The short answer
Ringo Light is cheaper than Airalo for Japan on every unlimited length both sell: $9.99 against $11.50 for 3 days, $26.99 against $48 for two weeks and $54.99 against $69 for 30 days, unlimited data at full speed where Airalo slows you after 3 GB a day. Airalo wins where Ringo Light sells nothing: a 7-day plan at $26.50, 10 GB for 30 days at $18, 20 GB at $25, a named network in SoftBank, and an app that shows your balance.
Unlimited data at full speed for 3 days at $9.99, 2 weeks at $26.99 or 30 days at $54.99, nothing renews, no app. Airalo asks $11.50, $48 and $69, with 3 GB a day at full speed.
7 days of unlimited at $26.50, 10 GB for 30 days at $18, 20 GB at $25, buckets from $4 for 1 GB, on SoftBank. Its app shows your balance and tops up. Ringo Light sells none of those.
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 14 days, Airalo 15. 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. Ringo Light is unlimited data at full speed. Airalo slows to 1 Mbps after 3 GB a day.
Ringo Light sells no bucket: its 2 weeks is unlimited, and lasts 2 weeks, not 30 days. For a fixed 10 GB, Airalo is the cheaper of the two.
Side by side
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Airalo vs Ringo Light in one paragraph
Ringo Light is cheaper than Airalo for Japan on every unlimited length both of us sell. Three days is $9.99 against $11.50. Two weeks is $26.99 against $48 for 15 days. A month is $54.99 against $69. On top of the price, Ringo Light is unlimited data at full speed, where Airalo gives 3 GB a day at full speed and then 1 Mbps. Airalo wins everywhere Ringo Light sells nothing: it has a 7-day plan at $26.50, buckets of 10 GB at $18 and 20 GB at $25, it names its network, SoftBank, and it has an app that shows your balance and tops up. Pick Ringo Light for 3 days, two weeks or a month of unlimited. Pick Airalo for a week, for a bucket, or if you want the app.
Price: the same trip at each
Priced on 25 October 2026, in US dollars. For 3 days of unlimited, Airalo asks $11.50 and Ringo Light $9.99. For about two weeks, Airalo asks $48 for 15 days and Ringo Light $26.99 for 14 days, so Ringo Light costs a little over half, with one day fewer. For 30 days, Airalo asks $69 and Ringo Light $54.99. Those are the two charts above, and Ringo Light wins both.
Airalo wins the rows Ringo Light does not sell. For a week, Airalo asks $26.50 and Ringo Light has no 7-day plan; our 2 weeks at $26.99 costs under a dollar more, with a week of days left over, but if you want to pay for exactly seven days, Airalo is the one that sells them. For a fixed amount of data, Airalo sells 10 GB for 30 days at $18 and 20 GB at $25, with buckets from $4 for 1 GB. Ringo Light sells no buckets. If 10 GB is all you need, Airalo at $18 is cheaper than our $26.99, and we would rather you read that here than at checkout. That is why the third chart shows Airalo first.
What unlimited means at each
Airalo's unlimited for Japan, the Moshi Moshi 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 two of video; a long evening of streaming in HD, or a laptop on the hotspot, will hit it. Ringo Light is unlimited data at full speed for the whole 3 days, 2 weeks or 30 days, with no daily figure. Fair use policy, see Terms.
Networks and coverage in Japan
Japan has three big networks: NTT Docomo, KDDI au and SoftBank. All three cover the cities and the Shinkansen lines well; Docomo reaches furthest into the mountains and rural Hokkaido. Airalo's own page names SoftBank, with one other network, so you know before you buy. Ringo Light rides a local partner network and does not name it on the page. For Tokyo, Kyoto, Osaka and Hiroshima, either works; neither is the brand to pick for Docomo coverage, which Ubigi offers in the full comparison.
Installation, app and support
Airalo needs its app: you buy, install and top up inside it, you can read your remaining balance there, and that is also where its support chat lives. Ringo Light needs no app; the eSIM arrives by email in seconds and installs in one scan from your phone's settings, and support is by email. If you like to watch your data balance in an app, 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 at Narita, Haneda or Kansai.
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 Japan it sells three trips, all unlimited data at full speed: 3 days at $9.99, 2 weeks at $26.99 and 30 days at $54.99. One payment, nothing renews, no app.
What it is not: it is data only, with no phone number and no calls or texts of its own. It sells no buckets and no 7-day plan. Nothing renews, so when the trip ends it ends; you buy another if you stay longer. If you want 10 GB for a month, Airalo at $18 is the better buy. If you want exactly a week, Airalo at $26.50 is the one that sells it.
The comparison of all the brands for Japan, with Holafly, Saily, Nomad and Ubigi priced the same day, is at /blog/best-esim-for-japan. The card to buy Ringo Light is further up this page, just after the side-by-side table.
Which to pick
- ✓Ringo Light, for 3 days. $9.99 of unlimited data at full speed, against $11.50 at Airalo.
- ✓Ringo Light, for two weeks or a month. $26.99 for 2 weeks and $54.99 for 30 days, unlimited data at full speed. Airalo asks $48 for 15 days and $69 for 30, with 3 GB a day at full speed.
- Airalo, for exactly a week. $26.50 for 7 days of unlimited, 3 GB a day at full speed. Ringo Light sells no 7-day plan; its 2 weeks is $26.99.
- Airalo, for a bucket. 10 GB for 30 days at $18, 20 GB at $25, from $4 for 1 GB. Ringo Light sells no bucket.
- Airalo, for a named network and an app. SoftBank, and an app that shows your balance and tops up. Ringo Light names a local partner network and sends the eSIM by email.
Pick by trip
Ringo Light unlimited, 3 days, $9.99, against $11.50 at Airalo.
Airalo unlimited, 7 days, $26.50. Ringo Light sells no 7-day plan; its 2 weeks is $26.99, under a dollar more.
Ringo Light unlimited, 2 weeks, $26.99, against $48 at Airalo for 15 days.
Ringo Light unlimited, 30 days, $54.99, against $69 at Airalo, and no 3 GB daily cap.
Airalo 10 GB for 30 days at $18, or 20 GB at $25. 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 Japan 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 Japan too and are priced on the same day in the full comparison at /blog/best-esim-for-japan. This page answers one question, Airalo or Ringo Light, so it keeps to those two. Left out: Revolut. It sells Japan data plans of 1 GB for 7 days up to 20 GB for 30 days inside its banking app, for Revolut account holders only. Its website shows the plan sizes and a starting price in pounds, but no price per plan in dollars, and no unlimited plan, so it has no bar in the charts. 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/japan-esim?currency=USD, unlimited in dollars on the site, 25 October 2026; buckets from esimdb.com/japan/airalo, listing dated 4 October 2026
- Ringo Light: ringoesim.com/japan, 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.
