RED by SFR eSIM: price, activation and what it is worth abroad (2026)

How much the RED by SFR eSIM costs

€10. One flat amount, identical for a physical SIM card and for an eSIM, whatever your plan. The carrier calls it a setup fee, and it is due at order time.

The part that costs existing customers: switching from a physical SIM card to an eSIM is charged €10, just like changing medium the other way. There is no free conversion. It is the same amount as at Free, whose ordering procedure we went through.

Reusing a QR code already issued, on another compatible phone, on the other hand costs nothing. That is the nuance that changes how you should go about switching phones, and we come back to it below.

Amounts checked on 28 August 2026 on RED by SFR support.

The rat's advice: if you are considering the eSIM and changing phone soon, take it now rather than after. The €10 is paid once, and the move to the next handset uses the same QR code, with nothing more to pay.

Ordering and activating your RED eSIM: the procedure

It all happens in the customer account, with no store visit and no call to support. Allow five minutes, then an hour of waiting at most.

Step 1. Sign in to your RED customer account and open the « Offre et Mobile » section.

Step 2. In the Mobile tab, click « Commander une nouvelle carte SIM / eSIM ».

Step 3. Pick the eSIM format rather than the physical card, then confirm.

Step 4. Fetch your QR code in « Offre et Mobile », Mobile tab, « Activer ma carte SIM / eSIM ».

Step 5. Scan the code with the camera of the phone you are setting up, over Wi-Fi, then restart.

A text message confirms activation. On a line renewal, the old card is replaced in under an hour, the time it takes to scan the code, and you keep your number. A plastic card takes about three business days to arrive: that is the real gain of the eSIM.

Two prerequisites the support pages state and everyone forgets: be on Wi-Fi, and have a second screen or a printout to scan from. You cannot scan a QR code displayed on the very phone you are setting up.

Procedure checked on 28 August 2026 on the ordering and activation pages of RED support.

The RED QR code: valid a year, reusable five times

This is the most useful rule in the whole file, and it appears nowhere else. The QR code of a RED eSIM stays available for a year in the customer account, and it can serve five times at most.

In practice that means you can reinstall your line on a new phone without ordering anything, as long as you are within the usage count and the year. That is what makes changing handsets free at RED, where other carriers bill a new medium every time.

If the activation QR code will not go through, manual installation exists: below the code sit the SM-DP+ address and the activation code, to be typed into the phone settings. It is the fallback when the camera refuses to read the code, and it works just as well.

One last detail not to miss: the PIN and PUK codes of the new eSIM profile are not those of the old card. Note them down at activation, they cannot be reconstructed afterwards.

The rat's advice: screenshot your QR code and keep it off the phone it powers, in your password manager or on another device. The day your handset dies, you will reinstall your line in two minutes on a spare phone, with no customer account and no support call.

Which RED plans take the eSIM, and what they cover abroad

All of them. The eSIM is a line medium, not a plan option: from the 1 GB at €1.99 to the 250 GB at €15.99, every offer can ship as an eSIM.

What changes everything, though, is how much each plan carries outside France. Here is the range as listed on 28 August 2026:

1 GB, €1.99/month: 1 GB in France, and 1 GB from Europe and the French overseas departments.

60 GB, €9.99/month: 60 GB in France, and 23 GB from Europe and the overseas departments.

100 GB 5G, €11.99/month: 100 GB in France, and 30 GB from Europe and the overseas departments.

200 GB 5G, €13.99/month: 200 GB in France, and 38 GB from Europe and the overseas departments.

250 GB 5G, €15.99/month: 250 GB in France, and 35 GB from 137 destinations, Europe included.

Prices and volumes checked on 28 August 2026 on red-by-sfr.fr. Unlimited calls and texts across the range, capped at 200 different recipients a month.

The line that matters is the last one. Four plans out of five stop at Europe and the overseas departments. A RED customer on the 100 GB heading to Thailand, Japan or the United States has no included data at all: they are out of plan from the very first megabyte.

And there, one thing deserves to be said plainly: RED does not publish its out-of-plan rates outside Europe. Support points you to the RED & Moi app and the customer account to find the rate that applies to your destination. It is not unlawful, and it is common among carriers, but it means you cannot compare before leaving without opening your account. Check your rate in the app before you land, not after.

RED travel packs against travel eSIMs: the match, pack by pack

To avoid out-of-plan billing, RED sells Packs Séjour: a data allowance, calls and texts, valid 30 consecutive days over a given zone. That is the real alternative to a travel eSIM, and the only comparison worth making.

Here is the grid, checked on 28 August 2026, with the price per gigabyte it works out to:

Switzerland and Andorra: €10 for 5 GB, or €2.00 per gigabyte.

Maghreb (Algeria, Morocco, Tunisia): €30 for 35 GB, or €0.86 per gigabyte.

United States, Canada, Mexico: €30 for 35 GB, or €0.86 per gigabyte.

Middle East: €30 for 15 GB, or €2.00 per gigabyte.

Latin America: €35 for 20 GB, or €1.75 per gigabyte.

Eastern Europe: €35 for 15 GB, or €2.33 per gigabyte.

Africa outside the Maghreb: €35 for 15 GB, or €2.33 per gigabyte.

Asia and Oceania: €35 for 10 GB, or €3.50 per gigabyte.

Grid checked on RED support. Each pack also includes 30 to 60 minutes of calls and 30 to 60 texts, which a data-only travel eSIM does not offer.

Now the confrontation with the comparator, on a strictly identical footing.

On Morocco, the carrier's pack wins. At €0.86 per gigabyte, the Maghreb pack beats the cheapest travel eSIM in our catalogue for that destination, measured at €1.15 per gigabyte at voilà on a 50 GB, 30-day plan. On that exact footing RED is cheaper, and it throws in calls. It is clear-cut, and it does not suit us to write it, but it is what the figures say.

On the United States, it is very close. The pack at €0.86 per gigabyte faces Esimzon measured at €0.72 on a 30 GB, 30-day plan. The travel eSIM is 19% cheaper, but it carries neither calls nor texts. For most travellers, that gap does not justify changing method.

On Asia, the gap becomes indefensible. The Asia-Oceania pack bills €3.50 per gigabyte. For Japan, at identical volume and duration, 10 GB over 30 days, the comparator measures eSIM Card at €6.73, Esimzon at €8.60, voilà at €8.70, Saily at €15.99 and Ubigi at €16.50. The cheapest comes down to €0.67 per gigabyte, more than five times below the carrier's pack.

eSIM prices checked on 28 August 2026 in the comparator's provider catalogues. Detail by destination on our Japan eSIM and Morocco eSIM pages.

On the Japan sample, voilà comes third, €2 above the cheapest. The brand holds solid value for money on that footing without being the lowest price, and leans besides on an eSIM that is simple to install with an app that is easy to use, and human customer support reachable 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Every provider has its own ground: the right pick depends on your data profile, not on a universal winner. You can compare them all on our eSIM providers page.

The rat's advice: the rule is easy to remember. Maghreb or North America, take the travel pack, you keep your number and your calls for the same money. Asia, Oceania, Eastern Europe or sub-Saharan Africa, put a travel eSIM alongside your RED line: you divide the data bill by two to five, and your number stays reachable.