An Austria vignette is a prepaid pass for Austria’s motorways and expressways, and a rental car needs one just like any other car. Switzerland sells a separate vignette of its own, and neither country accepts the other’s. With a rental, three questions decide what you do: does the car already have a valid vignette, which one fits your dates, and from what moment does it count.
Do you need an Austria vignette for a rental car?
Yes, as soon as you drive onto a motorway or an expressway. ASFINAG, the operator of Austria’s motorway network, says every car with a technically permissible maximum laden mass of up to 3.5 tonnes must carry a valid sticker or have a digital vignette bought in time.[1] The requirement applies to motorways and expressways only.
The same operator page lists stretches close to the German border where the requirement does not apply: the A1 from the border at Walserberg to the Salzburg Nord junction, ; the A12 from the border at Kufstein to the Kufstein-Süd junction; and the A14 from the border at Hörbranz to the Hohenems junction. Beyond those points, the vignette rule is back.
With a rental car, the question is who has already bought one. A car on Austrian plates may come with a sticker on the windshield or a digital vignette registered to its plate. Whether it does is part of the rental terms, so ask when you pick it up, then confirm it yourself: ASFINAG’s validity query takes a license plate and shows whether a digital vignette is valid and for which period. A car rented in Munich or Bolzano and driven into Austria needs a vignette too, so run the same check before the border and buy one if the result is empty. Winter equipment and other duties for drivers are covered in the rules for renting a car in Austria.
What does the Austria vignette cost in 2026?
A 2026 Austria vignette for a car costs 9.60 euros for 1 day, 12.80 euros for 10 days, 32.00 euros for 2 months and 106.80 euros for a year. These rates include 20% VAT and apply from 1 December 2025. For a rental, the price matters less than the start date, because two of the four products are not valid straight away when you buy them online.
| Vignette | Price for a car (EUR) | Valid from, if bought online | Where to buy |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 day | 9.60 | Immediately, if you choose | ASFINAG toll shop or app only |
| 10 days | 12.80 | Immediately, if you choose | Online, app or sales outlet |
| 2 months | 32.00 | 18th day after purchase | Online, app or sales outlet |
| 1 year | 106.80 | 18th day after purchase | Online, app or sales outlet |
The 2026 rates apply from 1 December 2025. If your trip falls later, look up the current rate in the toll shop before you pay, because the table above belongs to the 2026 year. For a trip of up to 10 days, one 10-day vignette covers it, and even two of them cost less than a single 2-month vignette.
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How do you buy the Austria vignette online?
You buy it in the ASFINAG toll shop or the ASFINAG app, where you enter the country of registration, the license plate, an email address and the date the vignette should start. The digital motorway vignette is linked to the plate, not to the driver, so you can only buy it once you know which car you are getting. Copy the plate from the rental agreement and check it twice: the vignette covers only the plate you type in.
The start date is the second trap. Buyers can withdraw from an online purchase within 14 days, so ASFINAG makes a digital 2-month or annual vignette bought online valid only from the 18th day after purchase.[2] The 1-day and 10-day products are not affected and can start at once. A digital vignette bought from a distributor, such as an ÖAMTC, ARBÖ or ADAC office, a gas station, a tobacconist, a toll station or a vending machine at selected rest areas, is valid immediately too.
That leaves two good options for a rental. Buy a 1-day or 10-day vignette online as soon as you have the plate, or stop at a sales outlet before the first motorway. If you land at Vienna Airport or Salzburg Airport, do it before you leave the rental parking lot.
From 2027 the digital vignette is the only kind left, because ASFINAG offers the adhesive sticker for the last time in 2026.
Save the confirmation email before you drive off. An Austrian digital vignette belongs to the plate, so if the rental company swaps the car, the new plate needs its own.
Swiss vignette: how much is it and where do you buy it?
The Swiss vignette costs CHF 40 and covers a full vignette year. You can buy it as an e-vignette in the Via portal of the Federal Office for Customs and Border Security (FOCBS), which asks for the vehicle category, the country of registration and the number plate, and which charges exactly CHF 40.[3]
Unlike Austria, Switzerland has no short-stay vignette. Every Swiss motorway vignette is valid for 14 months, from 1 December of the year before the one printed on it to 31 January of the year after, so a 2026 Swiss vignette runs from 1 December 2025 to 31 January 2027. The e-vignette is valid immediately after purchase; unlike in the EU, Swiss law gives buyers no right of withdrawal for online purchases.[4] The adhesive version still exists at the same price, and inside Switzerland it is sold at post offices, most gas stations and garages.
The FOCBS asks drivers to buy the vignette before they enter Switzerland. Before the trip, the sticker is available through numerous automobile clubs, and only in exceptional cases can it be bought at selected customs offices when you cross the border.[5]
For a rental car, the Via portal can check whether a valid e-vignette already exists for a plate, and the FOCBS names a rental vehicle as a case where this helps. The check only works if the buyer made the e-vignette publicly viewable, so an empty result is not proof that the car has none. Ask the rental company before you buy a second one.
What do you need to drive a rental car between Austria and Switzerland?
You need two vignettes, one for each country, and the rental company’s permission to cross the border. An Austrian vignette has no value on Swiss motorways, and a Swiss one none in Austria, so a drive from Innsbruck to Zurich needs both. West of Innsbruck, ASFINAG charges a separate, higher section toll on a few tunnel and pass sections instead of relying on the vignette alone, among them the S16 Arlberg Tunnel and the A13 Brenner Pass on the road south toward Italy.[6]
The permission matters as much as the passes. The European Commission’s Your Europe portal says that if you plan to drive a rental vehicle in several countries, you must inform the rental company when you book.[7] For trips that mix Switzerland with EU countries such as Austria, it adds that the company can give you an EU-registered car to comply with EU customs rules, and that most rental companies in Switzerland provide cars with EU plates to EU residents. A car on EU plates still needs a Swiss vignette on Swiss motorways, so the plate you receive is the one to enter in the Via portal.
If you start from Innsbruck Airport, tell the rental company about the Swiss leg when you book, not at the desk. For the license side of a two-country trip, see whether you need an international driving permit.
What happens if you drive without a vignette?
In Austria, the vignette is enforced at the roadside. ASFINAG’s control staff stop vehicles on motorways and expressways, and cameras check vehicles as well. A car with no vignette or an expired one owes a substitute payment of 200 euros, and anyone who does not pay it faces an administrative fine of between 300 and 3,000 euros.[8]
A 2-month or annual vignette bought online on the day you land is not valid yet. Until the 18th day, the car has no valid vignette, and a check on the motorway can end in the 200-euro substitute payment.
In Switzerland, the rule is to buy before you enter. Only three border crossings, Basel/St Louis, Rheinfelden and Kreuzlingen, let you use the motorway to the first exit without a vignette; everywhere else the requirement starts at the border.
Barrier tolls, plate-read tolls and the other countries with a prepaid pass are explained in our guide to toll roads in Europe with a rental car.
