Methodology & data sources
Transparency is the core of our E-E-A-T: this page documents where our eSIM prices come from, how we turn them into a comparable price-per-GB, and the limits of the data.
Important: eSIM prices change frequently — every figure on this site is a June 2026 snapshot; confirm the current price on the provider site before buying.
Where the prices come from
Prices are the published package prices of the five providers we track — Airalo, Nomad, Saily, Holafly and aloSIM — captured as a dated snapshot. These are proprietary provider prices, not an open dataset, so we treat them as an anchor for comparison rather than a guaranteed live quote.
Data sources
| Source | Refresh cadence | Note |
|---|---|---|
| Airalo (published package prices) | none | Provider pricing — proprietary |
| Nomad (published package prices) | none | Provider pricing — proprietary |
| Saily (published package prices) | none | Provider pricing — proprietary |
| Holafly (published per-day prices) | none | Provider pricing — proprietary |
| aloSIM (published package prices) | none | Provider pricing — proprietary |
How we compute price-per-GB
For a fixed-data plan, the only derived number we report is price-per-GB:
price-per-GB = plan price (USD) ÷ data allowance (GB)
For example, a $16 plan with 5 GB is $16 ÷ 5 = $3.20/GB. We rank plans by this metric because it is the only fair way to compare packages of different sizes. The "cheapest pick" for a country is the plan with the lowest price-per-GB; we also show the lowest absolute entry price for very short trips.
For an unlimited plan (Holafly), there is no GB cap, so a price-per-GB is meaningless.
Instead we report cost-per-day = price ÷ trip length in days and clearly mark the plan
"unlimited".
How the snapshot is built
We anchor on confirmed prices for high-traffic destinations (e.g. the USA, Europe and Japan) from the providers' own pages, then record the standard published package prices each provider offers for each destination band. Major-marketplace single-country packages cluster on a small set of standard price points that vary by destination, so we group destinations into price bands reflecting their typical published prices. Where a provider does not publish a given data tier for a destination, we omit that cell rather than guess.
Limitations
- Snapshot, not live. Providers re-price and run promotions constantly; figures may already differ from today's price.
- Comparison estimates. Prices are for comparison only — verify the exact plan on the provider's site before purchasing.
- Coverage and speed vary. The same country can be served by different local networks per provider, affecting speed and coverage, which price-per-GB does not capture.
- Fair-use throttling. Some "unlimited" plans throttle high-speed data after a daily allowance.
Always verify against the provider before relying on a figure. See our disclaimer.