The travel eSIM market is growing rapidly and projected to accelerate in the coming years. eSIMs have given travelers freedom, flexibility and a cost effective way to get online as they travel. With the growth of the market, more and more companies have entered the space. Nowadays we see a new eSIM launching seemingly all the time. However, among the masses, Holafly has carved out a significant place in the market, becoming one of the most recognized names.

Holafly’s marketing highlights its promise of easy, reliable connectivity for travelers at affordable rates, making it the top choice for many travelers. However, amongst all of the hype, how well does it actually perform when tested by real life users, in real life situations?

In this Holafly review, we’ll put it to the test, covering every factor that can make or break your experience with an eSIM for travel including: Speeds, signal, price and value, the app experience and much more. We will review each factor and compare it to other market offerings. Most importantly, we will do so impartially and comprehensively.

Who and what is Holafly?

Holafly is a global eSIM provider founded in 2017 by Co-Founders Pedro Maiquez and Yingyan Hu. The company was originally based in Valencia, Spain, but now has multiple other offices around the world. Holafly was born out of the founders’ own frustrations around getting online during a trip to Thailand. Holafly offers prepaid data plans that can be used in over 190 countries, and its goal is to give their users “Peace of Mind”, mentioning…

So what does that mean for you? Essentially if your phone is eSIM compatible, you’ll be able to download Holafly from your system’s app store, purchase and install an eSIM for almost every country you’re going to and get online around the world whilst swerving roaming fees.

But what is an eSIM? 

First, it’s important to understand what an eSIM is and why they’re a good idea before you dive on in. eSIM is short for Embedded SIM, it allows you to simply purchase, download and install an eSIM plan directly to your phone. In the past you would need to either purchase a physical SIM card or use your home plan’s roaming rates – usually a super expensive option. Now, it’s as simple as:

• Downloading an eSIM for travel app.
• Browsing the plans available.
• Purchasing a plan.
• Setting the plan up.
• Voila, you’re online.

This method means you won’t need to head to a local store, won’t need to keep hold of physical SIM cards, won’t have to physically swap SIM cards and much more.

Want to learn more about eSIMs? We have it all covered in our what is an eSIM guide. Most phones in the mid – top tier produced in the last 5 or so years should support eSIMs but you’ll want to check our compatibility guide to be sure.

Is Holafly easy to install? Holafly setup

Let’s walk you through how to setup Holafly on your phone, step by step.

1. Download the Holafly app. On Android you’ll need to do so by using the Play Store, on iOS head to the App Store and download it from there.

2. Unlike many other eSIMs, no registration is immediately required, but we’d recommend signing up at this point. In the past, this was a major pain point for us as the app was unresponsive. That’s all changed and we’re now logged in via Google, pain free.

3. Next, the easy part. Find the eSIM that’s right for you via the Shop tab. You can browse by individual country or regional plans, with the vast majority of plans offering unlimited data and a few plans offering high data limits instead.

• Note: Looking for the UK? Us too. UK does not appear when typed into search results or when looking at individual countries. It’s listed in the “Regional Plans” tab as United Kingdom.

4. Continue to checkout. Unfortunately at this stage, you seem to have to enter your personal details (Names, address, phone number etc) manually every time. The app does not save your contact details even when logged in.

5. Confirm the plan details and make your purchase. Watch out for the app switching to Spanish language here, this might just keep you on your toes…

6. It’s install time. You’re going to have 3 options here:

• Direct install from the app on iOS: Simply head to My eSIMs and hit Install and activate and follow the steps.

• QR code: Holafly is also going to send you an email and a WhatsApp message with a QR code which you can scan to install your new eSIM. You can scan it by opening up your phone’s camera app, pointing it at the QR code and tapping on the link that pops up or in some instances on iOS, we’ve been able to simply long press on the QR code and then select Add eSIM.

• Manual installation: Head over to your settings and input a number of connection settings manually. We wouldn’t recommend this method as it’s unnecessarily complicated.

7. Once installed and switched on from your phone’s settings, you are all set.

For a full walkthrough, check out our eSIM installation guide.

What is the Holafly app like to use?

The Holafly app is an interesting one, and you know ‘interesting’ is a word that can be both positive and negative.

The app has improved significantly since we started using Holafly back in 2022, with lots of basic functionality added. Gone are the days of unresponsive buttons and broken logins have been fixed with quick registration via Google, Apple, etc. We do still have some issues however. They are:

1. No way to see how many days of data left:

No matter how many eSIMs we use, our My eSIMs page thinks we haven’t installed and activated the eSIM. We’re not sure why this is. The main drawback of this is that we’re unable to see how many days of data we have left from the app. We have to check our email or WhatsApp to see what day we started the plan. If you’re purchasing way ahead of time, that won’t work.

2. Language switching:

This is something we used to encounter quite frequently, the app would switch into Spanish for no apparent reason. We are Spanish speakers here at TEE so not a problem for us, it’s likely a problem for some though. This has been massively improved now, we rarely see much Spanish creeping into the app, but it does still happen.

3. Limited purchasing options

We touched on this earlier, but the Holafly app only gives you the option to purchase a certain amount of days, in preset increments. That is:

• 5 days.
• 7 days.
• 10 days.
• 15 days.
• 20 days.

As well as sometimes 30 days and higher plans…

However, what if you’re only in a country for 3 days, 8 days, etc.? The app does not give you the option to customize the days required. For that, you’ll need to head to the Holafly website where you can purchase exactly the number of days required.

Finally, we’d love to see some genuine information around individual plans. Will my plan be 4G or 5G? What networks will be able to use it on? Etc.

So how do we summarize the app?

It feels like lots of work has been done on it, but we’d say it still needs quite a bit of work to be a solid user experience.

What countries can you use Holafly in?

Holafly works in 197+ countries/regions all over the globe. There’s not much chance you won’t find a plan for your destination.

Holafly offers plans in the following “regions”:

• Asia.
• Caribbean.
• Europe.
• Latin America.
• North America.
• United Kingdom.

(Spot the odd one out there).

What plans does Holafly offer and how much does Holafly cost?

Holafly is all about unlimited data and most of their plans offer it.

This means that they are quite simple.

• Data: You receive unlimited data on most plans. Though this can differ in a few countries.

• Location: You will need to choose where you want your plan to work. An easy decision if you’re heading to a single country only on your trip, a little bit more complicated if you’re heading to multiple countries.

• Validity: Here you’ll need to choose how long the plan should be valid for and therefore, how long your unlimited data will be active for.

One unfortunate thing to see is that while Holafly plans used to include calls in many countries, they no longer seem to anymore.

So how much does it all cost?

Allow us to break it down, starting with a selection of costs for individual country plans…

Holafly Single Country plans:

There isn’t a huge amount of variation in the pricing for single countries, but prices can be slightly more expensive in traditionally costly countries like US, UK, etc.

Next, we have the Holafly regional pricing

Holafly Regional pricing:

For a full list of countries available, check out their country plans.

Does this represent value and how does it compare to other high data partners?

Versus the competition, we think Holafly is on the expensive side. We think that Firsty is Holafly’s most viable competitor for the high data market, offering 2 GB a day of data as opposed to unlimited. How do they compare in pricing?

Note: Firsty prices are approximate, based off conversion from Euro to US Dollar. As you can see, though the data offered is less, Firsty is cheaper for every tier of duration.

Looking for the cheapest eSIMs out there? Check our cheapest eSIM for travel guide.

Is Holafly fast? What is Holafly’s signal reception like?

Let’s start with the good news. Holafly’s signal has been solid for us in every country that we’ve tried it in. Usually two or more bars in most places, and in line with our other eSIMs that we’ve tried. No complaints here.

However, with both speeds and signal, there are a number of factors that usually come into play that dictate both. They are:

1. 4G or 5G plans: In most instances 5G plans should be faster than 4G plans and can offer better signal too. In our experience, Holafly offers a mix of 4G and 5G plans.

2. Location: Where you are will always be a major factor in your signal and speed performance too. For example, cities can offer great signal but slow down due to too many users, whereas rural areas may suffer from worse signal overall.

3. Other variables: Network congestion at busy times of the day can also be a factor.

Unfortunately we have struggled with Holafly’s speeds in every country we’ve tested it in. Here’s our breakdown:

Speed test scores:

This ranks Holafly as the slowest eSIM we’ve tried in every country we’ve been to since we began speed testing and documenting our results bar one. It’s also consistent with our experiences of slow speeds in the other countries that we’ve tried Holafly in.

For those that aren’t familiar with Mbps, these speeds are underwhelming. But what does it mean in every day use for you as a user? Well, it can make for a frustrating experience. Though this is not always the case, here are some specific frustrations we’ve had on more than one occasion:

• Google Maps very slow to load locations.
• Instagram/Tik Tok and social media struggling to load.
• Video calls highly choppy, with video failing from time to time.
• Streaming is a general no no.

If you’re looking to load basic web pages or send some WhatsApp messages, you will be absolutely fine wherever you are.

Our main issue with Holafly is the disconnect between unlimited data and the slow data speeds. It’s a great feeling to have unlimited data, but what is the point of it if speeds are slow enough that you can’t do all of the things that unlimited data should allow you to do: Streaming, video calls, work etc?

Is Holafly really unlimited?

In our experience Holafly is unlimited. We have never hit a wall in terms of our service downgrading or stopping due to excessive usage on their unlimited plans.

There are various user reports from around the internet that Holafly will slow your download speeds once you’ve used a certain amount of data, but we’ve never experienced slow down.

Does Holafly have a loyalty scheme?

No, Holafly does not have a loyalty scheme, so no credits back from your purchases. We would like to see one, especially with the prices as they are.

What is Holafly’s customer support like?

Things can and do go wrong with travel eSIMs, we understand that. When you’re so reliant on a travel eSIM in a foreign country, problems do need to be addressed in a swift and comprehensive way, regardless of whether that’s issues with purchasing, activation, signal issues etc.

How an eSIM provider responds to an issue is vital to us, we break down customer support by:

1. Forms of communication: Holafly offers customer support via WhatsApp or, if you don’t have it, email assistance. Support is offered in multiple languages, not just English.

2. Response time: Holafly will ask you a number of automated questions in order to screen your query and send you through to the right person. This is, of course, fast. Once achieved, we’ve found a human response comes within a few minutes. We noticed that they apologize for delays every time, but a few minutes response time is extremely reasonable to us. Holafly mentions that live chat is available 24/7 and we have found that to be accurate and a big plus.

3. Answers and problem solving: This has been a mixed bag. Simple questions have been answered thoroughly and helpfully. More technical service issues were more of a hassle and have left us with more partial answers.

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

Everyone has different tastes and a different opinion, right? The web’s key review platforms are a mixed bag, but mostly positive:

• iOS App Store: 3.9/5
• Google Play Store: 4.6/5
• TrustPilot: 4.6/5

Reddit can also be a useful resource for user reviews. As it can be, reviews are very hit or miss, with users in travel subreddits generally speaking positively, but eSIM subreddits a bit more negatively.

Frequently asked questions

Is Holafly legit?

We believe that Holafly is legit in every way. We’ve had no problems with payment, no issues with non-functioning eSIMs and have generally been able to get online as required. The company itself is long established in eSIM terms and they have many thousands of positive reviews from users on TrustPilot.

Can you make calls with Holafly?

Unfortunately Holafly plans no longer seem to have calls included, previously they did come with calls. You can still make calls over the internet via apps like Facetime, WhatsApp, etc.

Can I use Holafly in multiple countries?

Yes. Holafly is available in 197+ countries/regions. You have the option of purchasing single country plans or regional plans. Regional plans will allow you to purchase one plan that will work all over a region or continent.

How long does Holafly take to activate?

In our experience, Holafly is quick to activate, taking no more than a few minutes every time.

What countries does Holafly Europe cover?

Holafly’s European plan has you covered, working in:  Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Cyprus, Croatia, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Iceland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Norway, Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, United Kingdom, Czech Republic, Romania, Sweden, Switzerland, and Ukraine

Can I use WhatsApp with Holafly?

Yes. Holafly will get you online so that you can use WhatsApp. You can use your home plan’s phone number and won’t need to change anything else either.

How do I avoid roaming charges on Holafly?

Make sure that you turn off data roaming on your home carrier’s plan. This will save you from using any data while overseas.

Can Holafly receive SMS?

No, Holafly can not receive SMS. However, if you turn data roaming off but leave the plan on, your home plan will receive SMS.