Phone Plans and SIM Cards in the Netherlands 2026

Sorting out a Dutch phone number is one of the first things you do after arriving, and it is also one of the easiest things to overpay for. This guide covers the whole market in one place: what prepaid, SIM-only and handset contracts actually mean here, which three networks exist, what each provider charges today, and what documents you need to sign up without a BSN or a Dutch bank account.

Every price below was read on the provider’s own website on 16 September 2026 (Vodafone: 30 September 2026), with the page named. Where a provider’s site would not show its pricing, we say so rather than repeat a figure from an older comparison table. Prices in this market change with promotions, so treat these as a snapshot and check before you order.

💡 Looking for a complete banking comparison? Read Best banking for expats in the Netherlands 2026 — covers ABN, ING, Bunq, Wise, Revolut & 5 others by expat use case.

Quick choice: which Dutch SIM fits your situation

Sources for the figures in this table: odido.nl/mobiel-abonnement/sim-only and kpn.com/mobiel/sim-only.htm, both read 16 September 2026, and vodafone.nl/abonnement/sim-only, read 30 September 2026. Full price lists per provider are further down.

Prepaid, SIM-only or a handset contract?

Three product types exist in the Netherlands and the difference matters more than the brand you pick.

Prepaid (prepaid or beltegoed) means you top up credit or buy a 30-day bundle. No BSN, no bank account, no credit check — normally just a valid passport or ID card, which providers ask for at purchase or activation. You can buy one at Albert Heijn, Jumbo, Primera, Kruidvat, MediaMarkt, a provider shop, or at the Albert Heijn at Schiphol if you land late. Per gigabyte it is usually the most expensive option, and that is fine: it is a bridge, not a destination.

SIM-only (sim only abonnement) is a monthly contract without a handset. This is where the Dutch market is genuinely good. You need a BSN, a Dutch address and an IBAN for direct debit. Terms run one month, one year or two years, and the price you see advertised is nearly always the two-year price — the monthly cancellable version of the same bundle costs a few euros more.

Handset + plan bundles a new phone into a 24-month contract. Two reasons to avoid this in your first year: your circumstances are not settled yet, and a phone contract with a handset is registered with BKR, the Dutch credit reference system, which lenders look at when you later apply for a mortgage, a rental or a lease. Buy the handset outright and take SIM-only.

What we would do: prepaid in week one, SIM-only once the BSN and bank account exist, handset bought separately. Your number ports across when you switch, so nothing is lost by starting cheap.

The three networks

Every Dutch provider runs on one of three physical networks, so the first question about any budget brand is which network it uses.

KPN is the former state operator and runs its own network nationwide, including its own 5G. Simyo and Youfone both state on their own Sim Only pages that they run on KPN’s 5G network (simyo.nl/sim-only and youfone.nl/sim-only, read 16 September 2026).

Odido is the second network owner. T-Mobile Netherlands and Tele2 Netherlands were merged and the combined business was rebranded to Odido, so neither T-Mobile nor Tele2 exists as a separate consumer brand here any more. Ben states on its own Sim Only page that its customers are “altijd op het betrouwbare 4G/5G Odido netwerk” (ben.nl/sim-only, read 16 September 2026).

Vodafone is the third network owner, part of VodafoneZiggo. Vodafone says its 5G network can be used in almost the whole of the Netherlands (vodafone.nl, read 30 September 2026). hollandsnieuwe states it runs on “het betrouwbare netwerk van Vodafone en Ziggo” (hollandsnieuwe.nl, read 30 September 2026).

A note on coverage claims: comparison articles routinely assert that one network is “the best” or has “the most aggressive 5G rollout”. We have not measured any of this ourselves and we are not going to repeat unsourced rankings. What you can do instead is enter your own postcode and your workplace postcode into each provider’s coverage map, and ask neighbours or colleagues in your specific building what works — indoor reception in older Dutch housing with thick walls varies by building, not by marketing claim. If your reception at home is poor on any network, WiFi calling routes the call over your home broadband and is supported by all the major providers.

Provider by provider

Odido

Odido is a network owner selling at prices that sit closer to the budget brands than to KPN. Its Sim Only page states that customers are “altijd op ons 4G- of 4G+-netwerk. Is je telefoon geschikt, dan kan je ook op 5G”, so 5G is included rather than a paid add-on. You choose a 2-year, 1-year or 1-month term, and eSIM or a 3-in-1 plastic SIM at checkout.

Sim Only prices on a two-year term (odido.nl/mobiel-abonnement/sim-only, read 16 September 2026; the 10 GB and Unlimited Basis prices re-checked on 30 September 2026):

• 2 GB + 120 min: €14,00 (€16,50 with unlimited calling)
• 10 GB + 120 min: €16,50
• 20 GB + 120 min: €18,50 (€21,00 with unlimited calling)
• Unlimited Start, up to 20 Mbit/s, 50 GB EU roaming: €25,00
• Unlimited Basis, up to 400 Mbit/s, 60 GB EU roaming: €32,50
• Unlimited Plus, up to 700 Mbit/s, 75 GB in the EU plus Switzerland, the US and Turkey: €37,50
• Unlimited Snelst, up to 1 Gbit/s, 100 GB in the EU plus Switzerland, the US and Turkey: €37,50
• Unlimited Premium, up to 1 Gbit/s, 100 GB in the EU plus Switzerland, the US and Turkey: €49,50

Prices for the one-year and one-month terms only appear once you select that term. Two details worth knowing: the unlimited tiers are sold on speed rather than volume, so the cheap unlimited plan is the slow one; and if a fixed bundle runs out you keep browsing at 64 Kbit/s instead of being cut off. Calling from the Netherlands to an EU country costs €0,23 per minute on the listed plans. On 30 September 2026 Odido also advertised “Unlimited vanaf € 20/mnd. Met 2-jarig abonnement i.c.m. Klantvoordeel”; no end date was given.

Why this matters for expats: Odido’s order FAQ lists a foreign passport or European ID card among the accepted documents for a Sim Only subscription, though not for a subscription with a handset. And a foreign payment account is possible: “ook met een buitenlandse betaalrekening kan je een Odido abonnement bestellen. Het moet wel een IBAN-betaalrekening zijn” — but only in an Odido Shop, with the foreign bank card, valid ID and a BRP extract no older than one week showing at least six months of registration in the Netherlands (odido.nl/service/bestelling/mobiel, read 16 September 2026). That last requirement rules it out in your first months, but it is a real route once you have been registered for half a year.

See Odido’s current Sim Only plans and prices →

KPN

KPN sells on its own network and prices at the top of the market. Its Sim Only page emphasises that you can change your bundle up or down every month for free (“Je kan je abonnement iedere maand gratis aanpassen”), which is useful if you guessed wrong about your data use.

Sim Only prices (kpn.com/mobiel/sim-only.htm, read 16 September 2026):

• Without mobile internet: €16,-
• 10 GB in the Netherlands and the EU: €19,50
• 20 GB in the Netherlands and the EU: €21,50
• Unlimited50: €28,-
• Unlimited400: €33,50
• SuperUnlimited: €35,50
• SuperUnlimited Plus: €40,-

The practical argument for paying more than a budget brand on the same network is KPN’s free monthly bundle changes and its own customer service; we have not verified which languages KPN’s service supports, so check before you order if that matters to you.

Vodafone

Vodafone sells on its own network, as Sim Only, as a subscription with a handset and as prepaid. It names its Sim Only plans after the data you get, and states that it does not limit the speed of its subscriptions: every Sim Only plan is a 5G plan, and on a 4G-only phone you get a speed upgrade on its 4G network. You choose a two-year term or a one-year term at €1 a month more, and eSIM is available on all Vodafone subscriptions.

Sim Only prices on a two-year term (vodafone.nl/abonnement/sim-only, read 30 September 2026, excluding temporary promotions):

• 3 GB + 150 min, unlimited SMS: €15.00
• 15 GB + 150 min, unlimited SMS: €20.00
• 30 GB + 150 min, unlimited SMS: €24.50
• 50 GB Family, unlimited calling, one shared data bundle (add Family Member lines, up to 10 numbers and up to 200 GB shared): €30.00
• Unlimited Start, unlimited data in NL, 150 min, 50 GB a month in the EU: €27.50
• Unlimited Plus, unlimited data, calls and SMS, 75 GB a month in the EU: €32.50
• Unlimited Max, unlimited data, calls and SMS, 100 GB a month in the EU and 25 GB a month in six countries outside Europe: €42.50

Where Odido tiers its unlimited plans by speed, Vodafone says every Unlimited subscription gets the maximum speed its network offers at your location, up to 1 Gbit/s; the tiers differ in calling and roaming. The EU allowance also applies in countries such as the UK, Switzerland, Turkey and Albania, and the 25 GB on Unlimited Max covers Canada, the Caribbean part of the Kingdom, Morocco, Suriname, the United States and South Africa. With two or more Unlimited subscriptions at one address you get €2.50 a month off. The regular one-off connection fee is €25; on 6 October 2026 Vodafone’s page advertised the plans without connection fee as a temporary promotion, and listed Unlimited Plus at €30,00 instead of €32.50.

Why this matters for expats: if you also take Ziggo Internet at home, Vodafone’s “One van Vodafone & Ziggo” gives up to €10 a month off mobile and up to €10 off the internet, plus double data. Vodafone’s roaming Fair Use Policy looks at a four-month period and may ask you to show a lasting link with the Netherlands, such as a postal address here or living, working or studying here. Vodafone also sells prepaid, with unlimited-data bundles from €4 a day to €44 for 30 days, an English version of its prepaid page and a prepaid eSIM (vodafone.nl/abonnement/prepaid, read 30 September 2026); see our prepaid comparison.

See Vodafone’s current Sim Only plans and prices →

Simyo (KPN network)

Simyo sells online only, with no shops, and states it uses “het betrouwbare 5G-netwerk van KPN” at up to 300 Mbit/s down and 150 Mbit/s up. It offers eSIM.

Simyo prices its plans in two parts — a calling bundle plus a data bundle — and applies a discount on longer terms, so read the total rather than a headline. On the page as read on 16 September 2026 (simyo.nl/sim-only):

• Calling and SMS: 400 min/SMS €6 on 24 months, €7 on 12 months, €8 monthly; unlimited min/SMS €7 / €8 / €9
• Data: 6 GB €1,50, 10 GB €2, 15 GB €3 on all terms
• Larger data bundles: 20 GB, 30 GB and 40 GB were listed at €0,50 on the 24- and 12-month terms and at €5, €7 and €9 respectively on the monthly term

Read that carefully: on the longer terms the large data bundles were shown at a promotional €0,50, which is a discount, not a standing price. A realistic everyday combination at the listed 24-month rates is 400 minutes plus 10 GB for €8 per month. Build your own combination on the site and check what the price becomes after the discount months end.

See Simyo’s current Sim Only prices →

Ben (Odido network)

Ben lets you pick a calling bundle (200 minutes/SMS or unlimited) and a data bundle. Total price per month with 200 min/SMS on a 24-month term (ben.nl/sim-only, read 6 October 2026):

• 10 GB: €7,50 · 20 GB: €8,00 · 30 GB: €8,50 · 40 GB: €9,00 · 50 GB: €11,00

On the day we read the page, these sizes were shown as a promotion: the standard bundles of 5, 10, 15, 20 and 25 GB were shown crossed out and doubled, and the 40 GB bundle was advertised at €9 per month. Check which size the price still applies to when you order. Ben states standard 5G gives up to 200 Mbit/s; “5G Extra Snel” at 400 Mbit/s costs €1 more per month. Website and support are primarily in Dutch, which is the trade-off for the price.

Youfone (KPN network)

Youfone bundles unlimited calling into its plans rather than selling it separately, runs on KPN’s 5G network and offers eSIM. Prices on a two-year term (youfone.nl/sim-only, read 6 October 2026):

• 10 GB with unlimited minutes: €9 per month (€2 per month during the discount period)
• 30 GB with unlimited minutes: €11,50 per month (€1 per month during the discount period)
• 40 GB with unlimited minutes: €13 per month (€1 per month during the discount period)

Youfone’s page states “tot 12 maanden korting bij een 2-jarig abonnement” (read 6 October 2026).

Those introductory months are exactly the kind of promotion that makes comparison tables misleading. The number that matters for your budget is the price after the discount period ends.

Lebara

Lebara sells prepaid SIM bundles in the Netherlands. We could not verify its current bundle contents and prices for this guide, so check lebara.nl directly, and if you call abroad, check which countries and call minutes are included in the bundle you are considering.

Lyca Mobile

Lyca Mobile sells 30-day prepaid bundles with unlimited national calling and SMS, and an eSIM with instant activation (lycamobile.nl/en/esim, read 16 September 2026). Its own Dutch site described the service as running on the KPN network when we read it on 24 August 2026; older comparison articles place Lyca on the Odido network, so check the provider page rather than a third-party table if the host network matters to you.

Bundles as listed on lycamobile.nl/en/bundles, read 16 September 2026:

• Bundel XS: €10 per 30 days, 5 GB, unlimited national calls and SMS, 5 GB EU roaming
• Bundel S Plus: €15 per 30 days, 10+10 GB, 10 GB EU roaming
• Bundel M: €20 per 30 days, 20+20 GB, 20 GB EU roaming
• Bundel XL: €29,99 per 30 days, 40+20 GB, 46 GB EU roaming
• Unlimited Bundel: €39,99 per 30 days, unlimited data, 61 GB EU roaming

All bundles include unlimited Lyca-to-Lyca calling. International minutes to specific countries are sold and bundled separately, so check the rate for your destination before you commit.

See current Lyca Mobile bundles → (affiliate link; we may earn a commission at no extra cost to you)

Comparing live prices in one place

Because promotions move weekly, check the provider’s own page for the current price before you order.

eSIM

An eSIM is a digital SIM you activate by scanning a QR code. For expats it solves a specific problem: you can run your home-country physical SIM and a Dutch eSIM in the same phone, so you keep receiving bank and government SMS codes on your old number while using a Dutch number for everything here. That dual-SIM setup is the normal arrangement for the first six to twelve months.

Which providers offer eSIM, as stated on their own pages: KPN, Odido and Vodafone all support it; Vodafone offers eSIM on all subscriptions and on prepaid, and existing customers can swap to eSIM in the Vodafone & Ziggo app (vodafone.nl, read 30 September 2026); Odido lets you choose eSIM or a 3-in-1 plastic SIM at checkout (odido.nl, read 16 September 2026); Simyo and Youfone both list eSIM on their Sim Only pages (read 16 September 2026); Lyca Mobile sells an eSIM with instant activation (read 16 September 2026). For Lebara and Ben, check the provider page — this is the detail that changes most often.

Three things to check before you order an eSIM:

• Device support. Many recent phones support eSIM, but some budget handsets do not. Check the manufacturer’s support page for your model.
• An internet connection at activation. eSIM activation happens online and sometimes involves a video identity check. Have hotel WiFi or a hotspot ready before you start — you cannot activate an eSIM from a phone with no connection.
• Business accounts. Some providers restrict eSIM to consumer plans, so check first if the line is on a company account.

For travel rather than residence, international eSIM providers such as Airalo work alongside your Dutch number without replacing it. For a deeper comparison of the two formats, see our eSIM versus physical SIM guide.

EU roaming

Your Dutch SIM works throughout the EU and EEA at no extra charge, using your domestic data, minutes and texts. Three qualifications:

Fair use. Providers may apply a surcharge if your roaming use is structurally higher than your domestic use — the rule exists to stop people buying a cheap Dutch SIM to use permanently in another country. The European Commission notes that the wholesale cap underlying that surcharge was €2 per GB plus VAT from 2022 and decreases progressively to €1 per GB in 2027 (digital-strategy.ec.europa.eu/en/policies/roaming, read 16 September 2026). In practice it rarely affects someone actually living here.

Roaming volumes on unlimited plans are capped. An unlimited domestic bundle is not unlimited abroad. Odido publishes the allowance per tier: 50 GB on Unlimited Start, 60 GB on Unlimited Basis, 75 GB on Unlimited Plus and 100 GB on Unlimited Snelst and Unlimited Premium, with the top three tiers also covering Switzerland, the US and Turkey (odido.nl, read 16 September 2026). Vodafone publishes 50 GB on Unlimited Start, 75 GB on Unlimited Plus and 100 GB on Unlimited Max, valid in the EU and also in countries such as the UK, Switzerland, Turkey and Albania (vodafone.nl, read 30 September 2026). On a fixed bundle you simply use your own gigabytes.

Switzerland and the UK are outside EU roaming. Since Brexit the UK is not covered, and Switzerland never was, although some providers extend their EU rate: Vodafone includes both the UK and Switzerland (and Turkey and Albania) in its EU rate, and Odido’s top three unlimited tiers include Switzerland. Most providers sell travel add-ons for the rest; check the price before you leave rather than after the bill.

Receiving calls while you are elsewhere in the EU costs you nothing extra. Calling out internationally from your Dutch SIM is a different product from roaming and is billed at your provider’s international rates — on Odido’s listed plans, €0,23 per minute to an EU country.

What you need to sign up

Prepaid SIM

• A valid passport or national ID card, which providers normally ask for. No BSN, bank account or credit check is needed.

SIM-only monthly contract

• Valid passport or national ID card
• A BSN — see our BSN registration guide
• A registered Dutch address. Automated systems often reject hotel and short-stay addresses, which is the most common reason an application fails in month one.
• An IBAN for direct debit. A Dutch account is the straightforward route; see the best bank accounts for expats. An EU IBAN from a provider such as Wise is accepted by some providers and refused by others — ask before you order.
• Identity verification, usually a photo of your passport plus a selfie through the provider’s app, processed within hours.

The foreign-document route. If you have no Dutch bank account yet, Odido is the one provider whose published terms we have verified as accommodating this: a foreign passport or European ID card is accepted for a Sim Only subscription, and a foreign IBAN is accepted in an Odido Shop with your foreign bank card, valid ID and a BRP extract no older than one week showing at least six months of registration in the Netherlands (odido.nl/service/bestelling/mobiel, read 16 September 2026). The six-month registration condition means this is not a first-week solution — for week one, prepaid is.

Handset + plan contract

• Everything above, plus a BKR credit check as standard and typically a 24-month commitment.

If you have not registered with your municipality yet, do that first; the BSN unlocks banking, healthcare, tax and phone contracts alike. Our DigiD guide covers the order in which these registrations happen.

Switching providers and keeping your number

Number portability (nummerbehoud or nummer meenemen) is one of the smoother pieces of Dutch admin. You cannot bring a foreign number into the Netherlands, but once you have a Dutch number it follows you between providers.

1. Sign up with the new provider and say you want to keep your existing number. You give your current number and sometimes your current customer number.
2. The new provider submits the port request. You do not contact your old provider.
3. The number transfers, usually within a few days. Your old SIM stops working at that moment.
4. Your old subscription ends automatically as part of the port.

Do not cancel your old contract yourself first. If the number is already cancelled there is nothing left to port and you lose it. The cancellation is part of the porting process.

A few practical points: the number must be active to be ported; on a fixed-term contract you can switch during the term but often pay the remaining contract costs (ConsuWijzer), so three months left at €25 means about €75 to leave. After the fixed term you can cancel at any time with a notice period of at most one month (ConsuWijzer).

Your number and DigiD. DigiD sends verification SMS to your registered mobile number. If you change your number, update it at digid.nl under account settings before the old number stops working. Check on digid.nl what you can do if you lose access to your registered number.

When you leave the Netherlands. Keep the Dutch number alive a little longer than you think you need to — final tax, banking and insurance matters often need an SMS code. Most providers require one month’s notice to cancel.

Saving money without regretting it

Buy less data than you think you need. WiFi is everywhere here: NS trains, airports, libraries, most cafés, most coworking spaces, and your own home broadband. Many people who arrive on a 30 GB plan settle at 10 to 15 GB. The categories that genuinely burn mobile data are navigation while cycling or driving, video calls outdoors and photo uploads on the move. Start small; on most plans you can move up a bundle at the next billing period, and KPN advertises free monthly bundle changes.

Use WiFi calling. It fixes poor indoor reception in thick-walled buildings and reduces your dependence on the mobile network entirely.

Check whether your phone is unlocked. Handsets bought outside the EU are sometimes locked to their original network. Check before you buy a Dutch SIM; the original operator can usually unlock it.

Look at bundling only if the maths works. KPN and Odido both discount mobile when you also take home broadband from them, and Vodafone and Ziggo combine as “One van Vodafone & Ziggo”: up to €10 a month off mobile and up to €10 off Ziggo Internet (vodafone.nl, read 30 September 2026). A bundle discount of a few euros is worth less than moving from a €25 plan to a €10 one at a budget provider that cannot bundle. Run the numbers rather than assuming. Our best internet providers in the Netherlands guide compares the broadband side.

Ask about student and family rates. Several providers discount additional SIMs on one account, and some Dutch universities have negotiated staff and student deals that are not advertised — ask at the student services desk rather than assuming.

If you are a ZZP’er, a phone used for business is a deductible business expense, and a mixed-use phone is deductible in proportion to business use. The Belastingdienst does not publish a fixed personal-use percentage, so agree an approach with your boekhouder rather than copying a number from a forum. Our freelancer ZZP guide covers business expenses more broadly.

Public WiFi and your data

You will spend your first months creating accounts on unfamiliar networks — hotel WiFi, coworking spaces, cafés, the train. If you handle client data, or log into DigiD and your bank from shared networks, a VPN encrypts that traffic so others on the same network cannot read it. It also keeps home-country streaming services usable.

Protect your data on public WiFi with NordVPN →

There is more detail in our VPN guide for expats in the Netherlands.

One emergency note

The Dutch emergency number is 112. It works from any mobile phone with any signal, including a phone with no active SIM and no credit. For non-emergency police matters, 0900-8844 requires a working, paid connection.

Recommendations by situation

You landed this week and have no BSN. Buy a prepaid SIM at the airport or a supermarket, show your passport, top up a 30-day bundle. Lyca’s Bundel XS at €10 for 5 GB with unlimited national calling is a concrete option (lycamobile.nl, 16 September 2026); a supermarket prepaid from any brand does the same job. Switch once your registration is through — your number comes with you.

You are settled and want the lowest bill. Simyo, Ben or Youfone, depending on which network you prefer and which promotion is running. Expect roughly €8 to €13 per month for a mid-size bundle at the rates listed above, and check what the price becomes after any introductory months.

You want a network owner at a budget price. Odido Sim Only: 10 GB at €16,50 or 20 GB at €18,50 on a two-year term (odido.nl, read 30 September 2026), 5G included, eSIM at checkout.

You want KPN’s own network. KPN, with free monthly bundle changes and Unlimited50 at €28,- (kpn.com, read 6 October 2026); check kpn.com for its smaller data bundles.

You need unlimited data. Odido Unlimited Start at €25,00 if 20 Mbit/s is enough for you, Unlimited Basis at €32,50 for 400 Mbit/s (odido.nl, read 30 September 2026), Vodafone Unlimited Start at €27.50 with the network’s full speed but 150 calling minutes, or KPN Unlimited50 at €28,-. Read the speed tier, not just the word “unlimited”. Our unlimited data plans compared goes through this in detail.

You call family outside the EU regularly. Price the calls before the data. Check what Lyca Mobile and Lebara include for calls to your country, because a bundle that includes your country can be worth more than any difference in data pricing. Check the current country list — it changes.

Your stay has an end date. Take a one-month term or stay on prepaid. The extra few euros a month buys you the ability to walk away, which is cheaper than an early exit.

You have a family. Ask KPN, Odido and Vodafone about multi-SIM pricing before signing anything individually; Vodafone publishes its 50 GB Family group plan with a shared data bundle for up to 10 numbers.

Specialised guides

This page is the overview. For a specific intent, we have a dedicated article:

• Best SIM-only plans for expats in the Netherlands — if you already know you want a monthly SIM-only contract
• Best prepaid SIM cards in the Netherlands — prepaid bundles, top-ups and where to buy
• Best SIM card for tourists and new arrivals — short stays and your first days
• SIM cards for international students — student budgets and campus deals
• Unlimited data plans compared — the speed tiers behind the word “unlimited”
• eSIM versus physical SIM — which format to choose

The short version

The Dutch mobile market is competitive, month-to-month terms are normal, and switching is fast and free. Start on prepaid with your passport, move to SIM-only once your BSN and IBAN exist, buy your handset separately, and check the price that applies after the introductory months rather than the one on the banner.

Sort this alongside a Dutch bank account and health insurance and you have the basics of your first weeks covered. The complete guide to moving to the Netherlands sets out the full sequence.

Prices in this guide were read on the providers’ own websites on 16 September 2026 (Vodafone: 30 September 2026) and are named at each figure. Dutch mobile pricing changes with promotions — verify on the provider’s site before ordering. Some links are affiliate links; we may earn a commission at no extra cost to you.