Prepaid SIM cards in Switzerland: plans and usage costs compared
Prepaid is particularly worthwhile if you use your phone intensively only on individual days or need a Swiss SIM for a short stay. For daily browsing, an inexpensive subscription may be more economical. What matters is the number of chargeable usage days, calls and bundle validity, not just the price per GB.
As of 1 November 2026. This selection compares three specific prepaid offers using official provider information. It is not a complete market comparison or a network test we conducted ourselves. Prices apply to the domestic services described; roaming and special numbers must be checked separately.
Three prepaid models compared directly
Offer | Price and period | Services and important limit |
Swisscom Prepaid basic tariff | CHF 2 per day of data use | Data; reduced to 256 kbit/s after 10 GB in 30 days. Calls and SMS cost extra. |
Sunrise Prepaid Unlimited | CHF 2.50 per 24-hour period used | Unlimited Swiss data, standard calls and SMS; no monthly base fee. |
Salt PrePay | CHF 1.99 per day of data use | Unlimited browsing; Swiss standard calls CHF 0.49 per call up to 60 minutes, SMS CHF 0.12. |
Table sources: Swisscom Prepaid, Sunrise Prepaid and Salt PrePay. Daily prices are not equivalent all-inclusive packages: calls cost extra with Swisscom and Salt. Nor does 'unlimited' by itself say anything about guaranteed speed.
What do four or thirty usage days cost?
Usage charges only | 4 chargeable days/24-hour periods | 30 chargeable days/24-hour periods |
Swisscom basic tariff, data only | CHF 8 | CHF 60 |
Sunrise Unlimited, domestic services | CHF 10 | CHF 75 |
Salt PrePay, data only | CHF 7.96 | CHF 59.70 |
Our calculation: daily price × number of charged days. No initial costs, roaming charges or additional calls included. Sunrise counts 24 hours from usage, so these periods are not the same as calendar days. The table shows usage costs, not necessarily the next top-up required: existing starter credit may cover them.
The current Sunrise page states CHF 20 starter credit. You must separately account for the purchase and activation cost of your chosen starter pack at checkout; it is not included in our usage costs. Salt advertises a free SIM with CHF 10 credit on its product page. Swisscom's current page lists activation as free. Check your chosen ordering method: eSIM, physical SIM and starter pack may have different upfront amounts.
Which model suits you?
Occasional outings: if you need mobile data on four days per month and otherwise use Wi-Fi, the daily models are straightforward to calculate. Count days when only an app transfers data in the background too. A quick weather check can trigger a whole usage day; low GB consumption therefore does not automatically mean low costs.
A week of intensive use: Swisscom Flat 7 costs CHF 20 for seven days and includes Swiss data at up to 50 Mbit/s and domestic calls. This may be easier to budget than separate data and call charges. Check when validity starts before buying; do not buy the bundle several days before you need it without understanding how activation works.
Daily use: start by calculating 30 usage days. The CHF 59.70 to CHF 75 calculated above explains why a daily model is often a poor first choice for a smartphone used continuously. Also compare a subscription without a long minimum term. For an emergency phone with few outgoing calls, the opposite decision may make sense.
Before buying: check five points
Write down your actual needs: data volume, usage days, call duration, travel destinations and desired phone number. Then check network coverage at your most important locations, purchased bundle expiry dates and automatic renewal rules. Set background data and automatic top-ups deliberately. For a rarely used second SIM, inactivity rules also belong on the checklist; credit alone does not prove that a number will remain active indefinitely.
For holidays outside Switzerland, a Swiss domestic bundle is not enough. Check the specific country, roaming zone and validity of the travel bundle. When porting a number, the new provider should confirm the switching process before you cancel the old number yourself. This helps avoid unnecessary overlapping contracts or an unclear porting date.
Compare prepaid and mobile subscriptions for your usage profile. Enter your actual usage days too, rather than simply ticking 'unlimited'.
internet-offer.ch may receive a commission when it refers a completed purchase. Before ordering, check the price, availability and contract terms directly with the provider.
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