Calling between France and Switzerland: what is included, what costs extra

To call a Swiss number from France, dial +41, or 0041, then the number without its leading zero. What a call costs you depends on its direction: from France to Switzerland, it is an international call; from Switzerland, it counts as roaming, and a plan can include one direction without the other. The numbers in detail: Switzerland’s country code and how to dial (in French). Of the 33 plans or groups of plans from other operators that we checked, 6 include calls to a Swiss mobile, and 17 include calls made from Switzerland. Once there, calling a Swiss number, receiving a call, sending a text and using your mobile data each have their own price again. Flytel plans include unlimited calls, texts and MMS from and to Switzerland, from €14.99 a month. From your office in Switzerland, you call France; in the evening, from home, you call a colleague back on their Swiss mobile: both calls are included.

What is an international call?

An international call is a call made from your own country, France, to a foreign number: its price is in the “calls to other countries” section of a price guide. From France, a call to a Swiss number is one.

What is roaming?

Roaming covers everything you do with your French plan while you are abroad, on the network of a local operator: calls made and received, texts and mobile data. Their price is in the “calls from abroad” section of a price guide. In Switzerland, everything counts as roaming, even calling a Swiss number. Switzerland is not in the European Union: roaming there is not regulated by EU law, and each operator sets its own price (Arcep, « Les tarifs d’itinérance internationale » (in French)).

Six situations to tell apart

What you pay depends on where you are, the number you call and the direction of the call. A cross-border commuter’s week goes through all six. In a French price guide, look for two sections: “calls to other countries” (« vers l’étranger ») and “calls from abroad” (« depuis l’étranger »).

With Flytel, unlimited covers your calls, texts and MMS from France, Switzerland, Europe, Andorra and the French overseas departments to those same countries, and the ones you receive there. Article 6 of the terms and conditions (in French) sets the usage limits: 50 hours of calls, 2,000 texts and MMS, and 199 different contacts a month. Special and premium-rate numbers are never part of your unlimited calls, whatever the direction.

Find your case: where you are, who you call

Choose where you are and who you are calling: the answer appears, with the type of call and its source in the contract. Every case is also in the table that follows.

Every call direction between France, Switzerland and Europe

With Flytel, a call made from France, Switzerland, Europe, Andorra or the French overseas departments to one of those places is included, and so is a call received there. A call to the rest of the world is charged by the minute, and so are calls made and received during a stay outside those places. Texts and MMS follow the same rules as calls, in the same directions. Receiving a text is free everywhere. “Europe” means the countries of the Europe and overseas departments zone in the out-of-plan rates (in French), the United Kingdom and Norway included.

Source: terms and conditions, article 6 (in French), the plans’ information sheets and the out-of-plan rates (in French), checked on 18 October 2026. The European framework: European Commission, “Roaming”, Arcep, « Les tarifs d’itinérance internationale » (in French), Regulation (EU) 2022/612 on roaming.

How much does a call to a Swiss mobile cost from France?

From France, a call to a Swiss mobile is an international call: its price depends on the caller’s plan. Of the 33 plans or groups of plans from other operators checked between 18 and 23 October 2026, 6 include it and the others charge for it. With Flytel, calling a Swiss mobile or landline from France is included in both plans, from €14.99 a month.

Which plan lets you call Swiss mobiles from France at no extra cost?

You need a plan that includes calls from France to Swiss mobiles, not just to landlines. Of the 33 plans or groups of plans from other operators checked between 18 and 23 October 2026, 6 include them, and only 5 also include calls made from Switzerland: SFR Forfait 500 Go 5G+, SFR Offre Spéciale Illimitée 5G+, Bouygues Telecom Mega BiG 250 Go, Bouygues Telecom Intégral 250 Go and Orange Forfait 300 Go 5G+. With Flytel, calling a Swiss mobile or landline from France is included in both plans, from €14.99 a month. Calls made from Switzerland, to France as well as to a Swiss number, are included too.

Who pays when you call a Swiss mobile?

The caller pays for the call, according to the “calls to other countries” section of their plan. When someone calls you, you pay nothing in France; in Switzerland, with a French plan, some operators charge for each minute received. With Flytel, a call received in Switzerland is included.

Calling a Swiss landline or a Swiss mobile: same rule?

With Flytel, a call to a Swiss landline or mobile is included. Flytel’s contract makes no distinction between Swiss landlines and mobiles: the same rule applies to both. Elsewhere, the difference matters: on the plans checked, Swiss landlines are sometimes included when mobiles are not. If you call Swiss mobiles, read the entry for mobiles.

Can you call Switzerland from France without paying extra?

Yes, with a plan that includes calls to Swiss mobiles; on the other plans checked, this call costs extra. With Flytel, calling a Swiss mobile or landline from France is included in both plans, from €14.99 a month. Here is what each plan from the eight operators whose contracts we read provides. The operator names lead to our detailed pages, in French.

Information checked between 18 and 23 October 2026, in the operators’ price guides and information sheets, named row by row in the downloadable dataset (in French). Next check before 18 November 2026. How we check (in French).

Calling France from Switzerland: included or charged?

It depends on the plan: of the 33 plans or groups of plans from other operators checked between 18 and 23 October 2026, 17 include calls made from Switzerland, and the others charge for them. With Flytel, calls made from Switzerland, to France as well as to a Swiss number, are included in both plans, from €14.99 a month. A plan can include mobile data in Switzerland and still charge for calls made there: the contract deals with them separately.

From Switzerland, dial a French number with +33, without the leading zero: 06 12 34 56 78 becomes +33 6 12 34 56 78. In a French price guide, this call is listed under “calls from abroad” (« depuis l’étranger »), not under “calls to other countries” (« vers l’étranger »).

Calling the Assurance maladie, Urssaf or France Travail from Switzerland

French short numbers, such as 3646 for the Assurance maladie (health insurance) or 3949 for France Travail (the public employment service), only work from France. These bodies publish a number to dial from abroad.

The two numbers starting with +33 1 are ordinary numbers: with Flytel, calling them from Switzerland is included. The Urssaf number is a special number, starting with 806. The French numbering plan warns that some special numbers cannot be reached from abroad: if it does not get through, the secure messaging service of your online Urssaf account answers too. The procedures themselves are in our section on cross-border life (in French).

Do you pay to receive a call in Switzerland?

With some operators, yes: each minute received in Switzerland is in their “calls from abroad” section. According to the price guides checked, it is charged at Free (in French), B&YOU (in French) and RED by SFR (in French). With Flytel, a call received in Switzerland is included.

Texts to and from Switzerland

Like calls, texts have two entries in the price guide: to Switzerland and from Switzerland. On the plans checked, a text from France to a Swiss number is charged at B&YOU, SFR and RED by SFR. A text sent from Switzerland is charged at Free, B&YOU and RED by SFR; it is included on some SFR plans, up to a monthly number of recipients, according to their information sheets. With Flytel, texts are unlimited in both directions. The number format and the details are in the guide to texting Switzerland (in French).

Calls and mobile data: two separate counters

A WhatsApp, FaceTime, Teams or Zoom call uses mobile data: it uses none of your plan’s minutes and comes out of the data allowance of the zone you are in. In Switzerland, what counts is therefore the mobile data allowance you have there. Beyond it, depending on the plan, the connection stops or is charged by the megabyte. Wi-Fi calling from your operator, on the other hand, is an ordinary call that follows your plan’s rates: the guide to Wi-Fi calling at the border (in French) explains it.

The EU roaming regulation sets a default spending cap on mobile data, €50 excluding VAT a month, including outside the Union (Regulation (EU) 2022/612, Article 14(4) and (8)). It no longer applies if you have lifted it, or when the network you are visiting does not let your operator follow your usage in real time. With Flytel, once the allowance is used up, mobile data in Switzerland stops until the following month, and a top-up of the Switzerland and Europe allowance restores it for the current month.

The limits of unlimited

An unlimited plan can have a fair usage limit, written in the contract. With Flytel, the limits are 50 hours of calls, 2,000 texts and MMS, and 199 different contacts a month (article 6 of the terms and conditions (in French)); beyond them, calls and texts are charged at the out-of-plan rates. At SFR, calls made from Switzerland are limited to two hours per call, according to the information sheet of the Forfait 80 Go 5G checked on 23 October 2026.

Check what your plan includes, in four steps

1. Open your plan’s standardised information sheet: every operator must publish one, and it sums up what is included.
2. Open the price guide and look for two sections: “calls to other countries” (« vers l’étranger ») and “calls from abroad” (« depuis l’étranger »).
3. In each one, read the Switzerland entry: it is often listed apart, outside the “Europe” lists.
4. Note four prices: a call to a Swiss mobile, a call made from Switzerland, a minute received and a text. These are what make up a cross-border commuter’s bill.

Does an offer say Switzerland is included? Read what “Switzerland included” means (in French). To compare the plans that include Switzerland: our comparison of cross-border plans (in French). And to choose between our plans, which differ in their mobile data allowances and in 5G, included in the Confort plan: Flytel’s plans.

Are you a tradesperson, self-employed or a company director? For a plan in your business’s name, with an invoice and VAT: Comontel (in French), the mobile operator for professionals on the border.

Frequently asked questions about calls between France and Switzerland