The short answer
Airalo and Holafly are the two names most people weigh for a Korea trip, and on price they are close: $49 against $50.50 for 15 days of unlimited data, $69 against $73.90 for 30 days, priced 25 October 2026. The difference is what unlimited means at each and which network you land on. The cheaper third option is Ringo Light, $22.99 for 2 weeks and $35.99 for 30 days of unlimited data at full speed, with no bucket to pick.
Unlimited data at full speed for 2 weeks at $22.99 or 30 days at $35.99, nothing renews, no app. Airalo asks $49 for 15 days and $69 for the month, Holafly $50.50 and $73.90.
$12 for 3 days, $49 for 15 days, $69 for 30 days, under Holafly at each. 10 GB for 30 days at $19 and 20 GB at $30, which Holafly does not sell. On SK Telecom.
Days, not gigabytes, with no daily full-speed cap stated for your own phone, on SK Telecom and LG U+. $27.50 for a week, $50.50 for 15 days.
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. Airalo and Holafly sell 15 days, Ringo Light 2 weeks. Airalo gives 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 slows you to 1 Mbps after 3 GB a day. 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. For a 10 GB bucket, Airalo wins this chart.
Side by side
Swipe to compare →
Get Ringo Light for South Korea, from $9.99.
Installed once, next to your own SIM. Your eSIM arrives by email in seconds.
We sell data eSIMs for now to fund the full Ringo service. Ringo is self funded. Every plan bought here pays for the build of one plan that works everywhere.
Want to keep your own number abroad?
That is the full Ringo service: one plan that works everywhere, with your own number included.
It is a separate product from Ringo Light and it is still being built, so it is not on sale yet. Join the waitlist to hear when it opens.
Airalo vs Holafly in one paragraph
Airalo is cheaper than Holafly at every length in South Korea, but not by much: $12 against $12.50 for 3 days, $49 against $50.50 for 15 days, $69 against $73.90 for 30 days. Only at 7 days does Holafly come in under, $27.50 against $29. Airalo also sells buckets, 10 GB for $19 and 20 GB for $30, and Holafly sells none. Holafly answers with a plainer kind of unlimited: no daily full-speed cap stated for your own phone, where Airalo slows you to 1 Mbps after 3 GB a day. Airalo rides SK Telecom alone; Holafly rides SK Telecom and LG U+. If you are set on one of these two, Airalo is the price pick and Holafly the heavy-use pick. If you are not set, Ringo Light does the same two weeks for $22.99.
Price: the same trip at each
Priced on 25 October 2026, in US dollars, from each brand's own site. For 3 days of unlimited: Airalo $12, Holafly $12.50, Ringo Light $9.99. For a week: Holafly $27.50, Airalo $29; Ringo Light sells no 7-day plan, and its 2 weeks at $22.99 costs less than either week. For 15 days: Airalo $49, Holafly $50.50; Ringo Light 2 weeks at $22.99. For 30 days: Airalo $69, Holafly $73.90, Ringo Light $35.99.
Buckets are where Ringo Light loses. Airalo sells 10 GB for 30 days at $19 and 20 GB at $30. Holafly sells no buckets at all. Ringo Light sells no buckets either, so if 10 GB over a month is all you need and you want to pay the least, Airalo at $19 is the better buy than our 2 weeks at $22.99. We would rather you read that here than at checkout.
What unlimited means at each
Airalo's unlimited plan for Korea gives 3 GB a day at full speed, then 1 Mbps for the rest of that day. 1 Mbps is enough for maps and messages, not for video calls or uploading a day of photos. Holafly states no daily cap for your own phone and limits sharing to another device to 1 GB a day. Ringo Light is unlimited data at full speed for the length of the trip, 2 weeks or 30 days; fair use policy, see Terms.
If you stream, navigate with Naver Map all day and hotspot a laptop at night, Airalo's 3 GB a day is the figure to watch. If you use your phone like most people do, you may never reach it.
Networks and coverage in South Korea
Airalo's Jjang plan rides SK Telecom. Holafly rides SK Telecom and LG U+. Ringo Light rides a local partner network. Korea has some of the fastest 5G in the world on all three national carriers, SK Telecom, KT and LG U+, so in Seoul, Busan and Jeju you will not feel the difference between the three brands. The second network at Holafly is a fallback, not a speed advantage.
Installation, app and support
At Airalo and Holafly the app is optional: both send a QR code you can scan from the phone's settings, and both apps show your remaining days. Neither plan renews. Ringo Light arrives by email in seconds and installs in one scan, no app at all, and nothing renews there either: the trip ends when it ends.
Install any of the three at home before you fly, so the QR code is already scanned and you only switch the line on when you land at Incheon.
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 South Korea it sells 3 days of unlimited at $9.99, 2 weeks at $22.99 and 30 days at $35.99, all unlimited data at full speed. It is data only: no Korean number, no buckets, no 7-day plan, and nothing renews. Against Airalo it saves $26.01 on two weeks and $33.01 on a month; against Holafly, $27.51 and $37.91.
The full comparison, with Nomad and Ubigi priced on the same day and the cheapest 10 GB bucket, is at /blog/best-esim-for-south-korea. The card to buy Ringo Light is further up this page, just after the side-by-side table.
Which to pick
- Airalo if you want the cheaper of the two big names, or a 10 GB bucket for $19, and 3 GB a day at full speed is enough.
- Holafly if you want unlimited with no daily cap stated and do not mind paying $50.50 for 15 days or $73.90 for a month.
- ✓Ringo Light if you want unlimited at full speed for 2 weeks at $22.99 or a month at $35.99, by email, no app. Not if you want a bucket or a Korean number.
Pick by trip
Ringo Light unlimited, 3 days, $9.99. Airalo is $12 and Holafly $12.50 for the same 3 days.
Holafly, $27.50, is the cheaper of the two for a week; Airalo is $29. Ringo Light sells no 7-day plan, but its 2 weeks at $22.99 still costs less than either.
Ringo Light unlimited, 2 weeks, $22.99. Airalo 15 days is $49, Holafly $50.50.
Airalo 10 GB for 30 days at $19. Holafly sells no bucket and neither does Ringo Light.
Ringo Light unlimited, 30 days, $35.99. Airalo is $69 with 3 GB a day at full speed; Holafly is $73.90 and limits sharing to 1 GB a day.
Frequently asked questions
How we compared, and our sources
Airalo, Holafly, Ringo Light
We priced Airalo, Holafly and Ringo Light for South Korea 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: Nomad and Ubigi. This page answers one question, Airalo or Holafly; both are priced in the full South Korea comparison at /blog/best-esim-for-south-korea, where Ubigi has the cheapest 10 GB bucket at $14. Left out: Saily. We could not read its prices for this country on 22 October (saily.com and esimdb.com refused the fetch), so it has no bar in the charts rather than a guessed one.
- Airalo: www.airalo.com/south-korea-esim?currency=USD, unlimited read on the site in dollars, 25 October 2026; buckets from the esimdb listing dated 4 October 2026
- Holafly: esim.holafly.com/esim-south-korea/, read on the site in dollars, 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.
