their credit buys
Weekday rates. Half an hour costs them 74p instead of £1.65.
The rates
What a call costs, by length.
Where the call lands sets the price. Who answers makes no difference.
| Call | To a mobile | To a landline |
|---|---|---|
| Weekday, per minute | 5.50p | 2.48p |
| Weekend, per minute | 3.60p | 2.20p |
| A 10-minute weekday call | £0.55 | £0.25 |
| A 30-minute weekday call | £1.65 | £0.74 |
| An hour, on a weekday | £3.30 | £1.49 |
For a whole week, we count 6 minutes in 10 at the weekday rate. That's our estimate. It makes a minute to a mobile about 4.66p, and to a landline about 2.36p.
The weekday rate runs from Monday to midday Friday. The weekend rate runs from midday Friday to the end of Sunday. Which rate they pay depends on when the wing lets them ring. When they can ring.
The part that catches people out
Sending more money doesn’t buy more calls.
Prisons cap what a person can spend each week. It's a limit on money, not minutes. Put more in and it waits in their account.
The cap depends on their incentive level: Basic, Standard or Enhanced. The prison sets it. On the Standard level the most is £21.75 a week.[7] A governor can set a lower limit. These limits can change.
Same cap. Same money. Twice the minutes. That's why the number they dial matters.
Questions
Common questions.
If yours isn’t here, ask us. A real person replies, same day.
How much does a phone call cost in jail in the UK?
It depends on the number they dial. These are the HMPPS rates for England and Wales. A call to a mobile costs 5.50p a minute on weekdays. It costs 3.60p at weekends. A call to a landline costs 2.48p on weekdays, less than half the mobile rate. It costs 2.20p at weekends. A half-hour weekday call to a mobile costs £1.65. The same call to a landline costs £0.74.
Is there a difference between jail calls and prison calls?
No. In England and Wales, jail and prison mean the same place. HMPPS sets the rates for all of them. A remand prison and a long-term one charge the same. A police cell is different. That's a matter of hours, not a phone account.
Who pays for a prison phone call?
The person inside pays from their own account. That holds money they earn inside and money family send in. So the cost often falls on the family, even though the family isn't billed.
Why are calls to a mobile more expensive than calls to a landline?
It costs phone companies more to send a call to a mobile. The prison price list passes that on. The rate is set by the type of number dialled. Who answers makes no difference.
Can I send more money so they can call more?
No, not past a point. Prisons cap what a person can spend each week. The cap depends on their incentive level. On the Standard level it is £21.75 a week. Once the cap is hit, more money waits in their account. The cap is on money, not minutes. The way to get more talk is a lower rate per minute.
How many minutes a week does someone in prison get?
There's no set number. There's a spending cap, and the minutes come out of it. On the Standard level the cap is £21.75 a week. If it all goes on calls, that buys about 466 minutes a week to a mobile. Or about 922 to a landline. That's our estimate: we count 6 minutes in 10 at the weekday rate.
Are prison calls free at any time?
Calls to family and friends aren't free. Each one is charged at the published rate, from their own account.
Check us
- Incentives policy framework. HM Prison and Probation Service / Ministry of Justice, current version. Read 30 August 2026. Sets the weekly spending limit for each incentive level. The figures on this site are the most allowed. A governor can set a lower limit, never a higher one. Read it yourself
How a call goes
They ring. You pick up. That’s it.
Evening They pick up the prison phone.
Straight away Your mobile rings. Like any call.
Half an hour in It's cost them 74p, not £1.65.HMPPS weekday rates
Tomorrow They ring again.
Put a landline in your pocket. Nothing in between.
£20 a month · No risk · Stop any time