How to Get Internet Abroad Without Roaming Charges (eSIM Guide 2026)

11 May 2026 · 6 min read · How we test · Affiliate disclosure

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Mobile data abroad used to be the most stressful, most expensive part of arriving anywhere new. You'd land, switch your phone off airplane mode, and wait to see if your network had "helpfully" rolled you into a £6-a-day roaming bundle, or whether you were about to accidentally rack up a £200 bill checking your inbox. Then everyone learned about local SIM cards, which was better but meant queueing at a kiosk in the arrivals hall while jet-lagged and pretending you knew how to mime "data, not calls."

eSIMs solve all of that. You buy a data plan from your sofa before you fly, scan a QR code, and your phone has working internet the moment you land. No physical card to swap, no kiosks, no panic. This is the guide that explains what they are, which app to use, and the bits that nobody tells you.

If you just want the short version: Airalo. It's the one we use, the one we keep recommending, and it works in roughly 200 countries. Grab a regional or country eSIM from Airalo (affiliate link). The rest of this article is the why and the how.

What an eSIM actually is

A SIM card is the little chip in your phone that tells your phone which network it belongs to. An eSIM is the same thing, except it's a digital profile stored on a chip already built into your phone. Instead of buying a physical card and swapping it in, you buy a data plan from an app, scan a QR code, and your phone downloads the SIM profile directly.

The clever part for travellers: your normal UK SIM (whether physical or eSIM) stays exactly where it is, doing its normal job. The travel eSIM sits alongside it as a second line, just for data. You keep your UK number for receiving calls, texts, banking codes, and 2FA prompts. The travel eSIM handles all the data — maps, WhatsApp, Instagram, hailing an Uber, looking up the closest place that does iced coffee. Two SIMs at once, one phone, no swapping anything.

Almost every phone made in the last five years supports eSIMs. iPhones from the XS onwards (2018), most Samsung Galaxies from the S20, Google Pixels from the Pixel 3 onwards. If your phone is older than that, you might need to use a physical local SIM instead. To check, on iPhone go to Settings → Mobile Data → Add eSIM. On Android, search "eSIM" in settings. If the option exists, you're set.

Why an eSIM beats every other option

vs. your network's roaming bundle: Most UK networks now charge £2–£7 a day for roaming in the EU, more elsewhere. A weekend in Lisbon costs £20+ in roaming. A two-week trip to Thailand costs upwards of £80. An Airalo eSIM for the same trips costs about £4 and £15 respectively. The maths is brutal.

vs. a physical local SIM: Local SIMs are still the cheapest option in absolute terms, but you have to queue, hand over your passport, navigate a language barrier, and physically swap the card (which means you can't receive UK calls or texts unless your phone is dual-SIM). For most trips, the cost saving doesn't justify the faff.

vs. a portable WiFi hotspot: Hotspots are extra hardware to carry and charge, only work for whoever's near them, and rental fees over a fortnight usually exceed an eSIM. eSIMs win for solo and small-group trips. Hotspots only really make sense for families needing one connection across multiple devices.

vs. "I'll just use hotel WiFi": Some hotels still charge for WiFi. Most are slow. Most are unsecured. And you can't use any of it the moment you step outside the lobby. Mobile data is just better.

Why we use Airalo

Airalo is the world's largest eSIM marketplace. The app gives you plans in roughly 200 countries plus regional bundles (Europe-wide, Asia-wide, global) — handy for multi-country trips where you don't want to buy a fresh eSIM every border. Plans start from $4.50 for small data allowances on short trips, scaling up to month-long unlimited-ish plans for digital nomad stays.

What we like:

• Buy and install before you fly. No connection needed to install once you're abroad — you set it up at home over WiFi, then activate it when you land.
• The app keeps everything in one place. Previous eSIMs, top-ups, support, all in the same app. Travel for a year and you'll have built a little library of every country you've been to.
• Topping up is one tap. Run low on data in Bangkok at 11pm? Top up in the app, done.
• Regional plans for multi-country trips. Hopping between Vietnam, Thailand, and Cambodia? The "Asialink" regional plan covers all three without having to buy three separate eSIMs.
• Referral credit. You can earn $3 in app credit by referring friends. Worth knowing if you travel with the same group regularly.

Browse Airalo eSIMs → (affiliate link)

The gotchas nobody mentions

Most Airalo plans are data-only. No phone number, no SMS, no calls. This is fine for 99% of travellers because everyone uses WhatsApp / iMessage / FaceTime / Telegram now, but worth knowing if you specifically need a local phone number (in which case, get a local SIM instead). For UK bank 2FA codes, your UK SIM still gets them on the same phone — you don't lose that.

You can't tether to another device on every plan. Some country plans allow hotspot/tethering, some don't. If you need to hotspot a laptop, check the plan details before buying.

Data speeds vary. Airalo doesn't own the networks — it resells data from local carriers. Some country plans are blistering fast, some are average. We've found Thailand, UAE, and most of Europe to be excellent. India and parts of Africa can be slower depending on the carrier.

Activation is one-way for most plans. Once you activate a plan, the validity period starts counting down. So if you buy a 30-day plan and activate it three weeks early "just to test it works," you've burned three weeks of your allowance. Install the eSIM early; activate it when you land.

Removing an eSIM is permanent. If you delete a travel eSIM from your phone, you can't reinstall it — even if it still has data left. Just leave it sitting there inactive once you're done with it; it doesn't use any battery or data.

What about Holafly and the others?

Holafly is Airalo's biggest rival and has a different pitch: most of their plans are unlimited data, charged as a flat per-day rate. If you stream Netflix while abroad, work remotely off your phone hotspot, or generally use a lot of data, Holafly often works out cheaper. Airalo's plans tend to win for shorter trips and lighter users; Holafly wins for heavy data use and long stays. We've used both. Honest answer: try Airalo first because the country coverage is wider and the per-trip cost is usually lower; switch to Holafly if you find yourself burning through data fast.

Saily (made by the same company as NordVPN) is the newest entrant and worth watching. Built-in security features make it a logical pick if you're already in the Nord ecosystem.

Your phone manufacturer's eSIM service. Apple, Google, and Samsung all now sell eSIM plans directly in iOS / Android. Convenient but more expensive in most countries — Airalo undercuts them on price almost universally.

The bottom line

If you travel even twice a year, an eSIM saves you money, time, and the slow dread of switching off airplane mode and seeing what fresh hell your network has charged you. The setup takes five minutes. The cost is usually under a tenner per trip. The technology is solved — every modern phone supports it, every major carrier abroad supports it, and the apps are good.

Buy your first one for your next trip, do the setup at home over WiFi, and arrive in the new country with your phone already working. You won't go back to roaming.

Start with Airalo → (affiliate link)