Albania eSIM: Prepaid & Unlimited Data for Tourists

An Albania eSIM is a prepaid, data-only plan that runs on both Albanian networks, One and Vodafone. It matters more here than next door: Albania is outside the EU's roam-like-at-home area, so a French or German SIM that roams at home prices in Greece loses that allowance at the Albanian border.

Your QR code arrives by email seconds after you pay. Install it at home over Wi-Fi and leave the eSIM line off until you reach Albania, then switch it on: the days start at its first connection there, not at purchase or install. Calls and texts stay on your own SIM.

14 plans run from 3 to 180 days: fixed data up to 100 GB from $1, or Unlimited, with no throttling, from $9. Every plan allows hotspot, and if the eSIM cannot be installed you get a full refund (how it works).

Albania has exactly two mobile networks, and your eSIM roams on both. Your phone picks whichever has signal, and you can switch manually in network settings. Guides that still list ALBtelecom or Telekom Albania as separate networks are out of date: both became One in a merger effective 1 January 2023.

Expect 4G/LTE. Operator figures in the regulator AKEP's 2025 annual report, reported in July 2026, put 4G at 100% of the population and 97% of the territory. The gaps are in the mountains, the Koman canyon and road tunnels.

Both operators launched 5G in Tirana and Durrës on 25–26 November 2024 and reported roughly 60–70% population coverage to AKEP in 2026, figures AKEP has not verified. Roaming eSIMs get 5G only where the visited network allows it, so count on 4G.

• Vodafone

  Fewer SIMs than One (1.40 million, AKEP, Q1 2026) but the larger share of mobile-broadband subscriptions, and 4G for 100% of the population in AKEP's 2023 report.

• One

  Owned by Hungary's 4iG, and the larger operator by SIMs: 1.59 million (AKEP, Q1 2026). 4G for 99% of the population in AKEP's 2023 report.

Tirana: reliable 4G on both networks. Durrës: rated good throughout, beach strip included, by a September 2026 coverage guide. The same guide rates Berat and Gjirokastër good in town, with more variable signal in the hills around Gjirokastër. On the main roads, 4G is near-universal.

Riviera: Vlorë's airport has no scheduled flights in summer 2026, so the coast starts with a drive from Tirana or a ferry from Corfu. A 2026 travel guide rates 4G excellent in Sarandë and Himarë, good in Dhërmi and Ksamil. On the coastal SH8, guides report drop-outs in tunnels and near the top of the Llogara Pass (August–September 2026).

Shkodër has full 4G on both networks, with weaker signal on the lakeside road towards Montenegro (September 2026 guide). It is the last reliable place to download offline maps before the Alps.

Theth and Valbona: guides (2026) report minimal signal in both valleys and none for most of the 17 km, 6–8 hour trek between them. They rate Vodafone the more usable network there; if One fades, select Vodafone manually.

Lake Koman ferry: the canyon walls block signal on every network for most of the crossing, with signal only near the terminals (2026 guides). Arrange onward transport before you board.

Borders: near Montenegro, Kosovo, North Macedonia and Greece, the phone can latch onto a foreign network, where an Albania plan stops working. If data drops near a border, select One or Vodafone manually.

Albania is outside EU roaming

Two regional deals do not change that. The 2022 EU–Western Balkans Roaming Declaration is a voluntary price cap, and the Western Balkans' roam-free zone (since July 2021) covers only SIMs issued in the region, not EU SIMs or travel eSIMs. Compare the costs in eSIM vs roaming.

Balkan trip? Albania is in our Global plan, not Europe

Add a Montenegro eSIM, North Macedonia eSIM or Greece eSIM, or cover all four countries with the Global plan. Our Europe plan skips Albania, and none of our plans covers Kosovo.

No phone registration, no blocked app calls

Visitors do not register their phones: an IMEI-registration decision adopted in July 2014 was withdrawn that October. WhatsApp and FaceTime calls use the eSIM's data, and Albania does not appear on 2026 lists of countries that restrict them.

Coming from Corfu? Albania is an hour behind

Albania runs on Central European Time and Greece is one hour ahead; Corfu–Sarandë timetables are printed in local time on each side. Border control is at the Sarandë dock, which has no operator shop, so install the eSIM over Wi-Fi before you sail.

Keep your home SIM on for calls and 112

The eSIM is data-only: no Albanian number, no SMS, no voice calls. Keep your home SIM on for calls, bank codes and emergencies, with its data roaming off and the eSIM set as your mobile-data line. Emergency numbers: 112 general, 127 ambulance, 128 fire, 129 police.

Plan on about 7–14 GB for a week of normal tourist use: our rough guide puts maps on foot, Instagram, translation and the occasional video call at 1–2 GB a day. Lighter days of maps, messaging and a few photos run 500 MB to 1 GB; a laptop on the hotspot, streaming or video uploads push days to 3–5 GB.

At medium quality, a video call uses roughly 1–1.5 GB an hour. Fixed plans top out at 100 GB; if you run low, top up the same eSIM in the eSIM Genius app, with no new QR code.

Pick Unlimited if one phone will feed a laptop or the family's tablets on a Riviera road trip, or you take video calls most days. It is fully unlimited data with no throttling.

Plans run 3 to 30 days, from $9, or from $3 a day, hotspot included. If you mostly use maps and messages, a fixed plan does the job.

Unlimited Data eSIM for Albania→