The Czech motorway vignette: no sticker, just your number plate

Anyone who drove in Czechia before 2021 remembers the small paper sticker on the windscreen. It is gone. The motorway vignette (dálniční známka) now exists only as an entry in a database, matched to the registration plate of the vehicle. Nothing is displayed in the window, and a police camera or a roadside check reads the plate instead.

The system is simple once you know where it can go wrong. It goes wrong in one place: the moment of purchase.

What the vignette is, and what needs one

The vignette is a time-limited right to use Czech motorways and the expressways marked with the vignette sign. It applies to passenger cars and other vehicles up to 3.5 tonnes. Motorways and designated expressways are tolled; ordinary roads are not, so a drive from a village to a town on a regular road needs nothing.

Heavier vehicles are not covered by the vignette. Lorries and buses above 3.5 tonnes pay a distance-based toll instead, collected through an electronic system run on behalf of the state. If you drive a van, check the weight of your vehicle in the registration certificate before you assume the vignette applies.

Whether a sign marks a road as tolled is easy to see: the motorway or expressway sign at the entrance is followed by a sign that says a vignette is required. A short motorway section on the edge of a city, such as part of the Prague ring road, is tolled like any other.

Prices and periods

The state sets prices by regulation, and they have changed over time. As of 2026 they are as follows, but check the vignette portal before you pay.

The annual vignette runs for 365 days from the date you select, which is not the same as a calendar year. That makes it worth buying on the day you will start using it. The shorter periods are counted in days from the chosen start. For someone driving to the mountains for a weekend and back, the ten-day option is more sensible than the monthly one. For a resident who commutes by motorway, the annual vignette is the only choice that makes sense once you count the trips.

Do the arithmetic on your own pattern. A resident who uses a motorway every week will pass the break-even point for the annual product within a few months compared with buying 30-day ones repeatedly.

How to buy

You can buy a vignette online on the official portal, through the official app, at petrol stations and at points of sale on the national network. The portal and app are the safest place to buy because they show you what you are buying, while a retail purchase depends on the person at the counter typing the plate correctly.

The vignette portal also lets you check whether a plate has a valid entry. Use it before a long trip, and use it again if you have just changed cars.

The mistakes that cost money

A mistyped plate. If you enter one character wrongly, the system records a valid vignette for a plate that does not exist, and your own car is untolled. The portal checks a vignette against the plate you give it. It does not ask whether the plate is correct.

The wrong country. Plates from different countries can look alike. Select the country of registration, because the entry is matched on the number and the country together.

A change of plate. If you register a new car or change the plates, the old vignette does not move with you automatically. Ask the operator of the system about transferring or correcting an entry, and do it before you drive.

Foreign cars. A visiting foreign-registered car needs a vignette as well. Neighbouring countries run their own schemes, with Austria and Slovakia, for example, selling separate vignettes, so one country's product is not valid in another.

A related point if you are new to car ownership: the vignette is not the same as road tax, which is a separate matter and does not usually touch passenger cars. For that distinction, see Czech road tax and company car taxation. Compulsory insurance is the other cost that attaches to the plate, and it is explained in Czech compulsory car insurance.

A hypothetical week

Take a hypothetical commuter who drives to a town along a motorway on weekdays and visits family in another region on two weekends a month. Monthly 30-day vignettes would mean twelve purchases a year, twelve chances to mistype the plate and twelve renewal dates to remember. A single annual vignette bought on the first day of use replaces all of that with one entry and one expiry date. By contrast, a hypothetical visitor who passes through Czechia once, on the way to Austria, only needs the one-day or ten-day product. The arithmetic is yours to run, using the current prices on the portal.

Owner and driver are separate in one respect. The vignette is a record attached to a plate, so it does not matter who is driving. If a friend borrows your car, the vignette covers the car. If you borrow a friend's car, check with them that the entry is valid and when it ends.

Enforcement

Enforcement is automatic. Gantries and mobile units read plates and compare them against the vignette database. If your plate is not on the list for the day, you are flagged, and a fine follows, either on the spot from a police officer or by letter from the authority. Because the check is by plate, you cannot show a receipt at the roadside as a substitute for a missing entry, although it is useful in an appeal. Fines are set by law and have changed, so check the current amount with the Czech Police or the vignette portal (as of 2026; check the official source).

Rental and company cars are a common trap. A rental company may or may not have included a vignette. Ask at the desk, and check the plate on the portal before leaving the car park.

Electric cars and exemptions

Exemptions exist for certain categories of vehicle, and the rules for zero-emission cars have been under review, with changes discussed for 2027. If you drive an electric car, do not rely on a general belief that you are exempt. Check the position for your vehicle on the official vignette portal, and note that being exempt may still require a registration step.

If you also drive in other countries

The Czech vignette gives you nothing outside Czechia. Slovakia, Austria and Hungary each sell their own electronic products, and Germany does not charge passenger cars. The other countries vary, so check the national road operators before a long trip. For wider driving rules in Czechia, see Czech traffic rules every newcomer should know, and for the paperwork a new car owner needs, registering a car in Czechia.

Frequently asked questions

Do I need a vignette to drive in Prague?

Only if you use a motorway or a marked expressway. Ordinary city streets are not tolled, though the motorway sections of the Prague ring road are.

Can I transfer a vignette to another car?

The entry is tied to the plate. If your plate changes, contact the operator through the official portal rather than assuming it moves with you.

How long is the annual vignette valid?

For 365 days from the start date you chose, not for the calendar year.

I bought a vignette with the wrong plate. What now?

Contact the operator of the system through the official portal quickly, with your receipt. Do not drive on tolled roads until the entry is corrected.

Before your next long drive, open the portal, enter your plate and see whether the record matches the car. It takes less than a minute.

This is a general explainer, not legal or tax advice.