What independence means here
- No brand pays for ranking position, inclusion, or visibility
- No brand reviews or approves a draft before publication
- No affiliate links sitewide in Phase 1
- The only thing that moves a ranking is a better source
About · Last reviewed 01 Jun 2026 · v1
About Simscanner
In one line: what is Simscanner?
Simscanner is an independent travel eSIM comparison site that ranks brands country by country and across regions. It compares the facts that decide a trip: country coverage, validity, hotspot policy, and fair use limits. It never sells eSIMs, shows no prices, and accepts zero paid placements.
At a glance
Key facts about Simscanner
Six self-contained statements that describe how Simscanner is run. Each one is a verifiable editorial-policy commitment, not a marketing claim.
- Independent by design. Simscanner ranks travel eSIM brands but sells none of them, so no commercial outcome depends on which brand ranks where.
- Zero paid placements. No brand pays for ranking position, inclusion, language, or visibility, and there are no affiliate links sitewide in Phase 1. See zero paid placements.
- Sourcing discipline. Every brand, country, region, and plan claim is read from a primary source and recorded with a URL and a retrieval date. If a claim cannot be sourced, it is not published.
- British-English editorial standard. Copy is written in British English to one house style, so terms like favour, licence, and catalogue are used consistently across every page.
- Published review cadence. Pages carry a "Last reviewed" date and are re-verified on fixed windows, with plan data, rankings, and regulatory claims each on their own schedule. Windows are set out in the methodology.
- Confidence is labelled, never inflated. Each page is marked preview, partial, or verified, and a page is never lifted to verified to meet a launch date.
The entity
What is Simscanner?
Simscanner is an independent travel eSIM comparison website. It exists for travellers who want to compare brands on the data that actually matters for a trip: country coverage, validity, hotspot policy, fair use limits, and the local network each brand maps to. It does not sell eSIMs and it shows no prices.
The site publishes a small set of page types: country pages, region pages, descriptive brand profiles, head-to-head comparisons, and plain-language guides. Every ranked term resolves to a defined term on the methodology or on how we score, so a reader can always trace what a label means and where the underlying fact came from.
Rankings are always per category, never a single overall winner. A composite score would hide the trade-offs travellers actually face, so a brand can lead on country coverage and sit mid-table on hotspot policy. There is deliberately no one best eSIM for everyone.
Independence
How does Simscanner stay independent?
Independence is enforced by policy, not promised in passing. Three commitments keep editorial decisions separate from the brands Simscanner compares.
What a brand cannot do
- Pay to rank higher, appear, or shape the language used about it
- Pre-review a ranking before it is published
- Remove a sourced fact by request alone
The full policy, with the QA gates that enforce it, lives at zero paid placements. The sourcing and corrections rules that sit alongside it are set out in the editorial policy.
The editorial team
Who writes Simscanner?
Simscanner is written and maintained by its editorial team, working to one published house style. The site describes roles and standards rather than personalities, and it does not attach named authors or claimed credentials to pages it cannot stand behind.
Editorial work on Simscanner is organised around three responsibilities. Researchers read primary sources, the brand's own plan page, the country's telecom regulator, and the local network operator, and record each claim with a URL and a retrieval date. Editors check that every visible claim traces back to one of those sources, hold the British-English house style, and decide whether a page has earned a preview, partial, or verified label. A corrections owner handles reports of errors against the published timeline.
Simscanner does not run its own speed tests or coverage drives, and it does not publish anonymous opinion dressed up as a review. Where a brand fact has not yet been verified, the page shows it as pending rather than guessing. This is an E-E-A-T stance built on transparency of process: every claim is traceable to a source and a date, and the standards that govern it are published on the methodology and the editorial policy.
Funding and revenue
How does Simscanner make money?
Phase 1 of Simscanner publishes without any commercial relationship with the brands it covers. There are no paid placements, no brand sponsorship, and no affiliate links anywhere on the site. Reading a brand's public product page to record a fact is not a paid relationship, and it never affects where that brand ranks.
If a commercial relationship is ever introduced, for example paid API access for licensing data, it would be disclosed sitewide on every affected page before it went live, and the change would be recorded with a dated revision in the zero paid placements policy and the editorial policy. No relationship is permitted to influence ranking, inclusion, language, or visibility. The commercial arrangement and the editorial ranking stay fully separated.
The difference
How is Simscanner different?
Most eSIM comparison sites rank by affiliate commission and lead with a single overall winner. Simscanner is built the other way round.
- Per-category, not overall. There is no single best eSIM. Each category answers one question with one sourced measurement, so the trade-offs stay visible.
- Sourced and dated, not paraphrased. Every fact is read from a primary source and carries a retrieval date. Marketing copy, affiliate review sites, and user-submitted reviews are not accepted as sources.
- Honest about confidence. Pages are labelled preview, partial, or verified, and unsourced fields are shown as pending rather than estimated.
- No prices, no coupons, no affiliate links. Simscanner records what brands publish themselves and does not chase weekly promo codes.
The rules behind all of this are public: read the methodology for sourcing and freshness, and how we score for the v1 categories.
Corrections and contact
If you spot something we got wrong
Write to the editorial team through the contact page. Reports are handled on a published timeline: acknowledgement within 2 working days, investigation within 5, resolution within 7. Brands cannot pre-review rankings, and a sourced fact is not removed by request alone. The only thing that moves a ranking is a better source.
Common questions
About Simscanner FAQs
What is Simscanner?
Simscanner is an independent travel eSIM comparison site. It ranks brands country by country and compares regional plans across the countries each region covers, on coverage, validity, hotspot policy, and fair use limits. It does not sell eSIMs, shows no prices, and accepts zero paid placements. Rankings are per category, never a single overall winner.
Is Simscanner independent?
Yes. No brand pays for ranking position, inclusion, language, or visibility, and no brand reviews a draft before publication. There are no affiliate links sitewide in Phase 1. Editorial decisions are independent of any commercial relationship, and the only thing that moves a ranking is a better source. The full policy is at /zero-paid-placements.
Who writes Simscanner?
Simscanner is written and maintained by its editorial team, working to one published British-English house style. Researchers read primary sources and date every claim, editors check that each visible claim traces to a source and assign the page a preview, partial, or verified label, and a corrections owner handles reported errors. The governing standards are published on the methodology and editorial policy.
How does Simscanner make money?
Phase 1 of Simscanner publishes without any commercial relationship with the brands it covers: no paid placements, no sponsorship, and no affiliate links. If a commercial relationship is ever introduced, it will be disclosed sitewide before it goes live and recorded with a dated revision to the zero paid placements and editorial policies. No relationship is permitted to influence ranking, inclusion, language, or visibility.
Does Simscanner test the eSIMs itself?
No. Simscanner does not run speed tests or coverage drives. Every claim is read from a primary source, the brand's plan page, the country's telecom regulator, or the local network operator's page, and recorded with a retrieval date. Where a fact has not yet been verified, the page shows it as pending rather than estimated. The full sourcing rules are on the methodology.
How do I report an error on Simscanner?
Write to the editorial team through the contact page. Reports follow a published timeline: acknowledgement within 2 working days, investigation within 5, and resolution within 7. A corrected fact carries a dated revision note. Brands cannot pre-review rankings, and a sourced fact is not removed by request alone. The only thing that moves a ranking is a better source.