Orange eSIM: price, eligible plans and activation (2026)

How much an Orange eSIM costs: the full grid

The price of an Orange eSIM is not a single figure: it depends entirely on the situation in which you ask for it. Here is the official grid, taken from the carrier's help centre.

Source: Orange help centre, eSIM overview, checked on 01/09/2026.

Those €10 are the standard activation fee, the same one the carrier charges for a physical SIM card. In other words, Orange does not price the eSIM above plastic, contrary to what you sometimes read. The amount lands on your first bill, not at the moment you order.

The rat's advice: if you plan to change phones in the coming months, do not convert your SIM into an eSIM right now for €10. Wait for the handset upgrade: taking your plan together with the smartphone makes activation free. The same move, at two different moments, costs €10 or nothing.

Is the Orange eSIM free?

In two cases yes, in the other three no. A free Orange eSIM is not a general rule, it is a consequence of how you ask for it.

It is free when you take a mobile plan bundled with a smartphone, and when you move an already active eSIM to a new phone. That second point matters more than it looks: at Free Mobile, the same SIM or eSIM change with profile download is billed €10, as we detailed in our guide to the Free Mobile eSIM. On that specific criterion, Orange is the more generous of the two.

It is not free when you convert your physical SIM card into an eSIM on an already open line, when you take a plan without buying a handset, and on the Let's Go plan where activation costs €1 (waived when you sign up online while authenticated).

Watch out for a common confusion: the eSIM itself is never a paid product at Orange. What you pay is a line activation fee, exactly as for a SIM card. Nobody is selling you an eSIM chip, since it is already soldered inside your phone.

How to get an eSIM with Orange: the full procedure

To get an Orange eSIM you have three routes, and none of them requires leaving home if you are already a customer.

You are already an Orange customer. Sign in to your subscriber account on orange.fr or in the Orange et moi app, open the line management section, choose "change SIM card / eSIM" then "activate". Orange sends a security code by text to your line: you must therefore be able to receive that message on the handset concerned, which is a non-negotiable security condition. Once the code is validated, the activation QR code is sent to you.

You are taking a new plan. Pick the eSIM when you order, online or in an Orange store. You then receive a unique QR code in the "welcome to Orange" email. Scan it with the phone to be equipped, enter the activation code received by text, and follow the iOS or Android install instructions.

You go to a store. An adviser in an Orange store walks you through it, which stays the simplest option if you have no second screen to display the QR code. Business customers go through the Orange Business pro account instead.

One warning the carrier states explicitly: when you are porting a number, the eSIM must be activated before the porting date. Wait too long and you end up with a ported number and no active profile on your phone.

The official Orange video below shows the procedure from the Orange et moi app. It dates from August 2023: the interface may have moved since, but the logic is the one described here.

Which Orange and Sosh plans take the eSIM

Almost all of them. The eSIM is not a premium option at Orange, it is a line format: Orange mobile plans and Sosh plans that include calls and mobile data can all be renewed as an eSIM, for new and existing customers alike.

Three offers are the exception for existing customers: Let's Go, Mobicarte (the prepaid offer) and Holiday. A customer already on one of those three cannot switch their line to an eSIM. A new customer taking those same offers, however, remains eligible, a subtlety nobody else points out.

For tablets, Orange offers a Let's Go eSIM plan, or conversion from an existing Multi-SIM Internet option. The Sosh plan follows exactly the same rules as the Orange offer, and we covered the brand's own free-activation cases in our analysis of Sosh eSIM fees.

Source: Orange store, eSIM page, checked on 01/09/2026.

eSIM or classic SIM card: what actually changes

The eSIM and the physical SIM card do exactly the same job: they identify your line on the network. The difference is the format. The classic SIM is a removable chip you slide into a tray; the eSIM is a software profile downloaded into a chip already built into your phone, known as the eUICC. Our page on the eUICC explains the mechanism.

There are four concrete benefits. You cannot lose or damage it, since there is nothing to handle. You free up the SIM tray, so you can keep a second physical line alongside it, which is valuable when travelling. You get it in minutes instead of waiting for the post. And you can store several profiles on the same device and switch between them.

The drawbacks exist too, and are rarely listed. Changing phones takes a software operation rather than moving a chip. If your handset dies, you cannot rescue your line by sliding the card into another device. And not every phone is compatible, in particular recent entry-level models.

The PIN code works the same way in both cases: it protects access to the line at startup, and it is changed in the phone's settings.

Which devices work with the Orange eSIM

On the iPhone side, Orange states compatibility from the iPhone XR onwards, running iOS 12.2 or later. Two models sold by the carrier even run on eSIM only, with no SIM tray at all: the refurbished iPhone 15 and the iPhone Air.

On Android, the carrier mentions Samsung and Google smartphones without detailing ranges. In practice recent Galaxy S handsets and the Galaxy Z Flip and Galaxy Z Fold foldables handle eSIM: our compatibility checker gives you the verdict for your exact model in two clicks.

For smartwatches, Orange lists the Apple Watch Series 3 and later in GPS + Cellular, Samsung Galaxy Watch 4G and later, and the Xiaomi Watch 2 Pro 4G. iPads from the 2020 to 2024 generations are covered too, depending on the model.

Source: Orange help centre, checked on 01/09/2026.

eSIM Watch option: €10 then €5 a month

Connecting an Apple Watch or a Samsung Galaxy Watch to your Orange line goes through the eSIM Watch option, and it is the only place where the eSIM becomes a recurring cost. The option costs €10 in activation fees then €5 a month.

The good news: on a first subscription, Orange waives the activation fee and the first three months. The bad news: from the fourth month the €5 kicks in, which is €60 a year to keep your watch standalone.

The comparison with the competition is instructive. At Free Mobile the same eSIM Watch option is included at no monthly cost, but restricted to Forfait Free Max, Forfait Free and Série Free subscribers. Two opposite philosophies on exactly the same service. If you use your watch untethered a lot, that detail weighs more than the price gap between the two plans.

You subscribe from your watch's app on your phone, and the offer is limited to one watch per plan. Our page on the smartwatch eSIM explains what the service allows and what it does not.

Changing phones: transferring the eSIM is free

This is where Orange clearly stands out: transferring an eSIM to a new handset costs nothing. You do not pay the activation fee again, unlike what happens elsewhere.

The operation stays a software one. An eSIM does not move like a plastic card: you go through your subscriber account or the app to request the profile on the new device, then scan the new QR code. Expect your line to be inactive for a few minutes in between, so avoid doing this while you are waiting for a login code by text.

The rat's advice: do the transfer while the old phone still works and is connected to Wi-Fi. The classic mistake is wiping or selling the old handset before recovering the line on the new one: at that point only customer service can unblock you, and you lose half a day.

Your Orange plan abroad: Europe yes, the rest no

This is the costliest limit, and the least explained. Your Orange plan works at no extra cost across the Europe zone, which covers more than 40 countries, plus the French overseas departments (Guadeloupe, French Guiana, Martinique, Réunion), Switzerland and Andorra. Calls, texts and mobile data behave as they do in France.

First nuance few people know: your data allowance is reduced in the Europe zone. The 170 GB plan gives 100 GB in Europe, the 200 GB gives 120 GB, and the 240 GB gives 140 GB. This is not a separate allowance that adds on, it is a lower ceiling drawn from the same monthly pot.

Second nuance, far more radical: outside the Europe zone and the overseas departments, your plan does not work. This is not expensive out-of-plan billing, it is an absence of service until you take a travel pass, sold in 31-day periods in store, in the subscriber account or in the app. And the price of those passes is not published openly: Orange points each customer to a personalised grid based on destination and account. For a trip to Bali, a travel eSIM avoids the pass: our comparison of the best Indonesia eSIM ranks six offers by price per GB.

That is a sharp contrast with Free Mobile, whose Forfait Free 5G+ includes 35 GB from 117 destinations and the Free Max more than 140, as we listed country by country in our guide to Free Mobile destinations. For a traveller who regularly leaves Europe, that coverage gap weighs more than the monthly price of the plan.

Source: Orange, roaming and the Europe zone, checked on 01/09/2026.

Orange eSIM, Orange Holiday, Orange Travel: three different things

The confusion runs deep in search results, so let us clear it up. These three names do not describe the same product.

The Orange eSIM is the subject of this article: the dematerialised format of your French mobile subscription. You are an Orange customer, and your line lives in an eSIM instead of a SIM card.

Orange Travel, at travel.orange.com, is a shop selling travel eSIMs and prepaid SIM cards, including to foreign visitors coming to Europe. It has no connection to your French plan: it is a prepaid eSIM you buy one at a time.

Orange Holiday is the historical name of the travel range sold through Orange Travel, often quoted as Holiday Europe. The offers taken from the official site on 01/09/2026: 20 GB for 14 days at €24.99, 50 GB for 30 days at €44.99, 100 GB for 30 days at €47.99, 200 GB for 30 days at €57.99, and 500 GB for 90 days at €99.99. Those plans cover 39 countries and territories, with unlimited calls and texts and hotspot sharing allowed.

Source: Orange Travel, Europe offers, checked on 01/09/2026.

The simple rule to remember: if you are an Orange subscriber in France travelling within Europe, you need none of these offers, your plan is enough. If you leave Europe, you need either an Orange pass or a travel eSIM.

When a travel eSIM completes your Orange plan

The moment you leave the Europe zone, the question becomes a numbers question. An Orange pass whose price is not public, against a travel eSIM whose price shows before you buy: the second can be compared, the first can only be discovered.

Take the Europe scope to reason on comparable data, since that is where Orange publishes its prices. On the regional Europe offers taken from our comparator on 01/09/2026, 20 GB valid for 30 days comes out at €13.10 with esimcard and €20.80 with voilà, while 25 GB for 30 days is €19.99 with GoMoWorld or €29.00 with Ubigi. Facing them, Orange Travel asks €24.99 for 20 GB valid only 14 days.

The comparison deserves one honest caveat: Orange Travel plans include unlimited calls and texts, where data eSIMs only carry data. If you need to call from a local number, part of the price gap is justified. If you use WhatsApp and messaging apps, as most travellers do, you are paying for a service you will not use.

On this Europe reading, voilà comes out at €20.80 for 20 GB over 30 days: sound value for money on that precise scope, cheaper than Orange Travel for twice the duration, but more expensive than esimcard and GoMoWorld over the same month. The brand leans on an eSIM that is simple to install and an app that is easy to use, with human customer support reachable 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Whether those two criteria are worth the few euros against the cheapest offers in the reading is your call.

To decide on your actual destination, our Europe eSIM page ranks every offer by price per GB, and destinations covers the rest of the world, precisely where your Orange plan stops.