Deciding on a SIM-card
German mobile phone plan: Prepaid or Contract?[1][edit | edit source]
If you are to stay for only a few months here or if you are not a heavy user, it might be wise to choose a prepaid one. It surely brings less perks but after all, all you really need is a mobile phone plan for Germany with which you can be reached. Prepaid brings the basics like a phone number, calls and texts billed per min or per text. Moreover, if you are spending most of your days at home or at university, you can make use of the WiFi network. On your arrival you should be easily able to get a prepaid SIM card from any supermarket like Aldi, Lidl or EDEKA. Some SIMs like WhatsApp SIM(available online) give you a certain number of units with every recharge (1 unit = 1 minute call, 1 text message or 1 MB data usage) which give you flexibility of usage.
On the other hand, if you are staying longer in Germany or if you need mobile internet as well, it is better to choose a regular contract. In this case you can choose from 1-month, 12-month or 24-month contracts. Make sure to also read Signing a contract - Do's and Don'ts.
Comparison of budget SIM card providers[edit | edit source]
Provider | Tariff | Minutes/SMS | Network | Number portability | Internet (MB) | Datenautomatik | Monthly cost (€) | One-time cost (€) | Effective monthly cost (€) | Minimum term (months) | URL |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
NettoKOM | SMART S | 260 | E+ | Possible | 880 MB | No | 6.99 | 6.99 | 6.99 | 1 | https://www.nettokom.de/tarife/9cent/smart-optionen/smart-s |
WEB.DE | All-Net & Surf | 200 | Vodafone | Bonus 10€ | 2048 | Nein | 6.99 | 9.9 | 7.4 | 24 | https://shop.web.de/allnet/dnetz2gb/?execution=e2s1 |
Klarmobil | Flat 500 | 100 | Vodafone | Bonus 50€ | 500 | Nein | 2.95 | 9.95 | 3.4 | 24 | https://www.freemobile24.de/Vertraege/Mobilfunktarife_ohne_Handys-7660?s_id=43793093 |
Klarmobil | Flat 1GB | 100 | Vodafone | Bonus 50€ | 1024 | Nein | 4.95 | 9.95 | 5.4 | 24 | https://www.freemobile24.de/Vertraege/Mobilfunktarife_ohne_Handys-7660?s_id=43793093 |
Klarmobil | Flat 500 | 100 | Vodafone | Bonus 50€ | 500 | Nein | 6.95 | 19.95 | 7.8 | 1 | https://www.klarmobil.de/tarife/smartphone-flat?pn=1#d-netz1 |
Freenetmobile | FreeSmart 500 | 100 | Vodafone | Bonus 50€ | 500 | Nein | 3.95 | 19.95 | 4.8 | 24 | https://www.freenetmobile.de/freesmart.php#l1 |
Freenetmobile | FreeSmart 1000 | 100 | Vodafone | Bonus 50€ | 1024 | Nein | 5.95 | 19.95 | 6.8 | 24 | https://www.freenetmobile.de/freesmart.php#l1 |
Freenetmobile | FreeSmart 500 | 100 | D-Netz | Bonus 50€ | 500 | Nein | 5.95 | 29.95 | 7.2 | 1 | https://www.freenetmobile.de/freesmart.php#l1 |
Freenetmobile | FreeSmart 1000 | 100 | D-Netz | Bonus 50€ | 1024 | Nein | 7.95 | 29.95 | 9.2 | 1 | https://www.freenetmobile.de/freesmart.php#l1 |
Simply | LTE 500 | Flat | O2 | Bonus 15€ | 500 | Ja, abschaltbar | 6.49 | 14.99 | 7.1 | 1 | https://www.simplytel.de/tarifuebersicht#allnet_flats_lte_tab |
Telefonica | SmartSurf | 50 | O2 | Möglich | 1024 | Nein | 3.99 | 0 | 3.99 | 24 | https://www.freemobile24.de/Vertraege/Mobilfunktarife_ohne_Handys-4322 |
Mobilcom Debitel | Allnet Comfort | Flat | Vodafone | Möglich | 1024 | Nein | 7.99 | 24 | https://www.freemobile24.de/Vertraege/Mobilfunktarife_ohne_Handys-7465 | ||
PremiumSIM | LTE 2000 | Flat | O2 | Möglich | 3072 | Ja | 9.99 | 14.99 | 10.6 | 1 | https://www.premiumsim.de/tarife |
Congstar | Wunsch | 100 | D-Netz | Bonus 25€ | 1024 | Nein | 10 | 30 | 11.3 | 1 | https://www.congstar.de/handytarife/congstar-wie-ich-will/normalnutzer-wunschtarif/ |
WinSIM | LTE Mini | 400 | O2 | Möglich | 1024 | Ja | 6.49 | 9.99 | 6.9 | 24 | https://www.winsim.de/tariffs/lte-minis |
AldiTalk | Paket 300 | 300 | E+ | Bonus 25€ | 1024 | Nein | 7.99 | 2.99 | 8.1 | 1 | https://www.alditalk.de/paket-300 |
Otelo | Smart 800 | 300 | Vodafone | Möglich | 800 | Nein | 7.99 | 1.95 | 8.1 | 1 | https://www.otelo.de/handytarife/einsteiger-tarife/smartphone-800/tarifoptionen |
Mobilcom Debitel | Allnet Comfort | Flat | D-Netz | Möglich | 1024 | Nein | 5.99 | 39.99 | 7.7 | 24 | https://www.modeo.de/deal?extref=215450&utm_campaign=networks&utm_medium=Affiliate+networks&utm_source=215450 |
Penny | Smart | 300 | D-Netz | Bonus 25€ | 1024 | Nein | 7.99 | 9.95 | 7.99 | 1 | https://www.pennymobil.de/tarifuebersicht.html?tarif=pennymobil-smart |
Discotel | Clever M | 100 | O2 | Möglich | 500 | Nein | 7.95 | 9.95 | 7.99 | 1 | https://www.discotel.de/tariffs?refid=16502&ref=496810-jpietsch-233-tarifrechner-0&affmt=2&affmn=17 |
Netzclub | Allnet Clever | 150 | O2 | Möglich | 500 | Nein | 7.95 | 0 | 7.95 | 1 | https://www.netzclub.net/allnet-clever/ |
Tchibo | Smart S | 100 | O2 | Möglich | 500 | Nein | 7.99 | 7.99 | 7.99 | 1 | https://www.tchibo.de/sim-karten-smartphone-tarife-allnet-flatrates-bei-tchibo-mobil-c400035510.html |
EDEKA | Smart Paket M | 300 | Vodafone | Möglich | 1024 | Nein | 8.95 | 9.99 | 8.95 | 1 | https://www.edeka-mobil.de/tarife.html |