Switzerland SIM Card for Tourists: Swisscom Prices, ID Rule and No EU Roaming

Last updated on 2 November 2026

A Swiss tourist SIM costs CHF 20 (about €21.75) for 7 days at Swisscom, with unlimited data at up to 50 Mbit/s and unlimited calls within Switzerland, and Swiss law requires you to show a passport or ID card for it. The POVNOMAD Switzerland eSIM starts at €2.90 for 1 GB over 7 days, 7 days of Unlimited Smart cost €10.90, and you need no Swiss registration. As of 30 October 2026.

In Switzerland the travel eSIM is the cheaper choice for almost every amount of data. The local SIM earns its place when you want a Swiss number with free calls inside the country, or more than 3 GB a day at full speed. And check your home plan first: Switzerland is outside EU roaming, but some German operators still bill it like an EU country.

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

As of 30 October 2026. Swisscom prices from swisscom.ch (Prepaid for tourists and Prepaid pages), POVNOMAD prices from the Switzerland product page. Converted at the ECB reference rate of 30 October 2026 (€1 = CHF 0.9194). Identification rule from the Swiss surveillance ordinance VÜPF, Article 20a.

How much does a SIM card cost in Switzerland?

Switzerland has three mobile networks: Swisscom, Sunrise and Salt. Swisscom publishes a tourist offer with prices on its website. Sunrise and Salt load their prepaid pages by script, and on 30 October 2026 we could read no prices there, so we quote none for them.

Sources: swisscom.ch, Prepaid for tourists and swisscom.ch, Prepaid, both retrieved 30 October 2026. Euro amounts at €1 = CHF 0.9194 (ECB, 30 October 2026).

Swisscom waives the activation fee of CHF 19.90 on the tourist flat. You can buy the flat before your trip; the 7, 15, 30 or 90 days start once the eSIM connects to the Swisscom network. A physical SIM card for the flat is sold only in Swisscom shops.

Compare that with travel eSIMs bought before departure, as of 30 October 2026:

Read on 30 October 2026 on povnomad.com, airalo.com/de/switzerland-esim (EUR view) and esim.holafly.com/de/esim-schweiz/. Holafly sells unlimited plans only. “–” = no such plan. POVNOMAD Unlimited Smart gives 1 GB at full speed per 24 hours, then unlimited at up to 1 Mbit/s; Unlimited XL with 3 GB a day costs €16.90 for 7 days and €66.90 for 30 days.

How the unlimited plans differ in detail, and when Airalo comes out ahead, is in our Switzerland eSIM provider comparison.

Do you need a passport for a Swiss SIM card?

Yes. The Swiss ordinance on the surveillance of post and telecommunications (VÜPF) requires mobile operators to check your identity when they hand over a SIM or activate it for the first time. Article 20a, in force since 1 January 2024, accepts a Swiss or foreign passport, a Swiss or foreign ID card, or a Swiss foreigner’s permit, valid on the day. The operator records your name, date of birth, document number, nationality and address, and keeps an electronic copy of the document (VÜPF, SR 780.11, version of 26 March 2024).

The operators confirm this in practice. Yallo, a Swiss brand, writes that it is legally bound to confirm your identity and accepts foreign EU passports and ID cards. Swisscom allows a maximum of five prepaid numbers per person. At Yallo you scan your ID during the online purchase instead of showing it in a shop.

One snag is specific to Swisscom’s eSIM: to activate it you log in to My Swisscom, and the login can ask for two-factor authentication with a Swiss phone number. Swisscom says the activation may not work before you arrive and sends you to a shop if it still fails in Switzerland.

Does your home plan work in Switzerland?

Not automatically. Switzerland is neither in the EU nor in the European Economic Area, so the EU roaming regulation does not apply there. Each operator decides for itself whether to treat Switzerland like an EU country. In our check of 5 September 2026 only Telekom and Fraenk did so among German operators, and congstar for data only. What German contracts charge outside the EU is listed per operator in our guide to roaming costs outside the EU.

Near the border your phone can switch to a Swiss network while you are still in Germany or France, and your operator then bills Swiss rates. Where that happens, around Basel, Konstanz and Lake Constance, is in our guide to border roaming in Switzerland.

How do you buy the local SIM the right way?

• Take your passport or ID card. Without identification no Swiss operator may activate the SIM.
• Order the Swisscom flat as an eSIM before the trip if your phone supports it. The days start only on first use in Switzerland.
• Turn off your VPN when you log in to My Swisscom. Swisscom names this as the first step if the login fails.
• If your phone has no eSIM, go to a Swisscom shop. The physical SIM for the flat is sold only there.
• Check that your phone is unlocked. A phone locked to a German network will not take a Swiss SIM.
• Keep your German SIM as a second line if your phone supports dual SIM, for bank SMS codes.

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

For most trips the eSIM costs less. A week of Unlimited Smart costs €10.90, the Swisscom flat CHF 20 (€21.75). Ten GB over 30 days cost €10.90 with us; Swisscom charges CHF 29.90 (€32.52) for 5 GB. You also skip the identity check and the My Swisscom login. Install the eSIM at home on Wi-Fi (instructions for iPhone and Android); validity starts on first contact with a Swiss network.

The Swisscom flat is the better deal in these cases:

• You want to call Swiss numbers often, a hotel, a mountain hut or a taxi. The flat includes unlimited calls within Switzerland, our eSIM has no number.
• You use more than 3 GB a day. The flat gives unlimited data at up to 50 Mbit/s for CHF 20 a week; our Unlimited XL slows down after 3 GB a day and costs €16.90 for 7 days.
• Your German plan already covers Switzerland. Then you may not need either.

For a whole month of heavy use, compare carefully: the Swisscom flat costs CHF 65 (€70.70), our Unlimited XL €66.90, Airalo’s unlimited plan €62.50. This guide is also available in German.

Frequently asked questions

Last updated on 30 October 2026. Prices read on that day on swisscom.ch, povnomad.com, airalo.com and esim.holafly.com; exchange rate of the ECB of 30 October 2026. Prices and rules may change at any time.