The Best Phone Plans in Switzerland in 2024

Prepaid vs Plan

You have two options to pay for your phone bills:

1. A proper plan where you pay month after month based on what you used.
2. A prepaid card where you have to charge your card in advance.

Most people prefer to use a plan because it is much easier. Having a plan means you will always be able to use your phone. On the contrary, if you use a prepaid card and forget to charge your card, you may not use your phone.

Using a prepaid card is a bit more work. But it may be cheaper. Over the years, I have used both systems, and they both work fine. There are some great prepaid and some great plans.

Which mobile phone network?

In Switzerland, there are three large mobile networks:

1. Swisscom
2. Salt
3. Sunrise

They are all operating their own devices and antennas. Each prepaid or plan is working on some specific network.

In the beginning, the Swisscom network was by far the best in Switzerland. Today, Sunrise and Swisscom are probably in a draw. However, it is challenging to find an unbiased comparison of these networks today. Most of the comparisons available are made by network providers and, as such, are biased.

These days, non-Swisscom networks have become much better. For most people, any network should work just fine. If you live in a remote area, you may want to ask people around you to see if they have any coverage issues. But in a city, you should not have a major difference.

Your Phone Usage

Now, no single plan or prepaid card is the cheapest for each possible case. You need to know your usage of your phone:

• How many SMS and MMS per month?
• How many calls per month?
• The length of these calls in minutes?
• How many MB of data per month?

If you do not know this, you can look at your last three phone bills and average your usage. This average should be enough to give you an idea of how much you need on average. Generally, you should round minutes higher. A 1 minute and 30 seconds call should be counted as two minutes. This rounding is how operators count for the price.

For each of the cases, I will list the main cheapest options. For comparison, I will exclude youth and special offers from the pack. If the same provider has several options in the top three, I will generally take the best one. It would not make sense to take the other one anyway. Finally, I will compare the monthly price of the offers. I do not include activation fees since we talk about long-term usage here.

My Phone Usage

I checked my phone bills for the last four months, and I came up with this average usage:

• 2 SMS per month
• 0 MMS per month
• 5 calls per month with about 25 minutes in total
• 300 MB per month of mobile data

I am not a very common user. Indeed, most people use their phones a lot more than I do. For instance, most people use several gigabytes (GB) of data every month. I do not like using my phone.

Since I work at home most days, I usually have very good Wi-Fi. So, I rarely need to use the internet on the mobile network.

User 1: Mr. The Poor Swiss

We start with my case: 2 SMS per month, 5 calls per month, about 5 minutes per call, and 300 MB of mobile data.

Here are the cheapest options:

1. Mucho Duo Nano (prepaid, Swisscom network): 4.90 CHF per month
2. yallo (prepaid, Sunrise network): 6.25 CHF
3. Coop Mobile Prepaid (prepaid, Swisscom network): 7.40 CHF
4. Talk Talk (plan, Sunrise network): 7.55 CHF
5. Lidl Connect Smart Prepaid (prepaid, Salt network): 8.20 CHF per month

For me, the best offer would be the Mucho Duo Nano. At only 4.90 CHF per month, it is very cheap.

As you can see, there are options at less than 5 CHF per month for my usage. It is really impressive. A lot of people spend much more than that. I used to spend more than four times that.

For very light phone users, prepaid plans are shining.

I currently do not have the best offer since I have the Coop Mobile Prepaid and not the Mucho offer. However, I will not change it because there is a significant advantage to Coop Mobile Prepaid. Indeed, the packs have no duration. So, if you buy a pack of 1GB of data, you can use it for a long time. So, if you use less data for one month, you can save data in the next month. Most packs have a 30-day duration. This advantage makes the Coop Mobile Prepaid offer excellent.

However, I could probably save money by switching to Mucho. But it is not worth the trouble to save 2.50 CHF per month.

Since most people use their phones much more than me, we should look at more realistic profiles.

User 2: Light Phone User

But most people use their phones more than me. Here is what happens with a more realistic small user:

• 50 SMS per month
• 60 minutes per month (12 times 5 minutes calls)
• 1 GB of data

I think this is pretty much a basic user in Switzerland.

Here are the cheapest options for this light phone user:

1. Much Duo Micro (Prepaid, Swisscom network): 9.90 CHF per month
2. Yallo (Prepaid, Sunrise network): 10 CHF per month
3. GoMo (Plan, Salt network): 12.95 CHF per month
4. Galaxus Mobile Basic (Plan, Surinse network): 14 CHF per month
5. Aldi Suisse Mobile Smart S (Prepaid, Sunrise network): 14.90 CHF per month

Once again, the best option is from Mucho. But there are some attractive options here. And some of these options have much more monthly data than others. It is also interesting to note that plans are becoming more interesting there.

User 3: Medium User

Our third user is taking it up a notch:

• 100 SMS per month
• 240 minutes of calls (24 times 10 minutes of calls)
• 2 GB of data

Here are the three best options for this medium phone user:

1. GoMo (Plan, Salt network): 12.95 CHF per month
2. Galaxus Mobile Basic (Plan, Sunrise network): 14 CHF per month
3. Aldi Suisse Mobile Smart S (Prepaid, Sunrise network): 14.90 CHF per month
4. DasAbo (Plan, Salt network): 14.95 CHF per month
5. Teleboy Eco (Plan, Sunrise Network): 15 CHF per month

This time, GoMo is stealing the first place.

User 4: Heavy Data user

Our user 4 uses the same as user 3, but with more data:

• 100 SMS per month
• 240 minutes of calls (24 times 10 minutes of calls)
• 5 GB of data

Here are the options for this heavy data user:

1. GoMo (Plan, Salt network): 12.95 CHF per month
2. Teleboy Eco (Plan, Sunrise Network): 15 CHF per month
3. Mucho Duo Mini (prepaid, Swisscom network): 17.90 CHF per month
4. Galaxus Mobile Unlimited (Plan, Sunrise network): 19 CHF per month
5. Aldi Suisse Mobile Basic (Plan, Sunrise network): 19.90 CHF per month

Once again, GoMo is the cheapest plan. It makes sense since it costs less than 13 CHF per month and allows up to 100 GB.

User 5: Heavier Data only user

User 5 only uses mobile data, no calls, and no SMS. This usage is not uncommon since you can easily use internet apps for calls and messages. Our user 5 uses 10 GB of data per month. Such a user will want at least 100Mbps in speed as well.

Here are the three cheapest options for this heavier data user:

1. GoMo (Plan, Salt network): 12.95 CHF per month
2. yallo Swype Surf (plan, Sunrise network): 15 CHF per month
3. Galaxus Mobile Unlimited (Plan, Sunrise network): 19 CHF per month
4. Lidl Connect Abo (Plan, Sunrise network): 19.95 CHF per month
5. Sunrise We Connect Surf (Plan, Sunrise network): 20 CHF per month

For such a user, it becomes essential to check the plan’s speed. If you use the internet often and watch videos, you will want between 50Mbps and 100Mbps speed.

The Gomo plan remains great for this kind of user at 150Mbps.

User 6: Unlimited Data only user

Now, some people need even more data. Our user 5 needs 500 GB per month on its phone. Granted, this is not unlimited. But who uses more than that per month on the phone? And this user wants 200Mbps in speed.

So, here are some good options for this unlimited data user:

1. Galaxus Mobile Unlimited (Plan, Sunrise network): 19 CHF per month
2. Lidl Connect Smart Abo Unlimited (Plan, Salt network): 24.95 CHF per month
3. Swype + Speed (Plan, Sunrise network): 24 CHF per month
4. Wingo Swiss 5G (Plan, Swisscom network): 27.95 CHF per month

At this speed and unlimited, options are becoming more expensive. But less than 20 CHF per month on that user is a great choice. The Galaxus plan is great if you need more than 100GB from GoMo.

User 7: Frequent User Roaming

Roaming is costly in Switzerland. You have to be careful about that. Unfortunately, I do not know of a very good comparator for Roaming. Moreover, the roaming rates are different for every country. So, it is challenging to compare different plans without having an exact situation.

When I travel to other countries, my strategy is straightforward: I let my phone be in airplane mode the whole time. If I find a Wi-Fi, I will use it, but otherwise, I will not allow myself to use any data. I think that most people can disconnect from their phones. It could do them some good.

For this comparison, I used the Frequent User profile from moneyland (later on) with France as a destination. For Switzerland, this user has the same national usage as user 3. The Frequent Profile is as follows:

• 38 calls from Switzerland while abroad
• 1.4 GB of mobile data while abroad
• 38 calls to Switzerland while abroad, 2.5 minutes per call
• 38 calls to France, while in France, 2.5 minutes per call

I think it is already pretty heavy usage of Roaming. Here are the three cheapest options for this usage:

1. GoMo (Plan, Salt network): 241.68 per year
2. Aldi Suisse Mobile (prepaid, Sunrise network): 263.20 CHF per year
3. Yallo Swype Swiss (Plan, Sunrise network): 282 CHF per year

We can see that this makes it significantly more expensive than User 3.

Again, the GoMo plan seems very interesting overall.

Of course, the best course of action is not to use Roaming!

Best Overall Plan: GoMo

The cheapest plan I could find for this comparison was the GoMo plan. This plan allows for up to 100 GB per month of data. This is sufficient for the immense majority of people.

Its price is very fair, and even roaming is quite fair

It is important to note that there is no hotline or in-person assistance with GoMo. All the service is done online through chat.

Best prepaid for light users: Coop Mobile

For very light phone users like me, a prepaid plan is likely the best option. My favorite prepaid offer is the Coop Mobile Prepaid. The base prices are fair:

• 0.29 CHF per minute on call
• 0.15 CHF per SMS

But the great thing about this offer is the packages Coop Mobile Prepaid has!

• The 15 Cents offer that gives 100 units of calls and SMS (1 SMS = 1 unit and 1 minute of call = 1 unit) at 15 CHF
• Surf 250: 250MB at 4.90 CHF
• Surf 750: 750MB at 9.90 CHF
• Surf 1500: 1500MB at 14.90 CHF

The best thing about these offers is that they do not have an expiration date. So, you can buy a pack and use it for a year. So, this is the best prepaid offer for light users like me.

I currently have the Coop Mobile Prepaid offer, and I am pleased with it. Since I started using it, I have used an average of 5 CHF monthly!

If you are using your phone more than me (very likely), you should look at the prepaid offers from Mucho and Aldi.

Having a cheap phone plan is one of the ways I use to save a lot of money in Switzerland. But there are others!

Grouping may be advantageous

Some of these providers offer advantages if you group accounts together.

For instance, Galaxus Mobile offers a reduction for its Family And Friends plan. For each person in the group, each person will get a 1 CHF reduction per month, up to 4 CHF reduction. So, if you are a group of five, you will each get a plan at 15 CHF per month. This can make Galaxus Mobile one of the best unlimited plans.

So, if you know you can group people together, you may want to look for group offers.

Mobile Plans Comparators

There are plenty of comparators in Switzerland for mobile prepaid and plans. However, many of them are limited.

For this article, I have used two comparators, moneyland and dschungelkompass.

The first one is the mobile comparator from moneyland. You can configure all the numbers precisely, and the results are detailed. The problem is that they consider many offers only valid for some time. And the way they compare it is by using the activation costs and one-time costs. I much prefer to see the long-term costs. However, they do not always offer the cheapest option available.

The second is the comparator from dschungelkompass. Unfortunately, it is only available in German. But it offers several plans and prepaid that moneyland does not consider, like GoMo, our best plans.

So, if you want to find the best plan for your profile, you will likely to need use

If you want something simpler and more user-friendly, you can use the mobile comparator from besteabos. They do not have prepaid cards, but they have an excellent offer on mobile plans and present the information in a great way with a lot of information on how to choose. But they do not always advertise the cheapest plan.

Conclusion

I have to say that I am surprised by the comparison results. Over the last decade, phone plans and prepaid offers have become more affordable.

When I was young, I remember that a good Swisscom plan cost 69 CHF per month, and it was not considered that bad. Fortunately, we have many more options now.

We can see that there is a lot of competition in this field. There are many actors. And even German discounters, Lidl and Aldi, offer excellent mobile plans. And Mucho has extremely cheap prepaid offers, while GoMo offers very cheap plans.

If you have never considered prepaid, I strongly encourage you to do so now. There are many great options, and they can be much cheaper than phone plans.

And you should not forget to rethink your plans every few years. For instance, the GoMo was not in the first version of this article. But it is now an excellent plan. But you should not change yearly since you would then pay heavy activation fees.

If you are in the best value for money, you may also be interested in the best internet plans in Switzerland.

What about you? Which phone plan or prepaid card do you use?

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