eSIM Switzerland
Switzerland eSIM from 1,95€ on Sunrise and Salt: 1 to 50 GB or unlimited, prepaid, no contract and no registration – online within minutes of landing in Zurich.
Fair Use Policy
2GB highspeed/day, then unlimited at 1Mbps
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 Switzerland?
Buy it and set it up at home
The email with the setup link and QR code arrives right after payment. Tapping the link installs the eSIM, or you scan the QR code with your camera. Do this on Wi-Fi at home, not at the gate – you need internet once to install it.
Switch it on in Switzerland
After landing at Zurich (ZRH), Geneva (GVA), Bern-Belp or Lugano, turn on mobile data and data roaming for the Simbye line and your phone does the rest. One special case is EuroAirport Basel-Mulhouse: it sits entirely on French soil and the Swiss networks there were switched off in 2016. Your Swiss eSIM only kicks in once you are in Basel.
Travel, and top up if you need to
The plan only starts counting with your first connection to a Swiss network, not at purchase. Hotspot for a laptop or tablet is allowed. When the data runs out you simply top up the same eSIM – nothing to reinstall, nothing to rescan.
Check Device Compatibility
Make sure your device supports eSIM before purchasing
Which networks will you be on in Switzerland?
The eSIM connects to the Swiss networks of Sunrise and Salt on its own – nothing to set up, no APN to type in.
The Simbye eSIM uses 2 networks in Switzerland: Sunrise · Salt.
| Networks | Download | Upload | Latency |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sunrise | 124Mbit/s | 25Mbit/s | 31ms |
128Mbit/s | 27Mbit/s | 26ms |
Source: nPerf averages, 01.01.2025 – 31.12.2025.
In Switzerland this eSIM runs on two of the country's networks: Sunrise and Salt. As soon as you switch on data roaming for the Simbye line, your phone picks whichever network has the better signal and hands over on its own – there is nothing for you to set up. Close to the border it can latch onto the network next door instead: the German one in Basel, the French one in Geneva, the Italian one in Chiasso, and the same happens in Kreuzlingen across from Konstanz. Then nothing loads even though the bars look full. The fix takes half a minute: toggle airplane mode, or turn off automatic network selection in your settings and pick a Swiss network by hand.
Sunrise reaches around 99.8 percent of the population, Salt is at roughly 99 percent. In Zurich, Geneva, Basel, Bern, Lausanne, Lucerne, Winterthur, St. Gallen and Lugano you will simply notice fast internet, and the same goes for the valley towns of the holiday regions: Interlaken, Grindelwald, Lauterbrunnen, Zermatt, Davos, St. Moritz, Montreux, Locarno. But population coverage is not land coverage, and a large part of Switzerland is rock. Salt's own coverage map still shows white spots in Uri, Valais, Graubünden, Ticino and the St. Gallen highlands. On hiking trails above the villages, on mountain passes and in tunnels the connection can drop – so download your map and route down in the valley before you head up.
eSIM or a local SIM card in Switzerland?
Switzerland has a clear answer: Swiss law requires an identity check for every SIM sold there, so a local card means a passport at a counter, and it ties you to one network — the eSIM reaches Sunrise and Salt.
| Feature | Local SIM card | |
|---|---|---|
| ID and registration | No registration, no passport at a counter | Swiss law requires an identity check for every SIM, you have to show a passport or ID |
| When it works | Set up at home, online the moment you land in Zurich or Geneva | Only after arrival: find a shop, opening hours, queue, activation |
| Where you get it | By email, minutes after purchase | Operator store, kiosk or airport counter in Zurich and Geneva |
| Network | Sunrise and Salt, your phone takes the strongest | Only the one network of the shop you bought the card from |
| Data and duration | Prepaid, 1 to 50 GB or unlimited, 7 to 180 days | Fixed local bundles, changing means buying another card |
| Your own number | Stays active, WhatsApp and SMS codes still reach you | If your phone has only one SIM slot, your number stays in the hotel room |
| Swiss phone number | No, data only, no calls and no SMS over the network | Yes, Swiss number included, but with mandatory registration |
| Topping up | In the app or via the link, the same eSIM stays installed | Top up in a shop, at a machine or online with a Swiss payment method |
For most travelers the eSIM is the simpler choice: set up before departure, no queuing on arrival.
How much data do you need in Switzerland?
Trip length
How you use your phone
What does an eSIM for Switzerland cost?
from 1,95€
8 plans · 7–180 days · unlimited from 19,95€
Simbye offers 8 plans for Switzerland from 1,95€ to 42,95€ — data packs from 1,95€, unlimited from 19,95€. Prepaid, no contract.
Plans for Switzerland range from 1 GB to 50 GB, plus unlimited options.
Validity runs from 7 to 180 days and starts with your first connection in Switzerland.
Data plans
Unlimited
- 1 GB 7 days 1,95€ 0,27€ per travel day
- 3 GB 30 days 4,95€ 0,16€ per travel day
- 5 GB 30 days 6,95€ 0,23€ per travel day
- 10 GB 30 days 11,95€ 0,39€ per travel day
- 20 GB 30 days 19,95€ 0,66€ per travel day
- 50 GB 180 days 42,95€ 0,23€ per travel day
- Unlimited 7 days 19,95€ 2,85€ per travel day
- Unlimited 15 days 33,95€ 2,26€ per travel day
Good to know
- Networks
- Sunrise + Salt
- Setting it up
- A link in your email, or the QR code — one tap is enough
- Network technology
- 4G/LTE
- 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
Frequently Asked Questions about Switzerland eSIM
Data, calls, real phone numbers, top-ups and setup — everything you need to know before you buy a Simbye eSIM.
Yes, there's an unlimited eSIM for Switzerland. Alongside bundles from 1 to 50 GB there are plans with unlimited data, and durations run from 7 to 180 days. You choose the combination before you buy.
The Swiss networks you'll be on in Switzerland are Sunrise and Salt. Your phone automatically picks whichever has the better signal, with nothing to configure and no APN to enter.
No, not to register or show your passport. The ID requirement applies to SIM cards bought in Switzerland – Swiss law requires an identity check for every SIM sold there. This eSIM arrives by email, with no counter and no registration.
How much data you need for a week comes down to maps, timetables, messaging, music and some social media — 3 to 5 GB is enough for most people. If you stream a lot or share a hotspot with a laptop, plan bigger or take an unlimited plan straight away. And if it does run short, you simply top up.
No, it doesn't work in Liechtenstein, Austria or Italy, only Switzerland. Liechtenstein counts as its own country with its own networks, so do not rely on it there. You also have no coverage on the drive through Germany, Austria or France.
In cities, valleys and resort towns you'll have a signal almost always; higher in the mountains it can drop. But population coverage is not land coverage: in Uri, Valais, Graubünden and Ticino there are white spots away from the valleys. On trails above the villages, on mountain passes and in tunnels the connection can drop – download your maps offline first.
You can buy an eSIM for Switzerland right here on this page: pick the data amount and validity, pay, and it arrives by email within minutes. No shop visit, no plastic card, no queue at Zurich airport. Scan the QR code from the email and the Switzerland profile sits ready on your phone until you arrive.
Yes, an eSIM for Switzerland is a travel profile that works everywhere in the country. Swiss networks support eSIM roaming, so your travel profile connects on its own once you land and switch it on. All you need is a phone that supports eSIM and isn't carrier-locked — you don't need a Swiss SIM card or a local address.
An eSIM for Switzerland starts at 1,95€; the final price depends on how much data and how many days you need, and the table above shows every Switzerland plan with its current price. A small bundle for a weekend in Zurich costs less than a longer plan for a ski week, and you pay once with no monthly bill.
The eSIM that's best for Switzerland depends on where you travel, how much data you use and how long you stay. This one runs on Sunrise and Salt, which cover Zurich, Geneva, Bern and Lugano as well as the valley towns of the holiday regions. It is data only, so no Swiss number. Near Basel, Geneva or Chiasso the phone can grab a neighbouring network, and picking one by hand fixes it.
Ready for Switzerland?
Pick a plan, tap the link in your email — you are online from the moment you land.
Choose a planPrepaid, no contract. The plan simply ends on its own.