If you travel a lot as I do then you have probably heard of an international eSim card and are wondering whether it is worth getting one.
But, since eSims are relatively new to us all, we don’t know much about them, whether they are useful, and if they are, which of the eSim providers to go with. Let’s work it out.
At A Glance: Our Top 3 eSims for International Travel
In this article, I will run through everything you need to know from what an eSim is to how they work, where they work, what devices they work with, and the top eSim providers to choose from.
By the end, you should know whether an eSim is better for you than using physical sim cards, and the best eSim provider that suits your travel patterns. Let’s dive in!
Best Esim Overall
| SEE ON AIRALO → | |
BEST Esim FOR EUROPE
| SEE ON Holafly → | |
Two Regional Packages
| SEE ON Nomad → | |
| SEE ON BNESIM → | |
BEST Esim FOR USA
| SEE ON Simtex → | |
Longest Plans For International
| SEE ON Flexiroam → | |
| SEE ON Sim2Fly → | |
| SEE ON Surfroam → | |
| SEE ON eSIM.net → | |
| SEE ON SimOptions → | |
Great Small Plans
| See On Know Roaming → |
Airalo is the best global eSim provider and the most popular too.
It offers local, regional, and global plans meaning you can buy an eSim for a specific country, continent, or for the world. Their plans also offer long or short-term contracts, often depending on the size of the data package.
Here are some examples of their Global packages (84 countries):
So, for me, Airalo is great in terms of flexibility when you travel internationally. They offer local plans for more than 190 countries and their prices are affordable too. Their global plan doesn’t cover all 190 countries but has 84 countries, which is still great.
However, sometimes a local or regional plan is better anyway, as it’s more cost-effective, especially if you are in a specific region for weeks or a month. The only downside is that unlimited data plans are not available.
Buying an eSim is very easy with Airalo. Either on the App on your phone or via their website. You just have to select from local, global, and regional plans on their website or via the App, install your eSim, and activate it. Their customer support is also excellent.
And, one big bonus I have found using them lately is the reminder emails. Some days before expiring, the remind you. Also as your data is getting low (25%).
This may not sound like a big deal, but when you are trying to find something on Google Maps and you suddenly find your plan has expired (like I did while trying Nomad this month) then it’s not fun. With Airalo that does not happen.
Holafly is another good eSim provider. They offer coverage in over 130 countries and unlimited data packages too which is great, as you can browse all day long without worrying about your data usage.
But, you can not use the unlimited data packages to a hotspot, which is a shame when you have to head abroad for work.
Setting up Holafly is very easy and fast, and you can choose from local or regional plans but they do not offer global plans. Their plans are affordable, and you can choose between short or long ones.
Customer support can be an issue as their team is small but they will get to you eventually.
Holafly is probably the best eSim for Europe as you can get unlimited data for an affordable price, and the connection is reliable.
Nomad is another popular eSim provider and it has solid global coverage which includes 110 countries.
The service is reliable, easy to set up, and generally solid. They offer both global and regional plans. Regional plans include Nordic/Scandanavia, APAC, and Europe but no regional plans in North or South America. Of course, they do have individual countries like the USA, Mexico etc.
The plans are quite affordable but they only allow for short-term plans with a max of 30 days, which isn’t useful for long trips around the world.
Also, no local plans are available for a single country which is just annoying. Plus, the most amount of data you can get on a global plan is 5GB over 30 days which is not enough for most people.
BNESIM offers local plans in 170 countries and regional plans for both Europe and Asia. Their service is quick, reliable and they do something other providers don’t.
With BNESIM you can get a monthly contract which brings the price of their nice data packages right down. You can also get unlimited data and even an international phone number.
The only downsides are that they don’t offer global plans or any other regional plans such as Africa or Central America.
READ MORE: Check out our detailed review of BNESIM
Simtex is a reliable eSim provider that works in over 190 countries. This makes travel abroad a breeze.
You have the option to buy either local plans for an individual country or a regional plan for Europe or Simtex’s Top 40.
Their plans are affordable but not as affordable as other providers. Also, the plans are all short term with a maximum of 30 days available and you can not buy a global plan.
They are great if you are just going on holiday but if you are consistently traveling, you can find better options out there.
Read our detailed review of the Simtex eSim.
Flexiroam takes a bit of a different approach when it comes to their plans with eSims. They offer coverage in over 200 countries and most of the Global plans allow you to keep your data for very long periods.
So, if you travel often, but don’t need huge data packages, but do move around lots of countries and want your plan to last, then they are the best.
They also offer cheaper and more specific local and global plans as you would expect. The regional plans are great as you have a load of options from Africa to Oceania, Japan/Taiwan/Korea, and even Latin America.
If you travel a lot and don’t need much data, their plans work well across regions but you will probably end up using the data and buying more, which is expensive.
Sim2Fly is a great choice if you need an eSim for a short period of time for global use, in Asia, or in Thailand.
These are the only plans they offer which are a bit limited but they are affordable and their global plan includes over 120 countries which is pretty solid.
The plans are all short-term also with a max of 16 days, but that is just for Thailand. It is 15 days for the global and just 8 days for their Asia plan.
Their service is quick and reliable, activating the eSim is easy, but their website is a little slow and confusing.
READ MORE: Check out our detailed Sim2Fly review
Surfroam offers a prepaid eSim or physical sim card that you can use in over 200 countries. Simply buy the sim which comes with the cost amount in credit loaded and travel the world connected.
This system makes life extremely simple as there are no confusing plans, no limits, and all you have to do is top up when your credit runs out.
You can cross borders without any worries about plans and coverage. It is a great design but it comes with one flaw, the prices.
The prices change based on what country you are in and the most affordable option is $10 per GB, which is expensive compared to others.
Read our detailed review of the Surfroam eSim.
eSIM.net is a part of 02 and they offer incredibly affordable eSim plans for Europe, the Uk, and the USA too, but that is it.
Their plans are not global and do not work in any other countries.
All their plans are 30 days long and you can buy an unlimited data package for Europe or the USA for just $25 which is an absolute bargain.
eSim.net is another front-runner for the best eSim for Europe. Shame it doesn’t have a truly global reach yet but it probably won’t take long.
Read our detailed review of eSim.net here
SimOptions works more like an eSim comparison website which means it pulls in the best deals across different providers across over 160 countries and more.
You can buy local plans by country or buy regional plans by continent, but global plans are not available.
Setting up your eSim is incredibly easy and you can even opt to get a physical sim card if your phone doesn’t carry an eSim.
The range of plans is extensive and you can easily find unlimited data packages if that is what you are looking for.
Bear in mind, the plans are all short-term with a max of 30 days.
Know Roaming offer a decent starter package for anyone wanting to get an international eSim. Their packages range from 500MB to 5 GB and the prices are competitive.
In terms of countries, they cover the major destinations with 84 countries included in their Global packages.
The prices are as follows:
The best plan is the 1.5GB for 3 days at $12, but if you don’t use a lot of data each day then the 1GB plan is way better.
READ MORE: Check out our detailed Knowroaming review
There are lots of great things about using an eSim for international travel. The first is that you can simply turn on your phone, open your eSim, buy a plan, and be connected within minutes of landing in a different country.
You don’t have to queue to buy a new sim card or switch out local sim cards, you won’t lose your sim card either, and you can do all of this while keeping your normal phone number.
Topping up your eSim is also very easy. Instead of going to a store and getting a scratch card like in a lot of developing countries, you can just do it in a few seconds on your phone.
This allows those of us who travel often to cross borders into multiple countries and remain connected without having to do anything but push some buttons on our phones.
Another great thing about eSim technology is that if you only buy a data plan, you can still use your normal number for calls and texts, making your phone a dual sim device. This comes in very handy when your bank or Paypal sends you codes via text, as you don’t have to swap anything around.
It’s not all sunshine and lollipops either. The biggest two things that annoy me about using an eSim (and I have been using a few for months now) are:
So, you now know what an eSim is, how it works, and that you have a device that supports an eSim too. Let’s take a look at how to choose the right eSim provider for you.
Not all eSim providers offer coverage in the same countries. Some, like Vodafone who have a large global network, will cover more countries than other providers that have a smaller global network.
Think about the countries you travel to most and the new countries you would like to go to and choose an eSim provider that covers them all, or at least most of them.
Look at how much data you use when you are home. Your smartphone or your provider should be able to give you a report on this. Then make sure to find an eSim data plan to match.
Not all global data plans have the same amount of data allowance and the last thing you need is to run out of data while you are traveling.
I also find that it is not always a matter of how much data you usually use either. Why? Because when you are on the road your access to data is different.
So, you have to think about what you need the data for, and when you need it.
eSim providers also have different data roaming speeds which affect how fast you can download and upload data.
These days we don’t have much patience for things to load so choose a data package from a provider with enough speed to keep you happy and working.
We all want to pay affordable prices whenever we can but pricing varies across different providers and different eSim plans. Be sure to do some research into eSim global plans so you can find one that gives you what you need at the right price.
When I first heard of an eSim I assumed it was like an app, an electronic sim card you download to your phone. But, that is not the case. An eSim is an Embedded Subscriber Identity Module which means it is pretty much a built-in sim card inside your phone.
An eSim behaves just like a traditional physical sim card but you can’t remove it, it is as I said, built into your phone. This does make life easy as you don’t have to take out one physical sim card and replace it with another when you get to a new country.
With an eSim card, it will just continue to work, so long as the eSim provider has eSim plans for the particular country you are in.
But, not all countries are supported by all eSim providers, and not all devices have an eSim built inside them, as it is a relatively new technology.
Not every country in the world supports the use of eSims but the list is growing. Currently, you can use an eSim in around 90 countries and it used to only be 10, so many other countries will soon be added.
To see a full list of the many countries that support eSims, follow this link.
Since an eSim needs to be built into a device, not all devices have an eSim inside them, it is just the newer models of smartphones and tablets that support them. You can find a list of the supported devices below.
Be aware that only iPads that have cellular connectivity work with eSims.
But, US versions of Samsung S20/S21 and Galaxy Z Flip 5G plus USA and Hong Kong versions of the Samsung Note 20 Ultra and Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 2 do not support eSims. Also, most Samsung devices bought in South Korea do not support eSIMs.
But, Google Pixel 3 phones bought in Australia, Taiwan, and Japan do support eSims. Nor do Pixel 3 models bought with US or Canadian carriers other than Sprint and Google Fi. Also, any Pixel 3a models bought in South East Asia and with Verizon service will not work.