The short answer
Airalo is the travel eSIM most people already know for India. Ringo Light is cheaper for the trips most people take there: 2 weeks of unlimited data at full speed for $21.99 against $62 for 15 days at Airalo, and 30 days for $36.99 against $99. Airalo wins the short trip, with 3 days at $20.50 and a week at $39.50, sells buckets from $4 for 1 GB, names its network, Vi, and runs it all from an app. Ringo Light sells neither a 3-day plan nor a bucket. Here is the whole picture.
Unlimited data at full speed for 2 weeks at $21.99 or 30 days at $36.99, nothing renews, no app. Airalo asks $62 for 15 days and $99 for the month.
3 days of unlimited at $20.50 and a week at $39.50; Ringo Light sells neither. Buckets from $4 for 1 GB, 10 GB for 30 days at $24. Names its network, Vi. Balance and top-ups in its app.
Prices read on 25 October 2026: Airalo, Ringo Light 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 15 days. Airalo is 3 GB a day at full speed, then 1 Mbps; Ringo Light is unlimited data at full speed.
The 30-day plan at each brand. Airalo slows to 1 Mbps after 3 GB a day. Ringo Light is unlimited data at full speed.
Ringo Light sells no bucket: its 2 weeks is unlimited and lasts 2 weeks, not 30 days. Airalo's 10 GB lasts 30 days. If you need a fixed 10 GB spread over a month, Airalo is the one that sells it.
Side by side
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Head to head
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Airalo vs Ringo Light in one paragraph
For two weeks or a month in India, Ringo Light is the cheaper eSIM by a wide margin: $21.99 for 2 weeks against $62 for 15 days at Airalo, and $36.99 for 30 days against $99. Ringo Light is unlimited data at full speed; Airalo gives 3 GB a day at full speed, then 1 Mbps. Airalo wins where Ringo Light does not sell: a 3-day plan at $20.50, a 7-day plan at $39.50, buckets from $4 for 1 GB up to 20 GB for $38, a network it names, Vi, and an app that shows your balance and tops you up. Pick Airalo for a few days, for a small bucket, or if you want to see the network name before you buy. Pick Ringo Light for any trip of two weeks or more.
Price: the same trip at each
Priced on 25 October 2026, in US dollars. For 3 days of unlimited, Airalo asks $20.50. Ringo Light sells no 3-day plan; its shortest trip is 2 weeks at $21.99, which costs $1.49 more than Airalo's 3 days and lasts eleven days longer. For a week, Airalo asks $39.50; Ringo Light sells no 7-day plan, and its 2 weeks at $21.99 costs little more than half of Airalo's week. For two weeks, $62 for 15 days at Airalo against $21.99 at Ringo Light. For a month, $99 at Airalo against $36.99.
Airalo also sells an Asia-wide plan, Asialink, which covers India: 3 days of unlimited at $11.50, with the same 3 GB a day. For a long weekend in Delhi that is the cheapest unlimited plan on this page, and Ringo Light has nothing to put against it.
For a fixed amount of data, Airalo is the one of the two that sells it: 10 GB for 30 days at $24, 20 GB at $38, and smaller buckets from $4 for 1 GB. Ringo Light sells no buckets. In dollars, Ringo Light's 2 weeks at $21.99 costs less than Airalo's 10 GB at $24, and its 30 days at $36.99 less than Airalo's 20 GB at $38, but the 2 weeks ends after 2 weeks. If you want 10 GB spread over a month, or 1 GB for a day of maps, buy Airalo. We would rather you read that here than at checkout.
What unlimited means at each
Airalo's unlimited India plan gives 3 GB a day at full speed, then slows to 1 Mbps for the rest of the day. That is enough for maps, messages, photos and an hour or so of video; an evening of streaming in a Jaipur hotel will reach it. Ringo Light is unlimited data at full speed for the whole 2 weeks or 30 days, with no daily figure. Fair use policy, see Terms.
Networks and coverage in India
India has four mobile networks: Jio, Airtel, Vi and the state-run BSNL. Jio and Airtel are the two largest and run 5G in the big cities. Airalo's India plan names Vi, the smallest of the three private networks. Ringo Light rides a local partner network and does not name it before purchase; if you want to know the operator before you pay, that is a row Airalo wins. For Delhi, Agra, Jaipur, Mumbai and Goa, both work. In the hills and on the Kerala backwaters, coverage thins on every network, whichever brand you buy.
A travel eSIM from either brand also skips India's SIM paperwork. A local SIM means showing your passport and visa at a counter and waiting for activation. An eSIM bought before you fly is installed at home and works when you land.
Installation, app and support
Airalo needs its app: you buy, install and top up inside it, you can see the data left on your plan there, and its support chat lives there too. Ringo Light needs no app; the eSIM arrives by email in seconds, installs in one scan, and support is by email. If you like a balance on screen and a top-up button, Airalo gives you that and Ringo Light does not. Whichever you pick, install it at home before you fly and switch it on for data when you land in Delhi, Mumbai or Bengaluru.
What Ringo Light is, and what it is not
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 India it sells two trips, both unlimited data at full speed: 2 weeks at $21.99 and 30 days at $36.99. One payment, nothing renews, no app.
What it is not: it sells no buckets, no 3-day plan and no 7-day plan, it gives you no phone number, and it is data only. Calls go over apps that use data. If the trip is a few days, Airalo at $20.50, or its Asialink plan at $11.50, is the better buy. If the trip is two weeks or a month, Ringo Light is the cheaper of the two by a long way.
The comparison of all the brands that sell India, with Holafly, Saily, Nomad and Ubigi priced the same day, is at /blog/best-esim-for-india. The card to buy Ringo Light is further up this page, just after the side-by-side table.
Which to pick
- Airalo, if the trip is 3 days. $20.50 for 3 days of unlimited on its India plan, or $11.50 on its Asialink plan. Ringo Light sells no 3-day plan.
- Airalo, if you want a bucket. 10 GB for 30 days at $24, 20 GB at $38, from $4 for 1 GB. Ringo Light sells no bucket.
- Airalo, if you want the network named and a balance in an app. Vi, shown before you buy, with the data left on your plan in the Airalo app.
- ✓Ringo Light, if the trip is two weeks. Unlimited data at full speed, 2 weeks, $21.99, against $62 for 15 days at Airalo. Also cheaper than Airalo's week at $39.50.
- ✓Ringo Light, if the trip is a month. Unlimited data at full speed, 30 days, $36.99, against $99 at Airalo.
Pick by trip
Airalo. Its Asialink plan, 3 days unlimited, $11.50, or its India plan at $20.50. Ringo Light sells no 3 days.
Ringo Light unlimited, 2 weeks, $21.99, costs less than Airalo's 7 days at $39.50 and leaves a week of days over. Airalo if you want exactly a week.
Ringo Light unlimited, 2 weeks, $21.99, against $62 for 15 days at Airalo.
Ringo Light unlimited, 30 days, $36.99, against $99 at Airalo.
Airalo 10 GB for 30 days at $24, or a smaller bucket from $4 for 1 GB. Ringo Light sells no buckets.
Frequently asked questions
How we compared, and our sources
Airalo, Ringo Light, Ringo Light
We priced Airalo and Ringo Light for India 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: Holafly, Saily, Nomad and Ubigi. They sell India too and are priced on the same day in the full comparison at /blog/best-esim-for-india. This page answers one question, Airalo or Ringo Light, so it keeps to those two.
- Airalo: www.airalo.com/india-esim?currency=USD, unlimited in dollars on the site, 25 October 2026; Asialink unlimited in dollars on airalo.com/asia-esim the same day; buckets from esimdb.com/india/airalo, listing updated 5 October 2026
- Ringo Light: ringoesim.com/india, the catalogue the checkout charges, read the same day
- 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.
