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The best Television plans in Switzerland for 2024

Baptiste Wicht | Updated: |

(Disclosure: Some of the links below may be affiliate links)

Everybody wants to pay as little as possible for their television bills. Even though you may think your current television plan is the cheapest available, there could be new deals since you started using your plan. It is always essential to keep up to date with the latest offers.

There are many Television offerings in Switzerland. Some are expensive, while some can be cheaper than you thought.

In this article, I compare different ways to get Television in Switzerland.

With or Without the Internet?

Most people in Switzerland get their Television plan directly included in their internet plan. It is very convenient, and it is generally cheaper. But this also means you are linked to your internet plan. Usually, if you want to change one, you will have to change the other.

You can also opt for two separate offers. So, we also compare plans without the Internet. That is not to say that you can get TV without the internet (these days, it is difficult). But you could get an internet plan and a separate TV plan. For instance, some people use their mobile phone plan to get internet access through Wi-Fi.

Maybe you do not need Television

Possibly, you do not even need a Television plan? When was the last time you used your TV? If you do not use it, it is time to cancel your TV subscription!

I canceled my Television subscriptions more than five years ago. And I never looked back at this decision. It is a great way to save money if you are not using it.

And even if you are using it a little, you may ask yourself whether there is nothing better you can do with your time.

How do you use your TV?

Before you even compare different television plans, it is essential to know how you use your TV.

If you are using your TV, you must know how many channels you want. There is no point in having a hundred channels if you only use 5. It may sound stupid. But most users use less than 10% of their channels. Unfortunately, most Television providers are not letting you choose precisely the channels you want.

Another thing you need to know is whether you need High Definition (HD) channels. First, if you do not have an HD television (unlikely), you do not need HD channels. But then, even with HD channels, it depends on what you watch. For most documentaries or the news, HD does not matter. It could become interesting for TV Shows and Movies or some nice documentaries to get HD Channels. But again, getting HD channels you do not watch is not worth it!

Based on your TV usage, you will be able to select the best Television plan for you!

Be careful with one-year offers

There is one thing that too many people get trapped with: Television plans with a cheap first year.

It may sound good, but it is often a trap. If one television plan is the cheapest in the first year, it may become one of the most expensive in the second year.

For instance, when I was researching, Sunrise Home always turned up the cheapest. The reason is that they are running an offer when the first year is almost 50% off! If you compare the price of the following year, it is one of the most expensive plans!

If you want a plan for a single year (or even two), these offers may be excellent. But what if you want a plan for the next ten years? In these cases, you should ignore these offers. They are just trying to trap you. And often, these offers are binding for more than one year.

Some people think they will change every year. But the problem is that most people are lazy or simply forget. And then, they will be locked in for another year (or more) with a bad offer.

You should consider the long-term costs of something before buying it!

The need for speed?

Many people will tell you that higher internet speeds are better. That is true, but only to a certain extent. At some point, the extra speed will not bring you any significant advantage.

For instance, I am downloading tons of TV Shows and movies and playing online games, and I have never had an issue with my 50Mbpps connection. Most people will never need a connection faster than 100Mbps. After this, this is only marketing to sell you higher offers. And yet, so many people upgrade their Internet connection as soon as they can get an extra 10Mbps.

There is no issue if you can get a faster speed for the same price. But do not pay more for speed that you will never use. And sometimes, it is entirely worth it to lower your speed to save money!

You also need to remember that not every home in Switzerland has access to the same speed. So you need to choose a plan available in your home. Even if you are getting a 500Mbps plan, you may only get 50Mbps, depending on where you live.

TV Plan with Internet

We start first with Television plans with included Internet. It is the most common plan for people in Switzerland.

You will get Internet and TV at home with the same subscription in this plan.

10 Mbps Internet

We start with a minimum of 10 Mbps Internet. It is a relatively slow speed. If you just surf the net, it will be fine. But if you watch many movies, it will not be as good. And your experience with the TV may not be as good. But this is not as bad as many people would like you to believe. However, if you want HD channels, you will need a higher bandwidth.

So, here are the cheapest offers for this scenario:

  1. Teleboy Internet (25Mbps Download, 5Mbps Upload): 35 CHF per month
    1. 270 SD channels
    2. 180 HD channels
  2. iWay 20 (20Mbps, 20Mbps): 44CHF per month
    1. 185 SD channels
    2. 140 HD channels
  3. M-Budget Combi Home (50Mbps, 10Mbps): 49.80CHF per month
    1. 250 SD channels
    2. 100 HD channels

Here, the winner is Teleboy Internet. It is 9 CHF less per month than the second and third offers. It is also the one with the highest number of channels.

Now, I have never tried Teleboy Internet myself. And I do not know anyone who uses it. And looking at the reviews of Teleboy, it seems that most people are not satisfied. So, it may be interesting to try to find other users and get their opinions before switching to Teleboy.

If you are a Teleboy user, I would love to hear your review!

100 Mbps Internet

Most people will be more than happy with 100Mbps. Most people will never need more than that. It is the speed I have, and I am an avid consumer of the Internet: Videos, TV-Shows, and Movies! I never needed more!

So, here are the cheapest offers for this scenario:

  1. Teleboy Internet (100Mbps Download, 20Mbps Upload): 39 CHF per month
    1. 270 SD channels
    2. 180 HD channels
  2. iWay 100 (100Mbps, 100Mbps): 54 CHF per month
    1. 185 SD channels
    2. 140 HD channels
  3. green.ch Internet Flex 100 (100Mbps Download, 20Mbps Upload): 57.80 CHF per month
    1. 220 SD channels
    2. 150 HD channels
  4. M-Budget Combi Home Speed Plus (200Mbps, 40Mbps): 59.80CHF per month
    1. 250 SD channels
    2. 100 HD channels

Again, Teleboy Internet is the cheapest option! And it is still 10 CHF less per month.

500 Mbps Internet

We can also see what it would cost to bump the speed to 500Mbps. Here is what it would cost to get that speed with TV.

  1. Teleboy Internet (500Mbps Download, 100Mbps Upload): 45 CHF per month
    1. 270 SD channels
    2. 180 HD channels
  2. iWay 500 (500Mbps, 100Mbps): 64 CHF per month
    1. 185 SD channels
    2. 140 HD channels
  3. init7 Copper7 (500Mbps, 500Mbps): 64.75 CHF per month
    1. 200 SD channels
    2. 85 HD channels

We have, once again, Teleboy in the lead at 45 CHF per month. It is then followed by iWay, Wingo, and init7 at about the same price.

To go from 100 to 500Mbps will cost you 6 CHF per month. For me, it is not worth spending on the extra speed I do not need. But you may think it is worth it for you. And this is not a huge amount of money even in the long term.

Best TV Plan with Internet

Based on this comparison, there are two good choices.

Go with Teleboy, the cheapest offer, and see if it is worth it. You must know that you must keep with them for 12 months, or at least pay for them.

Or, trust the bad reviews of Teleboy and go with M-Budget Combi Home for a few more francs each month. I have only heard good things about them.

I would go with the M-Budget Combi Mini at 50Mbps per month. For 49.80 CHF per month, with the Internet and TV, this is a great offer!

TV Plan without Internet included

Now, if you already have an Internet plan, we can look at the options for a TV plan without the Internet.

In Switzerland, the primary Television providers we saw in the previous section do not offer TV to non-customers. So, you have to use alternatives.

Zattoo for Channels

Zattoo is one of the leaders in Television offers over the Internet. It started in 2006 already and has more than 20 million registered users. You can use Zattoo on many smart TV or directly on your XBOX, for instance. Or you could connect your laptop or computer to your Television.

Zattoo is available in three versions:

  1. Zattoo Free (Free). You will get access to 274 channels, with 68 HD channels. You will only be able to use it for 30 hours a month on a Smart TV (unlimited on computers). You will get some ads on TV.
  2. Zattoo Premium (12 CHF per month). You will access 179 HD channels and seven days of live replay. And you can use it with unlimited access on Smart TV. You can use Zattoo on two devices simultaneously.
  3. Zattoo Ultimate (20 CHF per month). You will get 77 extra Full HD channels. You can use Zattoo on four devices simultaneously.

Until October 2022, the Zattoo premium was without ads. Now, it has ads if you use live replay. This makes this option less interesting. With Zattoo Ultimate, you can skip the ads even for live replay.

Overall, I do not think Zattoo is that good of a deal. At 20 CHF per month, it is already expensive.

If you share your paid account, it will save you some money. You could get the Ultimate account for 5 CHF monthly if you share it with three others.

If you have Salt internet, you can get Zattoo for only 6 CHF per month. This offer could be interesting if you already have Salt internet or plan to change to Salt.

Wilmaa for Channels

Wilmaa is another alternative for Internet-based Television in Switzerland. For TVs, it is only available on Apple TV and Android TV. It is a bit disappointing. But you can also use it on your computer or laptop. And you can, of course, connect your computer to the TV.

Wilmaa is available in four versions:

  1. Wilmaa Free (Free). You will get access to 260 channels, with 140 HD Channels. You will only get 30 hours a month on your smart TV. You will see some ads on the TV.
  2. Wilmaa Me (9.90 CHF per month). This account removes the ads. You will also get access to 7 days replay on top of the Free features.
  3. Wilmaa Me Plus (12.90 CHF per month). You will get an extra 70 Full HD channels and unlimited time on your TV.
  4. Wilmaa Friends and Family (17.90 CHF per month). You have the same features as Wilmaa Me Plus. But you can have four simultaneous users.

Once again, I think Wilmaa Me is necessary to remove the ads. However, it is disappointing that you must pay for Wilmaa Me Plus to get unlimited time on TV. Moreover, they only work on a few Smart TVs (not Samsung!) is a significant disadvantage here.

On top of that, we can expect live replay to become more expensive now that they have introduced tariffs to private companies for this feature.

You can also share your Wilmaa Friends and Family accounts to save some extra money.

Netflix for Movies and TV Shows

If you only care about movies and TV shows, you may not need any TV channel. In this case, Netflix may be an excellent way for you to get access to many TV Shows and Movies. It is available on many devices.

Netflix is available on three different plans:

  1. Basic (11.90 CHF per month). You get access to all the content without ads. But you do not get any HD content.
  2. Standard (18.90 CHF per month). You get access to the Full HD content, and you can watch it on two screens simultaneously.
  3. Premium (24.90 CHF per month). You get access to the Ultra HD content, and you can watch on four screens at once.

If you want a lot of movies and TV Shows, Netflix can be a great option. But you will probably have to pay for Netflix Standard to get HD quality. And keep in mind that Netflix does not have all TV Shows (no Game of Thrones!).

Typically, the sharing is only per household. But many people are sharing their accounts regardless. According to their terms of conditions, they can terminate your account if you share it with people outside the household. So, you may want to be careful if you share yours.

Best TV Plan without Internet included

If you only want movies and TV shows, Netflix may be an excellent service! You will have access to a vast catalog. Just make sure that your favorite shows are available on Netflix. It is not the case with all TV Shows. Also, it is disappointing that the basic account does not have HD support.

If you want TV channels, you can opt for Zattoo or Wilmaa. However, they are starting to become very expensive. And if you want to eliminate all ads (the plague of public television), you often need to pay extra.

You can also opt for both if you think you need that. Many people are doing that. However, you need to ask yourself whether you need both. TV channels should offer you most of your favorite TV Shows. You will not be able to binge-watch the latest Television Show. But do you need to do that?

Consider combo options

Sometimes, some combined offers can save you a lot of money.

For instance, if your phone plan is with Salt, you can save 10 CHF monthly on your Salt Fiber plan. You can also get a SIM Router card for a low price if you have another Salt SIM card. Swisscom and M-Budget also have some of the same offers.

Now, you still need to be careful about these offers. Sometimes, people use these offers as an excuse never to change. But there are often some separate offers that could be cheaper.

Internet: Sometimes cheaper is not better

For many people, their home internet is essential. I am one of them. I have several servers running all the time at home. I rely on a good internet connection for my job and most of my hobbies. Therefore, for me, it is imperative always to have a good internet connection at home.

For this, I have been using Swisscom since I moved into my apartment. And I have never had any issues with it. I am using the 65 CHF per month plan with 100Mbps. I plan to continue on that plan. I could save about 15 CHF monthly by changing and getting a TV plan. But I am not willing to take the risk. And I do not need a Television at home.

If you are not too worried about it, you can save money by avoiding Swisscom. But if you want something reliable, it may be very interesting to stay with them.

Comparators for Television subscriptions

I did not find many comparators for Television subscriptions in Switzerland.

The only good one I have found is the TV plan comparator from moneyland. It is complete and can even do some searches based on your address. You can also select the options you want for your TV  subscription, such as Live Pause or Replay.

I used their comparator for my comparison and tried to see if I could find cheaper alternatives. In the end, the results from their comparator are good.

Conclusion

As you can see, there are plenty of options for cheap Television subscriptions in Switzerland. Among these, I would go with the M-Budget Combi Mini (50Mbps), which should fit most needs for the fair price of 49.80 CHF per month with access to the Internet already included.

To save even more money, you could consider Teleboy Internet, which would come at 44 CHF per month. But the reviews on Teleboy are terrible. So, you may be taking a risk.

If you do not want to take a bundle, you can also consider alternatives. For instance, Zattoo will let you watch over 250 channels for only 20 CHF per month. And with Netflix, you can watch plenty of movies and TV shows for 16.90 CHF per month.

So, if you are paying a large amount for your TV subscription, you may want to consider changing it! If you can save 25 CHF per month, this is 300 CHF per year that you will save for the future.

Sometimes, a good way to save money is to lower your internet speed. There is no reason to pay for it if you do not need it!

Now that you know how to save money on your Television bill, you can try to save money on your mobile phone bill.

What about you? Which television plan do you use?

Recommended reading

Photo of Baptiste Wicht
Baptiste Wicht started The Poor Swiss in 2017. He realized that he was falling into the trap of lifestyle inflation. He decided to cut his expenses and increase his income. Since 2019, he has been saving more than 50% of his income every year. He made it a goal to reach Financial Independence and help Swiss people with their finances.
Discover Swiss Financial Secrets That Maximize Your Money!

Learn easy ways to optimize your finances and save thousands in Switzerland with our exclusive e-book. Learn about the most cost-effective financial services tailored for savvy residents and expats!

Get Your FREE Swiss Money-Saving Guide

24 thoughts on “The best Television plans in Switzerland for 2024”

  1. Now that fiber optic 10 gpbs has recently arrived, replacing one of the slowest telephone networks in Switzerland (ca 30 mbps), I am wondering whether we need to reformulate our Internet, TV, landline phone subscriptions.

    Over the years we have always had the S/M packages from Swisscom, however I realized that it is practically the most expensive solution around, and in general prices had increased even though there are more benefits than there used to be.
    Problematic is that right now between the S to M internet subscription we go from 100 mbps to 1 gbps without intermediate solutions that would be useful (and M would already be too much considering the price). The whole thing seems very inflexible.

    Then I wondered if it would be feasible to split the internet subscription from the TV subscription, however this is really arduous… changing internet provider would mean changing all wlan hardware and repeaters, and changing email address since “without even realizing it” bluewin it was included in the internet package. Even the landline phone would not be compatible with other operators.

    For TV it would seem that it is not possible to split and so by changing the internet you would also have to change the system (e.g. Zattoo) which from what you say is not convenient anyway.

    One really annoying thing from all TV operators, not only Swisscom, is that they promote the recording function, then in practice you can’t save them for yourself (as you did 30 years ago with VHS instead!) and in fact they stay on the servers for 2 years before being deleted if you don’t notice or no longer have a part of the reserved space, really a pity considering also how much you pay. And here technology is taking steps backward, not forward.

    In conclusion, there would be the possibility to save on the subscription by switching operators, but the costs even hardware of transfer would be huge, plus Swisscom at least provides very good support, which I don’t think is always taken for granted by other operators, although there are small good local providers (but the problem of hardware remains).

    1. Hi Benno,

      I think we have to be careful about 10G because it’s often pure marketing. Most people will never need these speeds and most people will also never get them because you also need the service on the other end to support 10G.

      Very good point about the lack of intermediate options, there should be something between 100 and 1000mbps.

      Bluewin is an excellent way to lock people in. But it may be possible to access it without Swisscom internet, but it may not be free :(
      And as you said, independent providers are not as convenient.
      I did not think about the record option you mention, this is a good point, you don’t really record it for you, you rely on them to record it and if you switch to another provider, you have lost your records :(

      For me, keeping Swisscom is also a matter of convenience, quality and support.

      1. Hi Baptiste,
        I am reopening this thread following news from Swisscom.
        They have recently re-bulked some offers with the consequence that users have to pay more because there are additional services automatically included (e.g. bluewin mail now 2.90 chf/month, additional TV goes from 5 to 9.90 chf, removed an old TV offer at only 5 chf, etc.).
        This makes the issue of the non-optimisation of the offers that we mentioned even worse: users are forced to pay for unwanted supplements.

        I am satisfied with Swisscom’s equipment and support, but I find the commercial aspect completely inadequate.
        I could save CHF 30 per month by switching to the local operator of the municipal electricity company (Wambo), giving up unnecessary services, but a limiting aspect, again, is that 4 TV channels of interest to us are only included in the Swisscom offer.

        What I find inadequate about Swisscom is not so much the well-stocked TV offer (except for the recording problem common to all), but the extremely high cost of the basic internet connection (65 CHF for 100 mbps) and as if that wasn’t enough, now I also have to pay for the bluewin mailbox!

      2. Hi Benno

        Yes, unfortunately, Swisscom is getting even greedier. Their new changes do not make sense. Why pay for bluewin while you can find a ton of great email providers for free. It was good before that you could choose the options you need to make it “cheaper”, but now you have to include everything even if you do not need. And the few remaining options get even cheaper.

        One thing you could try is to call them and tell them you are not satisfied with the changes. If you insist that you will leave, they will likely give you a premium.
        Or maybe you could try Wingo, which is Swisscom but without the support.

      3. Hi Baptiste,
        Yes, complaining might be an effective but unorthodox way.

        For email I found a good alternative without the hassle of changing addresses while keeping the basic 1gb 1 address free bluewin plan:

        Emails after a few months are automatically archived via pc to a free capacious box (e.g. Infomaniak). Thanks to this you have a double advantage and then you also make yourself independent of bluewin without giving it up.

        As for TV:
        Swisscom’s M/L proposition all in all is competitive in pricing.
        I have noticed that other operators present perhaps the same channels but less HD (this could be annoying if you have a large TV and switch from Swisscom “deluxe”).

        Wingo could be a similar alternative without the latest Swisscom features, perhaps still immature on certain functions.
        Of course taking advantage of the offers is perhaps the best scenario for me to consider. Even then I could save a 40 chf a month and even some of the hardware would be compatible.

      4. Using something to become more independent of bluewin is good. At least you have a back up but if you lose access, you still cannot get new emails :(

        And it’s a very good point about HD. Once you have started using Full HD or 4K on a good TV, it’s difficult to go back.

  2. Hello Mr The Poor Swiss,
    I’m a long time reader and fan of yours poursuing some kind of light FIRE myself.

    I think Sunrise Neo TV is worth mentioning because at 5.-/month it gives you a lot of HD channels one device and 7 days replay. I’m not sure, but it’s maybe possible you’re able to Chromecast it on a TV.

    Keep up the good work, I especially find your simulations impressive!

    1. Hi Lorenzo,

      At first sight, it looks interesting indeed. But the fact that it only works on phones, computers, and tablets is quite limiting for most people. You can probably use a Chromecast or simply connect your TV to your laptop, but that’s a bit unpractical.
      I wonder if many people use it. I guess it is good for people that are always using their phones.

      Thanks for sharing!

      1. I use a chromecast to watch Zattoo (and Youtube, Netflix etc) on my tv and for me it is the perfect solution, so easy to choose your program on the smartphone

  3. Hi, I’m relative new to Switzerland, and i have a doubt:

    So there isn’t any free broadcast available in Switzerland? like have an interior antena, and search for the local broadcasts?

    For instance, in Portugal and Spain, to find the public broadcast, is as simple as having a small interior antena able to capture DVB and it’s able to find the main ones.

    1. Hi Gomes,

      We used to be able to do that until 2019. But then, they have stopped broadcasting numeric channels. We have to use it over the internet or cable. So, there is no more free TV directly with antenna in Switzerland.

      Thanks for stopping by!

  4. You could also add the super-frugal option to use a SIM card router, e.g. with Salt. We are paying 10 CHF per month for our internet (Salt) and can watch Netflix in high quality without any problems!

    1. Hi Johannes,

      Are you talking about Surf 5GB? Can you live with 5GB a month? My automated downloads did more than 200GB this month, not counting any surfing.
      The unlimited option is 35CHF per month. This still seems cheap. I did not know about these options.

      Thanks for sharing!

      1. I have an unlimited MultiSurf SIM for 10 CHF per month. I think it is only available if you already own a Salt SIM card with a certain subscription (we have one Smart Swiss and one Plus Young Basic).
        We are really happy with our choice :-)!

  5. If you have the optical fiber connection at home, there is the salt fiber plan 39.90.- if you are already a customer for mobile and 49.90.- if not.
    This is for TV and Internet 10Gb/s and I tested at 60Mbps download and upload.
    They provide an apple TV with a Salt appliaction and it works very good.

    1. Hi Greg,

      Ho, I did not know they had combined offers. I found about the 49.90 CHF offer, but it did not make the TOP 3. The 39.90 CHF will definitely make the cut.
      I will add a mention of it in the article.

      Thanks for sharing!

      1. I also have this. It’s the cheapest I could find. In your 100 Mbps Internet Category, this would have been the cheapest open even without being a mobile customer. I get about 900 Mbps out of it, which is pretty much the maximum you can get out of 1 Gbps cable connection. I don’t have any 10 Gbit devices to test higher.

  6. Hi Poor Swiss
    Good piece as always.
    I would add that whilst Swisscom is the most expensive, its easy userface and customer care (swiss based,english speaker if needed) is very good.
    But I called them up to cancel anyway because it was too expensive. They put me on a better plan and gave me 350 chf credit. Basically it meant my monthly is 65chf. I consider this extra cost over the others to be worth it for the quality and service (but appreciate others will not) Just a thought.
    Thanks

    1. Hi Gavin,

      I completely agree with Swisscom being really good. I am also using their 65CHF/month plan. I should mention that better in the article.
      This is totally worth it, I have not had outages in years now.

      Thanks for sharing!

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