Ubigi is worth a look for Patagonia, Costa Rica and heavy users. It was the cheapest provider we found for two weeks in Chile ($24 for 10 GB), Argentina ($23) and Costa Rica ($19), and its unlimited plans publish the most usable cap of any we compared: 5 GB a day at full speed, then 2 Mbps. The downsides are a refund window of 14 business days for completely unused plans, a WhatsApp line that's an AI bot, and a catalogue so long that we could read Ubigi's prices for only 5 of our 18 destinations.
We compared Ubigi's published prices and policies; we didn't test it on the ground. Aventure SIM is run by the team behind Lotso Travel, a competitor, assessed on the same rubric.
Aventure SIM rubric
Ubigi
Cheapest we found in Chile, Argentina and Costa Rica, and the most generous unlimited cap. Hard to compare.
- Price for real trips30%Good (4 of 5)Cheapest 14-day option in 3 of the 5 destinations we could price. Median cost 1.00× the cheapest provider for a light trip, 1.71× for a heavy one.
- Network transparency15%Weak (2 of 5)Names networks in Japan (KDDI, NTT Docomo and SoftBank), but not on the Chile, Argentina, Costa Rica or Canada listings we read: one country in five.
- Hotspot, top-ups, number15%Good (4 of 5)"Data sharing allowed", top-ups in the app. Data only.
- Fair-use honesty15%Excellent (5 of 5)The best published deal: 5 GB a day at full speed, then 2 Mbps, which still loads maps and photos.
- Refund terms10%Weak (2 of 5)Unused plans only, within 14 business days.
- Support and app15%Fair (3 of 5)24/7 by form, but the WhatsApp line is a bot that can't touch your account.
Pick Ubigi if
- Patagonia and Costa Rica on a fixed plan
- Heavy users who want 5 GB a day then 2 Mbps
Skip it if
- You want a refund window longer than two weeks
- You want to compare prices quickly
The policies behind the score, with sources
- Local networks
- Names networks on product pages (KDDI, NTT Docomo, SoftBank in Japan)
- Hotspot
- "Data sharing allowed" Source
- Unlimited and fair use
- "up to 5GB of full speed data each day", then "2 Mbps until your daily allowance resets". Source
- Top-ups
- Yes, in the Ubigi app
- Phone number
- No; data only
- Refunds
- Only if you haven't used any of the plan, or a carrier lock or incompatibility stops you. Requests within 14 business days of purchase (the page's summary says 15 days), to the original payment method within 10 business days. Source
- Support
- Contact form staffed "24 hours a day, 7 days a week"; website chat; a WhatsApp line that reaches an AI assistant which can't see your account. Source
- App
- iOS and Android (top-ups in the app)
- Who runs it
- Transatel, part of the NTT Group Source
Policies read from Ubigi's own pages on 1 Nov 2026; prices from the 31 Oct 2026 index. How the rubric works: methodology.
Who runs Ubigi
Ubigi is "Transatel's brand for worldwide cellular connectivity", and Transatel is a member of the NTT Group, per Ubigi's about page. That's a telecom operator background rather than an app-first start-up, and it shows: Transatel also supplies Ubigi connectivity built into cars, such as BMW's.
Prices: winner where we could read them
Ubigi · every destination we price
Where Ubigi is cheap, and where it isn't
3 of 5 destinations with Ubigi as the cheapest fit for 14 days at 0.5 GB a day. We couldn't read Ubigi's price for 13 of our 18 destinations.
- Costa RicaCheapest$1910 GB · 30 days
- ArgentinaCheapest$2310 GB · 30 days
- ChileCheapest$2410 GB · 30 days
- Japan#2 of 7 · cheapest Nomad $16$16.5010 GB · 30 days
- Canada#2 of 7 · cheapest Nomad $17$1910 GB · 30 days
Bar: Ubigi's cheapest plan that covers the trip; tick: the cheapest provider there. Public USD prices checked 31 Oct 2026. Sources for every price: price index.
Here's the honest limitation first. Ubigi's plan listing for most countries is one very long page, and its per-country prices didn't render in a way we could read reliably for 13 of our 18 destinations, including Nepal, Peru and Iceland. So our index has Ubigi for Japan, Chile, Argentina, Costa Rica and Canada only. Our score for price is based on those five; if Ubigi is cheap elsewhere, we can't show it yet.
Where we could read it, it did well:
| Destination | Ubigi, 14 days | Next cheapest |
|---|---|---|
| Costa Rica | $19 (10 GB, 30 days) | Nomad, $25 |
| Argentina | $23 (10 GB, 30 days) | Maya Mobile, $27.99 |
| Chile | $24 (10 GB, 30 days) | Nomad, $25 |
| Japan | $16.50 (10 GB, 30 days) | Nomad, $16 (Ubigi second) |
| Canada | $19 (10 GB, 30 days) | Nomad, $17 (Ubigi second) |
For heavy use, Ubigi's 25 GB 30-day plan in Costa Rica ($29) and Canada ($39) is good value; in Argentina only two plans were readable, so a heavy two-week trip there showed as three 10 GB plans ($69).
Unlimited: the best published deal
Ubigi's unlimited FAQ promises "up to 5GB of full speed data each day", then "2 Mbps until your daily allowance resets". 5 GB matches Saily's cap; 2 Mbps after it is double Saily's and Airalo's 1 Mbps. At 2 Mbps an offline-map refresh or a photo upload still works. Unlimited plans are sold in 15- and 30-day lengths in some countries, not all.
Networks, hotspot, top-ups
Ubigi's product pages name networks in some countries: KDDI, NTT Docomo and SoftBank in Japan. Its Chile, Argentina, Costa Rica and Canada listings we read didn't. "Data sharing allowed" covers hotspot. Top-ups are bought in the Ubigi app. It's data only, with no phone number.
Refunds and support: the weak side
Ubigi's refund page allows a refund only if "you have not used any of the data plan(s) that you purchased", or if a carrier lock or incompatibility stops the eSIM working. The request has to arrive within 14 business days of purchase (the page's own summary says 15 days, so ask early), with the receipt attached. Refunds go back to the original payment method within 10 business days. Once you've started using a plan, it isn't refundable, except for a technical problem from the date it occurs.
Support is a contact form staffed "24 hours a day, 7 days a week", a website chat, and a WhatsApp line that reaches "Ubi", an AI assistant that "cannot access your customer account". For anything about your account, use the form.
Who should pick something else
- Anywhere we couldn't price Ubigi (Nepal, Peru, Tanzania, Iceland): start with Nomad or Maya Mobile.
- You want a longer, easier refund window: Nomad or Saily (30 days), Holafly (six months).
- Europe, UK, Iceland, Norway on a short trip: Lotso Travel, which our team runs, was cheapest there (review).
Heading to Patagonia? Our Chile and Argentina guide compares the networks the eSIMs use with the ones locals say reach furthest.
Questions people ask
Is Ubigi reliable?
Ubigi is Transatel's consumer eSIM brand, and Transatel is part of the NTT Group, so it's an established operator rather than a start-up reseller. We compared published prices and policies rather than testing it ourselves; its unlimited plans publish the most generous cap we found, 5 GB a day at full speed then 2 Mbps.
Can I get a refund from Ubigi?
Only for a plan you haven't used at all, or if a carrier lock or incompatibility stops it working. Requests must arrive within 14 business days of purchase (the page summary says 15 days), and refunds go to the original payment method within 10 business days.
Does Ubigi work in Patagonia?
Ubigi sells plans for both Chile and Argentina, and on 31 Oct 2026 it was the cheapest option we found for a two-week trip in each ($24 and $23 for 10 GB over 30 days). Its pages for those countries didn't name the local network, and no eSIM works on the long stretches of the Carretera Austral or the El Chaltén trails that have no mobile signal at all.