Ultimate eSIM Comparison (2024): Airalo, Holafly, Google Fi & MORE!
Okay so for this video I’ve researched and compared these 16 eim providers to find out which ones are the best this includes well-known providers such as aalo and lesser known such as red te go I chose them because they all cater for various needs and preferences and for
The basis of my research I chose to use the world tourism barometer to establish the most visited countries this included France Spain the US turkey and Italy and to keep this video as brief as possible I’ve summarized it all for you and created these four categories and
Assigned a winner and runner up this is someone who only travels a few times a year typically using 1 to two maybe 5 GB of data per week but never more than 10 not surprisingly aalo is the standout provider for this category a casual tourist requires a costeffective data
Plan a simple setup procedure and the flexibility to top up or switch plans if necessary aalo provides all of this they have a really userfriendly platform that has Apple and Google pay available for convenient purchasing and you can use direct installation which makes activating really straightforward unlike
A lot of other providers they also allow you to tether or hotspot your eim to share your data with other devices or people and they cover over 200 countries as well their prices are very very competitive specifically for low data plans in fact during my research I found
Aalo to be one of if not the cheapest data a provider for the countries that I tested and when you include mono’s 10% and 15% discount codes for new and existing users you get a pretty great deal so I’ve placed those codes in the description box along with an affiliate
Link so if you do want to support myself in the Channel please consider using them unfortunately during my research I did find ao’s customer support to be a bit slow to test this I contacted every provider through the most convenient method they had available for aalo this meant contacting them through their
Inapp chat and after ducking and Diving past their chatbot I managed to speak to a human in 22 minutes for context five out of 16 providers all responded within 5 minutes e.net took the longest to get back to me and true phone ghosted me now
If you’re in need of help let’s say your eim wasn’t working and you desperately needed connectivity waiting 22 minutes to speak to aalo could be quite frustrating but I don’t think that’s a bad enough reason to not award them this category a typical traveler needs one to two per year and besides potential
Activation difficulties the probability they’ll encounter an issue is quite low for that reason and the fact their low data plans are so cheap I think we can give them a pass on slow customer service but if you’d like a more guaranteed robust support and a provider
That has a lot of coverage then consider the runner up for this category Holly now I must warn you Holly is much more expensive than AO because their data plans are unlimited and there are cheaper alternatives during my research I found simly and yub biggy to both be
Very competitively priced and in some cases cheaper than aalo however compared to most of the providers I tested including those two Hall ofly support is really good they were the fastest to respond and I spoke to a human within 60 seconds so for that reason alone I’m
Willing to award them runner up if you specifically want peace of mind that you receive great support and are happy to pay a premium for it then consider H flies eim and if you’re a data Binger then definitely consider them like our typical traveler this is someone
Traveling a few times a year except they’re using a lot more data and they don’t want the hassle of having to monitor their usage or top up for this type of person an unlimited plan makes the most sense and out of all the providers I compared and researched
Holly came out on top they offer unlimited plans for over 160 countries and more often or not were the best priced they cost costing is based on the length of time you need the eim and on average one week of unlimited data for the 10 destinations I sampled was
$27.40 unfortunately and unlike aalo they don’t have direct installation so this means you either scan a QR code or manually copy and paste but don’t let that put you off it’s still fairly straightforward most of their unlimited eims also won’t allow you to hotspot and
If you use too much data you may have your speeds throttled by the network provider I think you’d need to use a lot for this to happen but a fair usage policy may be applied if you’re going absolutely Ham on your unlimited plan this does make me question whether you
Can truly call their eims unlimited but for the price incredible coverage and very responsive customer support Holly is a great choice for any data Binger my runner up in this category is Maya mobile they offer unlimited data plans for durations of 5 10 15 and 30 days and
On average a 10day unlimited data plan costs $37.80 so they are a bit more expensive than Holly but unlike hly most of their unlimited plans allow hot spotting although this does come at a premium their customer support was also really responsive and it only took 2 and
A half minutes to speak to an adviser this is a person that spends a lot of time traveling they visit multiple countries and regions for both Leisure and business they stream they do video conferencing access large files in the cloud and use multiple devices the last
Thing they want is to think about their usage or have to mess around with multiple eims so an unlimited Regional plan is essential meet Google fi a different kind of phone plan Google F’s unlimited plus Plan cost $65 per month plus taxes and fees and you get unlimited data usage which won’t be
Throttled until 50 GB you can also tether and it comes with unlimited calls and texts within the US Canada and Mexico Google’s customer support is also very responsive and I received a call back within just a few minutes unfortunately though with Google fi there are some caveats firstly you’ll
Need to be a us resident and the plan must be activated and primarily used in the US your plan will also be suspended if you’re outside of the United States for over 90 days however you can avoid this by returning to the US for at least
One week so if you’re from the US and you go back and forth frequently then this could be great but for non us residents traveling across mult multiple destinations that need unlimited data then I would consider one of Holly’s Regional plans I found their 30-day Europe eim to be incredibly competitive it costs
$64 although if you are going to more exotic areas such as South America then you will pay more now if you’re part of the jet seta category and you travel for long periods of time but don’t require a lot of data then check out ao’s Global
Eims you can get 20 GB of data across 127 countries and a whole year to use it all for $69 data Nomads AKA digital Nomads can live abroad for the majority of their lives and the emphasis must be on the necessity of uninterrupted highquality internet in one to two International
Locations ultimately their Lifestyles depend upon their connectivity so with all of that in mind I would recommend getting a SIM card from a local carrier I know you’re probably thinking well that’s not an eim Johnny and I appreciate that but stick with me here I still think it’s a good idea that you
Have an eim at least temporarily so you can access your data on arrival but if you’re planning to spend months in One International location then a physical Sim will be the most cost effective and efficient Choice unfortunately this does create some inconvenience because you’ll actually need to go and buy one but the
Upside is that they’re typically cheaper come with large amounts of data and give unthrottled access to high-speed local networks also if you want you can get a local number with plenty of free minutes and texts if you found this video useful please give it a thumbs up and let me
Know in the comments if you have any questions
In this eSIM comparison, we’ve researched and reviewed 16 providers to identify the best. Price, eSIM coverage and customer service were included, and categories, such as Typical Traveller and Jetsetter were assigned an eSIM provider winner & runner-up.
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Chapters:
0:00 Intro
0:36 Best eSIM For A Typical Traveller
3:34 Best eSIM For A Data Binger
5:18 Best eSIM For A Jetsetter
7:04 Best SIM For A Data Nomad
#eSIM #travel #monito
2 Comments
Very useful again, Johnny. I am a so-called "digital nomad" ;), and agree that getting a local sim or esim is more ideal. You can get local esims in many countries, it's just a case of shopping around and checking. But out of the esim apps available I generally use Airalo and Nomad the most because they have the most competitive pricing and also flexibility. Holafly is usually not suitable for me as I always use hotspot when working while on the road, but have used them as well and no issues. Two other good options are Klook and KK Day, which tend to have great deals for esims in Asia. Keep up the good work.
If you spend a lot of time in a country you need a local SIM, that's right. Anyway, it doesn't have to be a βphysical SIMβ, as eSIMs are provided by many local mobile companies around the world. Aside that, great video as always.