How much does an eSIM cost?
A travel eSIM costs about $22.76 for a typical 5 GB plan on a one-to-two week trip. Averaged across 185 countries and 3,128 plans, travel data works out at $4.55/GB — roughly 94% less than carrier roaming. What you actually pay depends on plan size, provider and destination, and all three are broken down below.
- The median travel eSIM plan costs $3.95 for 1 GB and $28.98 for 10 GB, measured across 3,128 plans.
- Averaged across 185 countries, travel data costs $4.55/GB, so a typical 5 GB trip plan runs about $22.76.
- Price per gigabyte falls as plans get bigger: the 50 GB tier is the best value at $1.40/GB, against $3.95/GB at 1 GB.
- A 5 GB travel eSIM at about $22.76 is roughly 94% cheaper than a month of carrier roaming at $12 a day.
- Unlimited passes are priced per day, not per gigabyte, and only work out cheaper above roughly 20 GB a month.
What does each plan size cost?
Median and cheapest retail price for every common plan size, across all single-country plans in our catalogue with at least 7 days of validity. These figures are computed live on every page load.
| Plan size | Median price | Cheapest | Median / GB | Plans |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 GB | $3.95 | $0.98 | $3.95/GB | 219 |
| 3 GB | $10.00 | $2.60 | $3.33/GB | 431 |
| 5 GB | $15.88 | $4.33 | $3.18/GB | 217 |
| 10 GB | $28.98 | $7.90 | $2.90/GB | 213 |
| 20 GB | $51.61 | $16.25 | $2.58/GB | 212 |
| 50 GB | $70.00 | $19.98 | $1.40/GB | 71 |
Live from the Flysimio catalogue. Bigger plans are cheaper per gigabyte in every market we measure — the single most useful thing to know before buying.
What do the major providers charge?
Each provider's best price per gigabyte on a fixed-data plan, across the six destinations we track. Competitor prices were read by hand from each provider's own site on the date shown. Unlimited-only providers are excluded from this ranking because they have no per-gigabyte price.
| Provider | Best-value plan | Price | Price / GB | Checked |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nomad | 50 GB / 10 days · Thailand | $15.00 | $0.30/GB | Oct 8, 2026 |
| Airalo | 50 GB / 30 days · Austria | $29.00 | $0.58/GB | Oct 8, 2026 |
eSIM cost by destination.
The same trip costs very different amounts depending on where you are going. Each destination below has a full provider-by-provider price index.
| Destination | Best / GB | Typical plan | Providers |
|---|---|---|---|
| Japan | $0.85/GB | 50 GB / 30 days — $42.50 | 4 |
| United States | $1.40/GB | 50 GB / 30 days — $70.00 | 4 |
| UK | $1.02/GB | 20 GB / 30 days — $20.50 | 3 |
| Italy | $0.85/GB | 50 GB / 30 days — $42.50 | 3 |
| Türkiye | $0.80/GB | 10 GB / 30 days — $8.03 | 3 |
| Thailand | $0.40/GB | 50 GB / 10 days — $19.98 | 4 |
| Spain | $0.85/GB | 50 GB / 30 days — $42.50 | 4 |
| France | $0.85/GB | 50 GB / 30 days — $42.50 | 4 |
| Germany | $0.85/GB | 50 GB / 30 days — $42.50 | 4 |
| Mexico | $2.47/GB | 20 GB / 30 days — $49.36 | 4 |
| Canada | $2.10/GB | 20 GB / 30 days — $42.00 | 4 |
| Australia | $0.85/GB | 50 GB / 30 days — $42.50 | 4 |
| South Korea | $1.02/GB | 20 GB / 30 days — $20.50 | 4 |
| India | $2.15/GB | 50 GB / 30 days — $107.50 | 4 |
| Vietnam | $1.58/GB | 20 GB / 30 days — $31.58 | 4 |
| the Philippines | $1.48/GB | 50 GB / 30 days — $74.05 | 4 |
| Singapore | $0.85/GB | 50 GB / 30 days — $42.50 | 4 |
| Greece | $1.07/GB | 10 GB / 30 days — $10.70 | 4 |
| Portugal | $1.02/GB | 20 GB / 30 days — $20.50 | 4 |
| Indonesia | $0.85/GB | 50 GB / 30 days — $42.50 | 4 |
| Israel | $1.40/GB | 20 GB / 30 days — $28.00 | 4 |
| the UAE | $3.25/GB | 20 GB / 30 days — $65.00 | 3 |
| Morocco | $1.56/GB | 50 GB / 30 days — $78.20 | 4 |
| Egypt | $2.63/GB | 20 GB / 30 days — $52.50 | 4 |
| Brazil | $2.41/GB | 50 GB / 30 days — $120.30 | 4 |
| Switzerland | $0.85/GB | 50 GB / 30 days — $42.50 | 4 |
| Malaysia | $0.65/GB | 40 GB / 15 days — $25.93 | 4 |
| Colombia | $3.17/GB | 20 GB / 30 days — $63.50 | 4 |
| Ireland | $1.07/GB | 10 GB / 30 days — $10.70 | 4 |
| Croatia | $1.07/GB | 10 GB / 30 days — $10.70 | 4 |
| Austria | $1.02/GB | 20 GB / 30 days — $20.50 | 4 |
| Poland | $1.02/GB | 20 GB / 30 days — $20.50 | 4 |
| Costa Rica | $3.25/GB | 20 GB / 30 days — $65.00 | 4 |
| Peru | $2.90/GB | 10 GB / 30 days — $28.98 | 4 |
| Chile | $2.99/GB | 20 GB / 30 days — $59.75 | 4 |
| Argentina | $2.78/GB | 20 GB / 30 days — $55.58 | 4 |
| Czechia | $1.07/GB | 10 GB / 30 days — $10.70 | 4 |
| Hungary | $1.02/GB | 20 GB / 30 days — $20.50 | 4 |
| Denmark | $1.02/GB | 20 GB / 30 days — $20.50 | 4 |
| Sweden | $1.02/GB | 20 GB / 30 days — $20.50 | 4 |
| Norway | $1.02/GB | 20 GB / 30 days — $20.50 | 4 |
| Finland | $1.02/GB | 20 GB / 30 days — $20.50 | 4 |
| New Zealand | $1.52/GB | 50 GB / 180 days — $76.08 | 4 |
| Iceland | $1.07/GB | 50 GB / 30 days — $53.38 | 4 |
| South Africa | $2.19/GB | 20 GB / 30 days — $43.75 | 4 |
| Saudi Arabia | $2.44/GB | 20 GB / 30 days — $48.75 | 4 |
| Qatar | $2.79/GB | 20 GB / 30 days — $55.70 | 4 |
| Jordan | $3.86/GB | 10 GB / 30 days — $38.65 | 4 |
| Georgia | $1.79/GB | 20 GB / 30 days — $35.78 | 4 |
| Cambodia | $1.82/GB | 10 GB / 30 days — $18.25 | 4 |
| Romania | $1.02/GB | 20 GB / 30 days — $20.50 | 4 |
| Albania | $1.59/GB | 50 GB / 30 days — $79.75 | 4 |
| the Dominican Republic | $3.45/GB | 20 GB / 30 days — $69.03 | 4 |
| Montenegro | $1.57/GB | 20 GB / 30 days — $31.50 | 4 |
| Guatemala | $3.17/GB | 20 GB / 30 days — $63.50 | 4 |
| Panama | $6.30/GB | 20 GB / 30 days — $126.00 | 4 |
| Asia | $1.90/GB | 10 GB / 30 days — $18.98 | 4 |
| North America | $3.19/GB | 20 GB / 30 days — $63.75 | 4 |
| South America | $3.93/GB | 30 GB / 30 days — $117.93 | 4 |
| the Caribbean | $10.10/GB | 10 GB / 30 days — $101.03 | 4 |
| Europe | $0.98/GB | 50 GB / 31 days — $49.15 | 3 |
For the full country-by-country ranking across 180+ destinations, see the Travel eSIM Price Index.
What people asked about eSIM pricing.
How much does an eSIM cost?
A travel eSIM typically costs between $3.95 and $70.00 depending on how much data you buy. Measured across 3,128 plans in 185 countries, travel data averages $4.55/GB, which puts a typical 5 GB plan for a one-to-two week trip at about $22.76. Prices vary widely by destination — see the country-by-country breakdown below.
Is an eSIM cheaper than roaming?
Almost always. A 5 GB travel eSIM at the global average costs about $22.76. A month of typical carrier roaming at $12 a day costs $360.00, making the eSIM roughly 94% cheaper for the same trip. Even a single week of roaming usually costs more than a whole month of eSIM data.
What size eSIM plan should I buy?
Price per gigabyte drops sharply as plans get bigger, so the smallest plan is rarely the best value. A 1 GB plan works out at $3.95/GB while a 50 GB plan is $1.40/GB — roughly 65% less per gigabyte. For most one-to-two week trips, 5–10 GB is the sweet spot. Buy the tier just above your estimate rather than the cheapest one.
Why are eSIMs more expensive in some countries?
Wholesale data costs vary enormously between markets. Countries with strong carrier competition — Türkiye, India and much of South-East Asia — have some of the cheapest mobile data in the world. Small island nations and markets with one or two dominant carriers are the most expensive, sometimes by a factor of ten. Our country-by-country Price Index ranks all of them.
Are unlimited eSIM plans worth it?
Only for heavy use. Unlimited passes are sold per day rather than per gigabyte, and most of them are not truly unlimited — Airalo throttles after 3 GB a day, and our own unlimited plan drops to 1 Mbps after 2 GB a day. Holafly is the main exception with no daily high-speed cap. As a rule of thumb, unlimited starts to pay off above roughly 20 GB a month; below that a capped plan is cheaper.
Where these numbers come from.
Two sources, kept deliberately separate. Everything about Flysimio pricing — medians by plan size, price per gigabyte, the destination table — is computed live from our carrier catalogue of 3,128 plans each time this page is built, so it is the price you would pay at checkout. Everything about other providers is a hand-verified snapshot: we opened each provider's own product page in an unauthenticated US session, recorded the US-dollar price, and stored the date and URL alongside it. Those dates are shown in every table and linked to the page we read.
Price per gigabyte is simply the plan price divided by its included data. Unlimited passes are excluded from per-gigabyte rankings rather than given an invented figure, because dividing by a daily cap would imply a comparison that does not exist. Where a provider sells only unlimited plans in a market, we say so instead of leaving a gap. The country-level index uses the cheapest fixed plan of 3–50 GB with at least 7 days of validity — the same rule published on how we test.
This data is published under a CC BY 4.0 licence — free to quote or republish with attribution. Suggested citation: “Flysimio, Travel eSIM Cost Snapshot, October 2026.” Competitor prices were last verified on October 8, 2026. Spotted a figure that has changed? Tell us at our contact page and we will correct it.
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