How much data you use decides most eSIM comparisons, more than the brand. Below about 1 GB a day, fixed-data providers (Nomad, Saily, Ubigi, and Lotso Travel in Europe) beat the unlimited sellers in nearly every destination we price. Above 1.5 GB a day, Airalo's and Holafly's unlimited passes catch up, and Maya Mobile's flat $27.99 for 14 days is often the cheapest of all. Every comparison below lets you switch trip length and usage, so you can see where the answer flips for your trip.
All comparisons use one dataset: prices read from each provider's own country pages on 31 October 2026 for 18 adventure destinations, and policies read on 1 November 2026. Aventure SIM is run by the team behind Lotso Travel; Lotso appears in the tables, labelled, and doesn't get a head-to-head of its own because nobody searches for one yet.
Head-to-heads people search for
| Comparison | At 0.5 GB a day, 14 days | At 1.5 GB a day, 14 days | Read it if… |
|---|---|---|---|
| Airalo vs Holafly | Airalo cheaper in 16 of 17 | Airalo cheaper in 16 of 17 | You've decided on unlimited and want the better of the two big names |
| Nomad vs Airalo | Nomad cheaper in 18 of 18 | 9–9 tie | You're weighing the cheapest against the best known |
| Saily vs Airalo | Saily cheaper in 17 of 18 | Airalo cheaper in 12 of 18 | You want a number, or unlimited sharing |
| Holafly vs Nomad | Nomad cheaper in 17 of 17 | Nomad 10, Holafly 7 | You're choosing between counting gigabytes and not |
We picked these pairs because they're the ones travellers actually type into search engines and forums; we checked that each has dedicated comparison pages and discussion threads before writing it. We'll add pairs as demand appears, not to fill a grid.
Best pick by trip
| Your trip | Our pick | Runner-up | Why |
|---|---|---|---|
| Two-week trek, light data (Nepal, Peru, Tanzania) | Nomad | Maya Mobile | Cheapest 14-day fit in all three; names the network (Ncell, Movistar/Claro, Airtel) |
| Patagonia, Chile and Argentina | Ubigi | Nomad | Cheapest in both countries; see the Patagonia guide for networks |
| Europe, UK, Iceland, Norway, one to three weeks | Lotso Travel (ours) | Nomad | Cheapest public price we found; data only and no app (review) |
| Couple sharing one eSIM | Saily | Airalo | "Limitless hotspot" with a 5 GB/day unlimited cap |
| Heavy use, three weeks or more | Maya Mobile | Airalo | $49.99 for 30 days unlimited anywhere, 10 Mbps after 3 GB/day per its help centre |
| Need a phone number for SMS codes | Saily | Nomad (some plans) | US number add-on at $1.99/month |
| Want refunds in cash, no hurry | Holafly | Nomad | Six months to ask, money back to the bank |
| Japan Alps hut-to-hut | Ubigi | Nomad | The only one we track that lists NTT Docomo, which runs seasonal masts on trails (Japan guide) |
Seven eSIM providers · sortable
Scores, prices and policies side by side
| Details | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nomad | 3.9 | 9/18 | $19 | Excellent | 30 days | |
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| Saily | 3.9 | 0/18 | $28.49 | Weak | 30 days | |
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| Ubigi | 3.5 | 3/5 | $19 | Weak | 14 business days | |
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| Airalo | 3.2 | 0/18 | $48 | Good | Not stated; credit only in app | |
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| Holafly | 3.1 | 0/17 | $51.50 | Excellent | 6 months | |
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| Maya Mobile | 3.1 | 1/18 | $27.99 | Poor | No deadline stated | |
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| Lotso TravelOurs | Not scored | 5/18 | $30.99 | No | "e.g., 14 days" (an example) | |
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Score: our six-part rubric out of 5 (how we score). We run Lotso Travel, so it gets the same criteria in words but no overall score. "Cheapest in" counts destinations where the provider had the cheapest 14-day plan for 0.5 GB a day; "Typical 14 days" is its median price for that trip across the destinations we could price. "More" opens each provider's unlimited cap, hotspot, phone-number and support policies. Prices checked 31 Oct 2026; policies 1 Nov 2026.
Older comparisons on this site
- The best eSIMs for adventure travel: all seven providers in one long read, with a network-by-country table.
- Unlimited eSIMs decoded: every daily cap and throttled speed, quoted.
- eSIM vs travel SIM vs roaming: what AT&T, Verizon and T-Mobile charge against the cheapest eSIM, for your trip.
- Satellite messenger or eSIM? and inReach vs ZOLEO vs SPOT: what to carry where no eSIM works.