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I Tried the eSIM App Everyone Is Talking About
We’ve all been there. You land in a new country, exhausted from the flight, finally connect to the airport Wi-Fi, and are immediately hit with that dreaded text message: “Welcome to Italy! Your daily roaming pass is now active for $12/day.” Cue the internal scream. 😱
For years, I accepted this as the price of admission for traveling. Either that, or I’d spend the first hour of my vacation standing in a sweaty line at a random kiosk to buy a local SIM card, trying to communicate with a tiny paperclip to eject my tray.
But lately, my Instagram feed has been flooded with ads for a little pink app called Airalo. It promised a third option: instant data, no physical cards, and prices that actually make sense. As someone who values both their sanity and their feed aesthetic, I had to see if it was the real deal.
I tested Airalo on a recent two-week trip through Europe (hopping from France to Italy to Spain), and I’m breaking down everything—the good, the bad, and the "why is my internet so slow?"—in this ultra-honest review.
🌸 About the Brand: The Pretty Pink Disruptor
If you haven't heard of Airalo yet, you're probably not a frequent traveler—or you've just been blissfully unaware of the eSIM revolution. Founded in 2019, Airalo is essentially the world's first digital marketplace for eSIMs . Think of it as the Sephora of connectivity—they aggregate data plans from local carriers around the world and let you buy them directly from an app that looks way too chic to be a utility.
With headquarters in Singapore and a community of over 10 million users, they've pretty much become the go-to for anyone who wants to land in a new country and immediately have service for Maps, Instagram, and WhatsApp .
How it stacks up to the competition:
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Airalo vs. Holafly: This is the big one. Holafly is probably Airalo's biggest rival, and their main flex is unlimited data. If you're a digital nomad streaming Netflix on the go, Holafly might catch your eye. But Airalo wins on pricing flexibility (you're not forced to buy unlimited if you just need a little) and hotspot tethering—Holafly often restricts hotspot usage, which is a dealbreaker for me.
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Airalo vs. Nomad: Nomad has a super sleek interface too, and they often run competitive pricing. However, I've found Airalo's regional plans (like the Eurolink eSIM covering 42 countries) to be more comprehensive and stable across borders than Nomad's offerings.
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The Bottom Line: Airalo sits in that sweet spot of being reliable, affordable, and incredibly easy to use. It's not always the absolute cheapest by a few cents, but the user experience is where it shines.
The vibe of the brand is very "wanderlust but make it efficient." Their app is sleek, their instructions are (mostly) clear, and they've managed to make buying a data plan feel as satisfying as ordering a new outfit.
🛍️ Product Reviews: Breaking Down the eSIMs
Airalo isn't one-size-fits-all. They offer three main types of eSIMs depending on where your travels take you.
The Local eSIM (My Go-To)
If you're parking yourself in one country for a while, this is it. I used the French local eSIM for the first leg of my trip. Installation took maybe three minutes, and I was connected to the Orange network (one of the best in France) immediately upon landing .
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Vibe: Reliable, simple, gets the job done.
The Regional eSIM (The Groupie)
Since I was hopping borders, I switched to the Eurolink eSIM for the second week. This beauty covers 42 European countries . The best part? You don't have to do anything when you cross a border. My train from Nice to Genoa crossed into Italy, and my phone just... worked. No "Welcome to Italy" texts with hidden fees, no stopping to buy a new plan.
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Vibe: Effortless, main-character energy.
The Global eSIM (The Flex)
For the true jet-setters hitting multiple continents, they have the "Discover" Global plan covering 138 countries . It's more expensive per GB, but if you're doing a round-the-world trip, the convenience is unmatched.
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Vibe: "I don't have a home, I have a passport."
Pros & Cons: The Glow-Ups and the Glow-Downs
Let's get real for a second. Nothing is perfect (sadly). Here's the tea on Airalo.
✅ The Pros (Why I'm Obsessed)
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The Price Point: We're talking tiny numbers here. A 1GB/7-day plan for the US costs as low as $4.50 . My 10GB/30-day Eurolink plan was a fraction of what my carrier wanted for a 5-day roaming pass.
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The Ease of Installation: The app holds your hand through the process. You buy it, you install it before you leave (while on Wi-Fi), and it activates automatically when you land . Compared to Nomad, which sometimes requires a bit more manual APN configuration, Airalo is practically foolproof.
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The "Hotspot" Feature: Unlike Holafly, which often restricts this feature on their "unlimited" plans, Airalo allows tethering . I used my phone as a hotspot for my laptop in a cute Parisian café to get some work done, and it worked flawlessly.
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Airmoney (Their Rewards Program): They have a built-in loyalty program where you earn "Airmoney" on purchases that you can use for discounts later. Plus, referring friends actually gives you decent credit .
❌ The Cons (What to Watch Out For)
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Data-Only Reality: You don't get a phone number . This was fine for me because I live on WhatsApp and FaceTime, but if you need to call a local restaurant or an old-school taxi service, you'll need to rely on WhatsApp calling or Google Voice.
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Customer Service Lag: This is the biggest complaint I saw online, and I felt it a little. I had a minor issue with installation (user error, TBH), and their chat support took about 30 minutes to respond . It's not instant, so don't wait until you're at the gate to troubleshoot.
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No Unlimited Plans (Mostly): Holafly's biggest selling point is unlimited data. Airalo usually offers caps (1GB, 3GB, 5GB, etc.). If you're a heavy streamer, you might run out . However, I actually prefer this—unlimited plans often get throttled to 2G/3G speeds after a certain point anyway, making them unusable. I'd rather have a solid chunk of high-speed data.
🧘🏻♀️ Durability & Care: Does It Actually Work in the Wild?
Okay, so how did it hold up when I actually tried to be an influencer for a day (aka, shooting reels and uploading stories)?
Connection Strength: In major cities (Paris, Rome, Barcelona), I had solid 4G/LTE and sometimes 5G . It was fast enough to upload content, navigate in real-time, and even have decent video calls. I found the connection to be on par with what my friends experienced using Nomad—both aggregate from the same major local carriers, so the quality is comparable.
The "Rural" Factor: However, the truth comes out in the countryside. On a wine tour in Tuscany and on a high-speed train through the Spanish countryside, the signal did get spotty . To be fair, my travel buddies with local Italian SIMs also lost service, so it's not exclusive to Airalo. But if you're planning to work remotely from a villa in the middle of nowhere, just be aware that coverage might dip.
Data Usage: I'm a pretty heavy user (Maps, music streaming, Instagram, email), and I found the 1GB per day estimate to be accurate. I went through about 4GB in a week without trying to conserve anything. If I had gone with Holafly's unlimited plan, I might have used more data mindlessly, but I also might have been frustrated if they throttled my speed after a certain threshold (a common complaint I've seen in Holafly reviews).
📦 Shipping & Customer Experience
Okay, so there's no "shipping" since it's digital, but the "unboxing" is the app experience.
The App Vibe: Airalo recently rolled out a major app redesign, and it is chef's kiss . It's very clean, very pink, and very easy to navigate. You can compare plans side-by-side, check compatibility, and see exactly which local network you'll be connecting to . I actually prefer it over the Nomad app, which feels slightly more cluttered.
Customer Service Deep Dive:
I scoured Reddit and Trustpilot before writing this because I wanted to know if my slow support experience was a fluke.
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The Good: They do have 24/7 chat. When they answer, they are helpful.
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The Bad: The response time is inconsistent. Some users report replies in 7 minutes, others waited hours . There are also quite a few complaints on Trustpilot about refunds being difficult to obtain if the eSIM simply doesn't work on a specific device .
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My Tip: Do a test run at home. Install it before you leave (keep your primary SIM on). The app will usually show an error since you're not in-country, but it verifies the installation was successful so you aren't panicking in a foreign airport.
🏁 Final Thoughts: Is Airalo the IT-Girl of Connectivity?
So, after all that, would I use Airalo again? 1000%, yes.
Is it the absolute cheapest option on the planet? No. If you want to min-max your budget, you can still buy a physical SIM for cheaper in some countries, and sometimes Nomad runs a flash sale that undercuts Airalo by a dollar. But here's what you're paying for: convenience, aesthetics, and time.
You're paying to walk off the plane and instantly have your phone work. You're paying to not have to carry a tiny tray pin or keep track of a million different tiny SIM cards. You're paying to have a gorgeous app that tells you exactly how much data you have left.
Compared to Holafly, I choose Airalo because I value high-speed data and the ability to use my hotspot over the illusion of "unlimited" data that might get slowed down. Compared to Nomad, I find Airalo's regional coverage to be more reliable and their app slightly more intuitive.
The Verdict
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Buy Airalo if: You're a casual to moderate data user, you value convenience, you hate dealing with physical SIM cards, and you're traveling to major cities/countries.
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Skip Airalo if: You need unlimited data for streaming 4K video all day (check Holafly instead, but read the fine print on speeds), you require a local phone number for calls, or you're traveling to extremely remote areas where only a specific local carrier works.
For the girlies who want to stay connected for the 'gram without breaking the bank, Airalo is a permanent addition to my pre-travel checklist. Safe travels! 🌍✨