What EE international calls cost comes down to one question: where is your phone right now?
Calling another country from the UK is billed one way. Using your phone while you travel, to call home or anywhere else, is roaming, and it's billed another. Mixing the two up is how people get an ugly surprise on their next bill.
EE international calling and roaming
A call from your sofa in the UK to an international number is charged per minute, unless an add-on covers it. Using your EE plan while you're outside the UK is roaming, which has its own charges, including the daily fees for EU travel that came in after Brexit.
Calling from the UK vs roaming abroad
For a broader look at the market, see our guide to apps for cheap international calls.
| Scenario | What It Means | Primary EE Solution |
|---|---|---|
| Calling Abroad From the UK | You're physically in the UK, using your EE phone to call a number in another country (like ringing family in the USA). | Standard per-minute rates or a cost-saving Calling Abroad Add-on. |
| Roaming Abroad | You're travelling outside the UK with your EE phone and using it to make calls, send texts, or use data. | Standard roaming charges, which could mean daily fees or buying a Roam Abroad Pass. |
Calling abroad from the UK: per-minute rates and add-ons
Call an international number from the UK on your EE mobile and, by default, you pay for every minute you're on the phone. The final cost depends on where you're calling and whether it's a landline or a mobile number.
For a quick one-off call, that's fine. If you have family, friends or business contacts overseas, the per-minute charges pile up fast, and a long catch-up with someone on their mobile in Australia can turn into a very expensive conversation.
EE international add-ons
EE sells two add-ons for people who call other countries regularly. Each gives you a set number of international minutes for a fixed monthly fee, which almost always works out cheaper than paying by the minute.
- The International Calls Add-On costs £15 per 30 days for 500 minutes to 50 destinations. Use every minute and that works out at 3p a minute. The price guide's discounted add-on rates put a US call at 16p a minute, against £4.64 standard.
- The International Calls Extra Add-On costs £30 per 30 days for 250 minutes to a wider list of 100 destinations, for callers whose contacts are spread further afield.
Either way, an add-on turns an unpredictable cost into a fixed monthly amount. The catch is the same as with every carrier bundle: you pay for the allowance whether you use it or not, and unused minutes vanish at the end of the 30 days. Use 100 of your 500 minutes and each one effectively costs 15p.
To compare networks, see our guide to how Three UK handles international calls.
Without an add-on, you pay the standard tariff. The rates below come straight from EE's own Pay Monthly price guide (3 September 2026 edition, checked 3 October 2026). EE prices standard international calls by zone, not by country, and unlike its add-on rates, the standard rate makes no distinction between landlines and mobiles.
EE's standard per-minute rates for calling from the UK
| Where you're calling | EE zone | Per minute (any number) | Per text |
|---|---|---|---|
| Europe (France, Spain, Germany, Poland, Italy and the rest of Zone 1) | Zones 1 and 2 | 25p | 6p |
| USA, Canada | Zone 3 | £4.64 | 98p |
| Australia, New Zealand | Zone 4 | £4.64 | 98p |
| India, Pakistan, Nigeria, Japan, China and most of the world | Zone 5 | £4.64 | 98p |
Look at the USA row: £4.64 a minute. A ten-minute call to a New York landline on the standard tariff costs £46.40. That is not a misprint. It is the rate EE publishes in its own price guide, and it is why the add-ons exist.
Using your EE phone abroad: roaming after Brexit
Using your EE phone outside the UK is called roaming, and since Brexit the old rules for UK travellers have changed. For most people, the days of hopping over to Europe and using a phone for free are over.
If your EE plan started or was last upgraded after 7 July 2021, you'll almost certainly pay a daily charge to use your normal plan allowances in the EU. Landing, switching on your phone and using it as you do at home is enough to trigger the fee, and it adds up over a week-long trip.
EE's roaming zones and charges
EE groups countries into zones. For most UK holidaymakers, the one that matters is the European Roaming Zone, which covers most of Europe, including Spain, France and Italy.
If you're on one of those newer plans, using your phone in this zone costs a flat £2.72 per day (per the current price guide). Paying it lets you use your UK allowance of data, minutes and texts as normal, and there are weekly (£16.50) and 15-day (£30) EU passes if the daily drip annoys you. Burn through your allowance and calls jump to £1.83 a minute.
Some plans include EE's Roam Abroad Pass; according to the price guide, Full Works plans taken since 29 August 2024 come with it. Check your plan in the My EE app.
Roaming beyond Europe
Outside Europe, without a pass, you pay steep pay-as-you-go rates for every megabyte of data you use and every minute you spend on a call.
WiFi Calling from EE won't get you around those charges. EE's WiFi Calling help page (checked 3 October 2026) says you need a phone that supports it and a WiFi connection in the UK, and nothing on the page says it works abroad.
Internet calling apps such as WhatsApp or CallSky (CallSky is our product) do work over Wi-Fi abroad, because the call doesn't use a mobile network. Always check your plan's roaming rules for your specific destination before you fly.
Every scenario priced: what EE actually charges
EE's own community forum is full of the same questions. Will I be charged for receiving a call abroad? What about voicemail? What if the UK mobile I'm dialling is standing next to me on the same beach? The price guide answers all of them, but it takes some digging. The table below puts the answers in one place, for plans taken or upgraded since 7 July 2021, verified against the 3 September 2026 price guide.
| Scenario | What EE charges |
|---|---|
| In the UK, calling an EU number | 25p/min |
| In the UK, calling the USA, India, Australia or most of the world | £4.64/min |
| In the EU, calling home to the UK or a local number | £2.72/day to use your UK allowance; £1.83/min once the allowance runs out |
| In the EU, calling a country outside the EU and UK | Not part of the inclusive allowance: billed at roaming rates. Check before dialling |
| Receiving a call in the EU | Free |
| In the USA or anywhere else outside Europe with no pass: making or receiving a call | £2.46/min each way |
| Same trip, with a ROW pass (£6 to £16 per 24 hours, depending on zone) or the Roam Abroad Pass included on some plans | UK allowance applies while the pass is active |
| Listening to voicemail while outside Europe | Billed at the standard roaming call rate: £2.46/min in ROW zones |
| Calling a UK mobile that happens to be abroad (even next to you) | You pay the normal UK-mobile rate; the recipient pays £2.46/min to answer outside Europe |
That last row answers the question EE's forum keeps circling: charges follow the digits you dial and where each phone physically is. Dialling a +44 mobile is always a UK call for you, wherever its owner is standing, but answering it abroad is their roaming problem.
Cheaper ways to call abroad
EE's standard rates and monthly add-ons aren't the only options. The cheaper ones mostly use your internet connection instead of the mobile network.
EE WiFi Calling
EE includes WiFi Calling for free on most plans. It's a UK feature, though: EE's help page (checked 3 October 2026) lists a WiFi connection in the UK as a requirement and says nothing about using it abroad.
Calls over WiFi Calling cost the same as normal calls and come out of your usual allowances, so it won't make an international call any cheaper.
VoIP apps for cheaper calls
WiFi Calling runs on Voice over Internet Protocol, or VoIP, which sends your call over the internet instead of through mobile masts. You probably already use it every day, in WhatsApp and FaceTime video and audio calls.
For calling landlines or mobile numbers abroad, a dedicated VoIP service such as CallSky is worth a look. It works like pay-as-you-go but runs over the internet, which usually means lower per-minute rates than mobile networks charge, and you're not locked into any provider's international bundle.
A dual SIM phone helps too. Put in a local or travel SIM for cheap data, then use that connection to make calls with a VoIP app.
Choosing the right option
Which way of making EE international calls costs least depends on how often you call abroad. The choices are EE's standard rates, an EE add-on, or an app that calls over the internet.
The first choice is usually between an EE feature like WiFi Calling and a dedicated VoIP app like CallSky.
Comparing real-world scenarios
Say you call a landline in the US from the UK and stay on the phone for 30 minutes.
- At EE's standard rate of £4.64 a minute, the call costs £139.20.
- With the International Calls Add-On (£15 for 500 minutes), the call is covered, provided you added the bundle before dialling. It only makes sense if you call enough each month to justify it.
- With a VoIP app like CallSky, US numbers cost $0.03 (about 2p) a minute, so the same call is roughly 70p. There's no bundle, and the credit doesn't expire if you skip a month.
The same logic helps when you travel. A 30-minute call to a UK landline from a hotel in New York, with no pass, costs £73.80 at EE's £2.46/min roaming rate. Over the hotel Wi-Fi with a calling app it costs about £1, because a Wi-Fi call never touches the roaming network.
If you make frequent or long international calls, EE's standard pay-as-you-go rates are almost always the most expensive choice. An add-on or a VoIP service will save you real money.
Frequently asked questions about EE international calls
How can I check my EE plan and international add-ons?
Open the My EE app, or log in on the EE website, and go to the 'Plan & Add-ons' section. It shows everything you have active, including roaming passes and international calling bundles.
Is it cheaper to call a landline or a mobile abroad on EE?
On EE's standard tariff it makes no difference: the zone rate applies to landlines and mobiles alike, at 25p a minute to Europe and £4.64 to most of the rest of the world. The split only appears on the discounted add-on rates. A US landline or mobile costs 16p either way, but Poland costs 11p to a landline against 21p to a mobile. Calling apps price the same way, because mobile networks charge everyone more to deliver a call to a mobile than to a landline.
Can I use EE WiFi Calling when I'm abroad?
No. EE's WiFi Calling help page (checked 3 October 2026) says you need a phone that supports WiFi Calling and a WiFi connection in the UK, and nothing on the page says the feature works abroad. Internet calling apps such as WhatsApp do work over Wi-Fi abroad, because the call doesn't use a mobile network.
What happens if I use up my EE international add-on minutes?
Once your add-on minutes run out, further calls to those countries are charged at EE's standard international per-minute rates, which are much higher. You can track your usage in the My EE app.
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