Best SIM Cards for Tourists in Singapore (2024)

The first thing I do after the immigration gates at Changi is not look for the taxi queue or the MRT sign. It is to check that my phone has a signal, because everything else in Singapore runs through that little bar in the corner of the screen: the Grab app, the MRT map, the hawker centre I bookmarked, the hotel check-in e-mail, the photo of the Jewel waterfall I promised to send home. I have arrived here with a tourist SIM bought at the airport counter, with an eSIM loaded on the plane before take-off, and once, stupidly, with nothing at all and a roaming bill that cost more than the flight. This guide is the one I wish I had read before that third trip. It covers how the SIM market works in Singapore in October 2026, what a tourist plan really contains, physical SIM versus eSIM, which counters are where at Changi, how registration with your passport works, and what to do when your data runs out on day eight. I have kept the prices honest: HolidaySG prices quoted here are "from" prices at the time of writing, and telco counter prices change, so treat them as a guide and check on the day.

Why a local SIM or eSIM beats roaming in Singapore

Singapore is one of the easiest places on earth to get online, which is exactly why paying your home carrier for roaming here feels so silly. A typical daily roaming pass from a European or Indian carrier costs more per day than a whole week of local data. The maths works out the same way whichever country you come from: a local plan with tens of gigabytes costs about as much as two or three days of roaming, and you get a Singapore number thrown in. That number matters more than people expect. Restaurants that run a waiting list by SMS, the hotel's WhatsApp concierge, ride-hailing drivers who call when they cannot find you at the pick-up point, and the occasional OTP for a local booking all work better when you are not behind an international prefix.

The other reason is simpler. Singapore's public Wi-Fi is decent in malls and at Changi, and there is a free network called Wireless@SG in many public buildings, but it needs a registration step and drops the moment you walk out of the door. If you are following a map along the Singapore River or trying to pull up a QR ticket at the Gardens by the Bay gate, you want mobile data that just works. Every network here covers the whole island, including underground MRT platforms and the tunnels between stations, and 5G is now the normal experience rather than a bonus. I have streamed video on the North East Line with no drop-outs. The only dead spots I have found were deep inside a car park and in the middle of MacRitchie Reservoir's forest trail, and both came back within a minute of walking.

One caveat before you decide: if your trip is three days or less and your home plan includes a modest roaming allowance, the gap closes. A visitor from Malaysia or Indonesia on a regional roaming bundle may be fine as they are. For anyone staying four days or longer, or anyone who plans to tether a laptop, the local option wins comfortably.

What a Singapore tourist plan actually contains

The three network operators are Singtel, StarHub and M1. Every tourist plan you see, whether branded by one of those three, by a virtual operator such as Changi Mobile, GIGA or Circles.Life, or by an international eSIM company, ultimately rides on one of those three networks. That is worth knowing because it takes the anxiety out of choosing: you are not picking a worse network by buying a cheaper plan, you are picking a different bundle on the same towers.

A tourist plan from the big three sold at the airport usually comes in a short-stay version and a longer version. At the time of writing the short-stay cards are built around roughly a week to twelve days with somewhere between 50 and 100 GB of local data, a bundle of local call minutes, a Singapore number, and often a small amount of data that works in Malaysia and Indonesia for people doing a Johor Bahru or Batam side trip. The longer cards run for a month with similar or larger data pools. In practice almost nobody uses more than about 15 GB in a fortnight on a phone, so the headline number is more marketing than a real constraint. What does matter is the validity in days, whether hotspot is allowed, and whether the plan includes any calling minutes if you expect to phone a restaurant or a tour operator.

The travel eSIM companies sell a different shape of product: data only, no number, sold in small sizes from 1 GB for a week up to large multi-country packages. They are cheaper at the bottom end and far more flexible if you are visiting Singapore as part of a longer Southeast Asian loop. HolidaySG lists several of these, and I will go through them one by one below, because the right pick really depends on your phone and your itinerary.

Physical SIM or eSIM: deciding before you fly

This is the one decision you should make at home, because it changes what you do on arrival. A physical SIM is the plastic card you have known for twenty years. It works in any unlocked phone, it can be swapped between devices, and the counter staff will do the fiddly part for you. Its drawbacks are small but real: you need to take your home SIM out and keep it somewhere safe (I tape mine inside my passport cover), you cannot get it until you are physically in Singapore, and if your phone has only one slot you lose your home number for the duration unless you juggle cards.

An eSIM is the same thing as a downloadable profile. You buy it online, receive a QR code by e-mail or inside an app, scan it once, and the phone adds a second line. The home SIM stays in place, so calls and bank OTPs on your usual number still arrive, while all data goes through the Singapore profile. You can do the installation on your sofa the night before and switch the line on when the wheels touch down. For a weekend or a transit stop of a few days, this is the clear winner. The limits: your phone has to support eSIM (most iPhones from the XS and XR onward, Google Pixels from the 3, and most flagship Samsung phones from the S20 onward do; many budget Android phones and some Chinese-market models do not), the phone must be carrier-unlocked, and you need an internet connection, usually your hotel or airport Wi-Fi, to download the profile if you leave it until arrival. Install it at home and that last problem disappears.

My rule of thumb after several trips: eSIM for stays under ten days or any trip where Singapore is one stop among several; physical tourist SIM when I am staying longer, travelling with children who have hand-me-down phones, or when I want a local number for calls. If your phone supports both, you can also mix them, which is what I do now: an eSIM installed before departure to cover the taxi ride and the first evening, and a bigger physical card bought the next day if the trip is long.

The eSIM options on HolidaySG, compared

HolidaySG sells several travel eSIMs that cover Singapore, and they are quite different products despite looking similar on the listing page. Here is what each one is actually for.

Airalo Singapore eSIM package

The Airalo Singapore eSIM (from S$4.24 at the time of writing) is the entry-level package: 1 GB of data valid for seven days, delivered as a QR code. One gigabyte sounds tiny, and it is if you plan to watch video, but for maps, messaging, ride-hailing and the odd Instagram upload it covers a long weekend for a careful user. Airalo's app lets you buy a top-up without reinstalling anything, which is the real reason I like this as a first line: it is a cheap way to be online from the taxi rank, and if it runs out you add more or buy a bigger physical card later. The profile is data only, so there is no Singapore number. Install it before you fly; the activation clock starts when the eSIM first connects to a local network, not when you scan the code.

Commbitz Singapore eSIM package and eSIM Daily

Commbitz sells two shapes. The Commbitz Singapore eSIM package (from S$4.16) is a fixed data pack with a fixed validity, and the thing to know is that the validity begins the moment the QR code is scanned and the profile is installed, not when you first use data. So do not install it on the sofa a week early; do it in the departure lounge or on arrival Wi-Fi. The Commbitz Singapore eSIM Daily (from S$3.00 per day) is a daily-allowance product, which suits people who know they will be here for exactly three or four days and want to pay only for those days. Both are 5G data-only profiles with support available through the app. Set-up took me under ten minutes from scan to a working connection.

Eskimo Global eSIM

The Eskimo Global eSIM (from S$9.00) is the one to look at if Singapore is the start of a bigger trip. The base package carries 30 GB that works across more than 80 countries, and the validity starts only when the eSIM connects to a supported network. Two details that I appreciated: when the data runs low you buy a new plan inside the app and it takes over from the old one without reinstalling a profile, and it works on tablets and some smartwatches as well as phones. It costs more than a Singapore-only eSIM, as you would expect, so it only makes sense if you are also going to Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia, Japan or wherever next. Eskimo suggests installing it about a day before departure, which gives you time to confirm the profile shows up in your settings before you are stuck at a gate.

Changi Mobile: the local plan you can tune yourself

Changi Mobile (from S$18.00) is a Singapore virtual operator that sits on M1's network, and it is the one I now point friends to when they are staying two weeks or more. Instead of a fixed tourist bundle you build the plan: how much data, whether you want local talk-time, whether you want SMS, with the option of eSIM or a physical card, and no contract. The prepaid plans start cheap and go up from there, and because it is a local operator you get a proper Singapore number, which the travel eSIMs do not give you. Registration needs your passport, the same as every SIM in the country, and you manage top-ups and usage in the app. Allow ten to fifteen minutes for activation and set-up if you do it at a counter; same-day activation is the norm. One honest note: the M1 network is excellent across the island, but if you are heading to Pulau Ubin or out on a boat, coverage at the fringes is a little thinner than Singtel's in my experience. For the city, Sentosa and the airport you will not notice any difference.

Where to buy at Changi Airport, terminal by terminal

If you have decided on a physical tourist SIM, Changi is the easiest place in Singapore to get one, and I would rather you did it there than hunt for a shop downtown with your luggage. Every terminal's public arrival hall has telco counters, typically run by the travel-retail chains on behalf of Singtel, StarHub and M1, and some terminals also have a Changi Recommends counter that sells several brands side by side. Terminal 1, 2 and 3 are joined airside and landside, and Terminal 4 is a short bus ride away, so if the counter at your terminal has a queue, the next one is a few minutes' walk. The counters are staffed around the clock in my experience, but staffing and exact opening hours do change, so check on the day if you are landing at 3 a.m. and really need it immediately. If you find a counter closed, the convenience stores inside the public areas also sell tourist SIMs.

The process is five minutes if you have your passport ready. The staff scan the passport, register the SIM to you, swap it into your phone if you ask, and check that data is working before you leave. Payment is by card or cash. A tip that saves ten minutes: have your phone's SIM tray tool to hand, or ask the staff for a pin, and make sure the phone is unlocked before you reach the counter. I once watched a family discover at the counter that their teenager's phone was locked to a carrier back home, and there is nothing a Changi counter can do about that except sell them a pocket Wi-Fi.

If you have an hour spare after sorting the SIM, use it. Jewel is connected to Terminals 1, 2 and 3 by walkways, the Rain Vortex waterfall is right there, and the Canopy Park on the top floor (from S$31.72) is a surprisingly good way to let children run off a long-haul flight on the nets and slides. It opens at 10 a.m. and runs into the evening, and it is quieter before lunch and after 5 p.m. The point for this article is that Jewel has excellent mobile coverage and free Wi-Fi, so it is also a comfortable place to sit and set up an eSIM if you decided to leave that until arrival.

For transit passengers who are not entering Singapore, none of the landside counters are reachable, and a Singapore SIM is of limited use anyway. In that case an eSIM installed before the trip is the sensible answer, and the Ambassador Transit Lounge at Terminal 2 (from S$50.91, with 3, 5 and 10 hour packages) gives you showers, a meal, charging points and stable Wi-Fi to download it. Most people spend three to five hours there on a long layover.

Buying in the city: convenience stores and telco shops

If you arrived on an eSIM and want to move to a bigger physical card, or you skipped the airport counters, every 7-Eleven and Cheers sells tourist SIMs from the counter. There are hundreds of these shops, many of them open all night, and the staff do the passport registration on a handheld terminal. The range is narrower than the airport, usually one or two tourist cards per telco, and activation help varies with how busy the shop is. Outside the city centre, the shops inside MRT stations are the most reliable bet because they handle this all day.

For anything more complicated, such as wanting a larger plan, an eSIM from a local telco, or help with a phone that will not pick up a signal, the proper telco shops are in the big malls: Singtel at Comcentre on Exeter Road and in VivoCity, StarHub and M1 in Plaza Singapura and most of the Orchard Road malls. They open with the malls, roughly 10 or 11 a.m. to 9 or 10 p.m., and the staff can see promotions that the convenience-store cards do not include. I have only needed one of these once, when a card refused to register, and they sorted it in fifteen minutes.

While you are at it, pick up transport. The EZ-Link card (from S$12.00) is the tap-in, tap-out card for the MRT, LRT and buses, and it also works for small purchases at many shops. The card itself has a non-refundable cost of a few dollars and comes with stored value loaded; you top it up at the machines in any station. Some telco counters at the airport sell tourist SIM bundles with an EZ-Link included, which saves a queue. Note that a contactless Visa or Mastercard also works directly at the gates now, so if your bank does not charge foreign transaction fees you may not need a card at all; I still like having one for the kids.

Passport registration and the rules you cannot skip

Singapore requires every prepaid SIM to be registered to a named person, and for visitors that means your passport, scanned at the point of sale. There is no way around it, and no shop will sell you a card without it, so do not send a friend to buy one for you. A photo of the passport on your phone is not accepted at most counters; they want the physical document. The same applies to a local eSIM from Changi Mobile or the big three. Foreign travel eSIMs such as Airalo, Commbitz and Eskimo handle their own compliance when you buy online, so there is nothing to show at a counter, which is part of their appeal.

There is also a limit on how many prepaid SIMs one person can hold in Singapore. For a tourist it is academic, but if you are buying for a family, each adult registers their own card, and a parent registers the card for a child under the age the counter staff ask about. Keep the little card holder with the SIM's number and the top-up instructions; you will want it later. Finally, the tourist cards are time-limited by design. When the validity ends the number is gone, and a new trip means a new card. If you expect to come back often, a Changi Mobile plan that you keep alive with an occasional top-up is the better long-term shape.

Getting online: the first ten minutes with a new SIM

With a physical card, switch the phone off, swap the SIM, switch on, and wait for the welcome SMS. On the telco tourist cards the plan is pre-loaded, and the SMS confirms what you have and when it expires; occasionally it asks you to reply with a single character to confirm activation. If data does not start within a minute or two, open Settings, find Mobile Data and check that data roaming is off and that the Singapore line is selected for data. Modern phones pick up the APN automatically; if yours does not, the welcome SMS lists it, and so does the little leaflet in the pack. Turn the phone off and on once before you ask for help, because that solves it more often than not.

With an eSIM, the sequence is: scan the QR code (or tap the install link on the same phone), give the new line a label such as "Singapore", set it as the data line, keep your home line for calls and SMS, and switch data roaming on for the Singapore line only. That last step surprises people: travel eSIMs are technically roaming profiles on a partner network, so the roaming toggle has to be on for them, while the home SIM's roaming should stay off so you do not run up charges by accident. Once you have a Singapore signal, open a browser and load any page to confirm it works before you leave the Wi-Fi.

Hotspot and tethering are allowed on the telco tourist cards and on every eSIM I have tried here, and I have run a laptop off my phone for a full working day without issue. Check the terms of the particular pack if tethering is the whole reason you are buying it, because a daily-allowance product can be burned through quickly by a laptop updating itself in the background.

How much data do you really need?

This is where the 100 GB headline figures stop being useful and some honest numbers help. On a typical sightseeing day in Singapore I use between 500 MB and 1.2 GB on a phone: maps all day, messaging, a couple of hundred photos backed up to the cloud at night on hotel Wi-Fi rather than over mobile, a few short videos sent to family, some music while walking. A heavy user who streams video on the MRT, uploads reels in the field and uses the phone as a laptop hotspot can hit 3 to 5 GB a day. A light user who mostly messages and looks at maps uses 200 to 300 MB.

The habit that stretches any plan is simple: set your photo app to back up on Wi-Fi only, download the offline map of Singapore in your maps app before you leave home (the whole island is a small file), and let streaming apps pre-load a playlist on the hotel network. Do those three things and even a 1 GB eSIM lasts a long weekend.

Topping up and extending

Running out is not a disaster. Telco tourist cards can usually be topped up with a voucher from a convenience store, or through the telco's app with a foreign card, and the app is also where you see your remaining balance and expiry. Changi Mobile is managed entirely in its app, and because it is prepaid with no contract, adding a data block is a thirty-second job. The travel eSIMs are the easiest of all: Airalo, Commbitz and Eskimo each let you buy another pack inside the app, and in Eskimo's case the new pack simply takes over when the current one is finished, no reinstall. The thing that does catch people is validity rather than data. A seven-day pack ends on day seven even if 900 MB is left, so if you are staying eight days, buy the longer product from the start rather than planning to top up.

For a side trip, check whether your plan includes Malaysia or Indonesia before you leave Singapore. Some of the telco tourist cards include a modest regional allowance that covers a day in Johor Bahru or a ferry hop; most Singapore-only eSIMs do not. If you are taking the ferry to Batam, a global eSIM or a cheap Indonesian pack bought in advance saves you buying at a Batam ferry terminal with limited English signage.

The first day connected: a practical arrival plan

Here is how a SIM fits into a real arrival. Clear immigration, collect bags, and at the counter in the arrival hall either buy the tourist card or, if you installed an eSIM at home, switch on its data line while standing somewhere with signal. Then decide how to get downtown. The MRT from Terminal 2 or 3 takes about 45 minutes to the city with one change at Tanah Merah and costs a couple of dollars; a taxi or Grab costs more and takes 20 to 30 minutes outside peak times. For a late-night landing with sleepy children I book an airport private transfer to downtown (from S$50.88): the driver has your flight number and tracks delays, and the pick-up zone is in the arrival hall, so you are not negotiating a ride-hailing pick-up with 5 per cent battery.

On your first full day, the data connection earns its keep on a sightseeing loop. The Big Bus hop-on hop-off pass (from S$58.34) covers two routes and more than 30 stops across Marina Bay, the Civic District, Chinatown, Little India and the Orchard Road area, and the whole value of it is checking live timings and deciding on the fly where to get off; without data you are reading a paper timetable at a bus stop in 32-degree heat. Start between 8 and 10 a.m. if you can, both for the light and the heat. The cheaper alternative is the orange FunVee open-top two-hour City and Marina tour (from S$28.64), which is a straight loop rather than hop-on hop-off; take the late-afternoon departure to watch the Marina Bay skyline light up at dusk.

If you book any of these through HolidaySG, e-tickets are emailed after our team confirms your booking, so screenshot the ticket on hotel Wi-Fi the night before rather than relying on a mobile download at the gate. Our support hours are 9 AM to 11 PM Singapore time if a ticket has not arrived. And whatever you book, keep the phone's battery in mind: a day of maps and photos on 5G drains a phone fast, so a small power bank is worth more than another gigabyte.

Mistakes I have made so you do not have to

Installing a Commbitz-style eSIM a week early and losing days of validity before the flight. Scan it on the plane or at Changi, not at home, unless the product's terms say the clock starts on first connection. Forgetting to switch data roaming on for the eSIM line, then assuming the eSIM was faulty. Leaving the home SIM's roaming on and getting a bill for background app updates. Buying a 30-day telco card for a five-night stay because the data number looked impressive, then throwing 90 per cent of it away. Letting a child's locked phone be the reason the whole family queued twice. Not downloading an offline map before landing, then being unable to find the airport counter because the airport map needed data. None of these are expensive mistakes in Singapore, but each cost an hour of a holiday, which is the real currency.

The one thing I would not worry about is network choice. People ask whether Singtel is better than StarHub or M1 for tourists, and for the city, Sentosa, the airport and the MRT the honest answer is that you will not be able to tell them apart. Buy on the bundle and the validity, not on the logo.

Frequently asked questions

Do I need my passport to buy a SIM card in Singapore?

Yes, for any SIM or local eSIM bought in Singapore, including at 7-Eleven and the airport. The physical passport is scanned and the SIM is registered to you. International travel eSIMs bought online before the trip do not involve a counter, so nothing is shown on arrival.

Which is cheaper, a tourist SIM or an eSIM?

For stays of a few days with modest data use, a small travel eSIM is cheaper, because you pay for 1 to 5 GB rather than a 50 GB bundle. For a stay of ten days or more, or if you want a Singapore number, a telco tourist card or a Changi Mobile plan gives you more for the money. Prices change, so compare the current figures on the product pages rather than relying on a number you read somewhere.

Will my phone work with an eSIM?

Most iPhones from the XS and XR onwards, Google Pixel 3 and newer, and most recent Samsung Galaxy S, Note, Z and higher A-series models support eSIM. Many budget Android phones and some models sold in mainland China or Hong Kong do not, and a few phones sold on carrier contracts are locked. Check Settings for an "Add eSIM" or "Add mobile plan" option before you buy; if it is not there, buy a physical card instead.

Can I keep my Singapore number after the trip?

Not on a tourist card; the number ends with the plan's validity. A contract-free prepaid plan from a local operator such as Changi Mobile can be kept alive with top-ups according to its terms, which is the only practical way for a frequent visitor to hold on to a number.

Is the coverage good enough on the MRT and on Sentosa?

Yes. All three networks cover the underground MRT lines, including inside the tunnels, as well as Sentosa, the airport and Jewel. 5G is widely available. The only weak spots are deep in nature reserves and in some underground car parks.

Can I use the tourist SIM as a hotspot for my laptop?

Tethering is allowed on the telco tourist cards and on the eSIMs described here. A laptop uses data far faster than a phone, so pick a larger pack if hotspot use is the main purpose, and keep an eye on the balance in the app.

Does a Singapore SIM work in Malaysia or Indonesia?

Some telco tourist cards include a small regional allowance for Malaysia and Indonesia; most Singapore-only eSIMs do not. For a side trip to Johor Bahru, Batam or Bintan, either confirm the regional allowance on the pack or carry a global eSIM such as Eskimo's.

What if the counter at my terminal is closed when I land?

Walk to the next terminal's arrival hall (Terminals 1 to 3 are linked by walkways), try a convenience store in the public area, or use the free airport Wi-Fi to install an eSIM and sort a physical card downtown the next morning. Opening hours can change, so check on the day if you are arriving in the small hours.

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