We sell travel eSIMs, so treat this page the way you would treat any comparison written by one of the brands in it. What we can do is show our working. On 29 September 2026 we opened the websites of Airalo, Holafly, Nomad, Ubigi, GigSky and aloSIM and wrote down what each one charged for Turkey, Morocco and Japan. Then we put our own prices next to theirs.
We also wrote down where each of them does something better than us. There are a few of those, and if one of them matters for your trip, buy from that brand.
What does 5 GB for 30 days cost at Airalo and the alternatives?
We used 5 GB for 30 days because almost everyone sells it, and it is roughly what a one or two week trip uses if you are on maps, WhatsApp and some social media. All prices are in US dollars and were checked on 29 September 2026.
| Brand | Turkey | Morocco | Japan |
|---|---|---|---|
| MegaEsim | $3.49 | $7.29 | $3.78 |
| Airalo | $10.00 | $22.00 | $11.00 |
| Nomad | $9 | $17 | $10 |
| GigSky | $9.29 | No 5 GB plan (2 GB for 30 days is $29.99) | $10.29 |
| aloSIM | $10.00 | $28.00 | $11.00 |
| Ubigi | No 5 GB plan (3 GB is $6, 10 GB is $13) | No 5 GB plan (3 GB for 15 days is $14, 10 GB is $23) | $10 (5 GB for 15 days) |
| Holafly | Sells unlimited day plans only, see the next section | ||
Our Morocco price is the standard plan on Orange. We also sell a three network Morocco plan that moves between Maroc Telecom, Orange and inwi, and that one is $18.99 for the same 5 GB. It is still cheaper than Airalo or aloSIM, but not Nomad, which charged $17.
Saily is missing from the table. Its website blocked our price check, and we would rather leave a gap than print a number we did not see. You can check it yourself on saily.com in a minute.
What about unlimited data?
This is where the comparison gets less simple. Holafly only sells unlimited plans, priced by the day. For 7 days it charged $27.50 in Turkey and Japan and $31.50 in Morocco. For 15 days it was $50.50 in Turkey and Japan and $57.90 in Morocco.
Our unlimited plans are cheaper, at $4.90 for 7 days in Turkey, $7.84 in Japan and $14.70 in Morocco. But they are not the same product. Ours run at full speed for the first 1 GB each day and then drop to 1 Mbps until the allowance resets the next day. That is fine for maps and messaging, even music, but too slow for HD video calls or streaming a film.
Holafly keeps you at full speed all day, although its own pages say a network can slow you down under a fair use policy for up to a day. It also caps sharing your data with other devices at 1 GB a day. So if you watch a lot of video on your phone while you travel, Holafly is probably the better fit, and you pay a lot more for it.
Where are the other brands better than us?
Airalo is the biggest name in travel eSIMs and covers 200+ locations. Its app is available in 53 languages. If you want a brand that thousands of people have already reviewed, that counts for something.
Holafly is the pick for heavy video use, for the reasons above. Its plans also come with 1 GB of backup data each month that it calls Always On.
Nomad gives new users a free 1 GB trial eSIM. That is a nice way to test an eSIM on your phone before a trip without paying anything.
GigSky offers new customers 100 MB for free, and it runs live support by phone as well as chat around the clock. Some people would simply rather talk to someone on the phone.
aloSIM includes a free international phone number with every data purchase, through its sister app Hushed. Most of our plans are data only, so if you need a number for calls and texts, that is a real advantage.
Ubigi belongs to Transatel, part of the NTT group, and sells plans for laptops and connected cars as well as phones. It also has monthly subscriptions, for example 5 GB a month in Japan for $8 with a three month minimum, which can work out well if you visit the same country often.
Where do we come out ahead?
On price, in all three countries we checked. A 5 GB month in Turkey cost about a third of what Airalo, Nomad and aloSIM charged, and the gap in Morocco and Japan was similar.
Every one of our country pages names the network your eSIM connects to, so you know what to look for on your screen when you land. Support answers 24 hours a day by email and WhatsApp, and we have a money back guarantee if you are not happy. You can also use your phone as a hotspot on your normal allowance. We cover 198 countries.
Where we are weaker: we are a smaller company with far fewer reviews than Airalo or Holafly, we have no free trial, and most of our plans do not include a phone number.
Which one should you pick?
If the lowest price for a normal amount of data is what matters, the table above answers it. If you stream video every day, look at Holafly. If you need a phone number for calls and texts, look at aloSIM, and if you want to try an eSIM for free first, Nomad or GigSky will let you. Ignore the headline country counts while you compare, because each brand counts them differently. Check the one country you are actually going to.
For most trips, where you mainly need maps, messages and the odd video call, a 5 GB or unlimited daily plan from any of these brands will do the job. You can see our plans for Turkey, Morocco and Japan, or pick any other country from the menu.
How we checked these prices
All prices come from each brand's own website, checked between 12:48 and 13:02 UTC on 29 September 2026 and checked a second time a few minutes later. We did not use review sites or resellers. Prices change often, sometimes weekly, so treat this as a snapshot and confirm the price on the brand's site before you buy.
A few notes on how some numbers were read. Airalo showed us British pounds at first, so we switched its site to US dollars. Nomad showed prices in pounds and would not switch, so the dollar figures above are the US dollar prices from Nomad's own price list on the same page, not a conversion. GigSky builds its prices in the browser, so we read them from the price list its own page loads. Where a brand had no 5 GB plan, we listed the nearest sizes it did sell.
The pages we read: Airalo Turkey, Airalo Morocco, Airalo Japan, Holafly Turkey, Holafly Morocco, Holafly Japan, Nomad, Ubigi, GigSky Turkey, aloSIM.
Questions people ask
Is MegaEsim really cheaper than Airalo?
On 29 September 2026, yes, in all three countries we checked. A 5 GB plan for 30 days in Turkey costs $3.49 with us, against $10.00 at Airalo that day, and $3.78 in Japan against $11.00. Prices move, so check both sites before you buy.
Why is Holafly so much more expensive?
Holafly sells unlimited data at full speed for the whole day. Our unlimited plans slow to 1 Mbps after the first 1 GB each day. If you stream a lot, Holafly's plan does more, and that is what you are paying for.
Which eSIM gives you a phone number?
Of the brands here, aloSIM includes a free international number through its Hushed app. Most of our plans, and most plans from the other brands, are data only. You keep your own number on your home SIM, so WhatsApp and bank texts still reach you.
Why is Saily not in the comparison?
Saily's website blocked our automated price check on the day we did this. We only list prices we saw on the brand's own site, so we left it out rather than guess.
