Ubigi vs Airalo: Comparing eSIM Providers

• Long-term users: Ubigi’s monthly or annual plans might be ideal if you’ll be traveling for longer periods.
• Travelers who need smaller regional plans: For example, in addition to a broader Europe regional plan, there are plans for Scandinavia and the Baltic, and the Isle of Man and Channel Islands. 
• Those on a budget: Ubigi plans are generally cheaper than Airalo’s. However, as I touch on below, there is some variation depending on where you’re headed. 

• Travelers who need a phone number: Some Airalo plans, including the U.S. plan and Discover Global plan, come with a phone number for calls and texts. 
• Beginner users: Airalo’s app is more streamlined, and there’s an in-app chat feature. Ubigi only offers this via its website.
• Those who need a lot of data in China: Both Ubigi and Airalo sell China data plans, but Airalo offers a 50GB China plan at a reasonable price. Ubigi’s maximum fixed China plan offers only 25GB. Airalo also has a wider range of China plans. 
• Those who need a North America regional plan: Airalo’s North America regional plan is ideal for those traveling between the U.S., Mexico and Canada. Ubigi doesn’t have as many options for this region. 

• IP Changer: For residents of some countries — including the U.K., U.S., France and more — you can get an IP address from your home country when using Ubigi. This lets you continue accessing services while you’re abroad that may be geoblocked in your home country. 
• Subscription packages: In many destinations, you can get eSIM plans designed for long-term travel that renew every month or year. Depending on the location, you can get 2GB, 5GB or 20GB per month. Some destinations have unlimited recurring plans. 

• Phone call support: Some Airalo plans, like the Discover Global plan and the U.S. plan, offer a phone number for calling and texting in addition to data. 
• Airmoney (loyalty program): Every time you buy an Airalo plan, you get cashback in your Airalo wallet. The cashback percentage ranges from 5% to 10%. 
• Auto-renewal: If you buy a package, you can set it up to auto-renew when you’ve got 10% of data left. Once you’re out of data, your new pack immediately kicks in. 

Both Airalo and Ubigi cover over 200 destinations. In addition to single-country plans, both offer plans for the following regions, though note that the providers may also offer smaller plans within these regions (for example, Ubigi offers a plan just for Scandinavia):

• Africa
• Asia
• Caribbean
• Europe
• Latin America
• Middle East
• Oceania 

Both cover North America, too, but under different plans. While Ubigi has a dedicated North America plan that includes the U.S., Mexico and Canada, Ubigi covers North America under its “Americas” plan along with various territories and Latin American countries.

If you plan to travel to the U.S., Mexico and Canada, Airalo has more choices for the region. Ubigi’s Americas plan offers 1GB maximum. 

Most Airalo and Ubigi plans allow for decent speeds up to 4G or 5G. It’s essential to check before you buy, though, as this can vary by destination, and a few countries may only support 3G.

For instance, with Ubigi, you can only get 3G speeds maximum in Zambia. Airalo, on the other hand, offers up to 4G speeds in both these countries.

When it comes to speed, bear in mind that you aren’t guaranteed 4G or 5G speeds in every instance. Even if these speeds are supported, you might not get them if you’re somewhere that isn’t well connected, like a rural area.

I’ve used Airalo and Ubigi in France and had no issues with speed, but again, this depends on where you and the local network are, rather than the eSIM providers themselves. 

Airalo offers data-only plans and data-call-and-text plans in some locations, including the U.S., Mexico and the Discover Global plan. Ubigi doesn’t offer plans with a phone number, but it offers monthly and annual subscription plans in some destinations.

Airalo has an automatic renewal feature, though this isn’t exactly the same thing as monthly or yearly subscriptions. If you buy a plan and enable auto-renewal, that plan will renew once your remaining data usage is at 10%. 

In many cases, Ubigi is the more budget-friendly option, but not always. For example, if you need to use a lot of data in China, Airalo’s 50GB plan (which breaks down to $0.98 per gigabyte) offers better value than Ubigi’s 25GB plan. Here’s how the two providers stack up in some of the most popular destinations.

Ubigi Pricing

One-Off Plans	500MB (1 day)	1GB (7 days)	3GB	10GB	25GB (30 days)	50GB (30 days)	Unlimited Range
U.S.	$2.90	$4	$7 (15 days)	7 days: $12 30 days: $14	$32	$48	1-30 days, $9-$65
China	N/A	$4	$8 (30 days)	7 days: $14 30 days: $17	$35	N/A	7-30 days, $26-$78
U.K.	N/A	N/A	$7 (30 days)	7 days: $9 30 days: $11	$22	$32	1-30 days, $8-$44
France	N/A	N/A	$4 (30 days)	7 days: $8 30 days: $10	$19	$29	1-30 days, $6-$39

Airalo Pricing

One-off Plans	3 days	7 days	15 days	30 days	Unlimited Range
U.S.	1GB: $4 3GB: $8.50	3GB: $9 5GB:$13 10GB: $22	5GB: $13.50 10GB:$22.50 20GB: $36	5GB: $14 10GB:$23 20GB: $37 50GB: $42	3-30 days, $11.50-$69
China	1GB: $4 3GB: $9.50	3GB: $10.50 5GB:$14.40 10GB: $24.50	5GB: $15 10GB:$25.50 20GB: $39	5GB: $15.50 10GB:$26.50 20GB: $40 50GB: $49	3-30 days, $11.50-$69
U.K.	1GB: $4 3GB: $8.50	3GB: $9 5GB:$12 10GB: $18.50	5GB: $12.50 10GB:$19 20GB: $31	5GB: $13 10GB:$19.50 20GB: $32 50GB: $39	3-30 days, $11.40-$72.50
France	1GB: $4 3GB: $6.50	3GB: $7 5GB:$9.50 10GB: $15	5GB: $10 10GB:$15.50 20GB: $22.50	5GB: $11 10GB:$16 20GB: $23.50 50GB: $35.50	N/A

I find Airalo’s app easier to navigate. Everything is neatly organized into easy-to-find tabs, and there’s a chat button on all the tabs, should you need assistance.

The Ubigi app is a little more old-fashioned and can be a tad laggy. From the dashboard you have to open the menu in the top-right corner for all the tabs — they’re not immediately in evidence like on Airalo’s app. Unfortunately, there’s no live chat option via the app, either. You have to go to the website to use the chatbot.

Airalo’s human support agent got back to me within seconds when I sent a question via the in-app live chat feature. My experience with Ubigi was a bit more frustrating: On a few occasions, I got a “chat ended” message and couldn’t go any further with the conversion. 

When I asked to speak to a human, it asked me to provide more details, then cut me off to ask for my email address to receive a response.

Though it certainly wasn’t as fast to respond as Airalo, I can’t be sure when exactly I received the response as it didn’t show up in my email — only in the website chatbox (with no time marker). 

I had already left the website by that point, and I estimate that the response came through an hour later at a minimum, but it could have been much longer. For these reasons, I’d recommend Airalo for beginners.