The short answer
You hold a Telstra plan and a ticket to Manila or Cebu, and the question is whether to pay the Day Pass 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 11 November 2026 and against Ringo Light. For one or two days I would take the Day Pass. For two weeks of island hopping or a month I would buy Ringo Light and keep my Telstra SIM in for calls and texts.
Unlimited data at full speed for 2 weeks at $22.99 or 30 days at $36.99, nothing renews. Airalo asks $48 for 15 days and $71 for the month.
10 GB for 30 days at $16 on Smart and DITO. Ubigi sells no unlimited plan for the Philippines.
20 GB for 30 days at $27 and 10 GB for 30 days at $17, on Globe. Its unlimited stops at 10 days.
Unlimited for 3 days at $11.50 on its Alpas Mobile plan, 3 GB a day at full speed, and small buckets too.
The Day Pass runs on your own plan at A$10 a day in the Philippines, with 2 GB of data a day and unlimited standard calls and SMS, all on one bill.
Prices read on 11 November 2026: Airalo, Holafly, Saily, Nomad, Ubigi, Ringo Light, Telstra, European Central Bank 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, 11 November 2026. The rivals sell 15 days, Ringo Light 2 weeks. Nomad stops at 10 days for $33; Ubigi sells no unlimited.
The 30-day unlimited plan at each brand. Ringo Light is unlimited data at full speed. Nomad and Ubigi sell 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 the Philippines, from $8.99.
Installed once, next to your own SIM. Your eSIM arrives by email in seconds.
- 7 days $8.99
- 2 weeks $22.99
- 30 days $36.99
- 90 days $82.99
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 the Philippines, and what your Australian phone needs for it
Eight places most trips from Australia include, from Manila and the northern mountains to Bohol, Boracay and Palawan. Whichever plan you pick, the tip under each one is where your phone matters.
Roam with Telstra, or buy an eSIM
Telstra's International Day Pass lists the Philippines in Zone 2 at A$10 a day, about $7, with 2 GB of data and unlimited standard calls and SMS for each day. The day starts when the service is switched on and used abroad, and on most plans it ends at 11.59pm Australian Eastern time, so a late landing in Manila is one day and the next morning is a second. Background data counts as use, and unused data expires at the end of the day. I read all of this on 10 November 2026 and changed it into dollars at the ECB reference rate of that day, A$1 = $0.69.
That makes 3 days A$30 (about $21), 7 days A$70 (about $48), 2 weeks A$140 (about $97) and 30 days A$300 (about $207), if the phone is used on every day. Telstra's page shows no weekly or monthly pass for the Philippines. Ringo Light is one payment: $8.99 for 7 days, $22.99 for 2 weeks and $36.99 for 30 days. It sells no 3-day trip for the Philippines, so for a week the honest comparison is its 7 days at $8.99 against about $48 of Day Pass.
Among the travel eSIMs, Ringo Light is also the cheapest unlimited for two weeks and a month: Airalo asks $48 for 15 days, Saily $48.99 and Holafly $50.50, and for a month the rivals run $71 to $73.90. For a short stay the rivals win. Airalo sells 3 days of unlimited at $11.50 and Holafly $11.90, against about $21 of Day Pass and no 3-day trip at Ringo Light.
What Telstra wins is real. One day in Manila on a connection is A$10, about $7, less than any eSIM here. Your Australian number keeps ringing, calls and texts come with it, nothing needs installing, the charge lands on a bill you already pay, and a phone with no eSIM slot works. If the 2 GB runs out, Telstra offers a 2 GB top-up at A$10 for 31 days. Its page names no hotspot rule and no roaming speed, so I would ask Telstra before I leaned on the laptop. Prepaid customers are sent by the page to separate Pre-Paid roaming packs that I did not price, and Optus I left out, because I did not read its page.
Networks in the Philippines, and what changes for a visitor from Australia
The Philippines has three networks: Globe, Smart and DITO, the newest and smallest. Globe and Smart both cover Manila, Cebu and the main tourist towns. Signal thins out on the boats between islands, in the lagoons of El Nido and Coron, and in the mountains around Banaue, whichever network you ride, so I would save maps offline before each boat. Airalo and Ubigi use Smart, Holafly and Nomad use Globe, and Saily does not say. Ringo Light uses a local partner network. Telstra's page does not name the network its Day Pass uses.
The Day Pass carries calls, so Australian calls and texts reach you at A$10 a day. Telstra counts any day with data use, background data included, so a phone left connected on a boat day still costs the A$10. The travel eSIMs here are data only, with no Philippine number. Calls go over apps that use data, and your Telstra SIM stays in the phone if you want to keep your number reachable.
A local Globe, Smart or DITO SIM bought at the airport must be registered with your passport, and you queue for it after a long flight. An eSIM is bought before you fly and works when you land.
If you want a data bucket: Ubigi or Nomad
- Ubigi, $16 for 10 GB. The cheapest 10 GB for 30 days, on Smart and DITO, and 25 GB for $29.
- Nomad, $17 for 10 GB. And the cheapest 20 GB at $27, valid 30 days, on Globe.
- Saily, $18.99 for 10 GB. 20 GB at $29.99. Its listing is dated 5 October 2026; saily.com would not load for me.
- Airalo, $19 for 10 GB. Its Alpas Mobile plan, 20 GB for $30, plus small buckets.
- ✓Ringo Light, no buckets. The Ringo Light 2 weeks is unlimited for $22.99 and the 30 days unlimited for $36.99, both unlimited. For 10 GB that lasts a month, Ubigi at $16 and Nomad at $17 are cheaper, and Nomad sells 20 GB for $27. Buy Ringo Light for unlimited, not for a bucket. 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 the Philippines it sells three trips: 7 days at $8.99, 2 weeks at $22.99 and 30 days at $36.99, all unlimited data at full speed. 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 a day. No purchase, nothing to install.
Airalo unlimited, 3 days, $11.50, 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 $48 to $50.50 at the rivals.
Ringo Light unlimited, 30 days, $36.99, against about $207 of Day Pass.
Ubigi 10 GB for 30 days at $16, or Nomad at $17.
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, Ringo Light, Telstra, European Central Bank, Ringo Light
We priced Airalo, Holafly, Saily, Nomad, Ubigi and Ringo Light for Philippines on 11 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/philippines-esim?currency=USD, unlimited in dollars on the site, read live 11 November 2026; buckets and daily cap from esimdb.com/philippines/airalo, read 31 October 2026 and not readable on 11 November 2026, figures kept as dated here
- Holafly: esim.holafly.com/esim-philippines/, read live in dollars, 11 November 2026
- Saily: esimdb.com/philippines/saily, listing dated 5 October 2026; saily.com refused the fetch; not readable on 11 November 2026, figures kept as dated here
- Nomad: www.nomadesim.com/philippines-esim, read live in dollars on nomadesim.com, 11 November 2026; network Globe as read there on 28 September 2026
- Ubigi: cellulardata.ubigi.com/rates-and-coverage/philippines-data-plans/philippines-10gb-30-days/, prices read live on cellulardata.ubigi.com plan pages, 11 November 2026; networks Smart and DITO from the same site
- Ringo Light: ringoesim.com/philippines, the catalogue the checkout charges, read the same day
- Telstra: www.telstra.com.au/international-roaming, International Day Pass page, read 10 November 2026: the Philippines and Singapore 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, Pre-Paid customers sent to a separate page, 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: our own catalogue, the prices the checkout charges on 11 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.
