France SIM card 2026: Orange, SFR, Bouygues, Free

Part of our France eSIM guide: all articles and key facts →

A French SIM card gives you a local number and, at SFR, a month of generous data for less than a week of most travel eSIMs. The choice is between four networks: Orange, SFR, Bouygues Telecom and Free Mobile. We read their prepaid and visitor pages on 26 October 2026, together with the regulator Arcep's 2025 measurements and Opensignal's latest France report. Here is what each operator offers a visitor, what the identity rule means, where to buy, and when a travel eSIM is still the better choice.

This article is for visitors from outside the EU. If your SIM card comes from an EU country, or from Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway, Moldova or Ukraine, you roam in France at home prices under the EU's roam-like-at-home rules and do not need a French line for a holiday.

Orange, SFR, Bouygues, Free: who is who?

France has four mobile network operators, and three of them sell something a visitor can use.

• Orange, the former state operator, runs the network rated best by the regulator for years. It sells the Mobicarte prepaid SIM in France and, under its Orange Travel brand, data eSIMs for France.
• SFR sells prepaid SIM cards under the SFR La Carte range and a European Travel SIM.
• Bouygues Telecom sells My European SIM, a prepaid plan for visitors available as an eSIM or a physical SIM.
• Free Mobile sells monthly plans without commitment, from €2 a month, but no prepaid card.

Many smaller brands (MVNOs) resell these networks and are sold in supermarkets and tobacconists; we did not include them. One technical note for older phones: Orange says its 2G network was being switched off across mainland France between 22 September and 20 October 2026, and SFR plans to close 2G at the end of 2026. Any recent smartphone uses 4G or 5G and is not affected.

Which network is best in France?

Orange, according to the regulator, with Bouygues Telecom close behind in the cities. Arcep's 2025 campaign, published on 20 November 2025, is based on more than a million measurements taken between June and August 2025 in every mainland département, indoors, outdoors and on transport.

For downloads, Arcep counts the share of tests above 3, 8 and 30 Mbit/s rather than an average. In dense areas, Bouygues Telecom led at 3 Mbit/s and tied with Orange at 8 and 30 Mbit/s; in intermediate and rural areas, Orange led at all three thresholds. Orange's prepaid page says it has been ranked first by Arcep for the 15th consecutive time.

Opensignal's November 2025 France report, which uses data from users' phones between 1 August and 29 October 2025, gives a slightly different picture. Orange had the fastest average download speed (83.8 Mbps, against 72.4 for Bouygues, 69.8 for SFR and 64 for Free Mobile) and the best Coverage Experience (9.3 out of 10), but Bouygues won 12 of the 17 awards and tied with Orange on reliability. In practice, all four networks work well in Paris and the large cities; the gaps show in the countryside, the mountains and on trains.

Do you need a passport to buy a SIM in France?

You can buy the card freely, but you need a valid identity document to activate it. Orange's buying guide says activation of any prepaid SIM in France has required an identity document (identity card, passport or residence permit) since 2016, and that the rule applies to all operators. A foreign passport is accepted as an identity document.

How the check is done varies:

• Orange: the Mobicarte line is activated temporarily when you insert the SIM; final activation requires identifying yourself on Orange's prepaid identification site.
• SFR: a SIM bought in an SFR shop is activated from the order-tracking page, then you authenticate; a SIM bought from a partner store activates when you send an SMS, call or go online.
• Bouygues Telecom: My European SIM must be identified in the customer space within 30 days of activation, or "your line will be terminated".

Keep your passport with you when you buy, and do the online step on the first day, over hotel Wi-Fi if needed. The page of each operator states the current procedure; follow it rather than any advice at the counter.

What does Orange offer a visitor?

Orange's Mobicarte is cheap and generous, but its terms reserve it for people living in, or with a stable link to, mainland France. Its prepaid page listed these offers on 26 October 2026, each with credit valid one month:

The 200 and 300 GB offers also include 30 minutes of calls to Orange mobiles in Morocco, Tunisia, Senegal, Côte d'Ivoire, Cameroon, Mali, Madagascar and DR Congo, a detail that matters to visitors from the Maghreb and West Africa. Orange says Mobicarte is sold in 50,000 outlets, tobacconists and Orange shops.

The legal notes, however, say the offers are "reserved for customers residing in, or able to show a stable link with, mainland France", and are valid until 18 November 2026. We read nothing on the page about eSIM for Mobicarte. For a short stay, Orange's offer for visitors is its Orange Travel eSIM: data plans from €3.99 for 1 GB over 7 days, unlimited data from €15.99 for 5 days, on all four French networks. That page also shows a Data+Calls+SMS range whose allowances we could not read.

What does SFR offer a visitor?

SFR had the cheapest prepaid data we found in France. Its prepaid page listed SIM cards with an offer included, each valid 31 days, with unlimited calls, texts and MMS in France and from the EU and French overseas departments:

The "unlimited" calls have limits written in the legal notes: two hours maximum per call and 100 different recipients per 31-day period, with 200 recipients for texts. To keep the line after 31 days you buy a new offer online, by calling 952, or with a voucher from a tobacconist, supermarket or Relay shop.

SFR also advertised a European Travel SIM at €34.99: 60 GB in Europe and the French overseas departments, unlimited calls from and to Europe, two hours of calls to 118 destinations, valid 30 days. SFR's page did not say whether its prepaid SIM is available as an eSIM, so plan on a physical card.

SFR says its prepaid SIMs are sold in its 560 shops, in Relay stores, in tobacconists and in supermarkets.

What does Bouygues Telecom offer a visitor?

Bouygues Telecom's My European SIM is the only operator plan for visitors we found sold as an eSIM. Its vacation prepaid page listed five plans on 26 October 2026, all with data usable in France and Europe and connection sharing included:

The page lets you choose an eSIM or a physical SIM; with the eSIM, you scan a QR code and activation "takes place immediately". Validity runs 30 days from first use. The list of countries includes Monaco and the United Kingdom as well as the EU, Norway, Iceland and the French overseas departments, which suits a trip that combines France with London or the Riviera.

The condition to remember: you must identify yourself in your Bouygues customer space within 30 days of activation, or the line is terminated. The page describes the 4G network as covering cities, countryside, beaches and ski resorts; in Arcep's 2025 results Bouygues tied with Orange in dense areas.

Can a visitor use Free Mobile?

Free Mobile does not sell a prepaid or tourist SIM. Its plans are monthly subscriptions without commitment, starting with the Forfait 2€ at €2 a month. They are designed for residents: we could not verify on Free's own pages whether a visitor without a French address or bank account can subscribe, so we do not recommend counting on it.

You will still use Free's network indirectly: Yesim, Nomad, Holafly, Ubigi, Orange Travel and Maya all list Free Mobile among their French networks. In Arcep's 2025 campaign Free came last on call quality (84% of perfect calls), and in Opensignal's November 2025 report its average download speed was 64 Mbps, the lowest of the four but still enough for any normal use.

Buying at Paris or Nice airport, or in town?

Prepaid SIMs are sold in Relay shops, tobacconists, supermarkets and operator shops, but no operator publishes airport prices. SFR lists Relay stores among its points of sale, and Orange's buying guide names Relay kiosks, tobacconists and supermarkets such as Carrefour, Leclerc and Auchan. The French tourism agency's site, in an article published on 1 January 2023, said Bouygues's visitor SIM could be bought in Relay shops at airports and railway stations. We found no official page listing which shops at Paris-Charles de Gaulle, Orly or Nice sell SIM cards today, their opening hours, or a different price from town.

Two practical points follow. First, stock in kiosks is often limited to the most popular offers, as Orange's own guide notes, and the staff cannot always help with activation. Second, a SIM from a kiosk still needs your passport and an online identification step. If you land late or need to call a transfer at once, a travel eSIM or Bouygues's My European SIM bought online before you fly avoids the queue; you can still buy an SFR card in a city-centre shop the next morning.

Before you pay, ask three things: the total price including the SIM card, how to complete the identification, and how to top up after 31 days if you stay longer.

Local SIM or travel eSIM: which costs less?

For a month with calls, a French SIM wins; for a short trip or a data-only need, a travel eSIM bought at home is simpler and costs about the same. Prices on 26 October 2026:

The travel eSIM's advantages are elsewhere: you install it before you leave, it works the moment you land, there is no identification step, and you keep your home number in the other slot. Our comparison of seven France eSIMs has every price by trip length. Before you fly, check that your phone is unlocked (do you need an unlocked phone for a travel eSIM) and appears on our list of eSIM-compatible phones; if the line does not connect, see 10 fixes for a travel eSIM not working abroad and our Android activation guide.

How we checked

We read the prepaid and visitor pages of Orange, SFR, Bouygues Telecom and Free Mobile, and Orange's guide to buying a prepaid SIM, on 26 October 2026. Bouygues Telecom's visitor page loads its plans by script and was read through a text reader. Network results come from Arcep's 2025 campaign (published 20 November 2025) and Opensignal's November 2025 France report; the roaming scope from the EU's Your Europe page. We did not buy the SIM cards or test them in France, and we found no official source for airport shop locations or prices, so we give none. Offers and promotions change often; Orange's Mobicarte offers were marked valid until 18 November 2026. For the rest of the journey, see our Spain eSIM guide and our France eSIM guide.