I used to pay $10 a day for international roaming. Then I switched to Airalo on a four-country Europe trip and watched the bill drop from $130 to $19.

What an eSIM actually is

Every recent phone has a tiny built-in chip that can store a digital SIM card. An eSIM is a data plan from a carrier that loads onto that chip, usually by scanning a QR code.

Why Airalo

Airalo is a marketplace, they aggregate data plans from local carriers in over 200 countries. I tried four eSIM providers before settling on Airalo, the customer service has gotten me unstuck twice, once in Tokyo at 1am, within 15 minutes.

The install step

Buy the plan in the Airalo app, about $5 to $15 for most short-trip data plans. You get a QR code by email. On iPhone: Settings, Cellular, Add eSIM, scan QR.

Install the eSIM before you leave home, while you still have your normal wifi to download QR codes and troubleshoot.

Coverage I actually tested

Across 14 countries, coverage was strong everywhere except rural Morocco and one ferry crossing between Greek islands.

Three things I wish I’d known

Calls don’t work the same way, most plans are data only. Some banks flag SMS 2FA attempts to foreign numbers as fraud. Some hotel wifi blocks WhatsApp calls, hop onto your Airalo data instead.

The verdict

Cheaper than carrier roaming. Easier than a physical local SIM. After two trips with Airalo I haven’t enabled my carrier’s international roaming once.