r/best_eSIM_providers

I’ve been traveling a lot recently for work and realized how many people are still paying insane international roaming fees or wasting 30 minutes at airport kiosks buying physical SIM cards.

If you travel frequently, switching to an eSIM is a massive game-changer. Here is a quick breakdown of why it makes life easier for work and travel:

• Dual SIM Capability: You can keep your physical home SIM active for important 2FA texts and client calls, while using the eSIM purely for cheap local data.
• Zero Downtime: You can buy and install the data plan before you leave. The second your plane lands, you have internet.
• Cost-Efficient: It is almost always a fraction of the cost of carrier roaming passes.
• No Swapping Chips: No more carrying around those easily lost metal paperclips to open your SIM tray on a bumpy flight.

For anyone running a remote team, you can also manage multiple eSIMs from a single dashboard to keep your employees connected globally without individual expense reports.

Feel free to drop a comment or DM me if you need a recommendation for your next destination!

إذا أنا زائر وماعندي اقامه او هويه. هل الأفضل اخذ من اس تي سي او موبايلي او زين او اي شركه ثانيه او استخدم الشرايح الدوليه؟

هل يمدين افعل الشريحه بدون اقامه؟ هل فيه مشاكل برسايل التحقق عشان افعلها؟ وهل إذا طلعت من السعوديه تستمر ولا تطفى؟ واخيراً من ناحيه السعر وش الأنسب؟!

I’m curious if anyone else has experienced something similar with Airalo.

I purchased a 15-day, 10GB eSIM for use in the US on July 27. It cost about ¥3,800 (~$25 USD). This was my second time using Airalo. My first experience was a 3-day unlimited eSIM in Guam, and that worked perfectly, so I had no hesitation using them again for my US trip.

The eSIM worked fine during my trip. No issues with the data service whatsoever.

Then I got back to Japan and started looking through the recent charges on my credit card.

On August 3, Airalo charged my card 9 separate times, with each charge being more than ¥10,000. Altogether, the charges totaled more than ¥123,000 — roughly $850 USD. I immediately canceled the credit card.

For additional context, I have confirmed multiple times that auto-renewal was NOT enabled. I also did not have my credit card saved to my Airalo account. The July 27 purchase was made using Apple Pay which always requires faced or password for approval of the payment.

So I have no idea how nine additional charges totaling ¥123,000+ were generated.

I’m currently working through Airalo’s bot chat and their support email (support@airalo.com) trying to get this resolved.

I had a good experience with Airalo the first time and the actual service worked fine this time too — but an unexplained $850 in charges is obviously a pretty serious issue.

I’ll update this post with how Airalo handles it.

Has anyone else experienced multiple unexpected Airalo charges like this, especially when auto-renewal was disabled and the payment was made through Apple Pay?

Hey Reddit!

I’m going abroad to London starting September 1st - December 12th (ish), and I’m looking for a good eSIM. I’m planning on doing a lot of short trips to other countries (I have one to Edinburgh already booked, but I’m also hoping to visiting Ireland, Amsterdam, Italy, etc.)

I’d prefer an app where I can get one long plan for the UK, and shorter day plans for my weekend trips to other countries. I’d also prefer an unlimited data plan so I don’t have to worry about my data usage.

Is there an app that’s easy and good for this kind of travel? Simlocal has a 90 day unlimited UK plan with roaming for $120, Holafly’s is $140, Simify has one for the UK and 50 other European countries for $130 - are these reasonable? I truly know nothing about this so any advice/things to watch out for so I don’t get scammed would be very appreciated!

Has anyone used this brand of esim? I usually go for airalo as I’ve had no issues with it in the past, but got a promo code and a discounted rate ($39 CAD) for 20 gb of data for Hubby Esim through booking with a 3rd party travel agent.

Thinking of switching to Hubby Esim but unsure of its reliability and speed, etc… especially for a 3.5 wk long Europe trip.

TIA!

I recently arrived in Beijing and bought an eSIM on Trip. rather cheaply compared to other countries. It’s 2GB of data with no Chinese phone number. Now I have been here two days and the seller has throttled me because they say I’ve exceeded the 2GB daily quota (strange because I use the hotel WiFI) and I need a Chinese phone number to order food and other things. Any suggestions on a better eSIM or physical SIM?

Planning a trip through a few African countries and trying to figure out the eSIM situation before I go. I’d rather use one regional plan than keep buying a new eSIM every time I cross a border.

Mostly looking for decent coverage, easy setup, and reasonable prices. What providers have worked well for you in Africa?

Edit:

Ended up trying Cardtonic and it’s been pretty straightforward so far. The regional option was exactly what I was looking for, so I didn’t have to keep switching plans between countries.

Setup saily for the first time this summer and Setup was very easy. Also, I want to give a heads up that their customer support is very good. My problem is I couldn’t get the phone number to operate no matter what I tried and no matter what they tried to help me with I tried to install it on two different occasions and could not get the number to work. Roaming was turned on and my home Internet provider was turned off.
Has anyone else had problems using the saily phone number/SMS option and gave up?

I keep seeing people confused about single-country vs regional vs global eSIM plans, especially for multi-stop trips. I used to overthink this too, but it’s actually pretty simple once you match it to the trip. I’ll use Saily as the example here since it’s the one I use most when travelling.

If I’m going to Japan for 10 days and staying there, I’ll just go with coverage for Japan. No point getting anything broader.

Europe is where I almost always look at regional instead. You plan a week in Italy and suddenly a cheap flight and two train tickets later you’re doing Italy, Switzerland, France and the Netherlands. It’s just easier to have 1 eSIM than sorting out data every time you cross a border.

Global is more for when the trip itself is all over the place - say Europe, then the US, then Japan. For a normal Euro trip, I’d rather stick with regional coverage.

I’ve looked at Airalo, Nomad and a few others too, and the idea is basically the same even if they package or name the options differently.

For me it’s become pretty simple: I usually open Saily, look at where I’m actually going, pick the coverage that fits the trip and move on. One less thing to overthink before flying. Might be helpful info, considering the questions I saw in multiple subreddits about it.

Is anyone else currently in Lebanon using a Swiss **Sunrise** or **Yallo** SIM (physical or eSIM) experiencing a total loss of signal?
My line has been completely dead with **"No Service"** for over a week now. I’ve cross-tested the SIM across multiple iPhones and Android devices, and it refuses to register on either **Alfa (415-01)** or **Touch (415-02)**, even with manual network selection. Other foreign SIMs and local SIMs work fine in the exact same phones.
Helpdesk line resets haven't fixed it. I know of a few other Sunrise users here facing the exact same sudden blackout, so it seems like an international roaming gateway or signaling interconnect failure between Switzerland and local host towers.
If you're experiencing this too, let me know where you're located or if you've managed to get a response from support!

Hi everyone,

I’ll be moving to China as an international student and will be staying for around 3 years.

I’m looking for the best SIM/mobile plan that can provide:

• A Chinese (+86) phone number for everyday use, registrations, banking, apps, etc.
• Affordable mobile data/internet
• Good coverage and reliability
• Ideally a reasonably priced long-term plan

My main concern is also accessing services such as Google, Instagram, Facebook, WhatsApp, Messenger, etc.

Is there any SIM/eSIM or mobile data plan that allows access to these services without needing a VPN? If yes, which carrier or plan would you recommend?

I’m considering China Mobile, China Unicom, China Telecom, or possibly an international eSIM such as Nomad, but I’m not sure which would be best for someone staying 3 years.

If you’re an international student in China, I’d really appreciate your experience and recommendations. Also, please mention the approximate monthly cost if possible.

Thanks!

Hello, I will be studying in the UK for a year in Newcastle and I am originally from the US. I' looking for an eSIM or regular SIM card for my phone that I will be able to use while I'm there for the year. I start in September and while be there for at least 1 full year and have only been able to find travel SIM cards that only last 30 days.

I am using callcooee for my case - atually finding it useful than big providers like airalo etc.... I tried airalo but not that much working when i traveled to Australia and in need of an australian number.

So does anybody agree that small providers are actually giving great and affordable services??

Want to hear what everybody think...

Que compania de datos moviles recomiendan para mi estancia de 6 meses en España? Seria con una ESim seguramente

I work on Romix and am planning a field test across:

• Japan
• South Korea
• Mainland China
• Hong Kong
• Bangkok, Thailand
• Singapore
• Johor Bahru, Malaysia
• Bintan Island, Indonesia

Romix will be the fixed reference, and I can test eight competing consumer eSIM apps.

1. Which eight eSIM apps should I include?
2. Which testing tools and methodology would you trust?
3. What test data or results would you most want to see?