Buying Airtime From the M-Pesa Menu

The M-Pesa menu is reached on *334# and includes a Buy Airtime option. You select it, enter the number (yours or someone else's) and the amount, then confirm with your PIN. It works with no data bundle, which makes it the reliable fallback.

This is the route to use on a feature phone, or when you have no data and no app.

Buying Airtime in the M-Pesa App

The M-Pesa app does the same job on a screen: choose Buy Airtime, pick the number and the amount, and confirm. It is faster than the menu when you already have the app open, and it keeps a record you can look back at.

Paying an Airtime Website With M-Pesa

When you buy airtime on a website rather than in M-Pesa itself, M-Pesa is how you pay. You enter the recipient's number and the amount on the site, then pay the total with M-Pesa; the site sends the airtime.

This is the flexible route: it works across all the networks in one place, and it is the only one built for topping up several numbers at once.

What It Costs

Airtime is face value with M-Pesa — KSh 100 buys KSh 100 of airtime — so the only thing to watch is whether the channel you use adds a fee. The M-Pesa menu and app do not; some third-party sites might.

Your M-Pesa daily limit, which Safaricom sets and can change, caps how much you can spend in a day.

Where to Go Next

For the full picture across networks and methods, read the complete guide to buying airtime in Kenya . If you are topping up someone else, see buy airtime for another number . Paying for data with M-Pesa works the same way — see buy Safaricom data with M-Pesa .

Frequently Asked Questions