What Are the Best SIM Cards for New Arrivals in Germany? (2026)
The verdict for new arrivals
Buy ALDI TALK Kombi-Paket S 25GB/28d at EUR 8.99 per 28 days for 25 GB on the O2 network. That is unlimited calls and SMS included, at about EUR 0.36 per GB. It is sold at any Aldi till and activates the same day, so it is the one tariff you can hold before you have an address or a bank account. Aldi shuts on Sundays, so a Sunday landing means the airport or a main-station shop.
What it takes to activate
Germany verifies identity on every SIM, prepaid included, so there is no anonymous German SIM. A passport is enough: VideoIdent runs 24/7 and the line is live within hours. Prepaid asks for no German address and no German bank account. A contract asks for a registered address, a SEPA direct debit and a SCHUFA check, which is why week one is a prepaid week. Prepaid also renews every 28 days, so it is 13 payments a year, not 12.
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Which SIM plan is the best for new arrivals?
Sorted by effective monthly price, not our recommendation. The default view is our ranking, weights published below.
Sorted by price per gb, not our recommendation. The default view is our ranking, weights published below.
Sorted by coverage, not our recommendation. The default view is our ranking, weights published below.
★ Newcomer pick
ALDI TALK Kombi-Paket S 25GB/28d
Comes with a German +49 number, so bank and ELSTER SMS codes arrive.
Key information
- Contract
- Prepaid, no lock-in
- Coverage
- Runs on the O2 network
- Support
- German-only support
Plans(4)
- ALDI TALK Jahrespaket60 GB / per year · Unlimited minutes, Unlimited SMS · EUR 0.10 per GBEUR 5.83
- ALDI TALK Kombi-Paket S 25GB/28dOur pick here25 GB / per 28 days · EUR 0.36 per GBEUR 8.99
- ALDI TALK M/L50 GB / per 28 days · Unlimited minutes, Unlimited SMS · EUR 0.28 per GBEUR 13.99
- Aldi Daten Home&Go S150 GB / per 28 days · EUR 0.13 per GBEUR 19.99
Prices as of 17 August 2026, verify on the provider site.
- Price per GBBest
- EUR 0.36
More details
- Physical network
- O2
- eSIM
- Yes
- ID to activate
- Passport or ID card
- Billing cycle
- Monthly
Best for new arrivals who want the most data per euro.
Also great
Telekom MagentaMobil Prepaid S 1GB/28d
VideoIdent, then a free eSIM QR inside the MeinMagenta app.
Key information
- Contract
- Prepaid, no lock-in
- Coverage
- Runs on the Telekom network
- Support
- German-only support
Plans(4)
- Telekom MagentaMobil Prepaid S 1GB/28dOur pick here1 GB / per 28 days · EUR 4.95 per GBEUR 4.95
- MagentaMobil Prepaid M20 GB / per 28 days · Unlimited minutes, Unlimited SMS · EUR 0.50 per GBEUR 9.95
- MagentaMobil Prepaid L40 GB / per 28 days · Unlimited minutes, Unlimited SMS · EUR 0.37 per GBEUR 14.95
- Telekom Prepaid 5G Jahrestarif 240GB/year (20GB/month)240 GB / per year · EUR 0.50 per GBEUR 99.95
Prices as of 17 August 2026, verify on the provider site.
- Price per GB
- EUR 4.95
More details
- Physical network
- Telekom
- eSIM
- Yes
- ID to activate
- Passport or ID card
- Billing cycle
- Monthly
Best for new arrivals who need a different physical network.
Best value
O2 my Prepaid S 20GB/28d (+app/Lastschrift bonuses up to +11GB; summer promo to 30 Sep 2026: M=50GB, L=100GB)
SIM and shipping are free, and the eSIM swap happens in the Mein O2 app.
Key information
- Contract
- Prepaid, no lock-in
- Coverage
- Runs on the O2 network
- Support
- German-only support
Plans(4)
- O2 my Prepaid S 20GB/28d (+app/Lastschrift bonuses up to +11GB; summer promo to 30 Sep 2026: M=50GB, L=100GB)Our pick here20 GB / per 28 days · EUR 0.50 per GBEUR 9.99
- O2 my Prepaid M40 GB / per 28 days · Unlimited minutes, Unlimited SMS · EUR 0.37 per GBEUR 14.99
- O2 my Prepaid L80 GB / per 28 days · Unlimited minutes, Unlimited SMS · EUR 0.25 per GBEUR 19.99
- O2 my Prepaid Max999 GB / per 28 days · Unlimited minutes, Unlimited SMS · EUR 0.37 per GBEUR 74.99
Prices as of 17 August 2026, verify on the provider site.
- Price per GB
- EUR 0.50
More details
- Physical network
- O2
- eSIM
- Yes
- ID to activate
- Passport or ID card
- Billing cycle
- Monthly
Best for new arrivals who need a different physical network.
Vodafone CallYa Start 2GB/28d
eSIM is free on CallYa, set up in MeinVodafone after VideoIdent.
Key information
- Contract
- Prepaid, no lock-in
- Coverage
- Runs on the Vodafone network
- Support
- German-only support
Plans(4)
- Vodafone CallYa Start 2GB/28dOur pick here2 GB / per 28 days · EUR 2.50 per GBEUR 4.99
- CallYa Jahrespaket M250 GB / per year · Unlimited minutes, Unlimited SMS · EUR 0.04 per GBEUR 8.33
- CallYa Allnet Flat S25 GB / per 28 days · Unlimited minutes, Unlimited SMS · EUR 0.40 per GBEUR 9.99
- CallYa Allnet Flat M50 GB / per 28 days · Unlimited minutes, Unlimited SMS · EUR 0.30 per GBEUR 14.99
Prices as of 17 August 2026, verify on the provider site.
- Price per GB
- EUR 2.50
More details
- Physical network
- Vodafone
- eSIM
- Yes
- ID to activate
- Passport or ID card
- Billing cycle
- Monthly
Best for new arrivals who need a different physical network.
congstar Prepaid Allnet S (~5GB/28d, effective from EUR 5.85)
The eSIM QR arrives in the app within minutes, once VideoIdent clears.
Key information
- Contract
- Prepaid, no lock-in
- Coverage
- Runs on the Telekom network
- Support
- German-only support
Plans(4)
- congstar Prepaid Allnet S (~5GB/28d, effective from EUR 5.85)Our pick here5 GB / per 28 days · EUR 1.17 per GBEUR 5.85
- congstar Jahrespaket365 GB / per year · Unlimited minutes, Unlimited SMS · EUR 0.04 per GBEUR 8.33
- congstar Prepaid Allnet M30 GB / per 28 days · Unlimited minutes, Unlimited SMS · EUR 0.33 per GBEUR 10
- congstar Prepaid Allnet L (~25GB/28d)25 GB / per 28 days · EUR 0.52 per GBEUR 13
Prices as of 17 August 2026, verify on the provider site.
- Price per GB
- EUR 1.17
More details
- Physical network
- Telekom
- eSIM
- Yes
- ID to activate
- Passport or ID card
- Billing cycle
- Monthly
Best for new arrivals who need a different physical network.
Also a strong fit
Same eligibility, a different shop or network. Every plan is in the full market overview.
Read the cycle before the price. ALDI TALK and O2 my Prepaid renew every 28 days, so an EUR 8.99 pack works out at about EUR 9.74 a month once the thirteenth renewal is counted. fraenk and SIMon mobile bill on the calendar month instead, and have no thirteenth payment to plan for.
How we ranked this for new arrivals5 criteria, weights published
A reader we describe as new arrivals is not the average reader, so this page does not use the average weights. Ease of buying carries 45% here against 30% on the general ranking, and Price per GB carries 15% here against 25% on the general ranking. The weights were fixed on 17 August 2026, before the prices were collected.
Criteria weighting
Fixed 17 August 2026, before pricing was collectedWhat is ruled out, and why
A blocker is not a drawback. It is something that makes the product unbuyable for this reader, and it caps the score at 1.0 however good the tariff is otherwise.
Blocked for this reader
What you actually need to activate a German SIM on arrival
A passport, and this is the part nobody warns a new arrival about. Every tariff in the catalogue requires identity verification before the SIM works, prepaid and contract alike, so Germany has no walk-out-and-use-it option. VideoIdent works with any passport and runs 24/7, and activation takes minutes to hours after the call. Vending-machine SIMs are not a shortcut either: the plastic is instant, the online ID check still has to happen.
What prepaid does not ask for is a German address or a German bank account. A contract tariff asks for both, plus a SEPA direct debit and a SCHUFA credit check, and a reader who registered their address last week has no credit history to check. Buy prepaid now, revisit contracts once you are registered and settled.
Where to buy on the day: at Frankfurt Airport, Telekom and Vodafone shops sit landside and SIM vending machines are in the terminals. In any city, the Aldi, Lidl, Penny and REWE checkouts sell starter packs. Airport prices are the same as in town, so there is nothing to gain by waiting. The one trap is Sunday: no supermarket SIMs, with airport and main-station shops as the exception.
The same tariffs, ranked for other readers
View all 98 plansThe plan picker is the full market overview: every named tier from every provider with its allowance, price and EUR per GB, filterable by situation and re-rankable.Every persona page ranks the same catalogue. Only the weights differ, and each page states its own. If you are already down to two tariffs, the full market overview puts every named tier side by side on price, data and EUR per GB.
How we compared these
Five criteria, weighted for this reader and published above, fixed on 17 August 2026 before the prices were collected. Every price comes from the provider's own page, dated in the catalogue. A blocker caps a product at 1.0. Unlimited allowances are capped at 200 GB when calculating EUR per GB, or every unlimited plan would win that column automatically.
One limit worth stating: the catalogue carries one fit score per persona, not a score per criterion, so the ordering reflects that score and the editorial reasoning behind it rather than an arithmetic weighted total. Per-criterion scoring is the next data pass; until it lands, the weights explain the ranking rather than compute it.
Of the 98 plans in the catalogue, 15 score 4 or 5 for this reader, across 5 providers. Where fewer than three providers clear that line, the third card is still the next best option available and is labelled for what it wins on, not presented as a strong fit.
Sources: provider tariff pages and dated German price sources, accessed August 2026. Some links earn a commission at the same rate for every provider, so no weighting favours a payer.
Frequently asked questions
Do you need ID to buy a SIM card in Germany?
Yes, always. Every tariff in the catalogue, prepaid and contract alike, requires identity verification before the SIM works. VideoIdent accepts any passport and runs 24 hours a day, and the line activates minutes to hours after the check. Vending-machine SIMs at airports still have to be verified online before they connect.
Can you get a German SIM without a German address or a German bank account?
Yes, on prepaid. Prepaid tariffs need neither a registered German address nor a German bank account, only identity verification. Contract tariffs need all of it: a German billing address, a SEPA direct debit and a SCHUFA credit check, which a reader who arrived this month has no history to pass.
Where can you buy a SIM card on the day you land in Germany?
At Frankfurt Airport the Telekom and Vodafone shops are landside and SIM vending machines sit in the terminals, at the same prices as in town. In any city the Aldi, Lidl, Penny and REWE checkouts sell starter packs. Shops close on Sundays, so on a Sunday the airport and main-station shops are the only option.