Best Airalo Alternatives 2026: Ten eSIMs Compared, and What Each Is Best For

The best alternative to Airalo depends on what you want instead: Ubigi for price ($15 for 10 GB in Europe against Airalo's $31), Nomad eSIM for Japan and a free trial, Saily for security features, Holafly for heavy data on one phone, Jetpac for a low price with travel extras ($22), Roamless for credit that never expires, Firsty for a free backup line, Kolet for 5 GB a day on unlimited plans, Orange Travel for a phone number with calls in Europe, and GigSky for cruises. Airalo is the name most people start with, and it is still the right answer for some trips. This page sets ten alternatives against it on published figures, each dated.

Verified 5 October 2026 · Jetpac, Roamless, Firsty, Kolet, Orange Travel and GigSky on their own pages · Airalo, Ubigi, Nomad eSIM, Saily and Holafly from our September comparison

What are the best alternatives to Airalo in 2026?

Ten alternatives, each best for one thing: Ubigi, Nomad eSIM, Saily, Holafly, Jetpac, Roamless, Firsty, Kolet, Orange Travel and GigSky.

Five of the alternatives are cheaper than Airalo for the same 10 GB, and one, Saily, is dearer. The other four are not competing on that number at all: Holafly sells only unlimited, Firsty gives data away, Orange sells a phone line and GigSky sells connectivity at sea. That is the useful way to read the list. Decide which problem you have, then pick the provider built for it.

Which eSIM is cheaper than Airalo?

For 10 GB in Europe over 30 days, five are cheaper than Airalo's $31: Ubigi at $15, Jetpac at $22, Nomad eSIM at $23, Roamless at about $24.50 and Kolet at $27.99. In Japan the September figures were Nomad eSIM $16 on sale, Ubigi $16.50 and Saily $17.99 against Airalo's $25; in the USA, Ubigi $14 against Airalo's $22.50.

Two cautions. The dates differ: the September prices and the October prices were not read on the same day, and sale prices at Jetpac and Nomad eSIM move. And the cheapest plan is only the right plan if its network is good where you are going; check the network named on the plan page. The pricing logic across plan sizes is in the eSIM cost guide, and the four challengers are compared with each other in Jetpac vs Roamless vs Firsty vs Kolet.

Which Airalo alternative has the best unlimited data?

Ubigi, with 60 GB at full speed per 30-day plan before slowing to 2 Mbps, then Kolet at 5 GB a day, Saily at 3 to 5 GB a day, Jetpac at 3 GB a day and Nomad eSIM at 2 GB a day; Holafly publishes no threshold. Airalo's own unlimited plans allow 3 GB a day and then 1 Mbps, with unlimited hotspot inside that allowance.

Ubigi's allowance is pooled across the month, so one heavy day does not slow the line; the daily plans reset every 24 hours. Holafly's 1 GB hotspot cap rules it out for a couple sharing one connection. For most holidays a fixed 10 GB plan costs less than any unlimited plan; the data estimator shows whether that applies to you.

Which Airalo alternative is best for calls or a phone number?

Orange Travel in Europe, because every plan includes a French number with unlimited calls and texts within Europe, from $9.99 for 7 days; Roamless elsewhere, with in-app calls from $0.01 a minute and its own numbers. Saily adds a US number for $0.99 a month, and Jetpac sells outgoing voice packs from $1.99 for 5 minutes.

Whatever you choose, your bank's codes still go to your home number, so keep that SIM active. The seven eSIMs that offer a number or calls are compared in Best eSIM with a phone number, and the carrier plans in Orange Travel vs Bouygues vs Vodafone Travel.

When is Airalo still the right choice?

For unusual destinations, for the widest choice of plan sizes, and for safari in Kenya: Airalo scored 81 of 100 in September 2026, second of seven, with full marks for plan choice. It sells local, regional and global plans for more than 200 destinations, runs on Safaricom in Kenya, and is the only one of the seven scored with a SOC 2 Type II attestation at product level.

Speed is the other reason people look elsewhere. Ookla's Travel eSIM Performance analysis for the second quarter of 2026, as published in Nomad eSIM's release of 7 September 2026, put Airalo's global median download speed at 30.11 Mbps, against 80.26 for Nomad eSIM, 75.89 for Ubigi and 56.87 for Holafly. A global median says little about one country, so treat it as a prompt to check the network, not as a verdict. The full case for and against is in Is Airalo worth it? and Nomad vs Airalo.

Three planning rules for choosing an Airalo alternative

1 · Name the reason you are leaving. Price, speed, unlimited terms, a phone number and cruises each point to a different provider. Switching without a reason usually means paying the same for less choice.

2 · Compare the same plan. 10 GB for 30 days in the region you are visiting is the fair test; a 7-day price against a 30-day price tells you nothing. How to choose an eSIM sets out the steps.

3 · Check the network before the brand. The operator your eSIM connects to decides coverage and speed, and it is named on most plan pages.

What changed for Airalo and its alternatives in 2026

Ookla's analysis of the second quarter of 2026 put Airalo's global median download speed at 30.11 Mbps, behind Nomad eSIM, Ubigi and Holafly. Nomad eSIM's score on our rubric rose from 74 to 79 on 28 September 2026 after its parent company's security attestations were verified at source. Kolet was certified as a B Corp in January 2026 and now sells unlimited plans with 5 GB a day. Orange renamed Orange Holiday Europe as Orange Travel. Jetpac's 10 GB Europe plan was $22 on 5 October 2026, against the $19.99 its own blog quoted in June.