Island life made smarter, from tuk-tuks to tea trains
PickMe is the undisputed transport app for Sri Lanka. Use it for tuk-tuks in Colombo to cars in Kandy. Mobile data is inexpensive; grab a Dialog or Mobitel SIM at the airport. Cash is still king in rural areas and small guesthouses.
Sri Lanka's #1 ride-hailing app, covering taxis, tuk-tuks, and logistics across Colombo and major tourist cities.
Food delivery built into the PickMe super-app, covering restaurants in Colombo and major towns.
The universal communication tool. Guesthouses, drivers, guides, and tour operators all communicate via WhatsApp.
The most reliable navigation tool for Sri Lanka's road network with good coverage from Colombo to smaller towns.
Official app with schedules and route info for Sri Lanka's iconic train network, including the famous Kandy-Ella hill country line.
Bridges the gap with Sinhala and Tamil. Camera mode is useful for reading handwritten menus in rural towns.
Reliable mobile internet at better prices than most travel eSIMs, with polished iOS and Android apps and support for making and receiving phone calls.
One of the biggest travel eSIM brands, with a very large destination catalog.
Known for unlimited-data plans in many destinations, at a higher price per gigabyte.
Getting connected here is unusually easy: dedicated tourist products, English-language carrier pages and staffed 24/7 airport counters. Pick your carrier by terrain: Dialog for general use and the coast, Mobitel for the hill country, Hutch only if price matters most and you are staying urban. Airtel now operates in Sri Lanka as a Dialog-licensed brand rather than an independent fourth network. Pack validity varies sharply (14 days on Mobitel's tourist SIM versus 30 on Hutch's), so match the pack to your trip length rather than comparing headline gigabytes.
Best overall coverage, reaching roughly 95% of the population on 4G, and the usual pick for tourists. Runs a dedicated Tourist SIM and Tourist eSIM.
State-owned and a close second, particularly strong in rural and plantation areas. The better pick for the hill country.
Cheapest data in the country and fine in cities, but weaker in remote regions.
The essential apps for Sri Lanka are PickMe, WhatsApp, Google Maps, Sri Lanka Railways.
We've curated 6 apps across 6 categories for traveling in Sri Lanka, including 4 essential apps.
PickMe is the top-rated ride hailing app in Sri Lanka. Sri Lanka's #1 ride-hailing app, covering taxis, tuk-tuks, and logistics across Colombo and major tourist cities.
