eSIM vs roaming: which is cheaper for your trip?
Last updated: 29 October 2026
For most trips, a prepaid travel eSIM costs a fraction of your carrier's roaming charges, and you know the full price before you leave. Roaming still makes sense in a few cases. Here's how to work out which is cheaper for your trip.
How roaming is charged
Carriers bill roaming in one of three ways, and many use a mix:
- Daily passes: a fixed fee for each day you use your phone abroad. It looks small per day but adds up fast on a two-week trip, and it is often charged on any day your phone touches the network, even for a background app update.
- Pay as you go: a price per megabyte. This is where bill shock comes from: one video call or a map download can cost more than a whole travel eSIM.
- Roaming bundles: a fixed amount of data for a set number of days, bought from your carrier. Usually the best roaming deal, but rarely cheaper than a prepaid eSIM for the same data.
Look up your carrier's current roaming page for your destination: that's the number to compare against.
How a travel eSIM is charged
You pay once, up front, for a fixed amount of data (or unlimited data) valid for a set number of days. When it runs out, it stops: there's no way to run up a bill. Prices for some popular destinations, live from our catalog (updated 2026-10-29):
| Country | From | Best price per GB | 10 GB+ for 30 days |
|---|---|---|---|
| United States | $2.99 1 GB, 3 days | $0.85/GB 100 GB · 30 days · $84.99 | $12.99 10 GB, 30 days |
| United Kingdom | $1.99 1 GB, 3 days | $0.41/GB 100 GB · 31 days · $40.99 | $7.99 10 GB, 30 days |
| Germany | $1.99 1 GB, 3 days | $0.41/GB 100 GB · 31 days · $40.99 | $7.99 10 GB, 30 days |
| France | $1.99 Unlimited, 1 day | $0.41/GB 100 GB · 31 days · $40.99 | $6.99 10 GB, 30 days |
| Italy | $1.99 1 GB, 3 days | $0.41/GB 100 GB · 31 days · $40.99 | $7.99 10 GB, 30 days |
| Spain | $1.99 1 GB, 3 days | $0.41/GB 100 GB · 31 days · $40.99 | $7.99 10 GB, 30 days |
| Greece | $1.99 1 GB, 3 days | $0.41/GB 100 GB · 31 days · $40.99 | $7.99 10 GB, 30 days |
| Netherlands | $1.99 1 GB, 3 days | $0.41/GB 100 GB · 31 days · $40.99 | $7.99 10 GB, 30 days |
| Japan | $1.99 1 GB, 3 days | $0.44/GB 50 GB · 3 days · $21.99 | $7.99 10 GB, 30 days |
| Thailand | $2.99 1 GB, 3 days | $1.06/GB 100 GB · 30 days · $105.99 | $15.99 10 GB, 30 days |
| United Arab Emirates | $3.99 1 GB, 3 days | $2.25/GB 20 GB · 15 days · $44.99 | $27.99 10 GB, 30 days |
| Egypt | $2.99 1 GB, 3 days | $1.37/GB 100 GB · 30 days · $136.99 | $19.99 10 GB, 30 days |
A quick way to compare
- Count the days you'll use data abroad.
- Estimate your data: light use (maps, messaging, email) is roughly 0.5 GB a day; heavy use with social media and video is 1–2 GB a day or more.
- Multiply your carrier's daily pass by the days, or price their bundle for that much data.
- Compare it with an eSIM plan of the same size and length on our price table.
When roaming is the better choice
- Your plan already includes it. Some contracts include roaming in certain countries at no extra cost. If you live in the EU or EEA, “roam like at home” rules let you use your normal allowance in other EU/EEA countries, within your carrier's fair-use limits.
- Your phone doesn't support eSIM or is carrier-locked. Check in 30 seconds.
- You need lots of calls on your own number. Data-only eSIMs don't include your number. Calls over WhatsApp, FaceTime or Telegram work, but if you need regular phone calls you may want a roaming call package as well.
Keep your number without paying for roaming data
Most eSIM phones hold two lines at once. Install the travel eSIM and keep your home SIM switched on, so calls and texts to your number still reach you. Then:
- Set the travel eSIM as your mobile data line.
- Turn data roaming off on your home SIM, so it can never use data abroad.
- Check your carrier's prices for incoming calls and texts abroad: some charge for those too.
Step-by-step settings for iPhone and Android are in our setup guide.