Transparency

Editorial Policy

SD By The Savings Desk

Every number on this site ties back to a public source. This page explains where our data comes from, how we verify it, and how we handle money, mistakes, and editorial decisions.

Who we are

We sell nothing on this site. Our job is simple: pull the real price from the carrier, pull the real price from the eSIM provider, and show you the gap.

We do not ask you to take the ranking on trust. The scoring weights are published on how we calculate, every figure behind a score comes off a page you can open, and the arithmetic runs in code that fails the build if a figure goes missing. HelloRoam does not win every dimension: Holafly is cheaper for the benchmark week and Airalo covers more destinations.

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. When you buy an eSIM through one of our links, the provider pays us a referral fee. That fee comes out of the provider's margin. It does not increase the price you pay. You can read the full disclosure in the affiliate section below.

We started this site because carrier roaming pricing is confusing on purpose. A $12/day pass sounds simple until the bill shows 14 days of charges for a 7-day trip. We wanted a place that shows the math and lets readers decide for themselves.

How we source carrier rates

Every carrier rate on this site is pulled directly from the carrier's public pricing page. We do not use third-party databases, press releases, or user-reported figures as primary sources. The rate you see on our page is the rate the carrier publishes on theirs.

Our primary carrier sources are:

Carrier rates on this site were checked in June 2026 against each carrier's pricing page, and each rate carries that date. If a carrier changes its rates after that check, the page keeps the old figure until the next check, so compare it with the carrier's own page before you travel.

When a carrier runs temporary promotions or limited-time offers, we note the promotion but do not use it as the baseline rate. Comparisons always use the standard published rate, not a promotional price that may expire.

How we source eSIM prices

We price the 5 providers we cover, listed in rubric order: HelloRoam, Holafly, Nomad, Airalo, and Saily. The prices behind the ranking were checked on 30 Oct 2026: HelloRoam's from its live catalogue, and the other four from their own public plan pages as a signed-out visitor. 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.

For per-country comparisons, we quote the cheapest plan that covers a typical one-week trip. When larger bundles offer better per-GB value, we show those alongside the base plan. All 5 providers sell unlimited plans, and we compare them on the 7-day price with each plan's daily full-speed allowance stated beside it.

eSIM prices can change after a capture. If a reader reports a price discrepancy, we re-check the provider's page and correct the figure. Each comparison page shows the date prices were last checked.

Fact-checking process

Every comparison page goes through two checks before publication:

  • Step 1: Data pull. We collect the current rate from the carrier's website and the current eSIM prices from provider plan pages. Each figure is recorded with its source URL and the date checked.
  • Step 2: Code check. The savings arithmetic runs in code that fails the build if a figure goes missing, so a page cannot print a gap without the two figures behind it.

Price errors are corrected once they are reported or found. Factual errors in editorial content (wrong country coverage, incorrect plan features) are corrected and logged on the corrections page.

Affiliate relationship disclosure

We earn affiliate commissions from some of the eSIM providers featured on this site. When you click an affiliate link and purchase a plan, we receive a referral fee. This is how we pay for the research and hosting. eSIM vs Roaming is an independent savings desk; that commission does not change day-pass math or savings rankings, and every ranking page restates the funding note in its first screen.

Here is what the affiliate relationship does and does not affect:

  • Commissions do not change your price. The eSIM plan costs the same whether you use our link or go directly to the provider.
  • How rankings are produced. Providers are ranked on 4 scored dimensions at the weights dated 2026-10-30: Trip Cost 40%, Refund Window 25%, Destination Coverage 20%, and Support Channels 15%. support languages and checkout currencies carry no weight, and the methodology page says why. HelloRoam ranks first on that arithmetic. The weights and the figures behind every score are published, so you can re-run the arithmetic yourself.
  • Every price on this site is a published one. The carrier rate and eSIM price shown on every comparison page are taken from the provider's or carrier's own rate card, and the capture date is printed beside them.
  • All affiliate links are marked. Links to eSIM providers carry the rel="sponsored" attribute, and the footer on every page states the ownership and the commission. Comparison and ranking pages also carry the ownership disclosure above the first ranked table or provider card.

If a provider raises prices to the point where carrier roaming is cheaper for a specific destination, our comparison page will show that, because the gap is computed from the published rates.

Content update schedule

The site runs no fixed refresh cycle. Each figure carries the date it was checked:

  • Carrier rates: Checked June 2026.
  • eSIM provider prices: Checked 30 Oct 2026 for the ranking. 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.
  • Guide content: Guides covering installation steps, compatibility lists, and country-specific notes are updated when providers change their processes.
  • Breaking changes: If a carrier announces a rate change or a provider modifies coverage, the affected pages are updated at the next check.

How rankings are decided

Scores come out of the rubric and nowhere else. The rubric takes published figures in and returns arithmetic out, the weights are printed on this page, and HelloRoam is scored on the same six figures as the other four providers. Anyone can re-run the sum.

We do not use carrier-provided data sheets or marketing materials as sources. All figures come from publicly available pricing pages that any reader can check.

Our editorial decisions are based on one question: does this information help the reader make a more informed decision about travel data? If the answer is yes, we publish it.

Error correction policy

We take accuracy seriously. If you find an error on any page, email corrections@esimvsroaming.com with the page URL, the error, the correct information, and your source.

  • Price errors: Corrected once confirmed. The correction is logged on the corrections page with the date, the original figure, and the corrected figure.
  • Factual errors: Corrected and noted in the correction log. The original text is preserved in the log entry so readers can see what changed.
  • Disputed claims: If a carrier or provider disputes a figure, we re-verify against the public source. If the dispute is valid, we correct and log it. If the public source confirms our original figure, we note the dispute and explain our sourcing.

All corrections are recorded at /corrections. We believe a visible correction log is a stronger trust signal than pretending errors never happen.

AI and automation disclosure

Price comparison tables on this site are generated from checked data using structured templates. The carrier rate, eSIM price, and savings calculation on each country page are computed from the figures recorded at the June 2026 check.

Editorial prose, including country-specific notes, carrier analysis, and guide content, is written by the research team. All content is reviewed for accuracy before publication.

We use automated monitoring to detect when carrier pricing pages change between manual checks. If an automated check flags a price change, a team member verifies the new rate manually before updating any comparison page.

Questions about our process?

Read our methodology or get in touch with the research team.

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Related:About / MethodologyCorrectionsHow We Calculate