For visitors, new arrivals and residents
Germany, minus the paperwork
Whether you are here for a week, arriving next month or already settled, we work out the bureaucracy and the small print for you: which document comes first, which counter to go to, and which SIM, account, policy or tariff is actually the best one for your situation. One named winner per market, the weighting published, every price read from the provider's own page. So you can get on with your life.
257
Mobile plans
Every SIM and eSIM on sale
48
Bank cards
Fees and FX compared
164
Insurance policies
Health, car, home, pet
35
Energy tariffs
Electricity and gas
Start where you are
Three ways people meet Germany
A week's holiday, a move, or a life already here. Each one has a different first problem, so each one starts in a different place.
Here for days or weeks
Just visiting
You need data on landing, cover for the trip, and a card that does not quietly tax every purchase. None of it needs an Anmeldung or a German address.
Arriving, or arriving soon
Moving to Germany
The order matters more than the paperwork: the lease gets you the Wohnungsgeberbestätigung, that gets you the Anmeldung, and the Anmeldung is what brings the Steuer-ID in the post. Here is the sequence, with what each step costs.
- Steuer-ID, social security and health coverWhich one first, which counter, what it costs.
- Opening a bank accountWhat a non-resident can open with a passport.
- A SIM on day oneBuying before your Anmeldung, and what that rules out.
- Renting your first placeDeposits, guarantors and the documents landlords ask for.
Already settled
Living in Germany
The bills you inherited when you moved in are rarely the best ones available. These are the markets where switching is quick and the saving is real.
The market, compared
Five markets, one winner each
Whatever stage you are at, the answer comes from the same place: the whole market, priced and compared. One page per market, naming what to buy, what it costs, and who it is wrong for.
Moving to Germany
Proof of funds, the Anmeldung, the Steuer-ID, and what each one actually costs before you can open anything else.
Phone and internet
All 98 SIM plans compared on price, data, minutes and SMS, plus home internet and travel eSIMs.
Money and cards
Which card to hold, what it costs abroad, and which banks open an account before your Anmeldung is done.
Insurance
What the statutory GKV covers, what private PKV adds, and what each insurer actually charges.
Energy
Every electricity and gas tariff on the free market, on unit rate, standing charge and annual cost.
Most read
Popular guides
The pages readers open most, whether they landed last week or have been here for years.
Opening a Bank Account in Germany
Which documents you need, which banks serve English speakers, and what to do before your Steuer-ID arrives.
Read guideBest Credit Cards in Germany
All 48 cards compared on annual fee, foreign transaction margin and whether you need a German IBAN.
Read guideHealth Insurance in Germany
What the GKV covers, what private cover adds, and what TK, Barmer and hkk charge.
Read guideEvery mobile plan sold in Germany
All 38 plans from 12 providers, on price, data, calls and SMS, filterable by your situation.
Read guideElectricity and gas tariffs
Every free-market tariff on unit rate, standing charge and estimated annual cost.
Read guideHow a winner gets picked
The weighting is published before the prices are collected
Every ranking on this site scores the same catalogue against a set of criteria whose weights are fixed in advance and printed on the page. Change the weights and the winner changes, which is the point: a student and a family are not shopping for the same thing, so they do not get the same answer.
Prices are read, not estimated
Every figure comes from the provider's own page and carries the date it was checked. Where a figure could not be verified, the page says so instead of guessing.
Drawbacks stay on the card
Each recommendation shows what it loses on as well as what it wins on, and anything a reader cannot actually buy is listed as ruled out rather than quietly dropped.
Commission does not move the order
Some links earn a commission, at the same rate from every provider in that market, so no ranking here can be bought.