Data cost calculator
9,8 GB
At R33 per GB that costs about R321 a month.
Add this to your costs in the viability calculator. If data is a big share of what you'd earn, look for work you can do mostly offline or on Wi-Fi.
Who it is for
It is for anyone working online on mobile data or a capped connection: virtual assistants, tutors, customer support agents, freelancers and people studying online. It helps you budget before you take on remote work, compare a bundle with a fibre or fixed wireless contract, and see which activities use most of your data.
How it works
For each activity, enter the hours you spend on it in a typical week. Video and voice calls use Zoom's published bandwidth recommendations, converted to megabytes per hour (upload plus download).
Streaming uses Netflix's published data per hour for each quality setting. For anything else, like WhatsApp or browsing, enter your own figure from your phone's data usage screen.
Then enter the price and size of the bundle you buy. Only count Anytime data: night-only data is not available during working hours.
The calculator multiplies weekly use by 52 weeks over 12 months to get a monthly figure, then works out the cost at your price per GB.
Worked example
A virtual assistant has 3 hours of group video calls a week (about 720 MB an hour on Zoom's numbers) and 2 hours of voice calls (about 72 MB an hour).
That adds up to about 9.8 GB a month. On a bundle of 10GB for R329, data costs about R321 a month.
Turning video off when it is not needed would cut that by more than half.
Tips before you rely on it
- Turn off video when you do not need it. Audio-only calls use a small fraction of the data.
- Download training videos and big files on Wi-Fi or at night if your bundle has cheap night data.
- Check your phone's data usage screen after a normal work day. It is more accurate than any estimate.
- Set background app updates and cloud backups to Wi-Fi only so they do not eat your work data.
Not sure what to try yet?
The free test takes about 6 minutes. It matches ways to earn, from freelancing to selling and local services, to your skills, time, data and budget, and shows you what to try first.
Take the free testQuestions people ask
How much data does a Zoom call use?
Zoom recommends about 1.0 Mbps down and 0.6 Mbps up for a high-quality group call. If you use all of that for an hour, it is roughly 720 MB. Real use is often lower.
How much data does Netflix or YouTube use?
Netflix says up to 0.3 GB an hour on Low and 0.7 GB on Medium. For other apps, check your phone's data usage screen after an hour of normal use.
Why only Anytime data?
Night Express or night-only data works only in the early hours, so it does not help during a working day.
Should I get fibre instead?
If your monthly data cost is close to the price of an uncapped line where you live, a fixed line is usually cheaper and more reliable for video work.
Does WhatsApp use a lot of data?
Messages use very little. Voice notes, photos and especially video calls use much more. Check your phone's data screen for real numbers.
Sources
- Zoom: system requirements, bandwidth for meetings (checked 24 October 2026)
- Netflix Help Center: how to control how much data Netflix uses (checked 24 October 2026)
- MTN: consumer contract price adjustments effective 1 February 2026 (SuperFlex) (checked 24 October 2026)
- MTN: My MTNChoice Data terms, prices from 1 February 2026 (checked 24 October 2026)
We update fees and rates when providers change them. If you spot one that is out of date, tell us.
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Earn Path is not a financial services provider and does not give financial advice. This tool gives estimates for your own planning.