Airalo alternatives: Nomad, Holafly, Saily and the two you cannot compare

Which Airalo alternatives are actually worth a look?

Of the Airalo alternatives we cover, Nomad most often beats Airalo on price, and Holafly fits a short unlimited trip. Saily is a third, narrower choice. The other two, eSIMCard and eSIM Go, come with a warning. Our price data for each provider is described below with the date it was read.

None of this is a test of the products. We read public pages and checkout prices. We did not use a plan on a phone.

Is Nomad the best Airalo alternative on price?

Often, yes. Nomad's prices were read from nomadesim.com on 17 August 2026, and Airalo's on 13, 17 and 18 August. In the 47 countries where we hold both, Nomad has the lower cost per gigabyte in 25, Airalo in 20, and two are level. Thailand is the extreme case: 50 GB for 10 days at $12, against Airalo's 50 GB for 30 days at $27.50. In Germany, Nomad's 50 GB for 30 days is $32 and Airalo's is $36.

Airalo wins elsewhere: in the United States its 50 GB month is $42 against Nomad's $57 (a sale price at the time we read it). Nomad's own homepage, which we read on 8 October 2026, talks about add-ons for an eSIM you already have and about hotspot support. It did not mention unlimited plans on that page, though our price check found unlimited rows in 45 countries. More in Airalo vs Nomad and on our Nomad page.

Is Holafly a good Airalo alternative for unlimited data?

For a short unlimited trip, it is simple. Holafly sells only unlimited, at 3, 5, 7, 10, 15 and 30 days, so there is no size to choose. Its prices were read on 18 August 2026 on esim.holafly.com. In Spain it is $23.90 for 7 days against Airalo's $23.50. In Germany, 30 days is $73.90 against Airalo's $59. Where we can compare unlimited plans of the same length, Airalo is the cheaper one 223 times, Holafly 18 times and they are level 7 times. Holafly's own pages are also not consistent about hotspot limits. Detail in Airalo vs Holafly and the Holafly page.

What about Saily?

Saily sells five metered plans per country in the data we checked, topping out at 20 GB over 30 days, and no unlimited plan in our rows. Our Saily readings are partial (checked on 18 August 2026), and Saily covers 48 of our 94 countries, so it cannot replace Airalo in the other 46. In the 48 countries where both sell a 20 GB plan for 30 days, the two prices are within a dollar of each other in 33. Read our Saily page before relying on a number.

eSIMCard and eSIM Go: one is a shop, one is not

eSIMCard has a working storefront at esimcard.com, but we have withdrawn all 78 prices we held for it, because its catalogue (standard and universal lines, speed limits, different carriers per plan) does not fit our records. We cannot give you an eSIMCard price here. See the eSIMCard page.

eSIM Go is unbuyable by a traveller. When we opened esim-go.com on 18 August 2026 it had no basket, no checkout and no consumer prices, only a Contact Sales button. It sells to businesses that resell. We hold 34 eSIM Go rows and none of them can be verified, so do not use them. See the eSIM Go page.

Why look for an Airalo alternative at all?

There are three honest reasons. Price is the first: in 25 of the 47 countries where we hold prices for both, Nomad's best rate per gigabyte is lower. Coverage is the second: in the other direction, Airalo is often the only seller on our list, in 46 of 94 countries, so for China, Kenya or Sri Lanka there may be no Airalo alternatives among the five providers we cover. The third is the plan shape. If you want a single unlimited product with no sizes, Holafly is built that way, and if you want tethering without thinking about it, the hotspot terms of each seller differ (see Airalo unlimited data).

What does not separate them, on the pages we read, is the network. Airalo names no host carrier for any of the 94 countries, and neither do Nomad or Holafly. So switching to one of the Airalo alternatives will not reliably get you onto a better network, and we cannot say that any of them will.

How should you choose an Airalo alternative?

1. Short trip, heavy use, no counting: Holafly's unlimited, or Airalo's own unlimited, which is usually a little cheaper where we can compare.
2. A month in one country with big data: price Nomad first, then Airalo. They swap places country by country.
3. Several countries in one trip: this is where Airalo's regional and global plans matter. See Airalo global eSIM.
4. You want to know which carrier you will use: Airalo, Nomad and Holafly name none on the pages we read, so we cannot name one either.

Prices for all of them are ranked on the cheapest eSIM page, and the original is on our Airalo review. For Airalo's own numbers, see Airalo pricing. Whichever of the Airalo alternatives you pick, price the exact country and length at checkout first.