The Price-Per-Gigabyte Index
Every eSIM plan on this site is normalized to a single number: dollars per gigabyte. That number decides the ranking. No exceptions, no paid placements.
What the Index is
The Price-Per-Gigabyte (PPG) Index converts every fixed-data eSIM plan to a single comparable unit: USD per gigabyte. A 3 GB plan at $6 costs $2.00/GB. A 10 GB plan at $9 costs $0.90/GB. Those two numbers sit in the same column, the same table, ranked cheapest first. That is the entire index.
For unlimited plans, there is no fixed data amount to divide by, so the index shows price per day instead. Unlimited-day pricing and per-GB pricing are never mixed in the same ranking column. Mixing the two would let providers game the comparison, and it would mislead you.
You can see the full PPG rankings for every destination on the price-per-GB leaderboard.
Data collection cadence
Prices are pulled from 4 providers every week: Nomad, Saily, Airalo, Holafly. Each provider's official website or published API is the source. We do not use third-party aggregators or user-submitted reports.
To be direct about what this is: the price checks are automated tracking against each provider's public storefront. We are not running lab tests, speed tests, or network benchmarks on a weekly basis. What we verify is the published price for each plan on each collection date. A sample of prices is cross-checked manually each week by clicking through to the provider's checkout and confirming the displayed total matches our record. Discrepancies are corrected within 24 hours.
All prices are converted to USD at the time of collection using current exchange rates. Plan prices quoted in EUR, GBP, AUD, or other currencies are recorded in their original denomination and then converted.
The $10/day roaming baseline
Every country page on this site shows a savings figure: how much you save by buying an eSIM instead of using your carrier's roaming plan. That savings is measured against a concrete, real-world baseline.
The baseline is AT&T's International Day Pass at $10 per day. We chose it for three reasons. First, it is the most widely purchased short-term roaming plan among US travelers. Second, the price has been stable at $10 since the plan launched, making it a reliable reference point. Third, it is a real option: you could open the AT&T app right now and buy it.
The savings calculation uses a standard 7-day trip at 1.5 GB per day (10.5 GB total). The eSIM cost is the cheapest plan that covers that data requirement. The carrier roaming cost is 7 days at $10, or $70. The percentage difference is the savings figure you see on each page. Most eSIM plans save 80 to 95 percent against that baseline on popular destinations.
How winners are picked per destination
For each destination, the cheapest plan wins the green CHEAPEST badge. The math works like this:
- Collect all available plans from all 4 providers for the destination.
- Convert each plan to USD and compute price-per-GB (or price-per-day for unlimited plans).
- Sort ascending. Rank 1 is the lowest number.
- If two plans tie on price-per-GB, the one with the lower total plan price ranks first. Ties are rare but exist on some regional bundles.
Affiliate commission rates play zero role. A provider that pays a higher commission does not rank higher. You can verify this yourself: check any destination where Nomad has the cheapest rate. Nomad pays among the lowest commissions of the four providers, and it still wins the badge when its price is lowest. Cheapest first, always.
Detailed provider profiles and head-to-head comparisons are on the provider rankings page.
Limitations
The Price-Per-Gigabyte Index is a useful tool, but it has real limits. Know them before you buy.
- Promo pricing fluctuates. Flash sales, limited-time discount codes, and seasonal offers can drop prices below our weekly snapshot. Check our promo codes page for the latest verified codes. Always confirm the price at checkout.
- Taxes vary by purchase country. Some providers add VAT or local taxes at checkout depending on where you are buying from. Our prices are pre-tax as displayed on the provider storefront. Your final checkout total may be higher.
- Plan availability changes. Providers add and remove plan sizes. A 5 GB plan listed this week may not exist next week. We update weekly, but you may occasionally hit a plan that is sold out or discontinued.
- Unlimited plans are not comparable to per-GB plans. Holafly's unlimited daily plans and Nomad's throttled “unlimited” add-on (2 GB/day at full speed, then 1 Mbps) are fundamentally different products. We display them separately and never use unlimited pricing to undercut per-GB rankings.
- Speed is not ranked. Network speed depends on local carrier, your device, and conditions on the ground. We list the network technology (4G/5G) where available, but speed is not a factor in the PPG ranking.
Questions about the methodology? Use the contact page. Errors in the data are corrected within 24 hours of being reported.
Affiliate disclosure
We earn commissions from some providers when you buy through our links. This revenue funds the weekly price checks and site operations. It does not influence any ranking. A provider that pays us more does not move up the list. The index is the index. Read more on the about page.