Travel eSIM deals compared

If you are visiting one country, a single-country plan is usually the cheapest per GB. If you are crossing borders on the same trip, a regional plan tends to work out better than buying separate country plans. Global plans suit business travellers and round-the-world trips, although they cost more per GB.

Australia › Japan › Spain › Thailand › Turkey › United Arab Emirates › United States ›

We list plans we can check against each retailer's live data, refreshed daily. Every plan is tagged as single country, regional, or global, so you can see what you are buying.

We may earn a commission when you buy through our links, but this does not change the order plans appear in, and we do not accept payment to favour any provider.

Airalo charges in US dollars. We show an approximate price in pounds using a daily exchange rate, so the amount on your statement may differ slightly. Your card provider may also add a fee for paying in a foreign currency.

Check your UK plan first. Where you are going makes the biggest difference.

In Europe, many UK networks still include roaming at no extra cost, including O2, Tesco Mobile, Smarty, giffgaff, and iD Mobile, usually with a fair use data cap. EE and Three charge a daily fee for most customers, and Vodafone includes Europe on selected plans only.

If your plan includes European roaming and the cap covers your trip, you may not need a travel eSIM. Our EU roaming guide compares every UK network.

Outside Europe, most UK plans charge a daily fee or pay as you go rates, and the cost adds up on a longer trip. This is where a travel eSIM usually saves the most, because you pay one fixed price up front. Our roaming guides cover each network's charges outside Europe.

A local SIM bought on arrival can be cheaper per GB in some countries, but you need to find a shop, may need to show ID, and have to swap out your usual SIM. Each destination page covers the local SIM options for that country. For more detail, read our roaming guides.

Most travellers buy more data than they use. For a one-week trip with maps, messaging, social media, and the odd video call, 3GB to 5GB is usually enough. Streaming video or using your phone as a hotspot for a laptop uses much more, so allow 10GB or more if either applies.

Downloading offline maps before you fly cuts your data use further. Start with the destination page for where you are going, then sort by price for the data you actually need rather than the biggest bundle on offer.

The local networks a plan connects to depend on the provider's partner networks in each country. You can check which network a plan uses in the plan details on the provider's site.

Your phone needs to support eSIM and be unlocked. Most iPhones from the iPhone XS and XR onwards support eSIM, as do Google Pixel phones from the Pixel 3 onwards and Samsung Galaxy phones from the S20 onwards. Many older and budget Android phones do not.

UK networks have not been allowed to sell locked phones since December 2021, so a phone bought since then should already be unlocked. If you have an older phone that is still locked, your network will unlock it for free. Our eSIM compatibility guide explains how to check whether your phone supports eSIM.