Panama is one of the better countries in the Americas to buy a local SIM in, mainly because +Movil will sell you a week of unlimited data for about five dollars. The complication is not price, it is that the market has consolidated and half the guides online are describing a country that no longer exists. Claro Panama has been bought by +Movil. Movistar was absorbed by Tigo years ago. What is left is a duopoly plus a marginal Digicel, and the kiosk at the airport is still selling packaging with an old brand on it. Below is what the two remaining networks actually charge in 2026, what the passport registration involves, and the specific cases where a travel eSIM is still the better purchase despite costing more per gigabyte.
What This Guide Covers
Jump to the section most relevant to you
Four Operators Became Two: What Actually Changed
If you have read an older Panama guide listing +Movil, Movistar, Claro and Digicel as four comparable choices, discard it. The market restructured, and the two transactions that matter are simple to state. Tigo, the Millicom operator, absorbed Movistar Panama. +Movil, the mobile arm of Cable and Wireless Panama, then spent 200 million dollars acquiring Claro Panama. Digicel remains in the market and is not a serious option for a visitor.
So there are two networks. That is a shorter list than most countries offer, and for a traveller it is genuinely simplifying: whatever you buy, local SIM or travel eSIM, you are riding +Movil or Tigo. There is no third option to research and no obscure budget operator with a coverage surprise.
The 5G difference is the only real technical gap
Panama entered the 5G era in April 2024, when +Movil switched on the country's first commercial network, and it has extended steadily across Panama City and the surrounding districts since. Tigo's 5G footprint remains very limited. On 4G, which is what covers the overwhelming majority of the country and almost everywhere outside the capital region, the two networks perform comparably along the populated Pacific corridor. Buy on 5G only if you are staying in the capital and genuinely need the bandwidth.
+Movil (Cable and Wireless Panama)
+Movil is now the larger network, having taken on Claro's subscriber base and spectrum, and it is the one with the country's only meaningful 5G. Its prepaid pricing is aggressive in a way that makes the international eSIM market look expensive.
+Movil prepaid data packages
The unlimited data packages, which bundle 25 minutes of calls to other operators, run roughly: 7 days for 5 dollars, 10 days for 7 dollars, 14 days for 10 dollars and 30 days for 15 dollars. A month of unlimited data for fifteen dollars is a genuinely strong offer by any international standard. Note that the SIM card itself is sometimes sold bundled at a higher headline price, so ask what you are paying for the card against the package rather than accepting a single number.
Coverage-wise this is the footprint to want. Strong through Panama City and the whole canal corridor, dependable along the Pan-American Highway west through Coronado and Santiago to David, solid in Boquete town. It thins in the highlands away from the road, gets patchy in Bocas del Toro, and effectively stops in Guna Yala and the Darien, but so does everything else.
Airalo and Nomad both sell travel eSIMs riding this network, which means you can have the +Movil footprint without the counter visit if you would rather.
Tigo Panama
Tigo is the Millicom operator and Panama's other real network, built on its own footprint plus the Movistar business it absorbed. Millicom runs around 2.6 million mobile lines here and pairs the mobile product with fixed broadband, which is why it competes hard on bundles for residents rather than on tourist packages.
Its prepaid range is sold as Paquetes Prepago, combining data with minutes and SMS. One detail worth knowing: the prepaid packages have generally not included 5G access, which matters little in practice given how limited Tigo's 5G build-out is anyway. On 4G in the capital and along the Pacific corridor, Tigo performs perfectly well and you would struggle to tell the two networks apart on a normal travel day.
Tigo SIM cards are typically provided free when bought with a plan rather than charged separately, which makes the entry price straightforward. If you are choosing between the two purely as a visitor, +Movil has the edge on 5G and on the rebuilt post-Claro footprint, and Tigo is not a mistake. Holafly's Panama eSIM runs on Tigo, so this is also the network you get if you buy unlimited-by-the-day rather than a local card.
Registration and What to Bring
Panama registers prepaid mobile lines, so buying a SIM here means presenting your passport. The process is short: the shop inserts and registers the SIM against your document, then you pick a package. It is not onerous, and staff in the city carrier shops handle it routinely.
How a purchase goes
1. Bring your passport. A photocopy is not reliably accepted and a driving licence will not do for a foreign visitor.
2. Decide network first, package second. There are only two networks, so this is a quicker decision than in most countries.
3. Pay in US dollars, which is simply the national currency alongside the balboa at parity. Cards are widely accepted in the capital.
4. Check that data works before you leave the shop, especially if you bought from a kiosk or reseller rather than a carrier branch.
The kiosk-and-vending-machine setup at Tocumen deserves a specific warning. Those resellers are convenient but they are not carrier branches, so if an activation fails there is no one with system access to fix it. If you plan to buy locally, buying at a +Movil or Tigo shop in a mall the next morning is more reliable than a machine at midnight, at the cost of arriving disconnected.
Panamanian Prepaid Options Side by Side
| Option | Representative package | Price | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|
| +Movil | Unlimited data, 7 days, 25 min calls | About 5 USD | A short trip with a passport visit to a shop |
| +Movil | Unlimited data, 30 days | About 15 USD | A month in Panama, the best value on this page |
| Tigo | Paquetes Prepago with data, minutes and SMS | Varies by bundle | Anyone who prefers Tigo coverage or bundles |
| Tourist SIM at a kiosk | Small data bundle, short validity | Roughly 3 to 15 USD | Convenience at the airport, at some reliability risk |
| Travel eSIM | 5 GB metered, or unlimited by day | Roughly 5 to 15 USD | Short trips, late arrivals, no passport step, regional routes |
| Tocumen airport WiFi | 1 hour free, then metered | 4 to 15 USD | Nothing, frankly, beyond a short layover |
The last row is there for perspective. A full day of the airport's own WiFi costs as much as a month of unlimited data on +Movil and stops working at the terminal door.
Where to Buy a SIM in Panama
Tocumen International Airport. Vending machines and reseller kiosks rather than carrier branches, with points in the Arrival Hall near gates 130 and 131, in the transit area near gates 138 and 139, and on the North Pier. Convenient, but sold by third parties. The Tocumen airport guide covers the layout and the ways into town.
Malls in Panama City. This is the reliable route. +Movil and Tigo both run proper stores in Multiplaza, Albrook Mall and Soho, with staff who can fix an activation problem on the spot. Albrook is especially convenient because it sits at the Line 1 metro terminus next to the national bus terminal.
David and Boquete. Both operators have branches in David, which is the practical place to sort out connectivity if you are flying into Chiriqui rather than the capital. Boquete has smaller outlets and top-up points.
Topping up
Recharges are sold in supermarkets, pharmacies and corner shops throughout the country, and both operators take card payments through their apps. Because everything is priced in US dollars there is no minimum-denomination confusion of the kind you get in countries with a weak local currency. Running out of data in the populated part of Panama is a five-minute problem.
eSIM or Local Card for Panama?
Local Panamanian prepaid is cheap enough that on price alone it wins, and this guide is not going to pretend otherwise: fifteen dollars for a month of unlimited data is a better rate than any travel eSIM will offer. The argument for an eSIM here is about the first hour and the shape of the trip rather than the per-gigabyte cost.
Buy local when
Buy an eSIM when
Neither choice does anything for Guna Yala or the outer islands of Bocas del Toro, where the towers simply are not there. Size your plan for the days you will actually have signal, which is a smaller number than most Panama itineraries suggest. The Panama eSIM guide covers which provider rides which network and the eSIM Finder will size it.
Practical Panama Connectivity Notes
The dollar removes a whole category of confusion. Panama uses the US dollar alongside the balboa at a one-to-one peg, so prepaid packages, eSIM plans and taxi fares are all quoted in the same currency and directly comparable. There is no conversion penalty and no exchange-desk step before you can buy a SIM.
Brand names on packaging lag the market. Claro-branded product still circulates through resellers even though the network is now +Movil. If a kiosk offers you Claro, you are buying onto +Movil. This is a reason to buy from a carrier store if the details matter to you.
Do not size your plan for the islands. Guna Yala is effectively offline, Bocas del Toro is intermittent in town and worse on the water, and the Darien should be treated as having no coverage at all. Those days consume no data, which is why a 5 GB plan goes further in Panama than the length of the trip implies.
Ride apps need data at exactly the wrong moment. Panama City traffic is genuinely bad and the difference between an Uber and a fixed-rate taxi is large. Being able to open the app matters most at the airport and late at night in Casco Viejo, which are the two places you are least likely to have WiFi.
Two lines are cheap here. If you are staying a while, running a local +Movil line alongside your home SIM costs very little and gets you a Panamanian number. The Panama City guide covers what to expect from the network once you are on the ground.
Frequently Asked Questions
Which Panamanian network should I choose?
+Movil if you want the larger network and the country's only real 5G, which after the Claro acquisition carries a bigger subscriber base and a rebuilt footprint. Tigo if you prefer its bundles or find a better package price, since on 4G along the populated Pacific corridor the two are hard to tell apart. There is no meaningful third choice: Movistar was absorbed by Tigo, Claro was bought by +Movil, and Digicel is not worth a visitor's attention.
How much does prepaid data actually cost in Panama?
Cheaply. +Movil's unlimited data packages with 25 minutes of calls run roughly 5 dollars for 7 days, 7 dollars for 10 days, 10 dollars for 14 days and 15 dollars for 30 days. Tourist SIMs from kiosks generally land between 3 and 15 dollars depending on the bundle. Because Panama uses US dollars, those are real prices with no conversion involved, and they compare directly against what a travel eSIM will charge you.
Do I need a passport to buy a SIM card in Panama?
Yes. Prepaid lines are registered, so the shop takes your passport, registers the SIM against it and then activates the package. It is quick and routine, but it does mean one person cannot buy lines for a whole group and that a photocopy will not reliably do. It is also the step a travel eSIM skips entirely, which is worth weighing if you are landing late or connecting onward the same day.
Why do airport kiosks still sell Claro SIMs if Claro was bought?
Because packaging and reseller inventory move slower than corporate transactions. +Movil acquired Claro Panama for 200 million dollars and those subscribers and spectrum now sit with +Movil, but Claro-branded product continues to circulate through third-party kiosks such as the ones at Tocumen. You are not buying a defunct service, you are buying onto the +Movil network under an old label. If the specifics matter to you, buy from a carrier store instead.
Will a Panamanian SIM work in Costa Rica or Colombia?
No. Central and South America have no regional roaming arrangement comparable to the EU, so a Panamanian prepaid line stops at the border, and a Panama-only travel eSIM does the same. For the classic overland route north into Costa Rica or a hop south to Colombia, buy a Latin America regional eSIM plan and check the country list before paying, because regional coverage varies more between providers than the marketing suggests.