The short answer
A gap year is months, not weeks, say Thailand, Australia, Peru and Spain, with work or study in between. I priced five global plans for it, worked out the twelve-month cost of each, and added up four country plans for comparison. If you are abroad most months I would buy Ringo Light Global, and if you need little data I would buy a year-long bucket.
133 countries, unlimited data at full speed for $49.99 a month, so a year is $599.88. A month of 10 GB costs $57 at Airalo and $62 at Nomad; Holafly's one-off Global month is $161.50. Only this plan earns €5 of Ringo credit, once, toward the first bill of the full Ringo when it launches.
Best World, 178 destinations: 10 GB for 30 days at $39, which is $468 over twelve months. Its World plan also sells 20 GB a month for $44, renewing, with a three-month minimum. Both beat Ringo Light's $49.99.
Its monthly plans, not the Global eSIM: 25 GB a month for $49.90 or unlimited for $64.90, 160+ destinations, cancel anytime. The one-off Global eSIM is $161.50 for 30 days.
Global-EX, 98 countries: 20 GB that lasts 365 days for $59, a fraction of any monthly plan over a year. Airalo sells 20 GB for 365 days at $66 in 168 destinations.
Prices read on 25 October 2026: Airalo, Holafly, Saily, Nomad, Ubigi 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.
The prices, charted
US dollars, 25 October 2026. Saily has no bar: its Global page sells no 30-day plan. Each brand's 30-day 10 GB, or the nearest it sells: Airalo's 10 GB lasts 180 days, Holafly sells no buckets so its bar is the 25 GB monthly plan. Ringo Light is unlimited data at full speed for $49.99 a month.
The 30-day unlimited plan at each brand. Holafly's bar is its monthly unlimited plan; its one-off Global eSIM is $161.50 for 30 days. Ubigi's 60 GB, then 2 Mbps; Airalo's 3 GB a day, then 1 Mbps. Ours is unlimited data at full speed. Nomad sells no global unlimited.
Twelve months with 10 GB each month: ours is 12 months of unlimited at $49.99; each rival is its 30-day 10 GB bought 12 times (Airalo's 10 GB for 180 days, Holafly's 25 GB monthly plan). Paid up front, Ubigi's year of 20 GB a month is $360 and Holafly's year of 25 GB a month $482.90. If you need little data over a year, Nomad Global-EX (20 GB for 365 days, $59) or Airalo (20 GB for 365 days, $66) beats all of these.
Side by side
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Where a gap year goes, and what your phone needs at each stop
Eight places a gap year through Thailand, Australia, Peru and Spain can take in, with the one thing your data does for you at each. All eight are in countries Ringo Light Global covers, so the same eSIM works at every one.
One plan for the whole year: Ringo Light Global
A gap year is the case where buying a plan before every flight stops making sense. You pick a plan again, scan again, and any data left over expires. A subscription stays installed, bills itself each month and never lapses between countries.
Ringo Light Global costs $49.99 a month for unlimited data at full speed in 133 countries, and it renews until you cancel, with no minimum term. A year of it is 12 times $49.99, which is $599.88. On the same day a month of 10 GB cost $57 at Airalo and $62 at Nomad, and Holafly's one-off Global eSIM asked $161.50 for 30 days.
The cheaper years exist, and I would rather you read them here. Ubigi's 10 GB at $39 a month comes to $468 over twelve months, and Holafly's monthly 25 GB plan at $49.90 is $598.80. If you need little data, Nomad Global-EX gives 20 GB for 365 days at $59 and Airalo the same at $66.
I also added up Ringo Light's country plans for a typical year. A month in Thailand is $32.99, Australia $35.99, Peru $56.99 and Spain $26.99 on their own pages, $152.96 for four months, against $199.96 for four months of Global. Peru's 30 days costs more than a month of Global at $49.99. For months spent in one country, the country plan wins on price in Thailand, Australia and Spain.
Do the four stops fall inside the list?
Ringo Light Global covers 133 countries, and the four stops here are on it: Thailand, Australia, Peru and Spain, which sits inside the EU list. It also covers the United States, Canada and Mexico, Japan, South Korea, Vietnam, Indonesia, New Zealand, Brazil, Argentina, Chile and Colombia.
It does not cover Nepal, the Maldives, Mauritius, the Seychelles, Namibia, Botswana, Fiji, French Polynesia, Mongolia, Ukraine, Russia, Monaco or Andorra. A year tends to wander, so I would check any country you might add later.
Airalo lists 168 destinations, Holafly 142 on Global, Nomad 123 on Global and 98 on Global-EX, Ubigi 178 on Best World and 201 on World. I did not read each list against these four countries, and Saily's list I could not read on the day.
If you want a data bucket: Ubigi, Nomad or Airalo
- Ubigi, $39 for 10 GB. Best World, 178 destinations, 30 days: the cheapest month of global data I found, and the cheapest twelve months at $468. 1 GB for 30 days at $9.
- Nomad, $59 for 20 GB for a year. Global-EX, 98 countries: the cheapest way to hold 20 GB for 365 days, and the one I would buy for a year of light use. Its 123-country Global plan sells 10 GB for 30 days at $62.
- Airalo, $8.50 for 1 GB. Discover, 168 destinations: small buckets from 1 GB for 7 days, and 20 GB for 365 days at $66.
- ✓Ringo Light, no buckets. It is unlimited data at full speed for $49.99 a month, and it renews. For a year of light use, Nomad and Airalo are far cheaper. I would buy Ringo Light Global for a year you expect to use heavily, not for a bucket.
What Ringo Light Global is
Ringo Light is the data eSIM Ringo sells to fund the full Ringo, one plan that works everywhere with your own number ported onto it. I write for Ringo, so weigh that. Ringo Light Global is one plan for 133 countries, billed monthly at $49.99 for unlimited data at full speed, with no throttling. It renews until you cancel, so it can follow a gap year of any length.
It is the only Ringo Light plan that earns the Pioneer credit: €5 of Ringo account credit, once per customer, applied to the first bill of the full Ringo when it launches. I would not count it as a discount. The eSIM arrives by email in seconds and installs in one scan, no app, and the card to buy it is further up this page, just after the side-by-side table.
Pick by trip
Nomad Global-EX, 20 GB for 365 days at $59, or Airalo at $66. Far cheaper than any monthly plan.
Ringo Light Global, unlimited data at full speed for $49.99 a month, $599.88 over twelve months. I would buy it.
Ubigi Best World, 10 GB for 30 days at $39, $468 over twelve months.
Country plans from Ringo Light: $152.96 for a month in each of the four on this page, against $199.96 of Global.
Holafly's monthly unlimited plan at $64.90, with unlimited hotspot, cancel anytime.
None of these travel plans does that. The full Ringo, which Ringo Light funds, ports the number you have.
Frequently asked questions
How we compared, and our sources
Airalo, Holafly, Saily, Nomad, Ubigi, Ringo Light
We priced Airalo, Holafly, Saily, Nomad, Ubigi and Ringo Light for a gap year 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: Maya Mobile. I compared the brands I priced that get most of the traffic for a global eSIM and did not price Maya Mobile's global plan on the day.
- Airalo: www.airalo.com/discover-esim?currency=USD, Unlimited days, 168 destinations and the 3 GB daily cap read on the site in dollars, 25 October 2026; buckets (Discover and Discover+) from the esimdb.com Global listing dated 6 October 2026, unchanged since 22 October. A year of the $57 10 GB bought 12 times is $684
- Holafly: esim.holafly.com/esim-global/, Global prices and the 142-country list in dollars, 25 October 2026; monthly plans in dollars from esim.holafly.com/plans the same day. A year of the $49.90 monthly plan is $598.80
- Saily: saily.com/esim-global/, Global buckets in dollars on saily.com, read 25 October 2026: 1 GB 7 days $8.99, 2 GB 15 days $16.49, 5 GB 60 days $33.99, 10 GB 180 days $56.99, 20 GB 365 days $66.99, 50 GB 365 days $129.99. No unlimited plan on the page, and no 30-day plan, so no bar
- Nomad: www.nomadesim.com/global-eSIM, Global and Global-EX (nomadesim.com/global-ex-eSIM) dollar prices from the page data, 25 October 2026; the page shows euros. A year of the $62 10 GB bought 12 times is $744
- Ubigi: cellulardata.ubigi.com/data-plans-and-coverage/ubigi-esim-data-plans/, World and Best World read on the site in dollars, 25 October 2026. A year of the 30-day 10 GB bought 12 times is $468
- 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.
