In Liberia the local SIM wins on money by a factor of about four: Orange sells 10 GB for 30 days at 10 dollars, against 39 dollars for the same allowance on Nomad's eSIM, which runs on Orange's own towers. Prices are quoted in US dollars, so there is no exchange rate to puzzle over, and the card itself is handed out free at the Orange and Lonestar booths outside arrivals at Roberts International if you show a passport. What makes the decision less obvious is the paperwork around it. Since 2020 the regulator has been pushing to tie every line to a national ID card, the deadlines have moved several times, and foreigners who stay 90 days or more are now expected to hold a Foreigner ID. A short-stay visitor is still registered on a passport. A long-term posting is a different matter, covered below.
What This Guide Covers
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Orange, Lonestar Cell MTN and the Two-Phone Habit
Walk down Broad Street or through Red Light market and you will notice people holding two handsets, or one cheap dual-SIM phone with two cards in it. That is not a status symbol. Liberia has two mobile networks that matter, Lonestar Cell MTN and Orange Liberia, and each has places where it works and the other does not. Calls within a network have long been cheaper than calls across them, so having a number on each also means you can call almost anyone at the on-net rate.
Lonestar, the MTN Group affiliate, is the long-established brand with the heaviest presence in Monrovia and markets itself as the fastest LTE network in the country. Orange, which took over the former Cellcom operation, is widely reported by travellers and expats to reach further into the counties. The practical rule many residents follow is Lonestar for speed in the capital and Orange for reach upcountry, and a visitor heading to Bong, Nimba or Grand Gedeh would do well to carry Orange at least.
Mobile money comes with the line
Lonestar runs MoMo and Orange runs Orange Money. Both are widely used for paying drivers, small traders and school fees, and both need a registered local number. Neither works through a travel eSIM, which is data only. If your assignment involves paying local staff or vendors, a registered line is close to essential, and that alone settles the question for many NGO workers.
Data Bundles in US Dollars, Operator by Operator
Both operators sell data through the same short code, *352#, and Orange also sells through its Max it app. The prices below come from the two operators' own websites as published in October 2026. Liberian bundles are priced in US dollars, and you can pay for scratch cards in either currency at street level.
| Bundle | Data | Validity | Price |
|---|---|---|---|
| Orange Daily Turbo | 1 GB | 1 day | $1 |
| Orange Weekly Turbo | 6.5 GB | 7 days | $5 |
| Orange Weekly Turbo | 12 GB | 7 days | $10 |
| Orange Monthly Turbo | 10 GB | 30 days | $10 |
| Orange Monthly Turbo | 28 GB | 30 days | $25 |
| Lonestar weekly | 5.6 GB | 7 days | $10 |
| Lonestar bi-weekly | 30 GB | 14 days | $30 |
| Lonestar monthly | 12 GB | 30 days | $30 |
| Nomad eSIM (Orange) | 10 GB | 30 days | $39 |
| Airalo eSIM (MTN) | 1 GB | 3 days | $6 |
Two things stand out. First, Orange is markedly cheaper than Lonestar at the monthly level: 10 GB for 10 dollars against 12 GB for 30. Lonestar's best value is its 14-day 30 GB bundle at 30 dollars, which suits a heavy two-week assignment. Second, the gap to the eSIMs is wide even at the top of the eSIM range, and the Airalo plan on MTN costs six times Orange's daily gigabyte. Orange also advertises short-lived Data Promo offers from 1.7 GB to 13 GB starting at 1 dollar, so ask at the booth what is running that week.
A note on the small print
Bundles do not carry over, and both operators list a long tail of tiny daily packs, from 70 MB for 35 cents on Lonestar. Avoid those unless you only need a few hours of maps. The weekly and monthly packs are where the value is, and buying the larger one costs almost nothing extra per gigabyte.
Passports, National ID Cards and the Moving Deadlines
Registration in Liberia has been in flux for six years, and it helps to separate what applies to a visitor from what applies to residents. In November 2020 the Liberia Telecommunications Authority, the National Identification Registry and both operators signed an agreement that every SIM should eventually be linked to a national ID card. A fresh memorandum in October 2024 set a deadline of July 2025 for linking lines to an NIR-issued ID, with deactivation threatened for anyone who missed it.
Then the ground shifted again. Executive Order 147, signed by President Boakai on 14 April 2025, made biometric ID enrolment compulsory for citizens and for foreign residents living in Liberia for 90 days or more, with telecoms among the services that would require it. The enrolment deadline was pushed from 1 August to 31 August 2025, enforcement was later suspended with providers told to accept alternative documents, and a July 2025 presidential memo reset the national rollout target to April 2026. We could not find a 2026 notice from the LTA confirming where the SIM linkage stands now.
What this means if you are visiting
1. Short-stay visitors are still registered on a passport. A traveller report updated in September 2026 describes walking out of the Robertsfield terminal and receiving a free SIM at the Orange or Lonestar booth after showing a passport.
2. Away from the airport the card costs around a dollar, and the official service centres are the safest place to buy it.
3. Avoid pre-registered cards sold on the street. They are registered to someone else and can be cut off when the operators clean up their records.
4. If you are posted to Liberia for three months or longer, expect to need a Foreigner ID card from the NIR, and budget time for it. Lonestar has stationed NIR agents in its service centres in the past, which can save a separate trip.
The regulations also exempt foreign SIMs roaming for 30 days or less, which is why your home line keeps working without any of this, at roaming prices.
Service Centres, Scratch Cards and *352#
The two airport booths are the easiest place to start, because they stand immediately outside the terminal exit and the staff deal with foreign passports every flight. In Monrovia, both operators run branded service centres in the central districts, including Lonestar's centre on Broad Street, and these are the right place for anything more involved, such as a replacement SIM, an ID update or setting up mobile money. Hotel staff in Sinkor or Mamba Point will point you to the nearest one.
How top-ups work in practice
Most Liberians top up with scratch cards bought from roadside sellers in branded umbrellas or from small shops, then type the code into the phone and buy a bundle on *352#. Orange customers can also do it in the Max it app, and both operators let you pay from the mobile money wallet on the same line. Once you have a registered number you will never be far from a top-up seller in any town, even if you are a long way from a service centre.
Lonestar's customer care line is 111 or 222 from a Lonestar phone. Keep a little cash in small US notes for scratch cards, because many street sellers struggle to change a twenty, and Liberian dollar notes in small denominations are useful for the same reason.
Which Card for Field Trips Beyond Monrovia
Coverage collapses quickly once you leave the paved corridors. A traveller who tested Lonestar across the country reported HSPA+ in Robertsport, the Grand Cape Mount surf town, and a strong connection in Gbarnga, but little or nothing on the roads between towns. That pattern holds for both networks: towns are covered, the stretches between them often are not, and national parks such as Sapo are effectively offline.
A practical pairing for field work
If your work takes you to county headquarters and project sites, carry an Orange line as the primary for reach and a Lonestar line as the backup, or pair a local card with an eSIM on the other network. Airalo's 1 GB plan runs on MTN and Nomad's plans run on Orange, so either can serve as that second network without a second registration. Download offline maps before leaving Monrovia, and agree check-in times with your security focal point that do not depend on a live data connection.
Rainy season, roughly May to October, makes the coverage gaps longer in practice, because a journey that takes four hours in the dry season can take eight when the laterite roads turn to mud.
Which One Fits Your Trip
The honest split in a country where the card is free at the airport and the bundles cost a fraction of any eSIM.
Get an Orange or Lonestar card when
Use an eSIM when
If you take the eSIM route, the Liberia eSIM guide lays out the verified plans and which network each one uses, the Roberts International guide covers the booths and the transfer to Monrovia, and the eSIM Finder will size a plan to your dates. The Holafly review explains when unlimited days earn their price.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is the SIM card really free at Roberts International?
According to a traveller report updated in September 2026, yes: the Orange and Lonestar booths just outside the terminal give a SIM to anyone who shows a passport, and you then buy a data bundle. Elsewhere a card typically costs about a dollar. The bundle is the real cost, from 10 dollars for 10 GB a month on Orange.
Should I choose Orange or Lonestar for a stay in Monrovia?
Either works well in the capital. Lonestar is often faster in the city and Orange tends to reach further outside it. On price, Orange is cheaper for a monthly allowance, 10 GB for 10 dollars against Lonestar's 12 GB for 30 dollars, while Lonestar's 30 GB over 14 days for 30 dollars suits heavy short stays. Many residents simply carry both.
Do foreigners need a Liberian national ID to keep a SIM?
Short-stay visitors register on a passport. Foreign residents living in Liberia for 90 days or more fall under Executive Order 147, which requires a biometric Foreigner ID card for services including telecoms. Enforcement and deadlines have changed several times since 2025, so a long-term arrival should check the current position with the operator when registering.
How do I add data once I have a line?
Dial *352# on either network and choose a bundle, paying from airtime loaded with a scratch card or from your mobile money wallet. Orange customers can also use the Max it app. Scratch cards are sold by roadside vendors and small shops almost everywhere, so recharging is easy even upcountry.
Is it worth buying a pre-registered SIM from a street seller?
No. Those cards are registered to someone else, which puts you in breach of the registration rules and risks the line being deactivated without warning, along with any data you loaded. The official booths and service centres register a card in your own name with a passport, and the card itself costs little or nothing.