The short answer
Airalo is cheaper than Holafly for the UK at every length: $11.50 against $11.90 for 3 days, $27 against $27.50 for a week and $69 against $76.50 for 30 days. Holafly states no daily cap; Airalo slows you after 3 GB a day. Both need an app. Ringo Light, the third option, is unlimited data at full speed for 2 weeks at $14.99 or 30 days at $26.99, and 3 days at $8.99, no app.
Unlimited data at full speed for 3 days at $8.99, 2 weeks at $14.99 or 30 days at $26.99, nothing renews, no app. Airalo asks $27 and Holafly $27.50 for one week; $69 and $76.50 for a month.
$11.50 for 3 days, $27 for a week, $69 for 30 days of unlimited on EE. 10 GB for 30 days at $19, 20 GB at $31. Needs its app.
Days, not gigabytes, on EE, O2, Three, Vodafone and Orange UK. $11.90 for 3 days, $27.50 for a week, $76.50 for 30 days. Sharing limited to 1 GB a day. Needs its app.
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 eSIM for Europe and the best eSIM for Europe, all brands priced.
The prices, charted
US dollars, 25 October 2026. Ringo Light sells 2 weeks, the nearest length it has. Airalo is 3 GB a day at full speed, then about 1 Mbps; Holafly states no daily cap; Ringo Light is unlimited data at full speed.
The 30-day unlimited plan at each brand. Ringo Light is unlimited data at full speed. Airalo slows to about 1 Mbps after 3 GB a day. Holafly states no daily cap for your own phone.
The bucket most people buy for a two-week trip. Holafly sells no buckets, so it has no bar here. Ringo Light sells no bucket either: its 2 weeks is unlimited and lasts 2 weeks, not 30 days. For 10 GB that must last a whole month, Airalo is the only one of the two that sells it.
Side by side
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Head to head
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Airalo vs Holafly in one paragraph
Airalo is cheaper than Holafly for the UK at every length, by cents on the short plans and by $7.50 on the month. Holafly gives you the simpler product: unlimited days with no stated daily cap, and it lists five UK networks, EE, O2, Three, Vodafone and Orange UK. Airalo gives you more choice, buckets from 10 GB to 20 GB as well as unlimited on EE, but its unlimited slows to about 1 Mbps after 3 GB a day. Both need their app. Pick Airalo if you want a bucket or the lower price of the two. Pick Holafly if you stream all evening and never want to think about a daily cap. If you want unlimited, neither is the cheapest: Ringo Light sells 3 days at $8.99, 2 weeks at $14.99 and 30 days at $26.99, unlimited data at full speed, no app.
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 asks $11.50 and Holafly $11.90. For a week, $27 at Airalo and $27.50 at Holafly. For 30 days, $69 at Airalo and $76.50 at Holafly. Airalo wins every row of the two, by under a dollar on the short plans and by $7.50 on the month.
Ringo Light sells three trips for the UK: 3 days at $8.99, 2 weeks at $14.99 and 30 days at $26.99. The 2 weeks costs $12.01 less than Airalo's one week at $27 and $12.51 less than Holafly's at $27.50, and lasts twice as long. The 30 days costs less than half of Airalo's $69, and about a third of Holafly's $76.50. The 3 days at $8.99 beats Airalo's $11.50 and Holafly's $11.90. Ringo Light sells no 7-day plan; for a week you buy the 2 weeks and leave a week unused, and it is still the cheapest of the three.
For a fixed amount of data, Airalo is the only one of the three that sells it: 10 GB for 30 days at $19, 20 GB at $31. Holafly sells no buckets. Ringo Light sells no buckets either. If you need 10 GB spread over a whole month, Airalo's $19 is the only plan of the three that does that; Ringo Light's 2 weeks at $14.99 is cheaper, but ends after 14 days. We would rather you read that here than at checkout.
What unlimited means at each
Airalo's unlimited for the UK gives 3 GB a day at full speed, then slows to about 1 Mbps for the rest of the day. That is enough for maps, messages and an hour or two of video; a long evening of streaming in HD will hit it. Holafly states no daily cap for your own phone and limits hotspot sharing to 1 GB a day, so Holafly is the one to pick between the two if you share data to a laptop every day, but only up to that 1 GB. Ringo Light is unlimited data at full speed for the whole 3 days, 2 weeks or 30 days. Fair use policy, see Terms.
Networks and coverage in the UK
Airalo's own page names EE. Holafly lists five UK networks: EE, O2, Three, Vodafone and Orange UK. Ringo Light rides a local partner network. Coverage in the UK is strong in the cities and along the main roads, and thin in the Scottish glens and the Lake District fells, whichever brand you carry. For London, Edinburgh, Bath and the trains between them, any of the three works. If you want EE and Three named together, Ubigi offers that in the full comparison.
Installation, app and support
Airalo needs its app: you buy, install and top up inside it, and that is also where its support chat lives. Holafly needs its app for the UK too. Ringo Light needs no app; the eSIM arrives by email in seconds and installs in one scan, and support is by email. Whichever you pick, install it at home before you fly and switch it on for data when you land at Heathrow, Gatwick, Manchester or Edinburgh.
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 the UK it sells three trips, all unlimited data at full speed: 3 days at $8.99, 2 weeks at $14.99 and 30 days at $26.99. One payment, nothing renews, no app.
What it does not do: no buckets, no 7-day plan, no phone number, data only. Calls go over apps that use data. It does not name its UK network the way Holafly names five. If you need 10 GB that lasts a full month, Airalo at $19 is the only plan of the three that does; our 2 weeks at $14.99 ends after 14 days. For 3 days, a week, two weeks or a month of unlimited, Ringo Light is the cheapest of the three.
The full six-brand comparison for the UK, with Saily, Nomad and Ubigi priced the same day, is at /blog/best-esim-for-uk. 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 a bucket. 10 GB for 30 days at $19, 20 GB at $31. Neither Holafly nor Ringo Light sells a bucket.
- Airalo, if you want the lower price of the two and do not mind the daily cap. $27 for 7 days, $69 for 30 days, 3 GB a day at full speed on EE. Holafly is $27.50 and $76.50.
- Holafly, if you refuse a daily cap. No stated daily cap and five UK networks listed. You pay $27.50 for a week against $27 at Airalo, and $76.50 for a month against $69.
- ✓Ringo Light, if you want unlimited at any length and no app. Unlimited data at full speed at $8.99 for 3 days, $14.99 for 2 weeks or $26.99 for 30 days, cheaper than both at each length.
Pick by trip
Ringo Light unlimited, 3 days, $8.99, against $11.50 at Airalo and $11.90 at Holafly.
Ringo Light unlimited, 2 weeks, $14.99, with a week left over. Airalo is $27 for 7 days and Holafly $27.50.
Ringo Light unlimited, 2 weeks, $14.99. Airalo and Holafly sell no 2-week plan; their week costs $27 and $27.50, their month $69 and $76.50.
Ringo Light unlimited, 30 days, $26.99, against $69 at Airalo and $76.50 at Holafly. Holafly if you must have a stated no-cap plan from a brand other than us, and remember its sharing is 1 GB a day.
Airalo 10 GB for 30 days at $19. 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 United Kingdom 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 the UK too and are priced on the same day in the full comparison at /blog/best-esim-for-uk. This page answers one question, Airalo or Holafly, so it keeps to those two and the cheaper third option. 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/united-kingdom-esim, unlimited plans in dollars on the site, 25 October 2026; buckets from esimdb.com/uk/airalo, listing updated 4 October 2026
- Holafly: esim.holafly.com/esim-united-kingdom/, in dollars on the site, 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.
