Airalo travel eSIM
Overview
What is Airalo?
Airalo is a travel eSIM provider, headquartered in Singapore and founded in 2019, that sells prepaid data plans for 200+ countries and regions. It offers local, regional and global eSIMs, with unlimited tiers governed by a fair use policy (3 GB/day at full speed, then 1 Mbps). Hotspot tethering is allowed where the device and network support it, and entry plans start from $4.00 on Simscanner's tracked country pages. Simscanner records these facts from Airalo's own help pages; it does not sell, price, or rank eSIMs.
Facts verified · scores pending. Brand facts are sourced (airalo.com, retrieved 1 Jun 2026). Speed, reliability and review scores stay pending until measured per country.
What Airalo is
Airalo, operated by Airalo Pte. Ltd. in Singapore and launched in 2019, describes itself as the world's first eSIM store. It sells prepaid mobile data plans , as local (single-country), regional, and global eSIMs , that travellers install on an eSIM-capable, unlocked phone to get online abroad without a physical SIM. Installation is handled in the Airalo app or by scanning a QR code, and rechargeable eSIMs can be topped up from the app's My eSIMs tab rather than buying a fresh plan.
Purchases are managed through Airalo's app (iOS and Android) and website. Airalo applies a 14-day right to withdraw that expires the moment a plan is activated; a wrong-purchase refund is issued as Airmoney store credit rather than a card reversal. Identity verification (eKYC, such as a passport upload) is requested only for eSIMs in certain countries, not on every order.
This page is a factual record of what Airalo offers and how Simscanner tracks it, not a recommendation. Simscanner does not sell eSIMs and names no best brand. Brand-level facts here are read from Airalo's own help pages and dated; per-country prices, networks, speed, and review signals are sourced separately and stay pending where Simscanner has no primary source.
Countries tracked
Airalo states it sells eSIMs for 200+ countries and regions. Simscanner currently lists an Airalo plan on 72 published country pages, each linking to that country's full comparison. The 72 figure is Simscanner's own count of where it has sourced a plan, not Airalo's coverage claim.
72 country pages list Airalo
SourcedEach Airalo listing is read from the brand's own plan page or a reputable aggregator and dated. Examples of where Airalo is sourced include the United States (on T-Mobile), Japan (KDDI au / NTT Docomo), France (Orange), and Thailand (True / AIS). Per-country prices and networks appear on each country page.
Open any published country page to see which brands are compared there and how Airalo's plan reads against them.
Regions tracked
Simscanner tracks eight canonical regions. A region shows as covered only once Airalo's regional plan for it is independently verified. In preview, every region reads as pending.
Coverage
How clearly a brand publishes the country list for each plan , and how Simscanner checks it.
Coverage transparency measures whether a brand publishes, on its own plan pages, the exact list of countries each plan includes , so a traveller can confirm a destination is covered before relying on it. Simscanner reads that published list directly from the brand source and re-verifies it on a schedule, rather than repeating marketing claims about how many countries are "supported".
Airalo offers three plan families: local eSIMs for a single country, regional eSIMs that bundle a set of neighbouring countries, and global eSIMs spanning many destinations. Simscanner sources the local-plan listing per country page; it does not restate Airalo's "200+" headline as its own coverage figure. For how breadth is weighed across brands, see the coverage methodology.
Local, regional & global plans
Airalo names included countries on each plan page; Simscanner sources the local listing per country.
SourcedRe-verification cadence
Coverage is re-checked at least every 90 days once verified.
PendingLocal network transparency
Which local carrier a brand connects to in each country shapes real-world speed and reliability. Simscanner maps this country by country from sourced data , never from assumption.
Sourced per country, not brand-wide
Per-countryAiralo rides a local carrier in each market, so the network differs by country. Sourced examples include T-Mobile in the United States, KDDI au / NTT Docomo in Japan, Orange in France, and True / AIS in Thailand. Each mapping lives on its country page with a retrieved date; Simscanner does not assert one brand-wide carrier.
Unlimited and fair use policy
Whether a brand markets "unlimited" plans, and whether it publishes a fair use policy (FUP) threshold, is one of Simscanner's tracked categories. Thresholds are only ever shown as a sourced quote , never estimated.
Airalo , unlimited & FUP
FUP sourcedAiralo does sell unlimited-data plans, and it publishes a fair use policy that governs them. Per Airalo's own policy page, unlimited plans run at full speed up to 3 GB per day; beyond that daily threshold the connection is throttled to 1 Mbps, and the high-speed allowance resets at midnight local time. The plan is still usable after the threshold , it simply runs slower until the next reset.
"Unlimited data plans are throttled to 1 Mbps after 3 GB of high-speed data per day, resetting at midnight local time." , paraphrased from Airalo's fair use policy, retrieved 1 Jun 2026.
Note: not every country page carries an Airalo unlimited plan , the daily-FUP tier appears on markets such as Japan and France. Background reading: are "unlimited" eSIMs really unlimited? and what is FUP on an unlimited eSIM? · Category definition: how we score unlimited & FUP →
Hotspot tethering
Hotspot (tethering) support varies by brand and sometimes by plan. Simscanner states a brand's policy only from its own published wording, with the date retrieved.
Some travellers depend on tethering , sharing the eSIM connection with a laptop, tablet, or a travel companion's phone. Because policies differ and occasionally change by plan, Simscanner does not infer hotspot support; it records the brand's stated allowance verbatim, with a retrieved date.
Airalo permits tethering and personal hotspot use where the device and the local network support it. It does not publish a separate hotspot data cap , the shared traffic draws on the same plan allowance (and, on unlimited plans, the same 3 GB/day fair use threshold). For how this category is weighed, see hotspot with a travel eSIM.
Hotspot allowed?
Yes , where the device and local network support it. No separate hotspot cap.
AllowedSource & retrieved date
airalo.com help centre, retrieved 1 Jun 2026.
SourcedDevice compatibility & activation
The general requirements that apply to any travel eSIM. Brand- or model-specific details are only listed once sourced.
An Airalo plan needs a device that is both eSIM-capable and carrier-unlocked. Airalo supports three install methods: direct in-app install, scanning a QR code, or entering the activation details manually. A plan is typically installed before departure and switched on after arrival.
Those install methods are sourced from Airalo's own guides. Simscanner does not publish a supported-device list it has not sourced; model-specific compatibility (which phones carry an eSIM slot) is governed by the handset maker, not Airalo, and is listed only where Simscanner has a primary source.
Requires an eSIM-capable, unlocked device
A general requirement for every travel eSIM.
GeneralInstall in-app, by QR, or manual entry
Three install methods sourced from Airalo's own guides.
SourcedModel-specific compatibility
Supported-device specifics are listed only when sourced.
PendingSpeed & reliability signals
Performance depends on the local network a brand rides on in each country, so Simscanner reports it country by country from public performance data , not as a single brand-wide figure.
Speed data pending
PendingBecause a brand's real-world speed reflects the local carrier it connects to, Simscanner does not publish a global speed score for Airalo. Sourced speed and reliability signals appear on the relevant country pages once verified for that destination.
Reviews & user sentiment
A summary of signal, not an editorial verdict. Simscanner never invents ratings and never republishes a number without a primary source.
Independent review signals for Airalo are pending. Simscanner does not republish App Store, Play Store, or third-party ratings without a primary source. When sourced, each rating is shown with its review count and the date it was fetched , never as a Simscanner score, and never emitted as rating schema.
Where Airalo data is pending
An honest ledger of every field still under verification. Airalo is not penalised for pending data , it simply isn't ranked on a field until that field is independently sourced.
Compared with
How Airalo lines up against its three closest peers , Holafly, Nomad, and Saily , on the facts each brand publishes about itself. These are sourced facts, not Simscanner scores: a brand is described, never ranked. Speed and review rows stay pending because Simscanner has not measured them.
| Category Simscanner tracks |
AiraloThis profile
|
HolaflyPeer profile | NomadPeer profile | SailyPeer profile | HelloRoamPeer profile |
|---|
Full head-to-head pages pending
Coming soonSourced, country-by-country head-to-head pages publish once both brand profiles reach verified status. The preview-state comparison for Airalo and Holafly is already published, with pending cells shown as a designed holding state rather than estimates.
How Simscanner profiles Airalo
Every category is defined publicly and scored from primary sources. A brand reaches verified only when each required field is sourced , and is re-checked on a schedule.
Coverage breadth
The published country list per plan, read from the brand's own pages.
how-we-score#country-coverage →Unlimited & FUP honesty
Whether "unlimited" is marketed, and whether a FUP threshold is published.
how-we-score#unlimited-fup →Hotspot policy
The brand's stated tethering allowance, quoted with a retrieved date.
how-we-score#hotspot-policy →The brand's official URL appears once, above, with rel="nofollow noopener". Simscanner did not receive payment from Airalo, and Airalo did not review this page before publication.