Enter your average daily activity.
Data & storage
Internet Data Usage Calculator
Estimate how many GB you use each month from hours online and how data-hungry your habits are, and see how you compare with your cap.
Short answer: monthly data equals hours online per day, times days, times the data you use per hour. Add your data cap in the box and the tool tells you whether you will make it to the end of the month.
Where does the data go?
Video is by far the biggest user. Browsing and social media are lighter, music and calls are lighter still. Here are rough hourly figures to put in the “data per hour” box:
- Browsing and email: 30 to 100 MB
- Social media with video: 150 to 300 MB
- Music streaming: 40 to 150 MB
- HD video: about 3 GB
- 4K video: about 7 GB
Example
Four hours a day for 30 days at 250 MB an hour comes to 30 GB a month. On a 100 GB allowance that is 30% used, with lots of room left. Increase the daily viewing to HD video and the same four hours becomes around 360 GB, which no ordinary mobile plan would cover.
Ways to cut your usage
- Lower video quality on mobile. HD to SD saves about 75%.
- Turn off auto-play and auto-download of videos.
- Download music and shows over Wi-Fi for offline use.
- Check which apps use data in your phone settings.
For video specifically, the Streaming Data Calculator gives a sharper number.
FAQ
Frequently asked questions about the Internet Data Usage Calculator
How much data do I use per month?
A light user is around 20 to 50 GB. A typical household with streaming is 200 to 500 GB, and a heavy household with 4K and gaming can pass 1 TB.
How many GB is 4 hours of internet a day?
It depends entirely on what you do. Browsing uses roughly 1 GB a day, HD video can use 12 GB in the same time.
What counts toward my data cap?
Everything that goes through your connection, both downloads and uploads, including updates and background app activity.
Does Wi-Fi at home count against my phone plan?
No. Only mobile data counts against a phone plan. Home Wi-Fi counts against your home broadband allowance, if it has one.
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Use this toolResults are estimates for planning. Last reviewed 2 October 2026.