Travel Intelligence · eSIM comparisons 2026
By Richard J. · written from Valencia4 providers · 4 published testsVerified 5 October 2026
Roamless is best for travellers who take several short trips (its credit never expires and costs about $2.45 per GB in Europe), GoMoWorld for the lowest price in Europe (11 GB for 30 days at $12.99), Firsty for a free backup line and one price in every country (from €0.98 per GB), and Airalo for the widest catalogue and a long-validity global plan (more than 200 destinations, and 10 GB for 180 days on Discover+). All four can be installed once and reused, which is what separates them from providers that issue a new eSIM for each trip. They charge for it in four different ways.
Verified 5 October 2026 · Roamless and Firsty on their own pages · GoMoWorld from its eSIMDB listing · Airalo from our September comparison
Roamless for many short trips, GoMoWorld for price in Europe, Firsty for a free or occasional connection, Airalo for reach and choice.
| Provider | Best for | 10 GB in Europe | How long it lasts | Unlimited plan | One eSIM covers | Read |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Airalo | The widest catalogue; a long-validity global plan | $31 for 30 days, 41 countries | Global Discover+: 180 days | 3 GB a day, then 1 Mbps | 200+ destinations; Discover+ about 160 countries | Airalo, September 2026 |
| GoMoWorld | The lowest price in Europe | $12.99 for 11 GB, 30 days, 33 countries | 7 or 30 days | None sold | 170+ countries | eSIMDB listing, 5 October 2026 |
| Roamless | Several short trips a year | About $24.50 on credit; $30.95 as a 30-day plan | Credit never expires; plans 30 days | None sold | 200+ destinations | Roamless, 5 October 2026 |
| Firsty | A free backup line; flat pricing | 5 GB for €9.50; from €0.98 per GB | Not stated on the pages read | Day pass from €2 a day | 170 countries, same price in each | Firsty, 5 October 2026 |
10 GB in Europe · 30 days · USD
Airalo is the dearest of the three charted and the only one that has been scored. What it sells for the extra money is reach: more plan sizes, more destinations, unlimited plans and a 180-day global plan. The other three each do one thing it does not.
Roamless and Firsty are built around a single permanent eSIM; GoMoWorld says its eSIM can be reused in more than 170 countries; Airalo's global Discover+ plan is the one of its products designed to be kept. The test is whether a second trip needs a second installation.
| Provider | The one-eSIM product | Destinations | What you buy for the next trip |
|---|---|---|---|
| Roamless | Single Global eSIM | 200+ | Nothing, if credit remains |
| Firsty | One eSIM, installed from the app | 170 | A day pass or prepaid data, at the same price |
| GoMoWorld | One reusable eSIM | 170+ | A new plan on the same eSIM |
| Airalo | Discover+ global plan | About 160 countries | A top-up on the same plan |
Two cautions. A single eSIM is only as good as its network in each country, so check coverage for the places that matter. And an eSIM you have deleted from the phone usually cannot be reinstalled from the same code; keep it on the phone between trips. How multiple eSIMs work on one phone explains keeping a travel line beside your home line.
Roamless: its pay-as-you-go credit never expires; Airalo's Discover+ lasts 180 days, GoMoWorld's plans 7 or 30 days, and Firsty does not state an expiry for prepaid data. Roamless's fixed plans are separate and expire after 30 days, and credit cannot be used to buy them, according to its help centre.
| Provider | Validity | What is lost at the end |
|---|---|---|
| Roamless, credit | No expiry | Nothing |
| Airalo, Discover+ | 180 days | Unused data |
| GoMoWorld | 7 or 30 days | Unused data |
| Roamless, plan | 30 days | Unused data; the eSIM falls back to credit |
| Firsty | Not stated on the pages read | Not stated |
The sums favour credit for short trips and plans for long ones. Three weekends using 2 GB each cost about $14.70 on Roamless credit; three 30-day plans would cost more with most of each unused. One three-week trip using 10 GB costs $12.99 with GoMoWorld. The data estimator gives your figure.
GoMoWorld in Europe, at $12.99 for 11 GB; Roamless next at about $24.50 for 10 GB on credit; Airalo at $31; Firsty wherever data is normally expensive, because it charges from €0.98 per GB in every country.
| Provider | Europe price | Per GB | Outside Europe |
|---|---|---|---|
| GoMoWorld | $12.99 for 11 GB | About $1.18 | Not read for this page |
| Roamless | About $24.50 for 10 GB on credit | About $2.45 | Rate varies by country; shown before you buy |
| Airalo | $31 for 10 GB | $3.10 | Japan $25 and USA $22.50 for 10 GB in September |
| Firsty | 5 GB for €9.50 | From €0.98 at the best rate | The same price in every country |
Firsty's flat price cuts both ways: it is good value in costly markets and poor value where local plans are cheap. Airalo's prices by region are in Is Airalo worth it?, and ten alternatives are set against it in Best Airalo alternatives.
Firsty Free costs nothing to keep installed. It unlocks data when you watch an advert and is offered to users in North America, Europe and Asia-Pacific, so it can sit beside any paid plan as a fallback for messages and maps. Source: Firsty Free, read 5 October 2026.
81 of 100 in September · 200+ destinations · Discover+: 10 GB for 180 days, $57
Airalo sells local, regional and global plans and scored full marks for plan choice in September. It holds a SOC 2 Type II attestation and runs on Safaricom in Kenya. The weak point is price in the big markets: $31 for 10 GB in Europe. Source: Airalo, read September 2026; more in Is Airalo worth it?.
11 GB for 30 days: $12.99 · 25 GB: $24.99 · 33 countries
Four Europe plans on one reusable eSIM, with the UK and Switzerland included. The weak points are no unlimited plan, no number and a shorter country list than Airalo's 41. Its figures here are from a listing site, not its own pages. Source: eSIMDB listing, read 5 October 2026; provider site: GoMoWorld.
Credit never expires · About $2.45 per GB in Europe · In-app calls from $0.01 a minute
One eSIM and one balance for data, calls and numbers in more than 200 destinations, with unlimited hotspot and no speed limit on its plans. The weak points are no unlimited plan and a higher price than GoMoWorld for a known allowance. Source: Roamless’s Europe page, read 5 October 2026.
Free tier with adverts · From €0.98 per GB · Day pass from €2
The only one of the four with a free tier, and the only one with a single price worldwide. It installs from the app without a QR code. The weak point is that the day pass's full-speed allowance is not stated on the pages read. Source: Firsty’s plan page, read 5 October 2026.
1 · Count trips, not gigabytes. Several short trips favour Roamless; one long trip favours a fixed plan.
2 · Keep the eSIM on the phone. Switch it off between trips; do not delete it.
3 · Price the country you are going to. A flat or per-gigabyte rate that is cheap in Europe may not be cheap elsewhere, and the reverse. How to choose an eSIM sets out the checks.
GoMoWorld's Europe plan at $12.99 for 11 GB is now less than half Airalo's September price for 10 GB. Roamless's Europe page carried a 50 GB plan at $69.95 marked as new on 5 October 2026. Firsty now sells prepaid gigabytes from €0.98 per GB beside its day passes. Ookla's analysis of the second quarter of 2026 put Airalo's global median download speed at 30.11 Mbps, as published in Nomad eSIM's release of 7 September 2026.
All four can be kept and reused. Roamless calls its product a Single Global eSIM for more than 200 destinations, paid from credit that never expires. Firsty uses one eSIM in 170 countries at the same price everywhere. GoMoWorld says one eSIM can be reused in more than 170 countries. Airalo sells a global plan, Discover+, that covered about 160 countries for 180 days in September 2026.
For Europe, yes, by more than half. GoMoWorld lists 11 GB for 30 days at $12.99 across 33 countries, as shown on eSIMDB on 5 October 2026. Airalo charged $31 for 10 GB over 30 days across 41 countries in September 2026. Airalo covers more countries, sells unlimited plans and has a far larger catalogue.
Roamless is better if you take several short trips: its pay-as-you-go credit never expires and costs about $2.45 per GB in Europe, so nothing is lost between trips. Airalo is better for a known allowance on one trip in an unusual destination, with more than 200 destinations and unlimited plans at 3 GB a day. For 10 GB in Europe, Roamless costs about $24.50 on credit against Airalo's $31.
Firsty is better as a free backup line and in countries where data is expensive, because it charges the same in every country: from €0.98 per GB, 5 GB for €9.50, or an unlimited day pass from €2 a day. Airalo is better where a local plan is cheap, and it scored 81 of 100 on our rubric, which Firsty has not been through.
GoMoWorld, at $12.99 for 11 GB over 30 days. Roamless costs about $24.50 for 10 GB on pay-as-you-go credit or $30.95 as a 30-day plan, and Airalo cost $31 in September 2026. Firsty prices in euros: 5 GB for €9.50, with larger packs from €0.98 per GB.
Roamless. Its pay-as-you-go credit never expires and works in more than 200 destinations. Airalo's global Discover+ plan lasted 180 days in September 2026, the longest fixed validity of the four. GoMoWorld's Europe plans run for 7 or 30 days. Firsty's pages do not state an expiry for prepaid data.
Airalo and Firsty. Airalo's unlimited plans allow 3 GB a day at full speed, then 1 Mbps, with unlimited hotspot inside that allowance. Firsty sells an unlimited day pass from €2 a day and does not state the full-speed allowance on the pages read. GoMoWorld and Roamless sell no unlimited plan.
Roamless or Airalo. Roamless charges per gigabyte in whichever country you are in, from one balance, so there is nothing to buy at each border. Airalo's Discover+ global plan gave 10 GB for 180 days for $57 across about 160 countries in September 2026. Check each country on your route against the list before relying on either.
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Richard J. · Uncompromised Travel · written from Valencia · first published 5 October 2026 · facts verified 5 October 2026
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