On what country do you live? That's a big factor
this post was submitted on 11 Sep 2025
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Privacy
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there are some cheap services on kycnot.me
Thanks for this, looks like a great resource.
Same thing in the UK, except you've got to top it up at least every 3 months, minimum of £5 each time IIRC, or they disconnect it.
Personally I'd be up for paying £100 cash for a SIM that would stay connected for 5 years or so. Sadly, doesn't exist
Try to buy ukrainian sim card they don't have strong kyc so possible to find gray simcards ,since in there it from begging of 90x was not kyc and sim card randomly just was sold on the streets and everybody could buy it.
In NL, one option is to get one of these: https://top06.nl/products/lyca-mobile-simkaart-5-euro-beltegoed
It is also possible to buy one of these with cash from many shops.
This one lasts 6 months each. You can buy several of these and replace every 6 months if you don't mind changing the phone number, or top-up €5 every ~6 months. You can buy the 5 euro top-up code in person from many shops, using cash, or online in a website like this one: https://kaartdirect.nl/beltegoed/lycamobile
Live in Germany but perhaps this will help others :)
I looked up LycaMobile in Germany and was surprised to find you have an entire 'Prepaid SIM' wiki, ha! https://www.prepaid-wiki.de/tarife/Lyca_Mobile
Germany is not too far from NL. I think you can just order a Dutch SIM card. If all you want is for it to be active, I don't think it would be a problem as you would not actually use roaming services. Just top up via code every 5.5 months or so by dialing 101CODE#
I have not tested this myself so there may be some special rules I am not aware of, but I have often kept phone numbers abroad for years - just not Germany specifically
Hm, was expecting there to be some kind of artificial hurdle preventing me from getting a foreign SIM. But looks like I can just choose any SIM I like (read: minimal top up fees) from a country without annoying KYC regulations. The shipping fees to Germany for the shop linked above are reasonable.
Will report back if I find a cheaper deal in case someone else is interested. Thanks!
Hmm, you are right, it is possible that the initial activation is more difficult if you are not in NL.
I found a forum post of someome having problems with a KPN sim card, but for LycaMobile I still don't know: https://community.kpn.com/prepaid-16/sim-card-activation-doesn-t-work-in-germany-591780
I wil be going to Germany in a few days so I will bring one of those SIM cards and check what happens when I try to activate it, I'll report back.
That's very helpful, thanks!
I am currently near Cologne in Germany. I placed one of these LycaMobile SIM cards from NL and it activated automatically. It does recognize that it is connected to the German network and roaming, and still activates data and assigns a phone number.
So, it seems to work fine
Thank you so much for reporting back :D
No worries! If you need me to test something with it I can this week, just let me know
Ok! I'll update you then 😄
I think there are IoT sims that can only receive SMS.
My friend wanted to make something with them (I think smart thermostat) when the internet wasn't everywhere.
Maybe try Airalo if your phone has eSIM support.
Usually there's no other way and you have to top up yearly or half-yearly.
In Czechia, KYC is not mandatory for prepaid SIMs, you may try it next time.
Look for ubigi, worldwide e-sim for fixed periods of time
Forced to use WhatsApp? How does that work? Whoever "forced" you to do so didn't provide you a phone?
You can probably get a local eSIM with a phone number, e.g. https://www.telekom.de/unterwegs/esim but AFAICT that's also KYC, unlike data-only eSIMs, so that might not help you much, depends on your threat model (e.g. does T-Mobile share data with Meta or not).
It's the good old network effect. Telekom appears to be kind of expensive but getting an eSIM in general appears to be a valid (and likely cheaper) option.