The short answer
Airalo is cheaper than Saily for unlimited data in Japan at every length: $26.50 against $26.99 for a week, $48 against $48.99 for 15 days and $69 against $71.99 for 30 days, and Airalo sells 3 days at $11.50 where Saily has no 3-day plan. Saily gives 5 GB a day at full speed to Airalo's 3 GB, and its buckets are a cent cheaper. Ringo Light, the third option, is unlimited data at full speed for 2 weeks at $26.99 or 30 days at $54.99, and 3 days at $9.99.
Unlimited data at full speed for 2 weeks at $26.99 or 30 days at $54.99, nothing renews, no app. Airalo asks $48 and $69, Saily $48.99 and $71.99.
$11.50 for 3 days, $26.50 for a week, $48 for 15 days, $69 for 30 days of unlimited on SoftBank. 10 GB for 30 days at $18. Needs its app.
5 GB a day at full speed on unlimited, to Airalo's 3 GB. 10 GB for 30 days at $17.99, 20 GB at $24.99. On KDDI and SoftBank. Needs its app.
Prices read on 25 October 2026: Airalo, Saily 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 and Saily 15. Airalo is 3 GB a day at full speed, then 1 Mbps; Saily is 5 GB a day, then slowed; 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. Saily slows after 5 GB a day.
Saily and Airalo both sell a 10 GB bucket for 30 days, a cent apart. Ringo Light sells no bucket: its 2 weeks is unlimited, and lasts 2 weeks, not 30 days. For a fixed 10 GB, Saily is the cheapest of the three.
Side by side
Swipe to compare →
Get Ringo Light for Japan, 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 Saily in one paragraph
Airalo and Saily sell almost the same product for Japan: buckets from 1 GB up to 20 GB, unlimited by the day, both bought and installed inside an app. Airalo is cheaper for unlimited at every length, by a dollar on 15 days ($48 against $48.99), by under fifty cents on a week ($26.50 against $26.99) and by three dollars on the month ($69 against $71.99), and Airalo sells a 3-day plan at $11.50 where Saily sells none. Saily gives you more full-speed data each day on unlimited, 5 GB to Airalo's 3 GB, and its buckets undercut Airalo by a cent: $17.99 for 10 GB against $18. Airalo names SoftBank; Saily names KDDI and SoftBank. Pick Airalo for the lowest price of the two or a short trip. Pick Saily if you will use more than 3 GB a day. If the trip is two weeks or a month and you want unlimited, neither is the cheapest: Ringo Light sells 2 weeks at $26.99 and 30 days at $54.99, unlimited data at full speed, no app.
Price: the same trip at each
Priced on 25 October 2026, in US dollars. For 3 days of unlimited, Airalo asks $11.50; Saily has no 3-day plan. For a week, $26.50 at Airalo and $26.99 at Saily. For 15 days, $48 at Airalo and $48.99 at Saily. For 30 days, $69 at Airalo and $71.99 at Saily. Airalo wins every unlimited row of the two. Every Saily price here is on saily.com.
Ringo Light sells three trips for Japan: 3 days at $9.99, 2 weeks at $26.99 and 30 days at $54.99. The 2 weeks costs a little over half of Airalo's 15 days at $48 or Saily's at $48.99. The 30 days costs less than Airalo's $69 and Saily's $71.99. Ringo Light sells no 7-day plan; for a week, Airalo at $26.50 is the cheapest of the three, and Ringo Light's 2 weeks at $26.99 costs under a dollar more, with a week of days left over.
For a fixed amount of data, both rivals sell it and Ringo Light does not. Saily asks $17.99 for 10 GB for 30 days and $24.99 for 20 GB; Airalo $18 and $25. A cent apart, Saily cheaper. If 10 GB is all you need, either is cheaper than Ringo Light's $26.99, and we would rather you read that here than at checkout.
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 until midnight. That is enough for maps, messages and an hour or two of video; a long evening of streaming in HD will hit it. Saily gives 5 GB a day at full speed, then slows, so Saily is the one to pick between the two if you stream or share data to a laptop most days. Neither is unlimited at full speed all day. Ringo Light is unlimited data at full speed for the whole 2 weeks or 30 days. 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. Saily names KDDI and SoftBank. Ringo Light rides a local partner network. For Tokyo, Kyoto, Osaka and Hiroshima, any of the three works; none of them is the brand to pick for Docomo coverage, which Ubigi offers in the full comparison.
Installation, app and support
Airalo and Saily both need their app: you buy, install and top up inside it, and that is also where support chat lives. 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 Narita, Haneda or Kansai.
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 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 does not do: no buckets, no 7-day plan, no phone number, data only. Calls go over apps that use data. If you want 10 GB for a month, Saily at $17.99 or Airalo at $18 is the better buy. If you want a week, Airalo at $26.50 is cheaper than our 2 weeks at $26.99, by under a dollar. For 3 days, two weeks or a month of unlimited, Ringo Light is the cheapest of the three.
The full six-brand comparison for Japan, with Holafly, 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
- Saily, if you want a bucket. 10 GB for 30 days at $17.99, 20 GB at $24.99, a cent under Airalo's $18 and $25. Ringo Light sells no bucket.
- Airalo, if you want a week. $26.50 for 7 days of unlimited, 3 GB a day at full speed. Saily is $26.99 and Ringo Light sells no 7-day plan.
- Saily, if you use more than 3 GB a day. 5 GB a day at full speed on unlimited, against 3 GB at Airalo. You pay $48.99 for 15 days against $48, and $71.99 for a month against $69.
- ✓Ringo Light, if the trip is 3 days, 2 weeks or a month. Unlimited data at full speed at $9.99, $26.99 or $54.99, cheaper than both at each of those lengths, and no app.
Pick by trip
Ringo Light unlimited, 3 days, $9.99, against $11.50 at Airalo. Saily sells no 3-day plan.
Airalo unlimited, 7 days, $26.50. Saily is $26.99. Ringo Light sells no 7-day plan; its 2 weeks is $26.99.
Ringo Light unlimited, 2 weeks, $26.99, against $48 at Airalo and $48.99 at Saily for 15 days.
Ringo Light unlimited, 30 days, $54.99, against $69 at Airalo and $71.99 at Saily. Saily over Airalo if you need more than 3 GB a day from a brand other than us.
Saily 10 GB for 30 days at $17.99, or Airalo at $18. Ringo Light sells no buckets.
Frequently asked questions
How we compared, and our sources
Airalo, Saily, Ringo Light
We priced Airalo, Saily 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, 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 Saily, so it keeps to those two and the cheaper third option. 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
- Saily: saily.com/esim-japan/, prices 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.
