eSIM for Saudi Arabia

Viasimo's Saudi Arabia eSIM starts at $2.29 for 500 MB over 1 day, running on STC with 5G where available. Plans last 1 to 180 days, arrive by email in minutes and install from your phone's settings, with no app.

Works everywhere in Saudi Arabia

'Asir Region
Al Bahah Region
Al Jawf Region
Al-Qassim Region
Eastern Province
Ha'il Region
Jazan Region

Select your planIn stock

Duration

Quantity

Unlimited data · 3 Days$17.00

Unlimited data · 3 Days ×1

$17.00

Going to more than one country? See regional plans

Does my phone take an eSIM? Check now

Dial *#06# on your phone. If you see an EID number, your phone takes an eSIM. Most phones sold since 2019 do.

Not sure it works on your phone? Check compatibility

Network

Which networks does the Saudi Arabia eSIM use?

Host networks: STC

Your eSIM picks one automatically; you do not choose or switch between them.

Data: 500 MB – 50 GB or unlimited
Validity: 1–180 days
Speed: 4G LTE / 5G
Hotspot / tethering: Supported on most devices
Activation: Starts when you first connect in your destination
Speed management: Roughly 2-3 GB per day at full speed, sometimes less depending on the local carrier, then reduced
Top-ups: Add more data from your account, before the plan expires
Text messages (SMS): Data only: use an app for verification codes
Connects via: Belgium
Unused validity: 180 days before it must be installed

Setting up Buy, scan the QR code we email you, and switch on the travel line when you land. How it works

Choosing a plan

How much data do you need?

The allowances below are our sizing recommendations, not measurements. The plan beside each one is the cheapest option on this page that covers it.

Recommended data allowances matched to the plans sold for this destination
You are	Plan for	Cheapest plan that covers it
LightMaps, messaging and the occasional lookup	About 1 GB a week	$3.291 GB, 7 days
TypicalMaps, social, photos and some browsing	About 3 to 7 GB a week	$12.995 GB, 30 days
HeavyVideo streaming, video calls and uploads	10 GB a week or more	$20.9910 GB, 30 days
Working or sharingTethering a laptop, calls and cloud sync	20 GB a week or more	$33.0020 GB, 30 days

Work it out from your own habits

What a week abroad costs

eSIM, local SIM or roaming?

Charged per day

Your carrier roaming

Queue and plastic

A SIM at the airport

$2.29

Viasimo, one bundle

Only the Viasimo figure is a price: it comes from today’s live catalog. The other two rows are directional, not quoted rates.

About this eSIM

Saudi Arabia runs on phones. Government services, transport, payments, restaurant queues and pilgrimage logistics all assume a connected handset, and the cities are built around that assumption rather than around walk in counters. A travel eSIM gets you into that system from the moment you land, which matters in a country where the distance between the terminal and your hotel is often measured in tens of kilometres and settled by an app.

Getting online when you land

Load the profile onto your phone before departure. Arrivals at Riyadh, Jeddah and Dammam move quickly, and the ride you need at the other end of that hall is booked on a phone that already has data.

Bring it out of airplane mode after landing, wait for registration, and if a network name shows without data flowing, check roaming on the travel line and confirm which line the phone is using for data. Those two settings resolve almost everything.

Heat is the underrated factor. A phone left on a dashboard or held in direct summer sun in the Gulf will throttle itself, and a throttled phone drops its connection quality along with everything else. If data suddenly gets bad in the middle of the afternoon, the temperature of the device is a plausible cause before the network is.

The networks you'll be on

Roaming attaches you to STC, carrying 4G LTE and 5G where it has been rolled out. In the major cities that translates into a comfortable connection for navigation, messaging, streaming audio and video calls home. Outside the cities, plan around 4G rather than 5G, and expect the phone to sit on 3G in some smaller towns and on long desert routes.

Since you are on a single operator rather than choosing between several, the useful troubleshooting habit is forcing a fresh network search with a quick airplane mode cycle whenever a connection stalls and refuses to recover. Underground stations, basement malls and the lower floors of large concrete buildings are the usual places you will need it.

Where coverage holds, and where it thins

The urban corridors are thoroughly covered. Riyadh and its sprawl, Jeddah and the Corniche, Mecca and Medina, the Dammam and Khobar conurbation along the Gulf, Taif, Abha and Tabuk all behave the way major cities should. Coverage follows the big highways too, so the run between the holy cities, the coastal road along the Red Sea and the main routes out of the capital keep you online for most of the journey. The Haramain high speed line has stretches where a fast moving train hands between masts imperfectly, so expect brief interruptions rather than a solid connection at speed.

Then the desert asserts itself. Away from the highways, in the Rub al Khali and the open sand between towns, there is no coverage and no reason to expect any; this is genuinely empty country and the network was never built for it. The Asir mountains around Abha are patchy in the valleys and along the escarpment roads, with signal returning at the towns. AlUla has coverage in the town and the visitor areas, and much less of it out among the rock formations and desert tracks where the tours actually go. Diving sites on the Red Sea, offshore islands including the Farasan group, and the older stone quarters of the historic towns are all places to expect gaps.

What you'll actually use data for here

Transport first. Ride hailing is how most visitors move within cities, and it is not optional in places where street hailing barely exists and distances are long. Riyadh's metro adds journey planning to the mix. Car rentals rely on live navigation, because addresses in newer districts are hard to reason about from a paper map.

Payments and bookings come next. Contactless and phone payments are widespread, restaurant and attraction bookings are handled through apps, and entry to many heritage and entertainment sites is by digital ticket held on your phone. Pilgrims performing Umrah or Hajj lean on their phones constantly for scheduling, group coordination and staying in touch with family, and that is one of the heaviest data use cases in the country.

The rest is familiar: translation of Arabic signage and menus, prayer time and qibla apps, photo uploads, and video calls home across the time difference.

Before you fly

Check your phone is eSIM capable and unlocked, install the profile in advance, and label it clearly. Keep your regular number active for bank codes and calls, with its data turned off.

Download offline maps for every city you will visit plus any desert or mountain driving, and save the exact coordinates of remote destinations rather than trusting a place name to resolve when you have one bar. AlUla and the Asir region are where this pays off.

Estimate data generously if you are travelling with a group and coordinating by video, and modestly if you are mostly navigating and messaging. Carry a power bank; long days, heat and constant maps are hard on a battery, and a dead phone in Saudi Arabia costs you your ride, your ticket and your payment method at once.

Unlimited runs at full speed up to a fair-use limit, then continues slower.

Before you buy

Important to know

This is a data-only eSIM. It carries no calls or SMS on its own number.
Your existing number stays on your primary SIM, so calls and verification texts keep working.
Your phone must support eSIM, and some carrier-locked phones cannot install one.
Signal varies with location, terrain, congestion and your handset. Dense urban areas are consistently better served than remote ones.
5G only works where the host network has deployed it and your phone supports it. Everywhere else it falls back to 4G LTE.
The eSIM selects a host network automatically. You cannot pick or switch between them.
Unlimited plans run at full speed up to a fair-use limit, then continue at a reduced speed. Read the fair usage policy

Looking for more information?

Frequently asked questions

Does an eSIM work in Saudi Arabia?

Yes. Your Saudi Arabia eSIM connects automatically the moment you arrive, with no roaming fees and nothing to set up at the airport. The host networks it can use are STC. Coverage runs on 4G LTE and 5G where the network has rolled it out, and falls back to 4G elsewhere.

Do I get 5G in Saudi Arabia?

Yes, where it has been deployed. 5G runs on STC in Saudi Arabia, and your eSIM uses it automatically on a 5G-capable phone, dropping back to 4G LTE outside covered areas. No country is covered everywhere, so 5G availability varies by location.

Which mobile network is best in Saudi Arabia?

In Opensignal's February 2026 report, stc won the awards for download speed, coverage experience and gaming, and Mobily won video, reliability and consistency. Zain is the third operator. Your eSIM uses stc, with 5G where available, which is a good fit for long drives between cities and for heavy app use in Riyadh and Jeddah.

Can I take the metro from Riyadh airport?

Yes. The Yellow Line (Line 4) of the Riyadh Metro, which opened in December 2024, runs from King Khalid International Airport's Terminals 1–2 to the King Abdullah Financial District, where you can change lines. The network has six lines and 85 stations. Use mobile data to plan your route and to compare it with a ride-hailing app for the final stretch.

Do I need the Nusuk app for Umrah?

Nusuk is the official platform from the Ministry of Hajj and Umrah, used for Umrah permits and for booking a visit to Al-Rawdah Al-Sharifah in Medina. Since August 2025, people abroad can apply for an Umrah visa through it directly, with optional hotel and transport bundles. Keep data and battery available, as your permits and time slots are in the app.

What emergency number should I call in Saudi Arabia without a local SIM?

The UK Foreign Office says 911 covers ambulance, fire and police, and that you should dial 112 if you don't have a Saudi SIM card. Your eSIM is data-only, so make the call from your home SIM or a hotel phone. Save both numbers before you travel, especially if you plan desert drives.

Can old social media posts cause problems in Saudi Arabia?

They can. The UK Foreign Office warns that public statements the authorities see as disruptive to public order are illegal, and that old posts and posts made outside the country may be taken into account. It advises against commenting on the royal family, the government, Islam or Israel and Palestine. Penalties can include long prison sentences.

How much data do I need for 7 days in Saudi Arabia?

For 7 days in Saudi Arabia, Viasimo sells 1 GB for $3.29 and unlimited data for $36.99. Our sizing recommendation, not a measurement: maps, messaging and the occasional lookup, about 1 GB a week; maps, social, photos and some browsing, about 3 to 7 GB a week. The data calculator on this site works it out from how you actually use your phone.

Installing, keeping your number, topping up and hotspot work the same everywhere: see how it works →

Know before you go

Saudi Arabia: what to know before you land

In Saudi Arabia your eSIM uses stc, which won Opensignal's speed and coverage awards for the country in February 2026, with 5G where it is available. You will need data for Nusuk if you are visiting Mecca or Medina and for Riyadh's new metro. Be aware, too, that Saudi law treats what you post online, and old posts, very seriously.

Emergency: 911 or 112 without a Saudi SIM
Plugs: G 230V
Currency: Saudi riyal (SAR)

Main airports

RUH King Khalid International Airport, Riyadh
JED King Abdulaziz International Airport, Jeddah
DMM King Fahd International Airport, Dammam
MED Prince Mohammad bin Abdulaziz International Airport, Medina

Apps worth having NusukCareemUberWhatsAppGoogle Maps

stc, Mobily and Zain in Opensignal's 2026 results

Saudi Arabia has three mobile network operators: stc, Mobily and Zain. In Opensignal's February 2026 report, stc won the awards for download speed, coverage experience and gaming. Mobily took video quality, reliability and consistency. Your eSIM connects to stc, the network that led on speed and reach, with 5G where it is available.

Coverage experience matters most when you leave the main cities, for example on the long drive from Riyadh to AlUla or into the Asir mountains. Even so, the UK Foreign Office advises sticking to major roads, wearing seatbelts and travelling in convoy in daylight through desert areas, because driving standards are poor. Strong 4G or 5G does not replace those precautions.

If you rent a car, note that traffic fines are recorded on the government's Absher system and must be paid before you leave the country. Ask your rental company to check for outstanding fines a few days before you fly, while you still have time and data to sort them out.

Riyadh Metro from King Khalid Airport (RUH)

Riyadh's driverless metro opened in stages between December 2024 and January 2025. It now has six colour-coded lines, 85 stations and about 176 km of track. Lines 1, 4 and 6 opened on 1 December 2024, Lines 2 and 5 on 15 December, and Line 3 on 5 January 2025.

The Yellow Line (Line 4) runs from King Khalid International Airport (RUH) Terminals 1–2 to the King Abdullah Financial District (KAFD). From there you can change to other lines into central Riyadh. If you land at another terminal, check how you get to Terminals 1–2 before you set off. A proposed Line 7 would link every terminal with Qiddiya.

Switch on your eSIM as you land and use a journey planner to compare the metro with a ride-hailing app for your final stop. The metro covers a large area, but Riyadh is spread out, and the last stretch to your hotel may still be a car ride. Underground stations can briefly interrupt your signal, so load your route before you go down to the platform.

Nusuk for Mecca and Medina, and what not to post

The Ministry of Hajj and Umrah launched Nusuk in September 2022 to replace the earlier Eatmarna app. It is the official platform for Umrah permits and for booking a visit to Al-Rawdah Al-Sharifah in the Prophet's Mosque in Medina. Since August 2025, people outside Saudi Arabia can also apply for an Umrah visa through Nusuk without an agent, on its own or bundled with hotels, transport and tours. Permits and time slots are held in the app, so you need reliable data and a charged phone throughout a pilgrimage.

The Foreign Office warns that saying anything in public that the authorities consider disruptive to public order is illegal. It advises against posting about the King, the Crown Prince or the royal family, the government or police, Islam, or Israel and Palestine. Posts made before your trip, or from outside the country, can be taken into account, and sentences can be long.

Photographing government buildings, embassies, military sites or palaces is illegal, and you should ask before photographing people. The emergency number is 911, or 112 if you don't have a Saudi SIM. The eSIM is data-only, so call from your home SIM.

Researched October 2026 · 5 sources

insights.opensignal.com Saudi Arabia mobile network experience, February 2026 (Opensignal)
gov.uk Saudi Arabia travel advice: safety and security (GOV.UK)
gov.uk Saudi Arabia travel advice: getting help (GOV.UK)
en.wikipedia.org Riyadh Metro (Wikipedia)
en.wikipedia.org Nusuk (Wikipedia)

7-day itinerary

Seven days in Saudi Arabia: Riyadh, AlUla and Jeddah

A first visit that links the capital and the mud-brick ruins of Diriyah, the Nabataean tombs of Hegra and the desert canyons of AlUla, and the coral-stone old town of Jeddah on the Red Sea. It uses two domestic flights and suits travellers comfortable with long, hot days.

Length: 7 days
Bases: 3

When to go November to March is the comfortable season, with warm days and cool desert nights in AlUla and mild weather in Riyadh; from May to September temperatures regularly pass 40°C, and Jeddah is humid for much of the year.

Day 1 Riyadh

Riyadh: Masmak Fort and the National Museum

The Riyadh Metro's Yellow Line runs from King Khalid airport (RUH) Terminals 1–2 to KAFD, where you can change; a car takes about 35–45 minutes to the centre.

Start in the old centre at Masmak Fort, the mud-brick fortress taken by Ibn Saud in 1902, then walk to the Souq Al-Zal for carpets, incense and antiques. In the afternoon, visit the National Museum in the King Abdulaziz Historical Centre, whose galleries run from prehistoric Arabia to the founding of the kingdom. End the day at the Kingdom Centre's Sky Bridge, 300 metres up, for a view over the lit-up city.

Signal stc 5G is widespread across central Riyadh; underground metro stations briefly interrupt the signal, so load your route before you go down.
Day 2 Riyadh

Diriyah and the Edge of the World

Diriyah is about 20–30 minutes from central Riyadh; the Edge of the World is about 2 hours further by road, with a final off-road section that needs a 4x4.

In the morning, visit At-Turaif in Diriyah, the UNESCO-listed mud-brick district that was the first capital of the Saudi state, and walk the restored lanes and palaces. Then join a guided trip west to Jebel Fihrayn, known as the Edge of the World, where the Tuwaiq escarpment drops sharply to the desert plain. Watch the sunset from the cliff edge, keeping well back from the drop, and return to Riyadh after dark.

Signal Diriyah has strong 5G; on the off-road track and at the Edge of the World signal is weak or absent, so go with a guide and share your plan.
Day 3 AlUla

Fly to AlUla: the old town and Elephant Rock

Flights from Riyadh to AlUla take about 1 hour 30 minutes; AlUla airport is about 35–45 minutes from the town by road.

Take a morning flight to AlUla in the north-west. In the afternoon, walk through AlUla Old Town, a maze of mud-brick houses on a hill below a fort, with a restored market street at its edge. At sunset, drive to Elephant Rock (Jabal Al-Fil), a sandstone outcrop shaped like an elephant with a raised trunk, and stay into the evening, when the seating area around it is lit.

Signal stc 4G is reliable in AlUla town and at Elephant Rock; there may be 5G in the centre.
Day 4 AlUla

Hegra, Saudi Arabia's first UNESCO site

Hegra is about 25 km north of AlUla, roughly 30 minutes by road to the visitor hub, where tours begin.

Join a ticketed tour of Hegra (Al-Hijr), the Nabataean city that was the southern counterpart of Petra. You will see the monumental tombs carved into sandstone outcrops, including the Tomb of Lihyan son of Kuza, standing alone in the desert, and the Jabal Ithlib area with its narrow passage and meeting hall. Book ahead, as access is by guided tour only.

Signal Coverage at the Hegra visitor hub is good, but it weakens among the tombs; save your ticket offline before the tour.
Day 5 AlUla

Dadan, Jabal Ikmah and the AlUla canyons

Dadan and Jabal Ikmah are about 15–20 minutes from the town by road.

Visit Dadan, the capital of the ancient Dadanite and Lihyanite kingdoms, where tombs are cut into the cliff face, including the 'lion tombs'. Continue to Jabal Ikmah, a canyon with hundreds of ancient inscriptions in several scripts, often called an open-air library. In the afternoon, take a walk or a guided drive through the Ashar Valley's sandstone formations, or visit the Maraya concert hall's mirrored facade from the outside.

Signal Signal varies between canyons: 4G is usually available at Dadan but patchy in Jabal Ikmah and the Ashar Valley.
Day 6 Jeddah

Fly to Jeddah: Al-Balad

Flights from AlUla to Jeddah take about 1 hour 15 minutes; Jeddah's King Abdulaziz airport is about 30–45 minutes from Al-Balad.

Fly to Jeddah and spend the late afternoon in Al-Balad, the UNESCO-listed historic district, where tall coral-stone houses have carved wooden balconies (rawashin). Visit the Nasseef House, where the founder of the kingdom stayed, and walk through Souq Al-Alawi, which was historically the route pilgrims took towards Mecca. Stay into the evening, when the lanes are busiest and cooler.

Signal Jeddah has extensive stc 5G, including in Al-Balad, though the signal drops inside the thick-walled old houses.
Day 7 Jeddah

The Jeddah Corniche and departure

Spend the morning on the Jeddah Corniche, the long waterfront along the Red Sea. Visit the Al-Rahma mosque, built on piles over the water, and see King Fahd's Fountain, which shoots water high into the air in the evening. If you have time, take a snorkelling or boat trip from one of the beach clubs north of the city, then head to the airport.

Signal Strong 5G and 4G along the Corniche and at King Abdulaziz airport for your departure.

Staying connected on this route

Download offline maps for the Edge of the World track and the AlUla canyons before leaving town.
Save Hegra tour and domestic flight tickets offline; signal fades among the tombs and in the canyons.
Do not photograph government buildings, palaces or military sites, and think carefully about what you post online.
If you hire a car, ask the rental company to check for Absher traffic fines a few days before you fly.

Itinerary sources · 5

whc.unesco.org UNESCO World Heritage: Hegra Archaeological Site (al-Hijr / Madâin Sâlih)
whc.unesco.org UNESCO World Heritage: At-Turaif District in ad-Dir'iyah
whc.unesco.org UNESCO World Heritage: Historic Jeddah, the Gate to Makkah
gov.uk GOV.UK foreign travel advice: Saudi Arabia safety and security
en.wikipedia.org Wikipedia: Riyadh Metro

Where this comes from

Information and verification

Each block below says what was checked and when. Anything we cannot date, we do not claim.

Prices and plans: Every price and allowance on this page is read from the live catalog, not typed in.; Verified October 30, 2026
Host networks: The operator list comes from the network partner that carries this eSIM.; Verified October 30, 2026