Bike & e-scooter hire in Berlin
nextbike is the one to check before you count on it. A final court ruling has removed its right to rent bikes on Berlin's public streets, and the city's own transport pages say as much, yet bikes are still appearing in the operator's live map and BVG's Jelbi app still lists the scheme. Open the app before you plan around it. The shared scooters are simpler: Voi and Dott both set a minimum rider age of 18, and each scheme runs through its own app. Tickets, passes and contactless are on the Berlin page.
Dockless vehicles park on-street inside app-approved zones; there is no station to return them to.
- Vehicles
- Pedal bike
- How you pay
- In the app, on your registered card.
i
berlin.de fetched 26 Jul 2026nextbike.de fetched 26 Jul 2026 - How you get one
- Unlock by app or dock terminal.
- Cost
- Time-based pay-as-you-go with a per-block rate (billed in 15-minute increments) and a daily-rate cap; separate monthly and annual subscription tiers also offered. An extra fee applies for returning a bike outside the standard return area (S-Bahn ring). Rates change often; the app shows the current price before you unlock.
- Worth knowing
- Berlin's Higher Administrative Court (Oberverwaltungsgericht Berlin-Brandenburg) issued a final, non-appealable ruling on 19 January 2026 upholding a ban on nextbike operating rental bikes on Berlin's public streets, on the grounds that free-floating bikes were obstructing pedestrian space.
- Vehicles
- E-bikeE-scooter
- How you pay
- In the app, on your registered card.
i
berlin.de fetched 26 Jul 2026 - How you get one
- Dockless — find one on the street through the app. Unlock by app.
- Cost
- Pay-as-you-go: a fixed activation/unlock fee plus a per-minute rate, for both e-scooters and e-bikes. Rates change often; the app shows the current price before you unlock.
- Worth knowing
- Operates within a Lime-defined 'business area'/operating zone in Berlin.
- Vehicles
- E-bikeE-scooter
- How you pay
- In the app, on your registered card.
i
berlin.de fetched 26 Jul 2026 - How you get one
- Dockless — find one on the street through the app. Unlock by app.
- Cost
- Pay-as-you-go, billed per minute of active riding, with no separate unlock/activation fee; a lower rate applies while a ride is paused rather than actively ridden. Rates change often; the app shows the current price before you unlock.
- Worth knowing
- Berlin's Senate also runs a citywide 'Mikro-Mobilitäts-Zonen' scheme that applies equally across every scheme in this table.
DottDockless
- Vehicles
- E-bikeE-scooter18+
- How you pay
- In the app, on your registered card.
i
berlin.de fetched 26 Jul 2026 - How you get one
- Dockless — find one on the street through the app. Unlock by app.
- Cost
- Pay-as-you-go: a fixed activation fee plus a per-minute rate. A separate prepaid minute-pass option is also offered (e.g. a fixed-duration pass valid for a set number of days) as an alternative to metered pay-as-you-go. Rates change often; the app shows the current price before you unlock.
- Worth knowing
- 18+ · Operates within a Dott-defined service zone across the 'Berlin metropolitan area'.
- Vehicles
- E-scooter18+
- How you pay
- In the app, on your registered card.
i
berlin.de fetched 26 Jul 2026 - How you get one
- Dockless — find one on the street through the app. Unlock by app.
- Cost
- Pay-as-you-go: a fixed one-time unlock fee plus a per-minute rate. Rates change often; the app shows the current price before you unlock.
- Worth knowing
- 18+ · Operating area 'defined by Voi', described as concentrated 'in Berlin's city centre'.
What is not recorded
- Check the minimum age in the app before you unlock.