Quick answer
Buy a Magti SIM (10 GEL, passport needed) at a Magti shop in town and add data in the MyMagti app: 5 GB for 12 GEL, unlimited for 10 GEL a week or 35 GEL (about $13) a month. Magti has the best coverage, including most mountain areas; Silknet is the runner-up and sells the easiest local eSIM online; Cellfie is cheapest and weakest outside cities. The 24-hour Magti desk at Tbilisi and Kutaisi airports sells 15-day tourist packages that cost more per gigabyte. If you want data before you land, an Airalo eSIM starts at $4.50 for 1 GB but runs on Cellfie's network.
- SIM card
- 10 GEL
- Unlimited, 7 days
- 10 GEL
- Unlimited, month
- 35 GEL
- Networks
- 3
You will want a local number. Bolt, the taxi app, registers with a phone number; guesthouse hosts and drivers message on WhatsApp; and the Wi-Fi in a mountain guesthouse is shared with every other room. We use Magti and have for years, as does nearly every foreigner we know who lives here. Magti's data packages, its airport Welcome Packages and its eSIM rules were re-read on Magti's own pages on 24 October 2026, the first time its tariff page rendered readably for us, and Airalo's plans on airalo.com the same day; both confirmed the figures first checked on 11 September 2026, when Magti's package prices came from wander-lush.org's Georgian SIM guide updated 17 July 2026, Silknet's from its own site and Cellfie's unlimited prices from cellfie.ge. The airport desk is covered in our airport guide. USD figures use the National Bank of Georgia rate on 24 October 2026 (1 USD = 2.60 GEL).
Internet in Georgia: how fast it is and how far it reaches
Good, and better on a phone than on a cable. Ookla's Speedtest Global Index for September 2026 puts Georgia's median mobile download at 147 Mbps with 19 ms latency, 21st of the countries it ranks, while fixed broadband sits at a median 51 Mbps down and 52 up, 115th. In practice the 4G or 5G signal on a Magti SIM in Tbilisi, Batumi or Kutaisi is usually quicker than the Wi-Fi in your hotel, and a phone hotspot is the fix when a guesthouse router crawls. DataReportal's Digital 2026 report counts 3.12 million internet users in Georgia, 81.9 percent of the population, and 6.46 million mobile connections, 170 percent of the population, which is why every driver, host and market stall is on WhatsApp.
Where it thins out is altitude, not distance from Tbilisi: Mestia, Stepantsminda and Omalo all have a Magti signal, the passes and valleys between the villages do not, and the coverage section below says where each network drops. Nothing is blocked. Google, WhatsApp, Telegram, Instagram, YouTube and every news site load as they do at home, so you need no VPN for Georgia itself, only perhaps one back to your own country for a bank app that dislikes a Georgian address.
Which network
| Network | Coverage, price and who it suits |
|---|---|
| Magti | The biggest network and the one with the widest reach: it covers 99% of populated areas by its own figure, works in Tbilisi metro stations, and holds a signal in most of Svaneti, Kazbegi and Tusheti. 5G in the cities. SIM or eSIM 10 GEL. Our pick for anyone leaving the cities |
| Silknet | Second network, much improved in recent years but still patchy in Upper Svaneti and around Vardzia. The easiest local eSIM to buy online before you fly, with a Georgian number. Fine for a Tbilisi and Batumi trip |
| Cellfie | Cheapest, with unlimited data from 8 GEL a week, and the weakest outside the cities. It is also the network the Airalo eSIM uses. For a city-only stay on a budget |
All three sell hotspot-friendly SIMs, all three have shops in Tbilisi, Batumi, Kutaisi and towns such as Telavi and Zugdidi, and all three need your passport to register the SIM by law; one passport covers several SIMs. Two towns have no Magti shop at all, Stepantsminda (Kazbegi) and Mestia, which is the one good reason to buy at the airport if you are heading straight to either.
Prepaid prices in 2026
Magti prepaid, bought in the MyMagti app or by short code
| Item | Price | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| SIM card or eSIM | 10 GEL | Includes 1 GEL of credit; eSIM activation 10 GEL on Magti's eSIM page |
| 1 GB, 30 days | 5 GEL | About $2; dial *111# |
| 3 GB, 30 days | 9 GEL | Dial *111# |
| 5 GB, 30 days | 12 GEL | Enough for two weeks of maps and messages; *111# |
| 20 GB, 30 days | 30 GEL | Dial *111# |
| Unlimited, 24 hours | 2 GEL | Dial *243# |
| Unlimited, 7 days | 10 GEL | The best deal for a week; *157# |
| Unlimited, 30 days | 35 GEL | About $13; *220# |
| 60 minutes of calls, 30 days | 5 GEL | Only if you need to phone |
Prices checked October 2026. Ranges reflect season and operator.
Those are Magti's own figures, read on magticom.ge on 24 October 2026 and unchanged since wander-lush recorded them in July; the short codes in the right-hand column buy the package from the dialler without the app. Without a bundle, Magti's standard tariff charges 10 tetri per megabyte, so buy the package before the phone starts updating itself. Unused data rolls over if you top up within seven days of expiry. A week in Georgia therefore costs 20 GEL all in: the SIM plus seven days of unlimited data; two weeks is two of those back to back. For longer stays that need only data, the 30-day bundles are the answer, and almost nobody needs a calls package, because hosts and drivers message rather than phone.
Silknet: an eSIM costs 5 GEL plus a 4 GEL new-number fee, data packages start at 8 GEL, and the tourist range on its site runs from a three-day package to Tourist Unlimited, unlimited data with unlimited local calls and texts for 15 days, which wander-lush priced at 30 GEL. Cellfie: unlimited internet is 2 GEL for a day, 8 GEL for 7 days, 14 GEL for 14 days and 26 GEL for 30 days on its own site today, and data bundles run 7 GEL for 1.5 GB to 25 GEL for 20 GB.
The airport SIM desks
Magti has a desk in the arrivals hall at both Tbilisi and Kutaisi airports, open whenever flights are landing, which in practice means 24 hours. It sells Welcome Packages only, with the SIM included and 15 days' validity according to Magti's page, set up in ten minutes with your passport. Wander-lush's July 2026 reading of the boards: at Kutaisi, unlimited data for 7, 14 or 30 days at 19, 42 and 60 GEL; at Tbilisi, 3 GB with unlimited local calls for 40 GEL, unlimited data with local calls for 60, and 90 or 120 GEL versions adding international minutes; Magti's own airport page, re-read 24 October 2026, lists two Welcome Packages with the SIM included free, the same at Tbilisi and Kutaisi: 30 GEL for 3 GB with 30 international minutes and free local calls and texts, and 15 GEL for 5 GB with free local texts, both valid 15 days. Compare 60 GEL at the desk with 45 GEL for a SIM and a month of unlimited data in town, or 20 GEL for a week, and you see why we say buy in the city unless you need Bolt in the next ten minutes or are driving straight to Kazbegi or Mestia. The airport Wi-Fi is usually good enough to order a Bolt if the app is already installed and registered.
Buying and topping up
Magti has more than 15 shops in Tbilisi, most closed on Sundays; the Rustaveli Avenue branch opens seven days. Kutaisi's is on St Nino Street by the park (09:00 to 18:00 weekdays, 10:00 to 17:00 weekends). Entering by land, there are Magti offices at Sadakhlo after the Armenian border and at Kabali and Gardabani after the Azerbaijani one; from the Turkish border at Sarpi the nearest are in Batumi. Take your passport, choose the package before you go in, check the SIM works before you leave, and keep the plastic card the SIM came in: your number and PUK code are written on it, and you need the number to log into the MyMagti app. Top up in the app with a foreign card, at any Magti shop, or at the cash terminals in malls and metro stations by typing your number. Phone repair shops also sell and activate SIMs for little or no markup.
eSIM: local or Airalo
Three routes. Magti eSIM, 10 GEL like the card, activated in a shop or in the MyMagti app; the online purchase needs a Magti account verified with a passport photo, and foreign cards sometimes fail on the site, so in-store is the reliable way. An eSIM can be re-activated five times before it must be replaced for 10 GEL. Silknet eSIM, 5 GEL plus the 4 GEL number fee, bought online from home in a few minutes, with a Georgian number for Bolt. Airalo, installed at home and working when the plane door opens: data only in its standard form (a version with minutes and texts at the same prices was listed on 5 October 2026), no Georgian number, runs on Cellfie's network, and costs more per gigabyte, which is the price of not having to find a shop. Our eSIM guide goes deeper.
Coverage in the mountains and Wi-Fi
In Tbilisi and Batumi, every cafe, restaurant and hotel has Wi-Fi and it is usually fast; the free public network in central Tbilisi is slow and not for anything with a password. Regional towns are fine in hotels and restaurants. In the mountains, guesthouse Wi-Fi exists but is shared and slow in season, and Starlink, which launched in Georgia in November 2023, is turning up at some lodges. Mobile signal is what matters there: Magti holds it along the Military Highway, in Mestia and Ushguli and in most of Tusheti, and drops out on the trekking passes between villages and in Vashlovani; Silknet and Cellfie lose it earlier. Whatever the network, download offline maps for the regions you are visiting, carry a power bank, and expect nothing between villages on a multi-day trek.
Frequently asked questions
Which SIM card is best in Georgia?
How much does a SIM card cost in Georgia?
Should I buy a SIM at Tbilisi airport?
Do I need my passport to buy a SIM in Georgia?
Does an Airalo eSIM work in Georgia?
Is the internet good in Georgia?
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