In a world where we all want, or in some cases, need to stay connected, getting online while abroad has become a necessity for many. 

Airalo is perhaps the most known of a number of new(ish) apps that claims you can “Stay connected, wherever you travel, at affordable rates”, solving a long-standing problem. Our team has traveled around the world extensively using eSIMs including Airalo, so we’ll be putting that statement to the test, looking into ease of use, signal, pricing and more in this Airalo review.

Who and what is Airalo?

Founded in Singapore in 2019, in their own words,

In layman’s terms, that means that if your phone is compatible, then you can download an eSIM that allows you to access a temporary plan from a local network in a foreign country, thus bringing down the cost of getting online overseas and avoiding those high roaming fees.

• Users: 5 million+ (Aug 2023)
• Countries served: 201
• Year founded: 2019

What is an eSIM? 

An eSIM, short for embedded SIM, represents a major shift, and we think upgrade, from the traditional physical SIM cards that have been used in mobile devices for years. Unlike the conventional physical SIM cards which need to be purchased from a store or online and inserted into a device’s slot, an eSIM is integrated directly into the device’s hardware. This integration effectively allows you to shop for SIMs and carrier plans online right from your device, just like you’ve been able to do in retail for years. eSIMs make it simple to change plans on the go without collecting and physically swapping out fiddly tiny sim cards.

How does Airalo work?

Fundamentally, Airalo is a mobile app that, once downloaded, gives you access to an eSIM store full of local carrier plans to use around the world. For a full, detailed breakdown of how to use it, make sure that you check out our step by step setup guide. 

The Airalo setup process

The Airalo setup process is essentially the following: 

1. Download Airalo to your phone using the App Store (iOS/Apple) or the Play Store (Android).
2. Airalo offers you the choice of purchasing from 1 specific country, for a region/continent, or even a global SIM. Find the right option for you.
3. Browse the plans available to find the right fit for you. Make sure to scroll all the way to the bottom; some countries have additional discounted plans hidden there.
4. Confirm the plan details.
5. Make your purchase.
6. Install the eSIM.
7. Ensure settings are correct.

For further information, Airalo themselves offer a complete guide on their site.

Is my phone compatible with Airalo?

To be able to use Airalo, you must have a phone that:

• Is able to download apps from the App Store (iOS/iPhone) or Android (Play Store).
• Is compatible with eSIMs.
• Ideally is Dual Sim compatible (most phones with eSIM functionality will be).
• Is unlocked. Only unlocked phones are able to be used with multiple networks.

Most phones built in the last 5 or so years should be eSIM and Dual Sim compatible, especially those mid-high end phones from big manufacturers such as Apple, Google, Samsung, etc. There are various ways to check this manually, but we think the best way to check is to go ahead and check our eSIM compatibility guide.

Is Airalo easy to use?

We think that Airalo is generally very user-friendly, guiding you step by step with clearly guided options. However, ease of use may vary based on your general tech literacy and familiarity with smartphones. Our step by step eSIM setup guide here will run you through all that you need to know as well as give you some helpful hints and tips to navigate the purchase and install process. We passed this guide over to some less tech savvy relatives and they were able to set an eSIM up and running by themselves so we call that a win!

Registration on the app comes in the form of either manual sign up or you can simply use your Google, Apple or Facebook profiles to speed that process up. We think the app itself is clean and simple, there really aren’t many complexities to it. Once you’ve downloaded and registered with Airalo, you’ll always land on the shop page, with a number of their most popular countries listed. Your other 2 options are  the “My eSIMs” and “Profile” tabs explained below.

My eSIMs: Here, you can check what country or region eSIMs you’ve purchased and how much data and validity each one has. If you wish to top-up, you can do it from here.

Profile: The other section is simply your profile. The most exciting thing to see here is your status, in this instance “Platinum Traveler” and the Airmoney & Membership option, basically your loyalty scheme with Airalo which can save you money. Take note as we’ll dive deeper into this later in the review, but you can also jump straight to it here.

Store Homepage: This is going to be your most visited part of the app. From here you have the option to choose the Region (continent), global tab or simply just search for whichever country you require.

Once you’ve chosen, you’ll land on a number of different sim options for your chosen country or region to choose from. 

Check this video for an example of the hidden sales price:

Another thing we like is the app will send you a notification when you’re running low on data. When you get to 25% of your total package amount left, the app will let you know.

Is Airalo easy to install?

Installation is fairly straightforward. We have actually gone into great detail on the quickest and simplest way to install your Airalo eSIM on our eSIM setup guide, we highly recommend this page for the full breakdown.

In summary, Airalo offers you 3 different choices to install your eSIM. They are

1. Direct (from the app).
2. QR Code.
3. Manual.

We (and Airalo) highly recommend that you go with the Direct method where after a short tutorial, you’re handheld through the whole process of installation. 

For the purposes of this review, we’re using iOS for the walkthroughs. After purchasing, you’ll be presented with this screen. You’ll need to hit “Install eSIM” and then follow the instructions provided per the screenshots below.

Activation instructions:

Next you’ll have a number of options to choose from, depending on your preferences.

• Default Line Setting: As most Airalo sims are data only, you’ll probably want to keep this as your Primary phone plan. 

• iMessage & Facetime Configuration: Again, we think you’ll likely not want to change this for a temporary Airalo plan, your iMessages and FaceTime calls will be better off from your regular number.

• Mobile Data Selection: Here is where you’ll want to switch. Selecting Travel here like in the screenshot will switch all mobile data over to your newly purchased Airalo plan.

What countries can you use Airalo?

The good news here is that Airalo is going to have you covered almost anywhere you go. At the time of writing, Airalo works in 200+ countries/regions around the world, meaning that you will very likely be able to get a local plan at a reasonable price on your next trip. You’ll also be able to purchase an eSIM that works globally or in specific regions/continents.

• Local eSIMs will be your best bet if you are going to one country only. The Popular Countries list shown in the screenshot is relatively small, so you may find yourself having to search for your destination. Generally data prices are best when you opt for the Local eSIM.

• Regional eSIMs are going to be best for you if you’re doing a bit of traveling throughout a continent/region. This is more of a set and forget option if you don’t feel like setting up multiple eSIMs and especially if you’re going to be back and forth between countries frequently. 

• Global eSIMs are really for those traveling intensively and looking for the practicality of not purchasing country or region specific eSIMs. Prices are high and unless you opt for high data packages, validity is quite short at around 7-30 days. For us that makes the global eSIM a relatively tough sell, even for the most well-traveled nomads. 

Price Comparison – 3 GB of data: Local eSIM vs Regional eSIM vs Global eSIM

For a full list of countries supported, check out Airalo’s country breakdown. 

How much does Airalo cost?

Airalo’s pricing can get complicated, but we’re here to help walk you through that. Before getting started, one of the main things to be aware of is that the majority of Airalo’s packages are data only, meaning that you won’t be able to make calls or send SMS with their plans. With that in mind, you’re going to want to weigh up your options based on the main factors that determine price, they are:

1. Data amount.
2. Validity.
3. Location.

The first thing to take note of is location and validity so as to ensure you’re purchasing the right plan that lasts for the duration of your stay.

The Data amount is always the tricky one as the cost per GB decreases the more GB you purchase, you’ll want to weigh that up against the amount you’ll actually use. Countless times we’ve tried to go for the cheaper option, only to have to purchase another plan after blowing through our data too fast using Maps, video calls etc, all of which ends up costing more. 

How much data will I need?

It’s important to have a rough idea of how much data you’re going to use and this will vary from person to person and app to app. From our research of other sources, very approximately you’re looking at:

You’ll want to keep these estimates in mind whilst choosing what’s right for you. We all have different tendencies but here at TEE we are permanently online and traveling so we like to shoot for the higher data packages nowadays.

Validity is usually:

• 1GB – 7 days.
• 2 GB – 15 days.
• 3GB and more – 30 days.

Of course it depends on what country you’re traveling to, so let’s breakdown current prices across a number of different specific countries:

Airalo Plans and Pricing:

Unfortunately we find Airalo to be on the expensive side these days. A little while ago, these prices were easier to stomach thanks to a generally above average service across the board. Nowadays there are a huge amount of travel eSIM providers out there bringing with them more competition, much lower prices and overall better value. Even the more established brands continue to lower their prices while Airalo stays the same.

So how does Airalo compare with other travel eSIM providers? Take a look at in this interactive table:

As you can see, there are cheaper options out there and some of them now offer an equal or better experience than Airalo. However, Airalo is usually at least reliable in performance from country to country.

One new and exciting addition to the Airalo lineup is their $0 introductory 1 GB for 1 day plans in a number of countries which you’ll see in our price comparison. Those countries are:

• China
• Japan
• Portugal
• Spain
• Turkey
• United Kingdom
• United States

This is a great opportunity to try out the service for a day, even if 1 GB won’t get you too far.

So overall, how does Airalo’s pricing compare vs competition? While Airalo offers a reasonable value service thanks to solid signal and usually above average speeds, we think there’s better value to be found from various providers that offer a similarly strong signal and even faster speeds. We’d highly recommend the likes of Ubigi and GoMoWorld and are excited to see Jetpac, BNE and Saily enter the scene too.

Check out our cheapest eSIMs page if you’re interested in finding the absolute cheapest travel eSIMs available.

Airalo discount

Is Airalo high speed and what is Airalo’s signal reception like?

We have found Airalo signal and speeds to usually be at least reasonable, however there isn’t a simple answer as it comes down to a number of variables. That includes: 

1. 4G or 5G plan: 5G should usually be faster than 4G only plans and can offer better signal. Unfortunately Airalo does not offer 5G in every country.
2. Location: Location plays a major part in determining whether you have strong signal, which influences speed.
3. Other variables: Such as network congestion, which can also vary depending on time of day.

What we can do is give you a breakdown of our findings from actual real world usage. We have used Airalo around the world and we can summarize service as per the below:

The good:

Airalo speed and signal in United Arab Emirates (UAE)

• Speed: Fast.
• Signal: Very good. We traveled to some remote areas of the country across the various Emirates, including in the desert and were always able to get signal. UAE only has 2 major networks which generally provide very good coverage, Airalo uses Etisalat. One interesting thing that’s a definite plus is while the UAE bans Facetime and Whatsapp calls, Airalo seems to route internet traffic through Singapore, meaning that ban is avoided and you can make as many calls as your data allows.

• Speed: Quite Fast
• Signal: Good. Signal was maintained around various parts of the country, including the city environment of Bangkok and various small islands that we’ve traveled to.

• Speed: Quite Fast
• Signal:  Very good. Singapore is obviously a smaller city-state country but Airalo handled coverage very well throughout our time here. 

• Speed: Decent
• Signal: Good. We’re able to maintain signal throughout our times in Bogotá and Santa Marta, 2 very different cities. Airalo also managed to maintain signal once we were out of the cities, including La Calera just outside of Bogotá. Signal is 4G only however.

• Speed: Good.
• Signal: We had a generally good experience in and out of the cities and rural areas in Vietnam. Airalo also allowed network switching, the only provider in Vietnam which did.

The average:

• Speed: Average. Speeds weren’t as fast, particularly inside of the big cities such as New York.
• Signal: Good. Signal was generally quite good. 

• Speed: Average. 
• Signal: Good. We spent time in Valencia, Madrid and even Badajoz, three very different sized cities of Spain. We generally found signal to be good and didn’t have many problems.

• Speed: Average.
• Signal: Very good. We traveled extensively throughout the country and it very rarely lost signal, even in the more isolated parts of the Alentejo region. 

• Speed: Average. 
• Signal: Quite Good. We found signal to be reasonably solid in the cities but did have a few problems when we ventured outside of Kyoto, Nara etc and within the Mount Fuji area.

The underwhelming:

• Speed: Average
• Signal: Below average. We have stayed in central and the suburbs of London and have found signal to be below average with more than expected areas of no coverage, particularly when on the move. We have found Airalo uses the O2 and 3 networks, which generally wouldn’t be our first choices in the UK. 

• Speed: Slow
• Signal: Average. Unfortunately signal in Malaysia was generally quite up and down, even in the cities where you’d expect signal to be best.

What is the traveler status on Airalo and how does their Airmoney loyalty scheme work?

Like a number of the big travel eSIM providers, Airalo has established a loyalty program that aims to reward users for regular use of their services by offering additional value over time. The loyalty scheme revolves around the concept of, what they call, “Airmoney”, users will earn Airmoney with every purchase made with Airalo. The virtual Airalo currency can then be saved and used against the cost of future eSIM purchases. The more you use Airalo, the more Airmoney that you’ll accumulate.

Airalo also includes a Membership status level. As you accumulate more Airmoney from buying Airalo’s packages, you’ll gradually move up through the various tiers, each level offers a different level of cashback, that is:

• Traveler: 5%
• Silver Traveler: 6%
• Gold Traveler: 7%
• Platinum Traveler: 10% 

At Travel eSIM Expert, we do genuinely use the products we review and write about so here is an example of our profiles, where you’ll see that we are Platinum and Gold (having spent most of our Airmoney balance of course). For each level beneath the top Platinum traveler status, you will also get a progress bar informing you how much more you need to spend to level up. 

While Airalo is not alone in offering the loyalty scheme, we think it’s great to have and, as it goes up to 10% in reward Airmoney, we think it’s the best in class. As you can see, we have certainly made use of it during our travels. 

What is Airalo’s customer service like?

Let’s be transparent, eSIMs and carrier plans are not always an exact science and things can go wrong: Purchases not going through, eSIMs not activating, speed and connectivity problems etc. 

For us, analyzing a product is not always about a problem, it’s also about how companies respond to and fix the problem. In truth, we’ve never had any major issues with Airalo aside from a slight delay in activation of our eSIM, but we have had numerous questions for customer support around activation best practice, top-ups etc. Let’s break their customer service down into a few parts.

Forms of communication: You can speak with Airalo via in-app chat or Whatsapp. The in-app chat follows what you see in many places nowadays, with a bot attempting to resolve your issue before handing over to a human if required. Where Airalo did surprise me was that the bot was actually useful, it was able to answer my specific question about an old Thailand eSIM that I wanted to reuse. Whatsapp chat is also available to use without the bot support.

Response time: The response time has been an interesting one for us. Our theory is that when Airalo’s support team are online they are very quick to answer, but we’ve found there to be quite significant gaps in when that is, with questions going unanswered for quite a few hours. We think that could be improved as support for travel in different time zones will be required 24/7.

Answers and problem solving: As we mentioned, we were surprised to find that the in-app bot support was actually quite useful for us, which is a great start. For the few questions that we’ve had that required a human touch, our answers were thorough and useful, so we feel this is a win overall. The only other thing we’d say is that while we haven’t required or experienced it, having read through user feedback online, it sounds like the Airalo support team is quick to offer refunds and credits when required, which is a big plus too.

What do other Airalo users think? Airalo reviews on Reddit and elsewhere

As with any product online, reviews of Airalo can be mixed depending on different platforms and users. Here’s the breakdown of some of the key platforms reviewing Airalo where you can see that in full effect:

• iOS App Store: 4.7/5
• Google Play Store: 4.5/5
• TrustPilot: 2.4/5

We always tend to take traditional review sites with a pinch of salt due to a massive skew towards 1 or 5 star reviews. Reddit can also be useful to find user opinions, though you never know what someone’s angle may be. Airalo reviews on Reddit can be summarized as:

General sentiment: Generally positive, many travelers recommend it for ease of use, coverage and convenience. However there are one off reports of things not working in certain situations. 

Pros:

• Ease of setup.
• Coverage.
• Speed.

Cons:

• Limited options in less popular travel destinations.
• Sometimes going to local shops and purchasing physical SIM cards can be cheaper.

Frequently asked questions

Is Airalo eSIM legit?

In short, yes. Airalo is a legit service that offers travel eSIM cards for different countries and regions all around the world. We’ve found it to be reliable and have had no issues in paying and using it. Don’t just take our word for it though, it has received 4.7/5 on the Apple App Store and 4.5/5 on the Google Play Store. 

What are the disadvantages of Airalo?

With Travel eSIMs, you pay for convenience, ease of use and reliability. You don’t have to go to a local store, wait to speak to sales reps, register with international networks and use physical SIM cards, you simply make a purchase online and off you go. The trade-off is that sometimes you can get a better deal if you do all of those things locally. Other things to note are that in most instances, you won’t get a local number if that’s what you’re looking for, most Airalo eSIMs are data only.

Can I use WhatsApp with Airalo?

You can. Whatsapp will keep your same, original number while Airalo will allow you to get online. Whatsapp is our app of choice to use when traveling around the world. You might be surprised how much business is done over this simple app.

Does Airalo use your phone number?

Most Airalo eSIMs don’t use any phone number, they are entirely data only. The big positive about that is you can keep your own phone number active for texts and calls on Dual Sim phones. Make sure you remember to turn that data roaming switch off though!

How do I avoid roaming charges on Airalo?

When you arrive at your destination, make sure to activate your Airalo eSIM and turn off Data Roaming on your home carrier. You can see the iOS screenshot below:

Does Airalo include calls?

In most instances, Airalo does not include calls. The only way to make calls is over the internet by VOIP through apps such as Whatsapp, Facetime, Skype and many more. 

Is there better than Airalo?

We would say that Airalo is generally a very solid option which we can recommend in most instances. However, there are a number of other providers which we think offer better value for money.

Can Airalo hotspot?

This is dependent on your specific plan. In our experience, we have found that Airalo generally can hotspot. In our own testing, we have found that you can hotspot in Portugal, Colombia and the UK. 

Can Airalo receive SMS texts?

In the rare case that you have an Airalo eSIM that also comes with a phone number, you will be able to receive SMS. For the most part, their data only sims won’t be able to receive SMS.

Airalo which countries?

Airalo works in 200+ countries as things stand, so you should be able to use Airalo wherever you go!

How safe is Airalo?

We’ve found Airalo to be safe. All eSIMs will have access to your data habits, but it’s worth remembering that any mobile network will. We have had no issues in terms of payment, privacy and more. One big positive for Airalo is that you generally don’t have to provide your passport or ID when purchasing, something you might have to do when buying a local plan overseas.

Is Airalo trustable? 

We have been using Airalo for years and have had no issues so far. Billing, customer service, mobile services, activation have all been mostly smooth sailing. Based on our experience we would say that Airalo is trustable.

Which is better Airalo or Nomad?

Airalo and Nomad are two great products, we like both. However, we would generally lean towards Nomad thanks to better pricing and usually, faster speeds. Check out our Airalo vs Nomad comparison for more information.

Who created Airalo?

Airalo was co-founded by Bahadir Ozdemir and Ahmad Gharbeia, established in Singapore. Since launch, they have aimed to simplify the process of getting online away from home.