How much does an IoT SIM card cost?
Updated
One IoT SIM used in Germany costs about EUR 5 to EUR 35 for its first year at 10 MB of data a month, and about EUR 8 to EUR 131 at 100 MB a month. These figures come from the public self-service price lists of the 7 providers that publish a rate for Germany (8 checked in all), read on 3 November 2026, card and fixed fees included, taxes and shipping excluded. The price per megabyte matters more than the price of the card: at 1 GB a month, the same comparison runs from about EUR 39 to more than EUR 1,000.
Key takeaways
- Four things make up the price: the card, a fixed fee (per month, per day or once), data per megabyte by country, and extras such as SMS, a static IP or a private APN.
- The card is the small part: EUR 0 to EUR 5 per card in the price lists checked.
- Data rates vary more than 30 times for a device in Germany: from EUR 0.0026 per MB (EUR 2.60 per GB) to USD 0.10 per MB (about EUR 0.089).
- The country changes the bill: the same plan can cost almost four times more per megabyte in the United States than in Germany (Soracom plan01s: USD 0.02 in Germany, USD 0.073 in the United States).
- The data is free to reuse: download the price list as CSV.
What you pay for
| Part of the price | What it is | Range in the price lists checked |
|---|---|---|
| SIM card | The physical card or embedded chip (MFF2), paid once | EUR 0 (plus EUR 2.50 activation) to EUR 5 |
| Fixed fee | Per month, per day, or once for several years | none, to EUR 2.25 per month |
| Data | Price per MB or GB, set by country or by network | EUR 0.0026 to USD 0.10 per MB in Germany |
| Extras | SMS, static IP, private APN, shipping | priced separately, not compared here |
A fixed fee per day is charged only while the SIM is active: USD 0.06 per day at Soracom is about USD 1.83 a month, EUR 0.01 per day at Simbase about EUR 0.30.
First-year cost of one SIM
Each cell adds the card, one-time fees, twelve months of fixed fees and twelve months of data at the profile shown. Shipping, taxes and fees per account are left out. 1 GB is counted as 1,000 MB. US dollar amounts are converted at the European Central Bank reference rate of 2 November 2026 (EUR 1 = USD 1.1216).
Device in Germany
| Provider and plan | 10 MB a month | 100 MB a month | 1,000 MB a month | Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1NCE, Lifetime Flat (10 years, 500 MB included) | EUR 13.00 | EUR 33.00 | EUR 243.00 | 1 Mbit/s cap; the EUR 12 also covers years 2 to 10 |
| 1NCE, High Data IoT | EUR 8.31 | EUR 11.12 | EUR 39.20 | |
| Hologram, Self-service | USD 18.60 (about EUR 17) | USD 51.00 (about EUR 45) | USD 375.00 (about EUR 334) | one worldwide rate shown, no per-country table |
| Things Mobile, pay per use with monthly fee | EUR 31.90 | EUR 53.50 | EUR 269.50 | assumes one network used; plus EUR 3 per month per account |
| Things Mobile, pay per use without monthly fee | EUR 17.50 | EUR 125.50 | EUR 1,205.50 | assumes one network used; plus EUR 3 per month per account |
| Soracom, plan01s | USD 29.30 (about EUR 26) | USD 50.90 (about EUR 45) | USD 266.90 (about EUR 238) | self-service rates, not deployment rates |
| Super SIM (KORE, formerly Twilio), introductory rates | USD 39.00 (about EUR 35) | USD 147.00 (about EUR 131) | USD 1,227.00 (about EUR 1,094) | testing rates; production discounts on request |
| Simbase, Global IoT | EUR 9.25 | EUR 14.65 | EUR 68.65 | first SIM free |
| Monogoto, pay per use | USD 5.60 to 7.38 (about EUR 5 to 7) | USD 9.16 to 26.98 (about EUR 8 to 24) | USD 44.80 to 223.00 (about EUR 40 to 199) | depends on the network the device uses; some networks add an access fee |
Device in the United States
| Provider and plan | 10 MB a month | 100 MB a month | 1,000 MB a month | Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1NCE, Lifetime Flat, US price list | USD 15.00 (about EUR 13) | USD 35.00 (about EUR 31) | USD 245.00 (about EUR 218) | 1 Mbit/s cap; the USD 14 also covers years 2 to 10 |
| 1NCE, High Data IoT, US price list | USD 9.81 (about EUR 9) | USD 13.05 (about EUR 12) | USD 45.45 (about EUR 41) | |
| Hologram, Self-service | USD 18.60 (about EUR 17) | USD 51.00 (about EUR 45) | USD 375.00 (about EUR 334) | one worldwide rate shown, no per-country table |
| Things Mobile, pay per use with monthly fee | EUR 31.90 | EUR 53.50 | EUR 269.50 | assumes one network used; plus EUR 3 per month per account |
| Things Mobile, pay per use without monthly fee | EUR 17.50 | EUR 125.50 | EUR 1,205.50 | assumes one network used; plus EUR 3 per month per account |
| Soracom, plan01s | USD 35.66 (about EUR 32) | USD 114.50 (about EUR 102) | USD 734.90 (about EUR 655) | lower rate per MB above 250 MB a month |
| Super SIM (KORE, formerly Twilio), introductory rates | USD 39.00 (about EUR 35) | USD 147.00 (about EUR 131) | USD 1,227.00 (about EUR 1,094) | testing rates; production discounts on request |
| Simbase, Global IoT | EUR 9.85 | EUR 20.65 | EUR 128.65 | first SIM free |
| Monogoto, pay per use | USD 5.74 to 6.46 (about EUR 5 to 6) | USD 10.60 to 17.80 (about EUR 9 to 16) | USD 59.20 to 131.20 (about EUR 53 to 117) | depends on the network the device uses; some networks add an access fee |
| Telnyx, pay as you go | USD 34.36 (about EUR 31) | USD 118.60 (about EUR 106) | USD 259.00 to 422.80 (about EUR 231 to 377) | volume tiers count the whole account; the page does not say whether they apply step by step |
Which IoT SIM is the cheapest?
It depends on the data volume and on the network the device uses. The two cheapest first years in the tables above:
| Data a month | Device in Germany | Device in the United States |
|---|---|---|
| 10 MB | Monogoto from USD 5.60 (about EUR 5), then 1NCE High Data IoT, EUR 8.31 | Monogoto from USD 5.74 (about EUR 5), then 1NCE High Data IoT, USD 9.81 (about EUR 9) |
| 100 MB | Monogoto from USD 9.16 (about EUR 8), then 1NCE High Data IoT, EUR 11.12 | Monogoto from USD 10.60 (about EUR 9), then 1NCE High Data IoT, USD 13.05 (about EUR 12) |
| 1,000 MB | 1NCE High Data IoT, EUR 39.20, then Monogoto from USD 44.80 (about EUR 40) | 1NCE High Data IoT, USD 45.45 (about EUR 41), then Monogoto from USD 59.20 (about EUR 53) |
- “From” means the cheapest network. Monogoto prices each network separately, and some networks add an access fee; on the dearest German network the same 1 GB a month costs USD 223.
- Over ten years, the order changes. At 10 MB a month, the 1NCE Lifetime Flat costs EUR 33 over ten years with two top-ups, against EUR 47.50 for Simbase at its pay-as-you-go rate.
- Not counted here: shipping, taxes and fees per account.
How to estimate your own cost
- Measure or estimate the data per device and per month. A sensor sending a 100-byte reading every 15 minutes uses well under 1 MB of payload a month, but network overhead, retries and firmware updates often multiply that. The IoT SIM card page gives usage estimates per device type.
- Find the rate for the country where the device will be, not the country where you buy: rates are set by the network the device attaches to.
- Add the fixed fees: 12 months, or 365 days for providers that charge per day.
- Check what is not in the price: SMS, static IP, private APN, shipping, taxes, minimum billing per month (one plan bills at least 5 MB a month) and fees per account.
The formula: card + one-time fees + 12 x fixed fee + 12 x (MB per month x price per MB).
Why the prices differ so much
- Wholesale cost per country. The provider pays the local network for each megabyte; the gap between Germany and the United States in the tables above comes from there.
- Choice of network. Some price lists give a different rate for each network in a country; in Germany, one goes from USD 0.0033 to USD 0.01815 per MB depending on the network.
- Bundle or pay as you go. A 10-year bundle is the cheapest over ten years for a device that sends a few megabytes a month; in the first year, pay-as-you-go plans with a low rate per megabyte can cost less, and the bundle becomes expensive once it needs many top-ups.
- Introductory and production prices. Several providers publish testing or self-service rates and give lower rates for production fleets on request; those negotiated rates are not public and are not in this guide.
How we built this guide
- Sources: the public pricing pages and price lists of each provider, read on 3 November 2026. Each row of the CSV file gives its source address.
- Providers included: those whose price per SIM and per megabyte is public. emnify and Onomondo publish no price per SIM (Onomondo shows only a starting rate of EUR 0.0025 per MB, without a country), and Particle sells no SIM on its own; they are not in the tables.
- What we did not check: delivery times, coverage, quality of service, and whether a rate published as worldwide applies in every country.
- Dates on the sources: some price lists are dated (one says “As of October 2026”, another “Rates valid from 02/02/2022”); prices change, so check the source before you buy.
What M2M.global charges
Status: Coming soon (checked 26 October 2026) · Notify me when available
M2M.global prices are not in the tables above: they are not published yet. When they are, they will be on the pricing page, public and prepaid, the same unit price for one SIM or ten thousand.
Related
Frequently asked questions
How much does an IoT SIM card cost?
In the public self-service price lists we checked on 3 November 2026, one IoT SIM used in Germany costs about EUR 5 to EUR 35 for its first year at 10 MB of data a month, and about EUR 8 to EUR 131 at 100 MB a month, card and fixed fees included, taxes and shipping excluded.
Do IoT SIM cards have a monthly fee?
Most do. Among the 8 providers checked, fixed fees range from nothing (a one-time 10-year plan) to EUR 2.25 per SIM per month (EUR 2 plus EUR 0.25 per network used); two providers charge per day instead, USD 0.06 and EUR 0.01 per day while the SIM is active.
Why does IoT data cost more in some countries?
Because the provider pays the local network for every megabyte, and that rate differs by country and by network. One public price list charges USD 0.02 per MB in Germany and USD 0.073 per MB in the United States for the same plan.
What is the cheapest IoT SIM card?
It depends on the data volume. In the public price lists we checked on 3 November 2026, for a device in Germany using 10 MB a month, Monogoto's pay-per-use plan starts at about EUR 5 for the first year on its cheapest network, then 1NCE High Data IoT costs EUR 8.31; at 1 GB a month, 1NCE High Data IoT is the cheapest at EUR 39.20. Over ten years at low volume, the 1NCE Lifetime Flat costs EUR 33 with two top-ups.
Is a bundle cheaper than pay as you go?
Over several years, often yes; over the first year alone, often no. At 10 MB a month in Germany, a 10-year plan costs EUR 13 in year one and EUR 33 over ten years with two top-ups, against EUR 9.25 and EUR 47.50 for a pay-as-you-go plan at EUR 0.005 per MB and EUR 0.01 per day.