The short answer
You carry an AT&T or Verizon plan and you are flying to Istanbul, so the choice is the day pass or a travel eSIM. I read both carriers' pages on 31 October 2026, then compared them with the five travel eSIMs and Ringo Light, priced on 25 October 2026. For a day or two I would roam. For a week or more I would buy Ringo Light, and keep my own SIM in the phone for calls.
Unlimited data at full speed for 2 weeks at $16.99 or 30 days at $26.99, one payment, nothing renews. A carrier day pass asks $168 and $360 for the same stays. Airalo asks $24.50 for one week and $69 for the month.
10 GB for 30 days at $13, on sale on its own site on the day against $15 regular. 20 GB is $20. Far under any day pass if you only need maps and messages.
10 GB for 30 days at $13 on Türk Telekom and Turkcell. Its app and site do not open from inside Turkey, so install before you fly.
Days, not gigabytes, with no daily cap stated for your own phone. $27.50 for a week. Sharing the connection from the phone is limited to 1 GB a day.
Prices read on 25 October 2026: Airalo, Holafly, Saily, Nomad, Ubigi, AT&T, Ringo Light, Verizon 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 and Nomad 5 days, so those are the nearest lengths.
The 30-day unlimited plan at each brand. Nomad sells no 30-day unlimited for Turkey. Ringo Light is unlimited data at full speed.
The bucket most people buy for a two-week holiday. Holafly sells no buckets. Ringo Light sells no bucket either: its 2 weeks is unlimited and lasts 2 weeks, not 30 days.
Side by side
Swipe to compare →
Get Ringo Light for Turkey, from $8.99.
Installed once, next to your own SIM. Your eSIM arrives by email in seconds.
- 3 days $8.99
- 2 weeks $16.99
- 30 days $26.99
- 90 days $36.99
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.
What to see in Turkey, and what your phone needs for it
Eight places most Turkey trips include, from Istanbul to Cappadocia and the coast. Under each is the one thing your phone does for you there.
Roam with your carrier, or buy an eSIM
AT&T's International Day Pass is $12 a day in Turkey, $168 for two weeks and $360 for a month, read 31 October 2026. Verizon TravelPass lists Turkey at the same $12 a day on the same date, so three days is $36 on either. Ringo Light is $8.99 for 3 days, $16.99 for 2 weeks and $26.99 for 30 days, unlimited data at full speed, paid once.
Next to the travel eSIMs the carriers stay far off. For a week, Nomad asks $17 for 5 days, Ubigi $22, Airalo $24.50 and Saily $26.99, while Ringo Light's 2 weeks is $16.99. For a month, Ubigi asks $64 and Airalo $69. For 3 days, Airalo asks $11.50. On two weeks Ringo Light is $151.01 under either day pass, and on a month $333.01 under.
Here is what the carrier wins, and I would not wave it away. Your own number keeps ringing, calls and texts are included, and there is nothing to install and no eSIM slot to find. Both bill only for the days the phone is used in Turkey. One day on the pass, $12, already costs more than Ringo Light's 3 days at $8.99, so roaming wins on effort, not on price. For a day or two with calls to take, I would still roam.
Networks in Turkey, and what changes for a visitor from the United States
In the table, Airalo and Nomad name Türk Telekom, Holafly names Turkcell and Türk Telekom, Saily names Turkcell or Vodafone TR, and Ubigi names Türk Telekom and Turkcell. Ringo Light rides a local partner network. I would pick on price and on the small print, not on the network.
For a visitor, the difference is how the data is billed. AT&T and Verizon charge per day of use, on the line you already pay for. Verizon says each 24-hour session carries 5 GB at high speed, then unlimited data at 3G speeds. AT&T describes unlimited high-speed data when the pass sits on an eligible unlimited plan, and says speed varies by destination. The eSIMs are bought ahead and run for a set number of days, and their unlimited has its own limit: Airalo gives 3 GB a day at full speed, Saily and Ubigi 5 GB, Nomad 2 GB. Holafly states no cap for your own phone, and Ringo Light is unlimited at full speed.
Neither carrier page shows a monthly plan for Turkey, so I read the month as thirty days at $12. I would check in My Verizon that your plan is eligible before you fly, and read the terms of your own AT&T line.
If you want a data bucket: Nomad or Ubigi
- Nomad, $13 for 10 GB. The cheapest 10 GB, tied with Ubigi, at its sale price on the day ($15 regular). 20 GB is $20. For maps and messages I would take it over any day pass.
- Ubigi, $13 for 10 GB. The same price on Türk Telekom and Turkcell with 5G. Its app and site do not open from inside Turkey, so I would buy and install it at home.
- Airalo, $15.50 for 10 GB. The biggest name, with a 1 GB plan from $4. A refund for a wrong purchase comes back as Airmoney credit, not cash.
- Saily, $15.99 for 10 GB. A 20 GB bucket at $22.99. The app is needed.
- ✓Ringo Light, no buckets. Its 2 weeks is unlimited for $16.99 and its 30 days unlimited for $26.99. If 10 GB has to last a whole month, Nomad or Ubigi at $13 is the better buy, and Nomad's 20 GB at $20 is $6.99 under Ringo Light's 30 days. I would rather you read that here than at checkout.
What Ringo Light is
I write for Ringo, so weigh my verdict with that in mind. Ringo Light is its own data eSIM, sold to fund the full Ringo, one plan that works everywhere with your own number ported onto it. For Turkey it sells three trips, all unlimited data at full speed: 3 days at $8.99, 2 weeks at $16.99 and 30 days at $26.99. Nothing renews. The eSIM arrives by email and installs in one scan, no app.
It sits next to your own SIM, so your number is still there for calls and texts. Both carriers say calls and texts are included on the day pass and bill by the day of use, so I would decide before the flight which line carries data and which carries calls.
The card to buy it is further up this page, just after the side-by-side table.
Pick by trip
I would roam if you need calls, $36 for 3 days on the pass. If data is enough, Ringo Light is $8.99 for the same 3 days.
I would buy Ringo Light, $16.99, against $168 on either day pass and $22 to $27.50 for a single week at the rivals.
I would buy Ringo Light, $26.99. The carriers come to $360, and the cheapest rival month is Ubigi at $64.
My pick is Nomad or Ubigi, 10 GB for 30 days at $13, if you will mostly use maps and messages.
I would keep the carrier SIM in the phone for those and put the data on Ringo Light.
AT&T adds $6 a day for the second line, so two phones come to $18 a day. Two Ringo Light eSIMs for two weeks are $33.98, still far under $168 for one phone.
Frequently asked questions
How we compared, and our sources
Airalo, Holafly, Saily, Nomad, Ubigi, AT&T, Ringo Light, Verizon, Ringo Light
We priced Airalo, Holafly, Saily, Nomad, Ubigi and Ringo Light for Turkey 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. 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/turkey-esim?currency=USD, unlimited in dollars on airalo.com, network Türk Telekom (Avea), read 25 October 2026; fixed-data buckets from the esimdb listing dated 5 October 2026
- Holafly: esim.holafly.com/esim-turkey/, prices in dollars from its own page, read 25 October 2026
- Saily: saily.com/esim-turkey/, dollars, read 25 October 2026
- Nomad: www.nomadesim.com/turkey-esim, dollars, read 25 October 2026; 10 GB at the sale price, $15 regular
- Ubigi: cellulardata.ubigi.com/data-plans-and-coverage/ubigi-esim-data-plans/?destination=TUR&one-off=on, one-off plan list in dollars, read 22 October 2026; the site returned no plan list on 25 October 2026, figures confirmed against the esimdb listing dated 5 October 2026
- AT&T: www.att.com/international/day-pass/, International Day Pass price, additional lines and what it includes, with the destination list at att.com/support/article/wireless/KM1395068/ showing Turkey, read 31 October 2026
- Ringo Light: ringoesim.com/turkey, the catalogue the checkout charges, read the same day
- Verizon: www.verizon.com/support/travelpass-faqs/, TravelPass FAQ for the daily price, the 5 GB allowance and billing on days used, and the TravelPass countries list at verizon.com/plans/travelpass-countries/ for Turkey at $12 per day, read 31 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.
