Last Updated: March 10, 2023

Airalo vs Gigasky eSims: Compare Before Buying

Right now, Airalo and Gigasky are two of the top eSim providers on the market, and you may wonder which is best for you.

Their prepaid eSim data packages cover a wide variety of countries and regions worldwide. The benefits and disadvantages of each are different, so you must decide which one suits your needs best.

In the following post, I will summarize the pros and cons of each, followed by a deeper look at eSim package prices and country coverage.

Airalo Pros & Cons

Airalo eSims

If you’ve looked online for eSims, you’re undoubtedly already aware of Airalo as one of the leading providers. I can unquestionably attest to their high quality after using them for the past three months while traveling.

I like using Airalo eSims because of how versatile the packages are (small-medium data packages in most locations) and how simple it is to use and renew them while traveling. With that said, below are the main advantages compared to Gigasky:

Pros

  • Cheaper prices per Gig than Gigasky
  • Buy, renew or update on the go (web or App)
  • Regions are more obvious and well divided, especially Asia
  • Warnings by email when data is low or time is running out

Cons

  • A few key countries are not available like Singapore

Gigasky Pros & Cons

gigasky homepage

Gigasky provides all the things you need in an eSim service in terms of prices, country coverage and some decent package options.

Here are some of the pros and cons compared to Airalo:

Pros

  • Way more countries (190+ vs 84 from Airalo)
  • Some big data packages up to 50 GB

Cons

  • Generally more expensive per GB than Airalo
  • They don’t get great ratings all the time for customer service
  • You can buy via the web – App only

Airalo vs Gigasky Prices

I want to share with you the price differences for some of their packages so you can get a feel for what it costs on Airalo vs Gigasky with their eSims. This is not an exact science as each plan and country/region differs. But here are a few examples of common countries you might be interested in buying an eSim for:

Airalo Prices

Airaolo’s packages are quite competitive, so let me give you some examples:

Airalo spain prices

Airalo Spain prices

Here are the prices for Spain:

As you can see above, the more data you buy, the cheaper it gets.

What about a more expensive country like Norway:

The prices are a little higher, but still pretty reasonable.

What about buying a package for your travels in Asia, one of their popular regional packages that covers 13 countries:

Lower prices than most providers is what Airalo excels at.

Read my full review of Airalo here.

Gigasky Prices

Gigasky has similar esim packages to Airalo, so let’s compare the same three options.

gigasky esim spain prices

  • 1 GB / 7 Days – $4.99       ($5 per GB)
  • 5 GB / 30 Days – $19.99  ($4 per GB)
  • 10 GB / 30 Days – $37.99  ($3.8 per GB)
  • 50 GB / 90 Days – $174.99 ($3.5 per GB)

Except for the 1 GB package, Airalo is cheaper on all packages for Spain.

Let’s compare that to a plan for an eSim for Norway, which it turns out is the same price as Spain.

Gigasky norway packages

  • 1 GB / 7 Days – $4.99       ($5 per GB)
  • 5 GB / 30 Days – $19.99  ($4 per GB)
  • 10 GB / 30 Days – $37.99  ($3.8 per GB)
  • 50 GB / 90 Days – $174.99 ($3.5 per GB)

This means the Gigasky packages are a little more competitive than before, but still mostly behind Airalo’s prices. The major difference is that they have a larger package of 50 GB.

Airalo & Gigasky Apps

Luckily, both Gigasky and Airalo have modern Apps to make life easier on the road. I would recommend downloading either of their Apps to manage your eSim. The major problem for me is that Gigasky is ONLY on their App, you can’t buy eSims via their website!

Airalo App functions

Airalo App functions

For example, Airalo has all their packages in their App, and lots of other handy features like:

  • Buy eSims for you or others
  • Renew eSims
  • Track eSim data usage and expiry
  • Manage your payment, profile

Gigasky’s App is nowhere near the user-friendliness of Airalo’s, but at least they have one I guess

Airalo vs Gigasky – When Should Them

One of the simplest eSims to buy and manage is Airalo’s. For the vast majority of people who just want 1–10 GB for up to 30 days, I would recommend them.

They offer a wide variety of global, regional, and plans. Their web and mobile services are excellent. And they are usually the cheapest per GB compared to Gigasky.

The only time I would NOT use Airalo is when you need

  • A significantly larger package like 50GB
  • There is a country missing on Airalo

Regarding countries, you can see below Airalo is limited to the big/popular countries, Gigasky has them all give or take)

Airalo Country List

In case you were wondering which countries Airalo covers with their various eSims:

Albania, Argentina, Australia, Austria, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Belgium, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Brazil, Bulgaria, Cambodia, Canada, Chile, China, China (Hong Kong), China (Macao), Colombia, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Estonia, Finland, France, Georgia, Germany, Gibraltar, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, India, Indonesia, Iraq, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Japan, Jersey, Kosovo, Kuwait, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malaysia, Malta, Mexico, Moldova, Montenegro, Netherlands, New Zealand, North Macedonia, Norway, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Philippines, Poland, Portugal, Puerto Rico, Qatar, Romania, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, South Africa, South Korea, Spain, Sri Lanka, Sudan, Sweden, Switzerland, Taiwan, Tajikistan, Thailand, Turkey, United Kingdom, United States, Vietnam, Virgin Islands (U.S.)

Gigasky Countries – Over 190 Countries

It is probably easier to list the countries that Gigasky does not cover at the moment or are temporarily disabled:

  • Mauritania
  • Tunisia
  • Zambia

About the Author Roger

Expert World Travel