EU roaming has made travelling much easier and cheaper. At least within the EU and Liechtenstein, Norway and Iceland. Unfortunately, Switzerland is not one of these countries and here you still have to reckon with hefty roaming fees if you want to surf the Internet with your smartphone. A second eSIM with a suitable plan for little money can help here.
Our comparison is aimed at travellers who visit Switzerland and do not want to stay there permanently. That’s why we have left out offers from the Swiss network operators that are usually only available as a monthly subscription.
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How It Works
An eSIM is a digital SIM card that can be loaded directly onto a compatible device without the need for a physical SIM card. This type of SIM card is particularly convenient for travellers because it is easy and quick to buy and activate online without having to worry about a physical SIM card.
You will find numerous providers of eSIM plans on the Internet. With most of them, you buy a one-off prepaid plan for a certain number of days and data volume. After expiry, there are no further costs and you do not need a subscription.
Unfortunately, not all smartphones support an eSIM. You have good odds with an iPhone 11 / 12 / 13, but also with an Android smartphone, e.g. Google Pixel 2 / 3 / 4 / 5 / 6 or Samsung Galaxy S20, S21, or Note 20. You can find a list of smartphones that support eSIM here: Which devices support an eSIM?
If your Android smartphone does not support eSIM profiles, eSIM.me is a physical SIM card that you can use with eSIM profiles.
Most eSIM providers only offer data volume and no free minutes. Since these are also prepaid plans, outgoing calls are generally not supported. With some smartphones, e.g. iPhones, you can still be reached via your normal SIM card and make calls.
Plans for Switzerland Compared
In our eSIM comparison, you can easily find the right and cheapest plan. Simply select the (travel) duration and the required data volume:
Cheapest Provider
In our selected combinations, Airalo and Maya Mobile are the cheapest providers for most of them. In our large eSIM comparison, Airalo is often the cheapest provider and therefore a good choice if you don’t want to hunt for the cheapest eSIM plan every time.
Nevertheless, one should also take a look at BNESIM. The data volume has no expiry date there (if you select One Time) and is valid for all of Europe (search for Europe under regional plans). In the monthly subscription (you can cancel at any time, but unused data volume expires) you get 1 GB for €2.41 or 3 GB for €7 and therefore theoretically pay less than with Airalo.
| Providers | 1GB for 7 days | 3GB for 7 days | 2GB for 14 days | 3GB for 30 days |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| eSIM4Travel | 30 days | 3GB 30 days | ||
| Monty eSIM | 30 days | 3GB 30 days | ||
| Manet.travel | €2 | €4 30 days | €4 15 days | €4 |
| iFree Mogo | 15 days | 30 days | 3GB 30 days | |
| Mobimatter | 14 days | 30 days | 15 days | |
| BNESIM | €2 | €6 | €6 3GB | €6 |
| ETravelSim | 30 days | 4GB 30 days | 30 days | 4GB |
| Instabridge | 15 days | 3GB 15 days | 10GB | |
| Airhub | 2GB | 15 days | 3GB 15 days | |
| Textr | 30 days | 3GB 30 days | ||
| Ubigi | 3GB 30 days | 30 days | 3GB 30 days | |
| Saily | 30 days | 3GB 30 days | ||
| Maya Mobile | 30 days | 30 days | 3GB 30 days | |
| Airalo | 30 days | 15 days | ||
| Flexiroam | 30 days | 15 days | ||
| Jetpac | 30 days | 30 days | 3GB 30 days | |
| RedteaGO | 30 days | 5GB 30 days | 5GB 30 days | 5GB |
| Yesim | €4 | €9 | €9 | €13 |
| Nomad | 30 days | 3GB 30 days | ||
| eSimple | 3GB | 10GB 30 days | 10GB | |
| RedBull Mobile | €5 30 days | €15 30 days | €10 30 days | €15 |
| Gigsky | 5GB 30 days | 5GB 30 days | 5GB | |
| SimOptions | 15 days | 3GB 15 days | ||
| MTX Connect | €5 2GB | €25 4GB 14 days | €24 | €30 10GB |
| Knowroaming | 15 days | 5GB 30 days | 5GB 30 days | 5GB |
| Holafly |
Unlimited Data
If you don’t want to worry about data, Holafly and Airhub offer plans with unlimited data. Holafly charges €34 for 10, €47 for 15 or €69 for 30 days, but it’s not a bargain. Airhub is cheaper with US$25 (~€23) for 10, US$32 (~€30) for 15 or US$42 (~€39) for 30 days.
If you stay longer in Switzerland, you can also take a look at the eSIM from Digital Republic. For CHF 10 (~€10) per month there is Flat 10 with unlimited data volume. However, with a maximum speed limit of 10 Mbits for downloading and 5 Mbits for uploading. The Flat 300 with 300 / 150 Mbits costs CHF 30 (~€31). For an additional CHF 10 (~€10) you also get unlimited calls and messaging within Switzerland.
The subscription is automatically renewed monthly. However, you can pause or cancel it at any time. After registering, you have to verify yourself once with your ID card or passport.
Pay What You Need
If you don’t yet know exactly how much data you’ll need, you can also use MTX Connect and Surfroam to charge according to usage. You load the eSIM with credit beforehand, e.g. €10 and can then use the credit. At 1.2 euro cents per MB, MTX Connect is significantly cheaper than 2 euro cents that Surfroam charges.
In addition, MTX offers a free chat option with which you can chat via WhatsApp, Telegram, etc. 7 days after activating the eSIM and 15 days after each top-up.
Data that Doesn’t Expire
Anyone who travels to Switzerland regularly can buy data volume via BNESIM without an expiration date. This is a bit more expensive than other providers with an expiry date, but it can be used very flexibly. If you use the data sparingly, you can enjoy it for a long time.
For all of Europe
Most eSIM providers not only offer plans for individual regions but also for the whole of Europe, including Switzerland, which are only slightly more expensive. However, this is only really useful if you do not already have a European mobile phone plan, which you can use throughout the EU as well as Norway, Liechtenstein and Iceland thanks to EU roaming. At Airalo, the Europe plan costs US$5 (~€5), giving you 1 GB for 7 days. 3 GB for 30 days costs US$13 (~€12).
Network Coverage
In principle, the three major network operators Swisscom, Sunrise and Salt all offer very good network coverage in Switzerland. You don’t have to worry too much about the right network here.
Conclusion
EU roaming has become so perfectly integrated into everyday travel that hardly anyone is aware of the roaming cost trap in Switzerland. But with the right eSIM-enabled smartphone and a plan for just a few euros, you can still surf the web in Switzerland.
Comment (1)
Really expensive. Luckily, UK providers cover Switzerland as part or EU roaming, not all of them but it works ( Three, 02).