The three-network reality
Swisscom, Sunrise and Salt run the networks; dozens of brands resell them cheaper. A CHF 20 flanker-brand plan typically rides the identical network as the CHF 70 flagship plan – you pay for brand, shops and bundled extras.
What to actually compare
Unlimited CH data/calls is near-commodity now; the differentiators are roaming allowances (check your real travel), 5G access tiers and contract length. Promotions for new customers are aggressive – switching every 1–2 years is the Swiss sport.
Subscriptions belong in the budget
Mobile, internet, streaming: list every subscription with its renewal date once – most households find CHF 50+ of monthly dead weight.
Track these costs in your own budget: create your free Swiss budget in BudgetHub – in English, with Swiss categories built in.
Where the price difference actually comes from
Two things drive the spread between CHF 10 and CHF 100 per month: roaming inclusion and device subsidy. Everything else – network quality, data allowance beyond a certain point, customer service – differs far less than the marketing suggests.
Discount brands operated by the three main networks use the same infrastructure as their premium parents. For most users the practical difference is throttled speeds in congested cells and slower support, not coverage.
Device subsidies are credit in disguise: the phone is paid over 24 months at a higher monthly rate. Buying the handset separately and taking a SIM-only plan is typically CHF 200–400 cheaper per year, and it removes the lock-in.
Roaming: the part that decides everything
If you travel to the EU regularly, a plan with genuine EU roaming included is usually cheaper than any combination of a low-cost Swiss plan plus roaming packages. If you rarely travel, paying for included roaming every month is money spent on an option you do not exercise.
For occasional travel, local eSIMs have changed the arithmetic completely: a data eSIM for a two-week trip often costs less than a single day of Swiss roaming charges. Keeping the Swiss number active for calls while using an eSIM for data is now standard practice.
Check the definition of «unlimited» roaming carefully – fair-use caps and speed reductions after a threshold are common, and the threshold is what matters for anyone working while travelling.
The annual review in ten minutes
Mobile contracts are the single easiest fixed cost to reduce, because switching is genuinely simple: number portability is a legal right and takes days, not weeks. Yet these contracts are among the longest untouched in most households.
Once a year, check three things: your actual data use over the last three months (usually far below the allowance), whether the current promotional price has expired, and whether a discount brand on the same network covers your pattern.
Put the saving straight into a standing order the same day. A reduction from CHF 79 to CHF 29 is CHF 600 a year – but only if it does not quietly become spending money.