The short answer
You hold a Telstra plan and a flight to Colombo, and the choice is whether to pay A$10 a day or buy a travel eSIM first. I read Telstra's roaming page on 10 November 2026 and set it against the travel eSIMs I priced on 10 November 2026 and against Ringo Light. For a day or two I would use the Day Pass. For two weeks around the island I would buy Ringo Light and keep my own SIM in.
Unlimited data at full speed for 2 weeks at $22.99 or 30 days at $42.99, and nothing renews. I found Airalo at $49 for 15 days and $72 for the month.
I read 10 GB for 30 days at $11 on Mobitel and Hutch, installed by QR code. Ubigi sells no plan without a data cap here.
I read 20 GB for 30 days at $18. Its Ella+ plans on Hutch add a Sri Lankan +94 number with minutes and texts, from $5.50.
It sells days, not gigabytes, on Mobitel, Dialog and Hutch. I read $13.50 for 3 days and $27.90 for a week, with sharing limited to 1 GB a day.
The Day Pass runs on your own plan at A$10 a day in Sri Lanka, with 2 GB of data a day and unlimited standard calls and SMS, all on one bill.
Prices read on 10 November 2026: Airalo, Holafly, Saily, Nomad, Ubigi, Telstra, European Central Bank, 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, 10 November 2026. The rivals sell 15 days, Ringo Light 2 weeks. Ubigi's 15 days is 30 GB at full speed, then 2 Mbps. Nomad stops at 10 days for $45.
The 30-day plan at each brand. Ringo Light is unlimited data at full speed. Ubigi's month is 60 GB at full speed, then 2 Mbps. Nomad sells no 30-day unlimited.
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 Sri Lanka, from $10.99.
Installed once, next to your own SIM. Your eSIM arrives by email in seconds.
- 7 days $10.99
- 2 weeks $22.99
- 30 days $42.99
- 90 days $109.99
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 Sri Lanka, and what your Australian phone needs for it
Eight places most first trips from Australia include, from the Cultural Triangle and Kandy to the tea country, Ella, Yala and the south coast. Whichever plan you pick, the tip under each one is where your phone matters.
Roam with Telstra, or buy an eSIM
Telstra puts Sri Lanka in Zone 2 of its International Day Pass, A$10 a day, about $7, with 2 GB of data and unlimited standard calls and SMS. A day starts the moment the service is used abroad and, on most plans, ends at 11.59pm Australian Eastern time. Unused data expires each day. I read the page on 10 November 2026 and changed it into dollars at the ECB reference rate of 10 November 2026, A$1 = $0.69.
Three days of use is A$30 (about $21), a week A$70 (about $48), two weeks A$140 (about $97) and a month A$300 (about $207). The page shows no weekly or monthly pass for Sri Lanka. Ringo Light is $10.99 for 7 days, $22.99 for 2 weeks and $42.99 for 30 days, one payment, and it sells no 3-day plan here. For a week, I would set its $10.99 against about $48 of Day Pass.
On the travel eSIMs, Ringo Light is the cheapest unlimited for two weeks and a month. Ubigi asks $44 for 30 GB over 15 days, Saily $48.99, Airalo $49 and Holafly $50.50, and a month runs $65 to $73.90. For a short stay the rivals are cheaper than the Day Pass and than Ringo Light: Airalo has 3 days of unlimited at $12.50 and Holafly at $13.50, against about $21 of Day Pass.
Telstra wins where I would expect. A layover day in Colombo is about $7, with calls and texts on your Australian number, nothing to install and nothing to set up, and it works on a phone with no eSIM slot. The page states no speed and no hotspot rule, so I would ask before running a laptop off it. Prepaid customers are pointed to Pre-Paid roaming packs that I did not price, and Optus I left out, because I did not read its page.
Networks in Sri Lanka, and what changes for a visitor from Australia
Sri Lanka has three main networks: Dialog, the largest, Mobitel and Hutch. All three cover Colombo, Kandy, Galle and the main towns on 4G, and coverage thins out in the hill country valleys and inside the national parks whatever you carry. Most travel eSIMs here ride Mobitel or Hutch, and Holafly lists Dialog as well. Ringo Light uses a local partner network. Telstra's page does not name which network its Day Pass uses in Sri Lanka.
The Day Pass is 2 GB a day, and what you do not use is gone at the end of that day. On a long day of train photos, maps and video calls home, I would expect to watch that figure. The travel eSIMs are data only, with no Sri Lankan number. Airalo's Ella+ plans add a +94 number with minutes and texts, which suits tuk-tuks and guesthouses.
If you land at Bandaranaike International, the three networks sell tourist SIMs in the arrivals hall, registered to your passport. I would still install an eSIM before the flight, so there is data at the gate for your driver. Your Telstra SIM stays in the phone for calls if you leave roaming on.
If you want a data bucket: Ubigi or Airalo
- Ubigi, $11 for 10 GB. The cheapest 10 GB for 30 days I found, on Mobitel and Hutch, installed by QR code with no app needed. Its next size up is 50 GB for $39.
- Airalo, $11.50 for 10 GB. And the cheapest 20 GB here at $18, or 50 GB at $36 for the month. Its Ella+ plans cost a little more, 10 GB for $13.50, and add a local +94 number with minutes and texts.
- Nomad, $15 for 10 GB. 20 GB for $21 on Mobitel and Hutch.
- Saily, $19.99 for 10 GB. 20 GB at $30.99, which I read on saily.com in dollars.
- ✓Ringo Light, no buckets. Its 2 weeks is unlimited for $22.99 and its 30 days unlimited for $42.99. For 10 GB that lasts a month, I would buy Ubigi at $11 or Airalo at $11.50, and Airalo sells 20 GB for $18, $24.99 less than the month on Ringo Light. I would rather you read that here than at checkout.
What Ringo Light is
Ringo Light is Ringo's own data eSIM, and I write for Ringo, so weigh that. It is sold to fund the full Ringo, one plan that works everywhere with your own number ported onto it. For Sri Lanka it sells three trips, all unlimited data at full speed: 7 days at $10.99, 2 weeks at $22.99 and 30 days at $42.99. It is data only, with no number, no calls and no texts, and it sits beside your own SIM. The eSIM arrives by email in seconds with a QR code and installs in one scan, no app. One payment, nothing renews.
The card to buy it is further up this page, just after the side-by-side table.
Pick by trip
Telstra Day Pass, A$10 a day, about $7. Nothing to buy or install.
Airalo unlimited, 3 days, $12.50, against about $21 of Day Pass. Ringo Light sells no 3 days.
Ringo Light unlimited, 2 weeks, $22.99, against about $97 of Day Pass and $44 to $50.50 at the rivals.
Ringo Light unlimited, 30 days, $42.99, against about $207 of Day Pass. Airalo 50 GB at $36 if you want a fixed amount.
Ubigi 10 GB for 30 days at $11, or Airalo at $11.50.
Keep your Telstra SIM in beside the eSIM. The Day Pass carries calls and texts on your number and the travel eSIMs do not.
Frequently asked questions
How we compared, and our sources
Airalo, Holafly, Saily, Nomad, Ubigi, Telstra, European Central Bank, Ringo Light, Ringo Light
We priced Airalo, Holafly, Saily, Nomad, Ubigi and Ringo Light for Sri Lanka on 10 November 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/sri-lanka-esim?currency=USD, in dollars on the site; unlimited and Ella+ read 10 November 2026; Sri Lanka buckets from esimdb.com/sri-lanka/airalo, listing dated 5 October 2026
- Holafly: esim.holafly.com/esim-sri-lanka/, read on its own site in dollars, 10 November 2026
- Saily: saily.com/esim-sri-lanka/, prices in dollars on saily.com, read 25 October 2026; unlimited 5 to 30 days, no 7-day plan; not readable on 10 November 2026, figures kept from 25 October
- Nomad: www.nomadesim.com/sri-lanka-esim, prices in dollars from the page's own data, read 10 November 2026; networks Mobitel and Hutch
- Ubigi: cellulardata.ubigi.com/destinations/sri-lanka/, 10 GB read on its own site in dollars 10 November 2026; other plans from esimdb.com/sri-lanka/ubigi, listing dated 5 October 2026
- Telstra: www.telstra.com.au/international-roaming, International Day Pass page, read 10 November 2026: China and Sri Lanka in Zone 2 at A$10 a day, 2 GB a day, unlimited standard calls and SMS, the day starting when the service is used abroad, no speed or hotspot rule stated
- European Central Bank: www.ecb.europa.eu/stats/eurofxref/eurofxref-daily.xml, euro reference rates of 10 November 2026, used for the dollar figures (A$1 = $0.69)
- Ringo Light: ringoesim.com/sri-lanka, the catalogue the checkout charges, read the same day
- Ringo Light: our own catalogue, the prices the checkout charges on 10 November 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.
