These two turn up as each other’s main rival at a lot of South African addresses, especially in the Cape and the bigger metros. Vumatel is the national heavyweight; Frogfoot is the wide, dependable operator owned by Vox. If both reach you, here’s how to choose.
What they both are
Both are open-access networks — they own the fibre and sell it wholesale to ISPs, so you buy from an ISP (Afrihost, Webafrica, MWEB, Cool Ideas, Vox, RSAWEB) riding the line, not from the network itself. We cover each in full in the Vumatel guide and the Frogfoot guide.
Reach: scale vs a strong Cape spine
Vumatel is the biggest FTTH network in the country — roughly 2 million homes passed — and it’s densest across all the major metros, with a growing township footprint via Vuma Reach. Frogfoot is smaller but genuinely wide: it reaches all nine provinces, with its heartland in the Western Cape (Cape Town, Stellenbosch, Paarl, the Garden Route). If you’re in the Cape, there’s a strong chance both are options; elsewhere, Vumatel’s sheer density means it’s more often the one that’s live.
One Frogfoot quirk worth knowing: it offers Frogfoot Air, a Wi-Fi-first entry product for homes that want fibre-grade service without the full trench-and-ONT install. Vumatel has no direct equivalent. If you’re a renter or want a lighter setup, that can tip the scales.
Price and speed
Both run the full range from entry lines to gigabit, and because they largely share the same ISPs, prices sit close. A snapshot of the cheapest we track:
| Speed | Vumatel from | Frogfoot from |
|---|---|---|
| Entry (~20 Mbps) | R459 | R415 |
| ~100 Mbps | R895 (100/100) | R819 (120/60) |
| ~1 Gbps | R1 309 | R1 239 |
Frogfoot tends to edge it on headline price at several tiers, including a competitive gigabit line; Vumatel counters with symmetrical options and the widest ISP choice. The differences are small enough that the ISP you pick matters more than the network — compare them on your line. Confirm live prices before ordering.
The verdict
Pick Frogfoot if it’s live and you want sharp pricing or the Frogfoot Air option — it’s especially strong in the Cape. Pick Vumatel for the broadest metro coverage, symmetrical speeds and the most ISPs to shop. Realistically, most people don’t get to choose in the abstract — they take whichever is live and cheapest at their address. So start there.
Check your address to see whether Vumatel, Frogfoot, or both reach you — then compare every ISP on the line by real monthly price.