"Unlimited" eSIM plans, explained: every provider's fair-use limit

An "unlimited" eSIM almost always means unlimited at a slow speed after a daily full-speed allowance. On 31 October 2026, Airalo's allowance was 3 GB a day, Nomad's 2 GB, Saily's and Ubigi's 5 GB, and Lotso Travel's daily plans 2, 3 or 5 GB depending on the plan. After the cap you drop to roughly 1 to 2 Mbps until the day resets. Holafly and Maya Mobile publish no number, only a right to slow you down if your use looks unusual.

For a hiker, that's mostly fine. You'll rarely use 2 GB on a trail day, and when you're in town the cap resets every 24 hours. Where it hurts is hotspotting a laptop, uploading drone footage, or sharing one connection between two people.

The limits, provider by provider

All read 31 October 2026. Where a provider's policy appeared on one country page (Saily's on Japan, Holafly's on Japan), we've assumed it applies elsewhere; their other country pages didn't contradict it.

The three ways "unlimited" is sold

A daily cap, stated. Airalo, Nomad, Saily and Ubigi tell you the number. Airalo's FAQ is the most precise: "this high-speed allowance is 3GB per day at 20 Mbps, after which your connection continues at reduced speeds", resetting "automatically every 24 hours". Nomad's help centre says the cap "resets every 24 hours from activation", so if you activate at 6 pm your day runs 6 pm to 6 pm. Nomad also warns that add-ons "may not increase the daily allowance of specific daily-limited plans", which means a top-up won't rescue you mid-day.

No cap stated, but a policy behind it. Holafly's country pages say operators apply a "Fair Usage Policy" that is "temporarily applied for no more than one (1) day", and that "if speed is reduced, the restriction will reset the following day". It calls this rare, without saying what triggers it. Maya Mobile's Travel Mode page says "No throttling, no speed caps", and its acceptable use policy says it may apply "deprioritisation during congestion" to use "inconsistent with normal individual mobile use", while "typical streaming, browsing, or calling" isn't affected. Deprioritisation isn't the same as throttling: you keep full speed on a quiet network and slow down when the cell is busy.

Sold as a big number. Lotso Travel, which our team runs, doesn't sell open-ended unlimited plans. Its "daily" plans are listed by total data (a 15-day plan with 3 GB a day appears as roughly 44 GB) with the policy in the plan name: "3GB per Day, then 1Mbps". That's honest about the rule but easy to misread as 44 GB to use however you like. If you need a big burst on one day, a fixed plan suits you better.

What a two-week unlimited pass costs in Japan

Japan is a good test because every provider sells there. These are the cheapest passes covering 14 or 15 days, from the public pages on 31 October 2026:

For comparison, Nomad's fixed 10 GB plan for 30 days was $16, and Saily's 20 GB for 30 days was $24.99. Unless you'll go through more than about 1.5 GB a day, a fixed plan is cheaper.

When unlimited is the right call

Heavy users in town. If you're spending rest days uploading photos, on video calls, or working from a laptop, a pass with a 3 to 5 GB cap is the safer buy.

Expensive-data countries. In Nepal, fixed plans are punishing: Lotso's public price was $70.99 for 3 GB and Saily's $29.99. Nomad's 15-day unlimited on Ncell was $39 and Maya Mobile's 14-day pass $27.99. Those are better deals even at a modest 0.5 GB a day.

Two people, one connection. With a stated cap of 5 GB (Saily, Ubigi) you can share; with Holafly's 1 GB a day hotspot rule you mostly can't.

For everyone else, especially on trails where you'll spend whole days without a mast, a fixed plan sized to your use is cheaper and avoids the 1 Mbps afternoon. The trip calculator does that maths for your destination, and the price index shows the full spread.