How we compare prices

What this page is for

Any comparative price claim we make is either reproducible or it is advertising. This page defines the method precisely enough that someone outside Hoam eSIM could repeat the collection and get the same answer, and publishes the data they would need to check ours. No savings figure appears anywhere on this site unless it links here.

The method

Sample of itineraries. 24 routes, drawn from our list of 309 multi-country routes as it stood on 15 October 2026 — the combinations that drew most of the search clicks to our route pages, according to Google Search Console. The list has grown since; the sample has not been redrawn. The list is alphabetical, and the rule was fixed before any price was read:

• 12 routes from the whole list. Every 26th route, starting with the first. One route named a country we no longer sell, so we took the next one that we do.
• 12 routes from the 67 that stay inside Europe. Every 6th route, starting with the first. We drew a separate European sample because Europe is where regional bundles compete most directly with choosing your own countries, and a sample of the whole list includes no route that stays inside Europe.

Selecting the itineraries after seeing the prices is the failure mode this rule exists to prevent. The routes are listed in the dataset, and anyone can redraw them from the same list.

Providers compared. Airalo, Saily and Holafly, the three providers our comparison pages cover in full. Nomad eSIM is not included yet. It is sold at nomadesim.com by LotusFlare, Inc., and its former domain, getnomad.app, redirects there.

What counts as a matching plan. For each route we took the lowest-priced single eSIM that covers every country on it — a regional or global eSIM, since none of these providers lets you choose your own countries — with at least 5 GB and at least 30 days. If an exact 5 GB, 30-day plan existed we used it. If the only qualifying plan was longer, we used it and marked it in the dataset. That happens on the global plans, whose smallest 5 GB option lasts 60 days. That gives the other provider more days than we do, never fewer.

Holafly is listed but not counted. Holafly sells unlimited data by the day, so it has no 5 GB Day plan to match. It also sells monthly subscriptions (Light, 25 GB, US$49.90 a month, and Unlimited, US$64.90 a month) that start at purchase and renew until cancelled. We did not include them. We show its 30-day price in the dataset so you can see it, but it is left out of every savings figure on this page. An unlimited plan is a different product, and a percentage against it would be meaningless.

Currency. All prices are in US dollars, as each provider displayed them, or as its own catalogue returned them with US dollars requested. No currency conversion was needed.

Tax and fees. Airalo, Saily and Holafly each state in their terms that displayed prices include tax, and so do ours: the Hoam eSIM price is the amount charged at checkout, with nothing added.

Promotions. Excluded on every side, ours included. We recorded list prices only. Saily shows a cashback credit of 3% on every plan, and Airalo pays 5% to 10% back in Airmoney, depending on the loyalty level. Both are credit towards a later purchase, not a lower price, so neither is deducted.

Collection date. Every price was read on 15 October 2026.

Results

Of the 24 routes, 2 had no comparison at all: no single Airalo, Saily or Holafly eSIM covers Nepal together with other countries. Both were Australia + China + Nepal and India + Nepal + Sri Lanka + United Kingdom, which Hoam eSIM sells for US$33. The figures below cover the other 22.

The difference is measured against the lower of the Airalo and Saily prices for the same route.

Where we cost more. All four are on the whole-list sample. Our price for a route is the price of its most expensive country, and on each of these a regional plan covering the route is priced below that:

The headline figure. The largest saving we measured is 64%. Hoam eSIM charged US$7.00 for 5 GB over 30 days on Albania + Greece, Albania + Turkey and Croatia + Italy + Serbia, where the lowest-priced matching plan was Airalo Europe (Eurolink) at US$19.50. The same 64% came up on Turkey + United Kingdom and on Pakistan + Uzbekistan, against Saily at US$19.49. A saving above 64% is not supported by this study, and we do not claim one.

The data

The full table, one row per route with every provider's product, plan size, validity, price and source page, is published in two formats:

• CSV
• JSON

The current version is 2026-10-15.1, the first collection. Each later collection will be published as a new file beside this one, and earlier files stay up.

Limitations

• One collection date. Prices move, and a regional plan's price can move a whole region of this table at once.
• One plan size. Everything here is 5 GB for 30 days. Other sizes can rank differently, and our prices scale differently from bundle prices as size grows.
• Retail list prices only. No promotions, partner prices or loyalty credit, on any side.
• Prices as seen from one location. Some providers vary the currency or price they show by the visitor's country. We requested US dollars and recorded what came back.
• No assessment of network quality or speed. A lower price on a slower or narrower network is not the same product, and this study does not measure that.
• What travellers buy, not what they use. A plan that is too large costs more than one that fits, and this study does not model how much data a given trip needs.
• Single-country plans not combined. A traveller could buy a separate local eSIM for each country. We compared one eSIM per trip, because that is what we sell and what the regional plans are sold as.

Review schedule

Prices are re-collected at least every quarter, using the same routes and the same rules, and published as a new version. If a new collection contradicts a figure published anywhere on this site, the claim changes to match the new data — including when the new figure is less flattering.