I Tried Four eSIM Services on a Month-Long Trip. Only One Was Worth Keeping.
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I landed in Lisbon with 4% battery and zero local data. The airport WiFi wanted my passport number, my hotel check-in code was in a PDF I couldn’t download, and my partner was trying to tell me the Uber pickup zone had moved to the other side of the terminal. That was the moment I decided physical SIM cards were dead to me.
I spent the next 28 days bouncing between Portugal, Spain, and Morocco with four different eSIM providers running on the same phone. I measured speeds in cafes, basements, trains, and rooftop terraces. Two of them were frustrating enough that I deleted the apps before the trip ended. One surprised me. This is what actually happened, and what I’d buy if I had to do it over tomorrow.
Why most nomads are switching to eSIMs (and why some still shouldn’t)
The argument for eSIMs is simple: you land, you scan a QR code or tap a button, and you’re online before the immigration line moves. No haggling at airport kiosks, no fumbling with SIM ejector tools, no keeping a Ziploc bag of micro SIMs you’ll never use again.
But eSIMs are not magic. They rely on local carrier partnerships, which means your “unlimited” plan might be riding on a congested 4G tower in Barcelona at 6 p.m. while every tourist in the city is live-streaming paella. And not every phone supports eSIMs. If you’re on an iPhone older than the XS, or most Samsung models before the S20, you’re out of luck. Check your IMEI before you buy anything.
The people who benefit most are the ones who cross borders regularly. If you stay in one country for six months, a local prepaid SIM is almost always cheaper and faster. The eSIM value proposition is convenience across many destinations, not dominance in one.
The four providers I tested and how I ranked them
I picked Airalo, Holafly, Best portable monitor digital nomad travel tested, and Saily because they dominate the search results and because they represent different business models. Airalo is the category leader with the widest catalog. Holafly sells unlimited data plans that sound generous until you read the fine print. Nomad is newer and cheaper. Saily is the budget upstart backed by Nord Security. I bought regional plans for Europe and a separate plan for Morocco to see how each handled a non-European network.
My test was unscientific but honest. I ran speed tests with Fast.com and Ookla at different times of day. I tracked how many times each connection dropped during video calls. I noted how easy it was to top up when I burned through my allowance faster than expected. And I counted the number of times I had to restart my phone to get data working again. That last metric matters more than any marketing claim.
Airalo: the safe default that costs too much
Airalo is the biggest name in eSIMs for a reason. They partner with carriers in over 190 countries, their app is polished, and buying a plan takes about ninety seconds. I used their Moshi Moshi Europe regional plan for 10 GB over thirty days. It cost $18, which is reasonable until you realize Holafly was offering unlimited data for roughly the same price at the Best time blocking apps freelancers.
The speeds were fine. Not great. Fine. In Lisbon I pulled 38 Mbps down. In Barcelona that dropped to 12 Mbps during evening congestion. The connection never fully died, but video uploads to Dropbox crawled. The real issue is that Airalo feels like a vending machine. It works, but there’s no human support when it doesn’t. I had a billing glitch where I got charged twice for the same plan. The in-app chat gave me a ticket number and silence for four days. I eventually got a refund, but I had already bought a backup plan from Nomad to stay online.
I keep Airalo installed as a backup. If I land somewhere obscure and need data in the next ten minutes, their catalog is unmatched. But for a primary plan on a multi-country trip, I think they’re overpriced and their support is too slow for people who work online for a living.
Holafly: unlimited data with a hidden speed ceiling
Holafly markets aggressively on unlimited data, which is catnip for nomads who burn through gigabytes on Zoom calls and cloud backups. I bought their Europe unlimited plan for $19. The first two days were excellent. I hit 55 Mbps in Madrid and streamed a 4K video without buffering.
Then I noticed the pattern. After roughly 2.5 GB of daily usage, speeds dropped to around 2 Mbps. The FAQ mentions a fair usage policy, but the actual threshold isn’t stated clearly at checkout. For context, 2.5 GB is about two hours of HD video calls. If you’re a remote worker with back-to-back client meetings, you hit that wall by lunch. Once throttled, even Slack messages lagged. The connection didn’t drop, but it became unusable for real work.
The app is the best of the four I tried. It’s clean, it shows remaining data clearly, and the top-up flow is instant. But the product underneath is designed for tourists, not workers. If you’re uploading Instagram stories and checking maps, Holafly is probably fine. If you need reliable video calls for six hours a day, the throttling will make you angry.
I wouldn’t buy Holafly again for a work trip. I might buy it for a vacation where I mostly need maps and restaurant reviews. The branding is confident and the onboarding is slick, but the fair usage policy is the kind of fine print that ruins a Tuesday.
Nomad: cheap, fast, and occasionally broken
Nomad is the price leader. I paid $13 for 10 GB in Europe and $9 for 5 GB in Morocco. The speeds in Portugal were the fastest of the entire test: 62 Mbps down in a Best coworking spaces digital nomads space in Porto. That kind of performance at that price made me genuinely excited about the category again.
But the excitement faded. The Morocco plan activated fine, but I lost data entirely twice in four days. Both times required me to delete the eSIM profile and reinstall it from the app, which is not something you want to do in the back of a taxi when your client is waiting on a Google Meet link. The app itself is functional but bare. There’s no live chat. Support is email-only, and their first response to my outage took eleven hours.
Nomad feels like a startup that nailed the carrier partnerships and hasn’t finished the customer experience yet. If you’re tech-comfortable, patient, and price-sensitive, it’s probably the best value. If you treat mobile data like oxygen and get anxious when Slack goes offline, the savings aren’t worth the stress.
I use Nomad now for short trips where I can afford a hiccup. I wouldn’t rely on it for a high-stakes client week or a destination wedding where I need to be reachable.
Saily: the dark horse I didn’t expect to like
Saily is owned by Nord Security, the same company behind NordVPN and NordPass. I was skeptical because it feels like a brand extension rather than a focused product. I bought their 10 GB Europe plan for $16, which sits between Nomad and Airalo on price.
It was the most consistent performer of the month. Speeds ranged from 35 to 50 Mbps across all three countries. I never lost connection unexpectedly. The app is minimal but reliable. And the surprise feature is that Saily shares Nord’s infrastructure for backend stability, which means their payment and account systems don’t feel like a side project.
The downside is coverage. Saily has fewer countries than Airalo and fewer regional bundles. If you’re doing a multi-continent trip, you might need to stack multiple plans. For a Europe-plus-North-Africa loop, though, it was perfect.
This is the provider I kept after the trip. I deleted Holafly and Nomad. Airalo stayed on my phone as a just-in-case backup. Saily is now my default for anything under two weeks in a region they cover.
A quick breakdown for people who want numbers
| Provider | Price (10 GB Europe) | Speed range | Best for | Worst for |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Airalo | $18 | 12–38 Mbps | Obscure destinations | Support speed, value |
| Holafly | $19 (unlimited) | 2–55 Mbps | Heavy casual usage | Daily work throttling |
| Nomad | $13 | 20–62 Mbps | Budget travelers | Reliability under pressure |
| Saily | $16 | 35–50 Mbps | Consistent remote work | Multi-continent coverage |
These are my real results on an iPhone 15 Pro using local carrier partnerships in May. Your mileage will vary based on your device, the specific towers nearby, and whether a football match is happening down the street.
What I wish I’d known before buying my first eSIM
The biggest mistake I made was not checking whether my plan supported tethering. I needed to share my connection with a laptop during a cafe power outage, and Nomad’s Morocco plan blocked hotspot usage entirely. That’s not always advertised clearly. Read the plan details tab instead of trusting the marketing headline.
The second mistake was buying thirty-day plans when I only needed fourteen days. Most providers don’t prorate. If your trip is two weeks, buy a two-week plan and top up if you need more. Unused data evaporates on day thirty regardless of how much you overpaid.
Third: eSIMs activate on data roaming. If your primary carrier has roaming enabled and you install an eSIM without disabling the physical SIM first, your phone might silently bill your home carrier for background sync while you’re sipping coffee in Lisbon. Turn off roaming on your primary line before you land.
The non-affiliate alternative that still makes sense
If you’re staying in one country for more than a month, skip eSIMs entirely and buy a local prepaid SIM from the airport or a corner store. In Portugal, MEO sells a 30-day plan with 30 GB for €15. In Spain, Vodafone has a tourist SIM with unlimited social media for €20. These plans are faster, cheaper, and come with a local phone number, which eSIM data plans almost never include. The only tradeoff is the twenty minutes of paperwork and the SIM ejector tool you’ll definitely forget in your hotel room.
What digital nomads ask before pulling the trigger
Does every phone work with eSIMs?
No. iPhones from the XS onward support eSIMs. Most Samsung Galaxy models from the S20 series onward do, but budget Android phones often don’t. Google Pixel phones from the 2 onward work fine. If you’re unsure, dial *#06# on your phone. If an EID number appears, you’re good.
Can I keep my home number active while using an eSIM?
Yes, but carefully. You can keep your physical SIM in the phone for calls and texts while using the eSIM for data. The risk is accidental roaming charges if your home carrier uses data in the background. Disable data roaming on your physical SIM line in settings to be safe.
What happens if the eSIM doesn’t activate?
Usually you can delete the eSIM profile and reinstall it without losing the plan. All four providers I tested allow this. If the QR code fails, some providers (Saily, Airalo) also let you activate manually by entering SM-DP+ details. Screenshot your confirmation email before you leave WiFi range.
Are eSIMs secure?
More secure than physical SIMs in one way: they can’t be physically stolen or cloned at a kiosk. But they rely on the same carrier networks, so the security of your data in transit depends on the local provider, not the eSIM company. If you’re on public WiFi, use a Best vpn digital nomads regardless of how you got online.
Can I use the same eSIM in multiple countries?
Only if you buy a regional plan. European eSIMs usually cover thirty to forty countries. Global plans exist but they’re expensive and often throttle outside major markets. If you’re hopping continents, check the coverage map before you buy. Airalo has the widest map. Saily is more limited but deeper in the regions it serves.
Pick a provider that matches your trip, not your personality
The eSIM market is noisy right now. Every provider claims to be the best, and most YouTube reviews are sponsored. My honest read after a month of real use is this: buy Saily if you’re working remotely and need consistency, buy Nomad if you’re price-sensitive and tech-comfortable, buy Holafly if you’re a casual user who wants unlimited data and doesn’t mind throttling, and keep Airalo installed as a backup for weird destinations.
I am not loyal to any of them. I’ll switch again if someone builds faster support or wider coverage at Saily’s price. For now, Saily is the one I actually trust when a client call starts in twelve minutes and I’m in a city I’ve never been to before.
If you’re planning a trip, grab a plan the day before you fly. Test it on your home WiFi to make sure the app works and the eSIM installs cleanly. That five minutes of prep will save you the 4% battery panic I had in Lisbon. And maybe download your hotel confirmation PDF while you’re still on WiFi. Some lessons you only need to learn once.