The short answer
Airalo and Holafly are the two names most people weigh for China. We priced both on the same day, for a few days in Beijing, two weeks from Beijing to Xi'an and Shanghai, and a month, read what each means by unlimited, and noted which network each rides. Then we put our own Ringo Light next to them, because for two weeks or a month it costs less than half of either.
Unlimited data at full speed for 2 weeks at $22.99 or 30 days at $35.99, nothing renews. Airalo asks $49 for 15 days and $69 for the month, Holafly $51.50 and $76.50. Ringo Light sells no 3-day or 7-day plan.
3 days of unlimited at $11.50, 7 days at $27, 15 days at $49, 30 days at $69, on China Unicom. 3 GB a day at full speed, then 1 Mbps. Also sells buckets: 10 GB for $26.50.
Days, not gigabytes, on China Mobile, the largest network. Its page states WhatsApp, Google and Instagram work without a VPN. $11.90 for 3 days, $27.50 for a week, no app needed.
Prices read on 25 October 2026: Airalo, Holafly on their own sites or listings, Ringo Light from its catalogue. All in US dollars unless stated. Treat every number as a snapshot.
See the full price index for every country.
Travelling further? Compare the best eSIM for Asia and the eSIM for Asia-Pacific.
The prices, charted
US dollars, 25 October 2026. Ringo Light sells 2 weeks, Airalo and Holafly 15 days. Airalo is 3 GB a day at full speed, then 1 Mbps.
The 30-day plan at each brand. Ringo Light is unlimited data at full speed. Airalo is 3 GB a day at full speed, then 1 Mbps. Holafly states no daily cap for your own phone.
Holafly sells no buckets. Ringo Light sells no bucket either: its 2 weeks is unlimited and lasts 2 weeks, not 30 days.
Side by side
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Airalo vs Holafly in one paragraph
Airalo is cheaper than Holafly at every length: $11.50 against $11.90 for 3 days, $27 against $27.50 for a week, $49 against $51.50 for 15 days, $69 against $76.50 for a month. Airalo also sells buckets, 10 GB for $26.50, which Holafly does not. Holafly wins on three things: it rides China Mobile, the largest network; it states no daily cap on unlimited for your own phone, where Airalo slows you after 3 GB a day; and its China page states outright that WhatsApp, Google and Instagram open without a VPN. Pick Airalo for price and short trips, Holafly for China Mobile and the written promise. For two weeks or a month, Ringo Light costs less than half of either, at $22.99 and $35.99.
Price: the same trip at each
A few days in Beijing: Airalo 3 days at $11.50, Holafly $11.90. Forty cents apart. Ringo Light sells no 3-day plan.
A week: Airalo $27, Holafly $27.50. Ringo Light sells no 7-day plan, but its 2 weeks of unlimited costs $22.99, which is less than either brand's week. You pay less and have days left over.
Two weeks, Beijing to Xi'an and Shanghai by high-speed train: Airalo 15 days at $49, Holafly 15 days at $51.50, Ringo Light 2 weeks at $22.99. Ringo Light is $26.01 under Airalo and $28.51 under Holafly.
A month: Airalo $69, Holafly $76.50, Ringo Light $35.99. Ringo Light is $33.01 under Airalo and $40.51 under Holafly.
A bucket: Airalo 10 GB for 30 days at $26.50, 20 GB at $40. Holafly sells no buckets, and neither does Ringo Light. For exactly 10 GB over a slow month, Airalo's bucket lasts 30 days where our 2 weeks lasts 2 weeks; our 2 weeks is still $3.51 cheaper and unlimited.
What unlimited means at each
Airalo gives 3 GB a day at full speed, then 1 Mbps. For maps, messages and photos that is plenty; for video calls and streaming every evening it is tight.
Holafly states no daily cap for your own phone. It limits sharing: hotspot is 1 GB a day. If you planned to tether a laptop all day, Holafly is not the plan for that.
Ringo Light is unlimited data at full speed for the whole 2 weeks or 30 days. Fair use policy, see Terms.
Networks, roaming and blocked apps in China
China has three networks: China Mobile, China Unicom and China Telecom. China Mobile is the largest and reaches furthest into the countryside and the west. All three cover the cities and the high-speed rail lines. Holafly rides China Mobile, Airalo China Unicom. For Beijing, Xi'an and Shanghai, either works. Ringo Light's China plan runs on a local partner network.
A Chinese SIM bought at the airport sits behind the Great Firewall: Google, Gmail, Google Maps, WhatsApp, Instagram and most Western news sites do not open on it. A travel eSIM is different in one way that matters. Its data usually leaves the country through the provider's own gateway abroad, so these apps usually open without a VPN. That is the usual case for roaming eSIMs. Holafly is the only brand here that states it outright on its China page. Airalo does not make that written promise. We have not tested Ringo Light from inside mainland China, so we say only that it is a travel eSIM on a local partner network, like the others, and that the usual case applies. If one app matters for your work, keep a VPN installed before you fly; the app stores in China will not offer one.
The Chinese apps work on every plan: WeChat, Alipay, Didi, Amap and the 12306 rail app. Link a foreign card to Alipay or WeChat Pay before you land.
Installation, app and support
Airalo needs its app: you buy, install and top up inside it. Holafly installs from a QR code, no app needed. Ringo Light arrives by email in seconds and installs in one scan, no app. Nothing renews at any of the three.
Whichever you choose, install it before you fly. Gmail may not open on hotel Wi-Fi in China, and an eSIM that is waiting in an email you cannot read is no use at the gate.
The cheaper third option: Ringo Light
Ringo Light is our own data eSIM, sold to fund the full Ringo, one plan that works everywhere with your own number ported onto it. For China it sells two trips, both unlimited data at full speed: 2 weeks at $22.99 and 30 days at $35.99. Nothing renews.
What it does not do, plainly. No buckets: if you want exactly 10 GB, Airalo sells it. No 3-day or 7-day plan: for a long weekend, Airalo at $11.50 or Holafly at $11.90 is the right buy. Data only, no phone number. No tested promise about the firewall from inside mainland China, only the usual case for roaming eSIMs. Where Airalo and Holafly name their Chinese network, ours is a local partner network.
What it does: for the two trip lengths most people take to China, it costs less than half of Airalo or Holafly, with no daily cap. The full comparison, with Saily, Nomad and Ubigi priced on the same day, is at /blog/best-esim-for-china. The card to buy Ringo Light is further up this page, just after the side-by-side table.
Which to pick
- ✓Price, any length. Airalo beats Holafly on every plan. For 15 days or a month, Ringo Light beats both by a wide margin: $22.99 and $35.99.
- ✓A few days. Airalo at $11.50, or Holafly at $11.90 if you want China Mobile and no app. Ringo Light sells no 3-day plan.
- ✓China Mobile and a written promise on WhatsApp and Google. Holafly. It costs more at every length, and that is what you pay for.
- ✓Heavy data, video calls every evening. Not Airalo, which slows you after 3 GB a day. Holafly states no daily cap on your own phone. Ringo Light is unlimited data at full speed.
- ✓A fixed bucket. Airalo, 10 GB for $26.50 or 20 GB for $40. Neither Holafly nor Ringo Light sells buckets.
Pick by trip
Airalo unlimited, 3 days, $11.50. Holafly is $11.90 for the same 3 days on China Mobile. Ringo Light sells no 3-day plan.
Ringo Light unlimited, 2 weeks, $22.99, less than Airalo's week at $27 or Holafly's at $27.50, with a week to spare.
Ringo Light unlimited, 2 weeks, $22.99. Airalo asks $49 and Holafly $51.50 for 15 days.
Ringo Light unlimited, 30 days, $35.99. Holafly at $76.50 if you want China Mobile and a written promise on WhatsApp and Google. Airalo at $69 slows you after 3 GB a day.
Airalo, 10 GB for 30 days at $26.50. Holafly and Ringo Light sell no buckets.
Frequently asked questions
How we compared, and our sources
Airalo, Holafly, Ringo Light
We priced Airalo, Holafly and Ringo Light for China on 25 October 2026, all on the same day, in US dollars. Each rival's price comes from its own website where it showed dollars, otherwise from an esimdb.com listing, and every source and its date is listed below. Ringo Light's prices come from the catalogue our checkout charges.
We compare the trips people actually book: a week, two weeks and a month of unlimited data, and a 10 GB bucket. We read each brand's fair use and speed rules and quote them as the brands state them. We did not run speed tests, so this page makes no speed claims for any brand.
Ringo Light is our own product. We put it in the table on the same terms as everyone else, and where a rival is the better buy the page says so.
Left out: Saily, Nomad and Ubigi. They sell China too and are priced in the full comparison, but this page answers one question: Airalo or Holafly. Left out: Maya Mobile. We could not read its own prices for this country on the day, so it stays out rather than being guessed.
- Airalo: www.airalo.com/china-esim?currency=USD, unlimited in dollars on the site, read 25 October 2026; fixed-data plans from the esimdb.com/china/airalo listing dated 4 October 2026
- Holafly: esim.holafly.com/esim-china/, prices in dollars, network and the statement on WhatsApp, Google and Instagram from its own page, read 25 October 2026
- Ringo Light: our own catalogue, the prices the checkout charges on 25 October 2026.
Written and priced by the Ringo team. Prices change often; if you spot one that has moved, tell us through the contact page and we will update the table.
