About eSIM vs Roaming

Our mission

eSIM vs Roaming exists to expose the true cost of carrier roaming and show travellers the eSIM alternative. Carriers price roaming for people who don't shop around, a flat $12/day here, a throttled “free” allowance there, a $200 pay-per-use bill for those who forget a pass. We translate that opacity into plain numbers: what your carrier charges, what an eSIM costs, and the exact dollar gap between them.

When we launched

eSIM vs Roaming launched in June 2026 with a single goal: show travelers the exact dollar difference between carrier roaming and travel eSIMs. We started because carrier pricing pages bury the real cost behind plan names and daily-pass marketing. A traveler who reads “International Day Pass, $12/day” does not know that a 7-day trip means $84, or that a HelloRoam 1 GB eSIM for a week in Japan costs $3.49 (30 Oct 2026). We built this site to make that math visible.

Our research process

Carrier rate tables were checked in June 2026 against the published pricing pages of AT&T, Verizon, T-Mobile, Xfinity, Vodafone, and EE. The provider prices behind the ranking were checked on 30 Oct 2026, from HelloRoam's live catalogue and the other providers' own plan pages. Destination plan prices come from the catalogue read 29 Oct 2026. Destinations outside it, and a few older pages, keep the plan catalog captured on 3 June 2026. Our country enrichment database covers 213 destinations, cross-referenced against public telecommunications and tourism sources to confirm network availability and local pricing context. Every comparison page is date-stamped with the date its figures were checked so you know exactly how current the data is. For the full methodology, see how we calculate and our editorial policy.

How we source carrier rates

Every carrier figure on this site is taken directly from the carrier's own website — T-Mobile.com, Verizon.com, ATT.com, Vodafone.co.uk, EE.co.uk and Xfinity.com — and checked in June 2026. Each rate on this site carries that checked date, so you can compare it with the carrier's own page before you travel.

How we price eSIMs

We price all 5 providers we cover — HelloRoam, Holafly, Nomad, Airalo, and Saily — in rubric order. Ranking prices were checked on 30 Oct 2026; the destination catalogue was read on 29 Oct 2026. Where prices vary by plan size, we quote the cheapest plan that covers a typical week of use, and show larger bundles where they're better value.

How rates are checked

Carrier rates were checked in June 2026, provider prices on 30 Oct 2026, and the destination catalogue on 29 Oct 2026. Comparison pages carry the date each figure was checked. If you spot a rate that's out of date, our contact page has a rate-correction line.

How rankings work

eSIM vs Roaming is an independent savings desk. Some provider links are affiliate links and this site earns a commission when you buy through them; that commission does not change day-pass math or savings rankings. The ranking comes from the published rubric on how we calculate, run over figures each provider posts on its own pages and the checked prices. HelloRoam ranks first at 9.9 out of 10, ahead of Holafly at 8.8. Every savings figure uses real carrier rates and real eSIM prices. When two options are close, we say so.

Update schedule

Carrier rates: checked June 2026. Provider prices: checked 30 Oct 2026. Destination plan prices come from the catalogue read 29 Oct 2026. Destinations outside it, and a few older pages, keep the plan catalog captured on 3 June 2026. The site runs no fixed refresh cycle, so each figure carries the date it was checked.

Read more

• How we calculate savings — the full methodology behind every dollar figure on this site
• Carrier rate cards — AT&T, Verizon, T-Mobile, Xfinity, Vodafone, and EE rates in one place
• Destinations — carrier vs eSIM prices for 213 countries
• Editorial policy — our standards for sourcing, verification, and affiliate disclosure
• Corrections log — every update to published data, dated and described