How to Buy a SIM Card in Honduras in 2026

In Honduras the choice of SIM card comes down to two networks, Tigo and Claro. A local SIM is cheap, but buying one as a visitor is easiest in a staffed store, with your passport, and the airport is not a sure place to find a counter. This guide compares Tigo and Claro, explains how a foreign passport holder gets a line, what is known about the airports, what a SIM has cost, and the eSIMs we sell that cover Honduras. Our plans for the country are on the Honduras eSIM page.

Tigo or Claro

Tigo and Claro are the two mobile networks in Honduras. One provider says Tigo has the broadest national coverage, including the Bay Islands, although that comes from a seller rather than an independent test. Both sell prepaid SIMs and top-ups in their own stores.

Buying a line with a foreign passport

Tigo publishes its SIM price and a route for activating a line on a foreign passport, but it needs help from staff in one of its stores. Claro publishes no clear tourist process and no standard SIM price, so the full cost is harder to judge before you arrive. In both cases, go to a staffed store rather than a street seller, take your passport, and check the line works before you leave.

Buying at the airport

Information about airport counters is thin. One guide says Claro or Tigo SIM cards can be bought at the airports. A separate page about Ramón Villeda Morales airport in San Pedro Sula says it could not confirm a shop inside the terminal, its opening hours or its stock. Ask staff when you arrive, and have a fallback in case there is no counter, such as an eSIM installed before you fly. Older guides also warn that airport kiosks sell tourist SIMs at higher prices than the stores in town.

What a SIM costs

We found no reliable 2026 price for a Tigo or Claro tourist SIM. A guide last updated in 2024 put the SIM at about 25 lempiras for Claro and 50 lempiras for Tigo, before any data package, but those figures are out of date. Ask in the store what the SIM and a data package cost together before you pay.

Looking for a Tigo or Claro eSIM?

Many searches ask how to buy a Tigo or Claro eSIM online. Getting a Honduran line, physical or digital, means going through that operator's own process, which for a visitor usually starts in a store with a passport. If what you need is data for your trip, an eSIM bought online does the job without a store visit.

Our eSIMs for Honduras

Our Latin America plans cover Honduras and 15 other countries in the region. You install the plan at home, it starts on first use, and hotspot is included, with 5G where available:

• Latin America 5GB: $12, valid 7 days.
• Latin America 10GB: $20, valid 14 days.
• Latin America 15GB: $28, valid 30 days.

Orange World 20GB costs $28 for 20GB over 30 days in more than 90 countries, with a French +33 number, 15 minutes and 50 texts. And if you are keeping your home number for bank codes, the O2 SMS Only eSIM receives texts on a private UK number for $8 a month.

Choosing the plan size

Pick the Latin America plan by the length of your stay rather than by guesswork about data: 7 days on the 5GB plan, 14 days on the 10GB plan, and up to 30 days on the 15GB plan. If Honduras is one stop on a longer route through the region, the same plan keeps working as you cross into the other countries on its list, with no new SIM at each border. Choose Orange World instead if you want 20GB, a number for a few calls and texts, or coverage beyond Latin America.

Local SIM or eSIM: side by side

Our recommendation

For a trip of up to two weeks, take Latin America 10GB. It works as soon as you land, so you do not depend on an airport counter, and 10GB covers maps, messages and bookings. For a month, the 15GB plan is the better fit. If you need a Honduran number, go to a Tigo store with your passport once you are in town. Set-up steps are in our eSIM installation guide, and the plans for the country are on the Honduras eSIM page.