Serbia eSIM
Serbia eSIM on the Yettel Serbia network: 1 to 10 GB prepaid, no contract and no registration – you are online within minutes of landing at Belgrade Nikola Tesla airport.
Your Selection
Your plan only starts counting when the eSIM first connects at your destination — so you can buy today and travel in three weeks.
How does Simbye eSIM work for Serbia?
Get connected in under 2 minutes
Choose a plan and pay
Pick the data bundle that matches the length of your trip. The email with a one-click link and a QR code arrives right after payment.
Set it up at home, arrive in Serbia
Install the eSIM calmly before departure, on Wi-Fi. It stays dormant until you are in the country – whether you land in Belgrade at Nikola Tesla (BEG), in Niš at Constantine the Great (INI) or in Kraljevo at Morava (KVO), cross by bus at Horgoš or Batrovci, or come in by train from Budapest.
Turn on data roaming
Once you arrive, switch on data roaming for the Simbye line. Your phone registers on a Serbian network, and only with that first connection does your plan's validity start counting.
Check Device Compatibility
Make sure your device supports eSIM before purchasing
How much data do you need in Serbia?
So you can work it out instead of guessing: how much an hour costs in the apps you actually use on holiday.
The Netflix and Spotify figures come from the providers themselves (Netflix Help Center, Spotify Support, retrieved 28 Aug 2026). The rest are network-operator estimates (o2, Vodafone, EE) and vary with picture quality and reception.
Which networks will you be on in Serbia?
In Serbia the eSIM registers on Yettel Serbia automatically – there is nothing to select by hand.
Half of all mobile speed tests in the country come out above this, half below. Speedtest Global Index, July 2026. There are no separate figures per network for this country.
You do not pick a network. Once you switch on data roaming for the Simbye line in Serbia, your phone registers on Yettel Serbia by itself. If nothing happens after you land, toggle airplane mode off and on and check that network selection is set to automatic. There is no APN to type in.
4G is widely available in Serbia – in Belgrade, Novi Sad, Niš, Kragujevac, Subotica and Užice, and along the motorway that runs from the Hungarian border at Horgoš through Belgrade and Niš down to Preševo. 5G only went live at the end of 2025 and is still being built out, so plan on 4G. In narrow valleys and gorges the signal drops out in patches – at the Uvac, in the Đerdap gorge on the Danube, along the Drina below Tara. That is terrain, and it affects every network in the country the same way.
eSIM or a local SIM card in Serbia?
| Compared | Simbye eSIM | Local SIM card |
|---|---|---|
| ID and registration | Not required, you buy online | Operator shops normally ask for your passport |
| When you have it | Set up by QR code before departure | Only after you arrive, at a kiosk or shop |
| Network | Yettel Serbia, registers automatically | Whichever network the shop you walk into sells |
| Payment | Online with your own card, in your currency | In dinars on the spot, often in cash |
| Your own number | Stays active, WhatsApp and Viber keep working | A second number, and your phone must run two SIMs at once |
| Serbian phone number | No, data only, no calls or texts | Yes, with a Serbian number, calls and texts |
| Topping up | Online at any time, no shop to find | Credit at a kiosk or in the operator's app |
| If something goes wrong | Email support, in English or German | Back to the counter, usually in Serbian only |
Why roaming on your home contract gets expensive in Serbia
At the Serbian border your bundled home allowance stops counting and your operator's international tariff takes over. In many contracts Serbia is a separate zone billed per megabyte or through day passes – what applies to you is written in your tariff under Serbia. If you do not look it up, you find out when the bill arrives.
Prepaid turns that around: you decide on the data up front, 1 to 10 GB with 7 to 30 days of validity, no contract, no registration and nothing billed afterwards. The eSIM arrives as a QR code, you install it at home on Wi-Fi and it goes live in Serbia.
There is also this: Serbia is a transit country. Drive towards Bulgaria, Greece or Turkey and you may only be in the country for two days – but you need navigation, fuel stops and toll information for every hour of them. Check before you leave what a day pass from your own operator costs for those two days.
How far the network reaches
The eSIM runs on Yettel Serbia, and 4G is in use across the whole country. Belgrade, Novi Sad, Niš, Kragujevac, Subotica and Užice are covered, as is the motorway that runs from Horgoš on the Hungarian border through Belgrade and Niš down to Preševo – exactly the route most people driving through the country take. 5G only arrived at the end of 2025 and is still being built out, so plan on 4G.
Holiday regions are well served, though not evenly: on Zlatibor and in Vrnjačka Banja, on Kopaonik and in the villages of the Fruška Gora you will normally have signal. It thins out where the landscape gets steep – in the Uvac canyon, in the Đerdap gorge on the Danube, along the Drina below Tara and on hiking trails away from the villages. If that is where you are heading, download the map for the day offline beforehand.
In the cities themselves: Belgrade and Novi Sad have dense coverage, but the signal can still drop in the lower floors of shopping centres, in underground car parks and in the underpass at the main station. That is normal and does not mean anything is wrong with the eSIM.
Prepaid without ID – but without a Serbian number
In the operators' shops you are normally asked for your passport when you buy a prepaid SIM, and first you have to find the counter. This eSIM you buy online, with no registration, and set up at home on Wi-Fi with a QR code.
What it does not have is a Serbian number: paying for parking by texting 9111, 9112 or 9113, and any local SMS confirmation, will not work – use the Parking Servis app for parking, and set up accounts like CarGo or Viber while you can still receive texts at home.
Your eSIM in Serbia at a glance
- Networks
- Yettel Serbia
- Setting it up
- A link in your email, or the QR code — one tap is enough
- Network technology
- 4G/LTE — and 5G where the network already offers it
- APN and settings
- Nothing to set. The eSIM brings everything with it
- Hotspot
- Allowed — for a laptop, tablet or a travel companion
- Adding more data
- Top up any time, without setting anything up again
- Calls and texts
- Not included — WhatsApp calls run over the data
- Your own number
- Stays in the phone and stays reachable
- Contract
- None. The plan ends by itself
- Worth knowing
- Roaming on your home contract gets billed here — this eSIM is prepaid, so nothing is added afterwards
The apps you actually need in Serbia
Serbia pays in dinars. Cards are accepted almost everywhere in the cities, but you will want cash at markets and in smaller towns. Serbian banking apps and the IPS QR payment you see at checkouts both require an account at a Serbian bank, so neither is open to visitors. Alongside Glovo, Wolt also delivers in Belgrade, Novi Sad and Niš. Yandex Go is the second ride-hailing app operating in Belgrade. At Nikola Tesla airport, go to the official taxi desk in arrivals and take the slip with the fixed price for your zone rather than accepting a driver who approaches you outside. Google Maps and offline maps work normally, and calls over WhatsApp, Viber or FaceTime run on your data – Serbia does not block internet calling.
CarGo
Serbia's own ride-hailing app. Uber does not operate here, so CarGo is the normal way to get a car in Belgrade, Novi Sad and Niš. You see the fare up front and pay in cash or by card.
Sign-up runs on an SMS confirmation code, and not every foreign number is accepted. Create the account at home while you can still receive texts – a data-only eSIM cannot receive the code.
Parking Servis
Pays for street parking by card in Belgrade, including garages and day tickets.
The method every guidebook mentions – texting 9111, 9112 or 9113 – only works from a Serbian number. With this eSIM the app is your only route. Create the account at home while you can still receive texts.
Beograd Plus
Shows the real departures of Belgrade's buses, trams and trolleybuses plus the route each line takes. Useful, because many stops have no printed timetable.
You do not need it for tickets: Belgrade city transport has been free for everyone, visitors included, since 1 January 2025. Only the A1 airport minibus and the E-lines still charge, and you pay the driver.
Srbijavoz
Buy Serbian Railways tickets by card, including the fast Soko service between Belgrade, Novi Sad and Subotica.
Trains only. The intercity buses that cover most of Serbia are not in here – and there is no railway line to Kopaonik at all.
Viber
In Serbia this is the messenger people actually answer. Apartment hosts, drivers, small shops and repair places are often reachable on Viber and not on WhatsApp.
If you install Viber fresh, the confirmation code arrives by SMS on your own number. Set it up before you leave, because this eSIM has no number and receives no texts.
Glovo
Delivers food, groceries and pharmacy items in Belgrade, Novi Sad, Niš and other cities. Pay in the app or in cash at the door.
The courier phones you if the address is hard to find, and you cannot be reached by phone on this eSIM. Store your home number and keep the in-app chat open while the order is on its way.
Frequently Asked Questions about Serbia eSIM
Data, calls, real phone numbers, top-ups and setup — everything you need to know before you buy a Simbye eSIM.
