Serbia SIM Card for Tourists: A1 and Yettel Prices, Passport Rule and Kosovo Roaming

Last updated on 30 October 2026

A tourist SIM in Serbia costs 1,000 RSD (about €8.51) at A1 for 200 GB over 7 days, or 1,399 RSD (€11.90) at Yettel for 50 GB over 30 days, and you register it with your passport before it works. The POVNOMAD Serbia eSIM starts at €2.90 for 1 GB over 7 days and needs no Serbian registration, because it roams on a Serbian network. As of 29 October 2026.

On price per gigabyte the local SIM wins clearly once you need more than about 5 GB: A1 gives you 200 GB for a week at €8.51, we charge €7.90 for 5 GB and €20.90 for 7 days of Unlimited XL. The eSIM pays off for short trips with little data, when you want to be online the moment you land, or when you would rather skip the shop and the registration.

Local SIM, travel eSIM or roaming: what is the difference in Serbia?

As of 29 October 2026. A1 prices from a1.rs (Welcome SIM page), Yettel prices from yettel.rs (prepaid mobile internet), POVNOMAD prices from the Serbia product page. Converted at the official middle rate of the National Bank of Serbia, exchange rate list No. 207 of 29 October 2026 (€1 = 117.5235 RSD). Registration rules according to the regulator RATEL (6 November 2024).

How much does a tourist SIM card cost in Serbia?

Two of the three operators publish a tourist offer with a price. The third, mts (Telekom Srbija), has a tourist tariff page, but on 29 October 2026 it showed no readable prices without JavaScript, so we quote none for mts.

Sources: a1.rs, A1 Welcome SIM and yettel.rs, Tourist plan, both retrieved 29 October 2026, prices including VAT. Euro amounts at €1 = 117.5235 RSD (National Bank of Serbia, 29 October 2026).

A1 extends the Welcome bonus only once, with a top-up in the first 7 days after you register the number. After the bonus, A1 sells data only as add-ons: 10 GB for 5 days at 500 RSD (€4.25) or Welcome Unlimited for 30 days at 1,999 RSD (€17.01), capped at 10 Mbit/s. A1 also sells the Welcome SIM as an eSIM on its website for the same 1,000 RSD.

Compare that with travel eSIMs bought before departure, as of 29 October 2026:

Read on 29 October 2026 on povnomad.com, airalo.com/de/serbia-esim (EUR view) and esim.holafly.com/de/esim-serbien/. Holafly sells unlimited plans only. “–” = no such plan. POVNOMAD Unlimited XL gives 3 GB at full speed per 24 hours, then unlimited at up to 1 Mbit/s.

None of the eSIMs gives you a Serbian phone number. Every duration of the unlimited plans is in our Serbia eSIM provider comparison.

Do you need a passport for a Serbian SIM card?

Yes. Article 158 of Serbia’s Law on Electronic Communications obliges the operator to register every prepaid user before the service starts. According to the regulator RATEL, the registration covers your name, the number and one identifier; for visitors that is the number of the travel document. Numbers that were still unregistered after 10 May 2025 were switched off (RATEL, 6 November 2024).

You can register in a shop or online. Yettel has done it in its app since November 2024: you photograph your passport and then your face. A1 lists the passport or ID card for online registration and tells Welcome SIM buyers to register only once they are in Serbia, so the 7 days do not start early. At Yettel you then send a free SMS with the text START to 9000 to activate the Tourist plan.

A travel eSIM skips this step. It connects to a Serbian network as a roaming guest, and Serbia has no IMEI registration for phones like Turkey.

Does a Serbian SIM work in Kosovo, Bosnia or Montenegro?

Partly. Since 1 July 2021 the six Western Balkan states have charged each other’s customers domestic prices (“roam like at home”). The tourist offers include only a small share of that, though:

• Yettel Tourist plan: 3.5 GB for Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Albania and Kosovo are included. Yettel’s terms say prepaid customers can use data in the region only with an internet add-on; abroad, the extra add-on is 1 GB for 7 days at 499 RSD (€4.25) (Yettel, roaming in the Western Balkans).
• A1 Welcome SIM: the 200 GB count in Serbia only. For the region A1 sells Easy Travel, 10 GB for 10 days at 1,000 RSD (€8.51), valid in Montenegro, North Macedonia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Albania and Kosovo, plus Croatia, Slovenia, Austria, Bulgaria and Belarus. Once the 10 GB are used up, data roaming in those countries stops.

Serbian operators list Kosovo in their Western Balkans zone. Kosovo runs its own networks with the country code +383, so your phone changes network at the crossing either way.

The POVNOMAD Serbia eSIM works in Serbia only. For Kosovo there is a separate Kosovo eSIM, compared here, from €6.90. Our Europe eSIM for 40+ countries includes Serbia and North Macedonia, but not Kosovo, Bosnia, Montenegro or Albania. Where phones slip onto a non-EU network near Dubrovnik, at Neum or in the Bay of Kotor is in our guide to border roaming in the Balkans, and the Balkan eSIM comparison sorts out which package covers which country.

Which network should you pick in Serbia: A1, Yettel or mts?

Serbia has three mobile networks: mts (Telekom Srbija), Yettel (until 2022 Telenor) and A1. All three switched on 5G on 3 December 2025, after the regulator RATEL auctioned the frequencies in November 2025, as summarised in our Serbia comparison. We have no independent coverage measurement per operator for October 2026, so we do not rank them.

The POVNOMAD Serbia eSIM uses a local 4G network; our product page still names it Telenor, which today trades as Yettel. The networks actually used appear after purchase in the eSIM link under “Networks”. Airalo names A1 for Serbia, Holafly names A1, Yettel and Telekom Srbija.

How do you buy the local SIM the right way?

• Have your passport with you. Without registration the number does not work.
• A1 sells the Welcome SIM at its point of sale at Belgrade Nikola Tesla airport and in A1 shops across Serbia, according to A1. Yettel refers to its own shops for the Tourist plan.
• Register the A1 Welcome SIM only after you arrive, then decide within 7 days whether to top up 500 RSD (15 days) or 1,500 RSD (30 days).
• At Yettel, send START to 9000 after registering, or the 50 GB do not start.
• Check that your phone is unlocked. A phone locked to a German network will not accept a Serbian SIM.
• If you swap your German SIM out, you will not get SMS codes from your bank. A dual-SIM phone keeps both lines active.
• Continuing to Kosovo, Bosnia or Montenegro: book the regional add-on before you cross.

When is the eSIM the better choice, and when is it not?

The local SIM is the better deal if you need more than about 5 GB, stay a week or longer, or want a Serbian number for local calls. For a month with heavy use, Yettel’s 50 GB cost €11.90; we charge the same €11.90 for 10 GB. A1’s Welcome SIM gives 200 GB for a week at €8.51, while our Unlimited XL costs €20.90 for 7 days.

The eSIM fits better if you need little data: 1 GB for 7 days costs €2.90 and 3 GB for 15 days €4.90, less than either tourist SIM. It also fits if you want maps and a taxi app running the moment you land, without a shop visit, a passport photo or an activation SMS. Install it at home on Wi-Fi (instructions for iPhone and Android). Validity starts on first contact with the network in Serbia, not at purchase.

One honest point: our Serbia eSIM runs on 4G, while all three Serbian operators have offered 5G since December 2025. For maps, messengers and video calls 4G is enough. For cash on the ground, see our guide to ATM fees in Serbia. This guide is also available in German.

Frequently asked questions

Last updated on 29 October 2026. Prices read on that day on a1.rs, yettel.rs, povnomad.com, airalo.com and esim.holafly.com; exchange rate of the National Bank of Serbia of 29 October 2026. Prices and rules may change at any time.