How to Buy a SIM Card in Austria in 2026

In Austria you can pick up a SIM card with your groceries. Supermarkets, tobacconists and petrol stations all sell starter packs. The catch is that no Austrian SIM works until it has been registered to your passport, and the cheap shelf packs leave that step to you. This guide explains where to buy, what the networks charge, why the airport is the expensive option, and when an eSIM saves the trouble. Our plans for the country are on the Austria eSIM page.

Do you need one at all?

If your phone plan is from Germany or any other EU or EEA country, no. Austria is in the EU, so your own SIM works there at home prices, within its fair-use limit, and a prepaid Austrian card adds nothing but a local number. Visitors from the UK, the US and elsewhere pay roaming, and they are who the rest of this guide is for.

Three networks, many brands

Austria has three networks: A1, Magenta (formerly T-Mobile) and Drei. According to the regulator RTR in June 2026, A1 holds 36.2% of SIM cards, Magenta 24.9% and Drei 20.1%. A1 has the widest reach in rural valleys and the Alps, Magenta has the top score in the connect network test, 976 of 1,000, and Drei is usually rated the weakest of the three, though fine in tourist areas. The budget brands rent space on these networks: HoT runs on Magenta, spusu on Drei and yesss (written with an exclamation mark on its packs) on A1, so a cheap brand gives you the same masts as its host.

Supermarkets, Trafiks and shops

• Hofer sells its own HoT SIM in more than 530 stores, and Lidl sells Lidl Connect.
• Billa, Spar and Penny stock starter packs from A1, Magenta and Drei. Billa has no mobile brand of its own; bob, the brand that used to hang on Billa's shelf, closed in July 2026.
• A Trafik, the tobacconist and newspaper kiosk on almost every street corner, sells starter packs and top-up vouchers.
• Petrol stations sell starter packs every day. Supermarkets and operator shops close on Sundays and public holidays, so a Sunday arrival may end at a petrol station.
• Operator shops such as the A1 shop at Wien Mitte The Mall in Vienna, Drei at Europark in Salzburg or Magenta at DEZ in Innsbruck, where staff register and activate the SIM for you.

With a shelf pack you enter your name, date of birth and passport number in the activation flow yourself. Some resellers charge up to €10 to register a SIM for you, and some refuse a foreign ID, which is why an operator shop is the easier route for a visitor.

What the networks charge

A1's B.free starter is about €9.90 for a four-week package with 50GB and 2,000 minutes and texts. Sources disagree on how much of that works elsewhere in the EU: one says 15GB, another 13GB. Magenta's prepaid offer is quoted at 50GB plus 19GB of EU roaming for a month, and Drei at €10 for 30GB plus 10GB of EU roaming and 1,000 minutes for 30 days. A cheaper monthly tariff from a budget brand can cost under €6, but needs the same registration.

Vienna Airport

Vienna Airport's public arrivals area has Welcome Yesss, a shop selling SIM cards. A guide to Austrian SIMs quotes a travel blogger who found the arrivals-hall store asking €65 for 100 minutes plus 100 MB, which makes the airport the costliest place to start. One SIM guide even says you cannot buy a SIM at an Austrian airport at all, so do not count on it if you land late.

Our eSIMs for Austria

An eSIM skips the shelf, the registration form and the Sunday closures. The Europe 5GB eSIM is $8 for seven days, enough for a Vienna city break, and the Europe 10GB eSIM is $12 for 14 days; both start on first use and cover 32 countries, so a side trip to Germany or Hungary costs nothing extra. If you want a number, the EE Europe 10GB eSIM is $12.67 for 15 days with 30 minutes and 100 texts on a UK number, and the EE Europe Travel eSIM $21.33 for 30GB over 30 days with 50 minutes. For unlimited local calls, the Vodafone Travel eSIM is $26.60 for 25GB in 76 countries. The O2 SMS Only eSIM, $8 a month, keeps bank texts arriving on a UK number.

Side by side

In the mountains

Coverage in Vienna, Salzburg, Innsbruck and along the motorways is excellent on all three networks. In side valleys and ski areas the differences show, and A1 has the widest rural and Alpine reach. Whatever you use, download offline maps before a day in the mountains.

Our recommendation

With a German or other EU SIM, keep using it. From the UK or further away, install the Europe 10GB eSIM before you travel, or the EE Europe 10GB eSIM if you also want minutes. Staying a month or more, with time to visit an A1 or Magenta shop with your passport, a B.free or Magenta prepaid card is the cheapest data you will find. Set-up steps are in our eSIM installation guide, and the plans for the country are on the Austria eSIM page.