Buying a SIM Card or eSIM for Travel in Singapore

From towering skyscrapers to narrow historic streets, crowded malls to empty walking trails and vast botanic gardens, there’s far more to Singapore than you’d expect from a country that’s smaller in size than New York City!

Whether you’re there for the laksa restaurants and hawker stalls, the iconic city views over Marina Bay, the shopping, or any of the many other reasons to spend a few days in the city, you’ll need a working phone to navigate your way around this dense metropolis.

Staying connected in Singapore is easy to do, and mobile data is very fast. How much you’ll pay for it, however, depends a lot on what approach you take and how organized you are before you arrive. It can be somewhat expensive, but it doesn’t have to be!

I’ve visited Singapore many times and tried all kinds of different ways of getting online. With that in mind, here’s everything I’ve learned about buying an eSIM or local SIM card in Singapore, as cheaply and easily as possible.

There are four cell networks in Singapore: Singtel, Starhub, M1, and Simba. Simba is by far the smallest, with the others essentially the same as far as visitors are concerned. You’ll get excellent coverage and data speeds on any of the main three networks.

There are no 2G or 3G networks left in the country, so you’ll need a phone that supports LTE or 5G. Any recent international model is very likely to support at least some of the LTE frequencies used in Singapore, but that’s less true for 5G.

Not all of the networks offer 5G to prepaid customers either, but fortunately your potential lack of 5G really doesn’t matter: LTE speeds in Singapore have been very fast with all of the networks I’ve used.

M1 and Starhub typically offer better value than Singtel, so that’s who I’d suggest going with if you want a physical SIM card.

If you just show up in front of one of the SIM vendors at Changi airport, they’ll typically only offer you the more expensive tourist bundles with hundreds of gigabytes of data that lasts for a month. This doesn’t really suit most visitors to Singapore, since they’re generally only in town for a few days or even just a few hours on a layover.

Fortunately, there are a few other options, all of which provide better value for most people. You can buy one of the smaller tourist SIM packs in advance and collect it at the airport, wait until you get into the city to get connected, or use a travel eSIM instead.

I generally use eSIMs when traveling these days, because they’re cheap, ensure I’m connected as soon as I arrive, and save a bunch of time that I’d much rather spend doing anything other than buying and installing SIM cards!

I’ve been to Singapore a couple of times in the last year. On the first of those, I tried out my two favorite eSIM companies, Airalo and aloSIM, while I was there. Since I had more consistent speeds with aloSIM and its prices are likely to be a bit cheaper if you use my discount code, that’s who I’d suggest you use.

On my second trip, I just opted for aloSIM throughout. Prices were low for the small amount of data I needed, and it also avoided the hassle of lining up after a long flight, registering with my passport, and installing a physical SIM card.

Speeds with aloSIM were generally very fast everywhere I tested them, although I did occasionally see slowdowns in some parts of the city. It’s not like the slower speeds stopped me from doing anything: I didn’t notice them at all except when running a speed test!

Speeds with Airalo, however, varied widely across the city. When they were fast, they were even quicker than aloSIM, but when they were slow, they were a lot slower. Given that you’ll pay less for an aloSIM eSIM anyway, at least if you use my discount code below, that’s the one to go for.

It’s also worth checking out Nomad: if you need a substantial amount of data, they sometimes run promotions that make them the cheapest option on the day.

I update the prices and details for all three vendors each week, most recently on 15 Jun 2026.

Most travel eSIMs are data-only, and don’t include a local phone number. That’s true for aloSIM as well, but they do at least include a US or Canadian number that friends and family can call or text you on as needed.

Buy your eSIM before you head to Singapore: you can either activate it at the same time, or wait until you land and use the free airport Wi-Fi to do it. Either way, you’ll be connected immediately, and can head straight into the city.

If you’re new to eSIMs, they offer big benefits to travelers in terms of how quickly, easily, and (often) cheaply you can get connected when you arrive in a new country. Most recent phones support them.

Going to other countries as well? Be sure to check out my quick and easy eSIM finder with real-world recommendations for every trip: it only takes a few seconds, and could save you a ton of money!

If you wait until you get to Singapore to buy a physical SIM, you’ve got two choices: expensive options at the airport, or cheaper versions in the city that require a bit more effort to track down.

As I mentioned earlier, though, there is an alternative: buy one of the smaller, cheaper tourist SIM packs in advance, and then pick it up at Changi Airport when you land.

Vendors won’t sell you these packs if you just show up and ask for them, but it’s fine if you’ve ordered one ahead of time. Just select whichever terminal you’ll be arriving at: collection details are in the confirmation email you receive. I talk more about this option in the pricing section.

You’ll find several SIM vendors in the arrivals area of each terminal. Whether you’re collecting a pre-ordered card or buying one on the day, you’ll need to show your passport when you pick up your SIM card so it can be registered to you.

If you’re happy to wait until you get into the city, you’ve got a better selection, including SIMs and bundles that aren’t aimed specifically at tourists. I was staying in the Little India area on my most recent trip, and saw many promotional signs and banners outside convenience stores as I wandered around.

Some of the local carriers also offer an eSIM version of their tourist packs: the prices and inclusions are much the same as the physical SIMs. Unlike travel eSIMs, though, you still need to register with your passport to activate a local eSIM in Singapore.

M1 and Starhub

If you order your SIM in advance and collect it at the airport, at time of writing you can get:

• 100GB of data, 500 local and 30 international calling minutes, and 100 local texts with M1, valid for 15 days, for $6.75 SGD ($5.30 USD)
• 100GB of data, 500 local and 30 international calling minutes, and 100 local texts with Starhub, valid for 14 days, for $8 SGD ($6.30 USD)

Some of those are promotional deals, but even full price is only a few dollars more. If you happen to be staying in Singapore longer than that, 30-day packages are available for a bit extra.

If you don’t buy one of these ahead of time, expect to pay at least $30 SGD (~$23.50 USD) for a tourist bundle with 150GB+ of data from any of the airport vendors.

In the city, expect to pay 10-15 SGD ($7.50-11.50 USD) for a call/text/data pack valid for 2-4 weeks, depending on which company you go with. It’ll have plenty of data included, at least 10GB but often much more.

Topping Up

M1

If you’re like most people and only visiting for a few days, it’s unlikely that you’ll need to top up your SIM during your time in Singapore. If you do, however, the process is pretty straightforward.

Top-up cards are sold in 7-Eleven and other convenience stores, plus supermarkets, petrol (gas) stations, and other locations. You can also do it online via credit or debit card, using the M1 portal or prepaid app (Android and iOS).

Once you’ve added more credit, you can select the pack you’d like to buy by dialling #100* and following the instructions.

Starhub

Just like with M1, top-up packs are sold all over Singapore. Keep an eye out for the company logo, or just walk into a convenience store or supermarket and ask.

You can also top-up online via the portal or prepaid app, and select a new package by dialling *123# and following the instructions.

aloSIM

If you’re using aloSIM or one of the other eSIM companies, topping up is done through logging into the website or app. You just select your Singapore eSIM, hit the top-up button, and pick whichever option sounds appealing.

All of the data packs have exactly the same pricing and duration as the original eSIMs: there’s little difference between topping up your current eSIM and buying a new one, other than not having to activate it.

I’ve been impressed with data speeds whenever I’ve visited Singapore, no matter where I happened to be or which company I had service with. Whether I was at the airport, underground on the metro, jostling through the crowds on Orchard Road, or roaming around the Botanic Gardens, I had full signal everywhere I went.

As I mentioned earlier, while I had occasional slowdowns with aloSIM, I wouldn’t have noticed them if I wasn’t running a speed test. The rest of the time it was blazingly quick, using the speedy Starhub network.

Airalo’s top speeds were even higher than aloSIM’s, but the lowest speeds were substantially lower, to the point where it was definitely noticeably. It uses the widespread and popular Singtel network.