eSIMCard in Bulgaria: what we hold, and what we won't guess

What this page can and cannot tell you

We hold no eSIMCard plan for Bulgaria. Not one size, not one duration. eSIMCard turned up in 31 of the 94 countries in our dataset, which is wide coverage by any measure, and Bulgaria was not among them.

Whether that means eSIMCard sells nothing here, or that we simply have not captured it, we can't say. What we can do is set out the market it would have to compete in, priced from providers' own sites where we have checked them, so any quote eSIMCard puts in front of you can be judged in about ten seconds.

Why we hold no eSIMCard price anywhere now

This blank used to be specific to Bulgaria. It no longer is. We carried 78 eSIMCard rows across 31 countries; on 18 August 2026 we read eSIMCard's own pages and found them wrong, and every one of those rows has been withdrawn from the tables and from the cheapest-per-gigabyte ranking.

We could not replace them with the right figures either. eSIMCard prices the same size over the same duration at two or three different amounts, depending on a Standard/Universal toggle, a per-plan speed limit hidden inside each plan's details modal, and carrier sets that vary plan by plan. Our records hold only provider, size, days and price, so any single figure we stored would flatten a throttled plan and a full-speed one into one row. Our eSIMCard page sets out the reasoning.

None of that is a verdict on the shop. eSIMCard has a working checkout, a catalogue far wider than our rows ever showed, and it is the only one of the six sellers here that publishes the host network its plans use — its Japan page names three Japanese operators, where Airalo, Nomad, Saily and Holafly name none anywhere. What we have no read of is its Bulgaria listing, which is why this page still prices the market instead.

The two things we removed

This page used to name A1 and Vivacom as eSIMCard's Bulgarian host network — a pairing we do not hold and no source supports. Inferring a carrier from what other sellers list is exactly the mistake that produced the first version of this page. It also said Vivacom was the best carrier for Bulgaria and that eSIMCard's plan matched it — a claim about a plan we do not have, resting on a network we cannot confirm.

One detail is worth keeping. The old listing described hotspot tethering as supported. Treat that as the seller's own claim rather than ours, and confirm it at checkout if you travel with a laptop.

What Bulgaria actually costs

Airalo's figures below were read off its own site on 13 August 2026 and Nomad's off its own on 17 August 2026. Only Saily's and Holafly's are indicative: they sit in our data without a recent check, so read those as a shape rather than a quote.

Airalo sells Bulgaria under its own product name, Bultel. That is a retail label, not a carrier, and Airalo does not publish which Bulgarian network its plans connect to — nor, for that matter, has anyone confirmed the Bulgarian operators Holafly lists for itself. Saily and Nomad publish no host network anywhere.

Two things fall out of the table. Bulgaria is cheap: $0.72 per GB at 50GB is one of the lowest floors we hold anywhere, and even 5GB comes in at $1.20. And length of validity is nearly free — $6 buys 5GB over a week, $7 buys the same 5GB over a month. A plan that charges several dollars for the longer window is not competitive here, which is why Nomad's verified $9 for 3GB over 30 days looks weak against Airalo's verified $7 for 5GB over the same period — and it looked less weak before anyone checked, when we had that Nomad plan down as $7.

Practically: a price we have actually checked beats any eSIMCard quote above roughly $12 for ten gigabytes, or above $20 for twenty.

The question that comes before any of this

Bulgaria is in the EU. If your everyday SIM is from an EU or EEA country, roam-like-at-home applies and your domestic allowance should work in Sofia at no extra charge. Check your tariff's fair-use cap for roaming, and then buy nothing at all. It is the largest saving available on this page, and no eSIM brand is going to volunteer it.

Coverage, and the local counter

Bulgarian networks are solid in the cities and along the main coast. The gaps are specific: remote hiking trails in the Rhodopes, the Rila mountains above the ski resort bases including the Musala summit area, some deep Black Sea coastal cliffs, and rural villages in the north-west. No travel eSIM in our data lets you choose which network you land on, so if signal on a mountain matters more than convenience, that argues for a local SIM rather than for any particular eSIM brand.

A Bulgarian prepaid SIM runs about $9 at the airport — Vivacom, A1 Bulgaria and Yettel Bulgaria all sell them — and gives you a local number. The cost is paperwork: registration requires a passport or ID. An eSIM needs none, which is the honest reason most short-trip visitors buy one.

The full provider-by-provider comparison is on our Bulgaria hub.