Airalo vs Nomad eSims: Compared From My Experience

Right now, Airalo and Nomad 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

If you have searched for eSims, you probably know Airalo is one of the most popular eSim companies online. I have been using them for the last three months on my travels and I can definitely confirm that they are excellent. 

What I enjoy about using Airalo eSims is the flexible packages (small-medium data packages in most countries), and how easy they are to use and renew when you travel around. These are the advantages I have enjoyed while using Airalo prepaid eSims:

Pros

• Cheaper prices per Gig than Nomad
• 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 not available like Singapore

Nomad Pros & Cons

Actually, Nomad is probably the only other company comparable to Airalo in terms of what they offer. Plan variety, data package sizes and time/length and overall coverage. They also have both web and App and decent customer service. So, I won’t bore you with what is the same. Just what is worth noting as different in my experience.

Here are the big differences between Nomad in Pros and Cons

Pros

• Slightly more countries (100+ vs 84 from Airalo)
• Their regions are more specific (2 Europe Pachages, Asia-pacific, Scandinavia/Nordics, Oceania)
• SMS Only plans (very few eSims have this anywhere)
• USA packages have two providers to choose from

Cons

• Generally more expensive per GB than Airalo
• Some countries have fewer plans/options
• Packages can be confusing in some countries (2x each package size)

Airalo vs Nomad 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 Nomad 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:

• Spain – 5 GB – 30 Days– $11.50 ($2.3 per GB)
• Isreal – 1 GB – 7 Days – $5.50 ($5.5 per GB)
• UK – 20 GB – 30 Days – $36 ($1.8 per GB)
• Aisa (13 countries) – 3 GB – 30 Days – $13.00 ($4.3 per GB)
• Global (84 countries) – 5 GB – 30 Days – $35 ($7 per GB)

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

Western countries are also more popular and have lower prices. To be honest, I have reviewed most eSim providers and that is the pricing variation they all have.

For Airalo in general prices are between $2 – $7 per GB. But it varies a lot between countries

You can see all the Airalo packages here

Read my full review of Airalo here.

Nomad Prices

Nomad packages have decent prices for most of their individual countries. Some are comparable to Airalo, others are cheaper, and some are more expensive. It is hard to compare them all, but here are some examples from Nomad’s site/

• 1 GB / 7 Days – $6    ($6 per GB)
• 3 GB / 30 Days – $14  ($4.67 per GB)
• 5 GB / 30 Days – $17  ($3.4 per GB)
• 10 GB / 30 Days – $24  ($2.4 per GB)

Airalo is a few dollars cheaper on all packages for Europe.

Let’s compare that to a plan for an eSim in Spain

• 1 GB / 7 Days – $6    ($6 per GB)
• 3 GB / 30 Days – $12 ($4 per GB)
• 5 GB / 30 Days – $13 ($2.6 per GB)
• 10 GB / 30 Days – $25 ($2.5 per GB)

So, for Spain, Airalo is cheaper!

Now I will take a look at Canada (they use Bell & Other providers):

• 1 GB / 7 Days – $7    ($7 per GB)
• 3 GB / 30 Days – $12 ($4 per GB)
• 5 GB / 30 Days – $19 ($3.8 per GB)
• 10 GB / 30 Days – $32 ($3.2 per GB)

For Canada Airalo is cheaper too.

Airalo & Nomad Apps

Luckily, both Nomad and Airalo have modern eSIM Apps to make life easier on the road. I would recommend downloading either of their Apps to manage your eSIM

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

Nomad‘s App is also very modern and easy to use, and is pretty much the same as Airalos:other functions like:

• Buy and renew eSIMs
• Track data usage
• Install eSims on your phone

When Should You Use Airalo?

Airalo is one of the easiest eSims to buy and use. I would recommend them to most people who just need 1-10 GB for up to 30 days.

They have a broad range of global, regional and plans available. Their online and App service is great. And they are usually the cheapest per GB compared to Nomad.

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

• SMS packages specifically
• There is a country missing on Airalo

When Should You Use Nomad?

Honestly, Nomad is so similar to Airalo I struggle to find many reasons to use them instead of Airalo. I tried them on my travels to compare them with Airalo and found the data speed a little slower in Australia. I also found their email notifications not present or too late. 

The times they come in handy are for SMS packages as Airalo does not have them. And when I was in Singapore Airalo did not have any packages anymore for some strange reason (they used to).

Airalo vs Nomad Data Speeds

Both Airalo and Nomad use 4G most of the time but sometimes have different providers. Nomad uses two different ones in the USA for example and you can choose which (AT&T is more expensive per GB). I did find Nomad a little slower at times in Australia, but in general, it was the same.

The one big difference I did notice was in Singapore I had 5G with Nomad. But, Airalo did not have any plans at all, so I could not compare the data speed there.

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.)

Nomad Country List (115 Countries)

Nomad has a slightly larger list of 115 countries compared to the 84 from Airalo. Here is the country list:

Albania, Argentina, Armenia, Australia, Austria, Barbados, Belgium, Bermuda, Brazil, Bulgaria, Cambodia, Canada, Chile, China, Colombia, Congo(the), Costa Rica, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Ecuador, El Salvador, Estonia, Faroe Islands, Fiji, Finland, France, French Guiana, Germany, Ghana, Gibraltar, Greece, Grenada, Guadeloupe, Guatemala, Guernsey, Guyana, Holy See (the), Honduras, Hong Kong, Hungary, Iceland, India, Indonesia, Ireland, Isle of Man, Israel, Italy, Jamaica, Japan, Jersey, Kazakhstan, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Macao, Malaysia, Malta, Martinique, Mayotte, Mexico, Moldova (the Republic of), Monaco, Mongolia, Montenegro, Montserrat, Mozambique, Netherlands, New Zealand, Nicaragua, Norway, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Philippines, Poland, Portugal, Puerto Rico, Qatar, Republic of North Macedonia, Réunion, Romania, Russian Federation, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, Samoa, San Marino, Saudi Arabia, Serbia, Singapore, Slovakia, Slovenia, Solomon Islands, South Africa, South Korea, Spain, Sri Lanka, Suriname, Sweden, Switzerland, Taiwan, Tanzania, Thailand, Trinidad and Tobago, Turkey, Turks & Caicos, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom, United States, Uruguay, Vanuatu, Vietnam.