What data really costs in Egypt, and where it stops
The cheapest eSIM data we have verified in Egypt is $2.05 a gigabyte — roughly three times the going rate in Europe. Nothing here is sold above 20 GB.
Egypt is an expensive place to buy data
Start with the number that frames everything: the lowest rate we have confirmed for Egypt is $2.05 a gigabyte, from Airalo's 20 GB for 15 days at $41, read off Airalo's own site on 13 August 2026. In Croatia or the Czech Republic the equivalent figure is around $0.70. You are paying about three times European rates for the same commodity.
That matters most for how much you buy. In a cheap market the advice is to over-buy and stop worrying; here, over-buying is genuinely expensive, and the local SIM deserves a proper look rather than a shrug.
The market really does stop at 20 GB
We say this carefully, because it is the kind of claim that goes wrong. We read every plan we hold for Egypt, and the largest is 20 GB. There is no 50 GB tier of the sort that sets the floor in most European countries, which is precisely why the Egyptian floor is so high.
Verified prices below were read from the provider's own site — Airalo's on 13 August 2026, Nomad's on 17 August 2026. The rest come from our plan data and have not been re-checked, so treat them as indicative.
| Plan | Price | Per GB | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Airalo 20 GB / 15 days | $41 | $2.05 | Verified |
| Airalo 20 GB / 30 days | $42 | $2.10 | Verified |
| Nomad 3 GB / 30 days | $12 | $4 | Verified |
| Nomad 20 GB / 30 days | $37 | $1.85 | Verified |
| Airalo 10 GB / 30 days | $33 | $3.30 | Verified |
| Saily 1 GB / 7 days | $8.99 | $8.99 | Verified |
| Airalo 5 GB / 30 days | $20 | $4 | Verified |
The ladder is unusually flat and unusually steep at once. Only the 20 GB plans break $2.50 a gigabyte; everything from 1 GB to 10 GB sits between $2.42 and $4. Buying small does not save you much per gigabyte here, and buying large does not save you nearly as much as it would elsewhere.
Unlimited is competitive here, which is rare
Because metered data is dear, the unlimited plans stop looking like a luxury. Holafly's verified three-day unlimited is $19.90. Airalo's verified 3 GB for three days is $12 — the same money for a hard cap instead of none.
The same holds at five days: Holafly's indicative unlimited is $19.50, while Airalo's verified 5 GB for seven days is $19. In most countries that comparison is embarrassing for unlimited. In Egypt it is close enough that if you are on a Nile cruise or a dive week and cannot predict usage, the unlimited plan is a defensible buy rather than a mistake. Beyond ten days it slips again — the indicative 30-day unlimited at $74.90 is a lot of money next to $42 for 20 GB.
The local SIM, and the passport rule
Vodafone and Orange SIMs are sold at Cairo International Airport, at Sharm el-Sheikh and Hurghada, and in city stores nationwide. A tourist data package at the counter runs about $8 in our data. A passport is required for registration, so budget time for a form.
At Egyptian eSIM prices, $8 has to buy only about 4 GB to beat everything in the table above. That is a low bar, and it is why we would ask at the counter here even though we would not bother in most of Europe. What we cannot do is settle it for you: we do not hold the data allowance on those tourist packs, so the comparison ends with a question you have to put to the shop.
Networks and coverage
Vodafone Egypt has the strongest nationwide coverage, including Luxor, Aswan, Sinai and the Red Sea resorts, and is the one to ask for by name if you are buying a physical SIM for a Nile cruise.
Which network a travel eSIM lands on is a different question, and largely an unanswered one. Airalo does not publish a host network for Egypt — its plans are sold as Giza Mobile, which is Airalo's own product name and not an operator. Holafly shows Egyptian carriers against some of its rows, and those are unverified. eSIMCard is the only seller that publishes host networks anywhere, though the Egyptian carriers our own data held for it came from this site's text rather than from eSIMCard. Nomad and Saily show none. An earlier version of this page stated flatly that Airalo was an Orange Egypt service; the data does not support that and it is gone.
Expect dead ground in the Western Desert and Sahara interior — Siwa is reachable, deeper desert is not — on road stretches in Upper Egypt between Luxor and Abu Simbel, and in the Sinai interior mountains. Hotel, cruise-ship and tourist-restaurant WiFi is good, and Luxor and Aswan hotels are reasonable, which takes real pressure off a small plan. Emergency calls work on any Egyptian network without an active plan.
Full provider-by-provider plan lists are on the Egypt hub.
Common questions
Why is data so expensive in Egypt compared with Europe?
Partly because nobody sells a large plan here. The biggest package we hold for Egypt is 20 GB, and it is in the 50 GB tiers that European prices fall to $0.70 a gigabyte or below. Without one, the cheapest rate we can verify in Egypt is $2.05 a gigabyte. The practical consequence is that buying more data than you need costs real money here, so estimate honestly rather than over-buying by habit.
Which network do travel eSIMs use in Egypt?
We do not know for most of them, and we would rather say that than guess. Airalo publishes no host network for any country, Egypt included; its Egyptian plans are branded Giza Mobile, which is a product name. Holafly publishes none either, and the Egyptian operators once shown against its rows came from our own data rather than from Holafly. eSIMCard's own listing is the only one that names anything, and the Egyptian carriers our data held for it were ours rather than its. Vodafone Egypt has the best coverage in the country, but that is a fact about the operator and not a reason to pick one eSIM over another.
Do I need my passport to buy an Egyptian SIM card?
Yes. Registration requires a passport at the airport counters and in city stores alike, so it is a form-filling transaction rather than a quick purchase. A travel eSIM needs no ID at all, which is worth something on a tight arrival — but at $2.05 a gigabyte and up, it is worth asking what the local pack includes before you write off the queue.