The short answer
Telstra lists the United Kingdom in Zone 2 of its International Day Pass at A$10 a day, charged on days you use the phone. I read that on 10 November 2026 and set it against the six travel eSIM brands I priced on 10 November 2026, and against Ringo Light. For a weekend in London I would buy the Ringo Light 3 days at $8.99, and for a longer trip its 2 weeks or 30 days.
Unlimited data at full speed for 2 weeks at $14.99 or 30 days at $26.99, and nothing renews. I found Airalo, Holafly and Saily at $26.99 to $27.50 for one week.
10 GB for 30 days at $11 on EE and Three. Its unlimited for 30 days is $44, with 60 GB at full speed, then 2 Mbps.
20 GB for 30 days at $25 to $26. I would look at its 50 GB bucket at $39 if you work from the hotel.
It sells days, not gigabytes, states no daily cap for your own phone, and lists five UK networks. I read $27.50 for a week, with sharing limited to 1 GB a day.
The Day Pass runs on your own plan at A$10 a day of use, with 2GB a day and unlimited standard calls and SMS. It is the best price for a single day.
Prices read on 10 November 2026: Airalo, Holafly, Saily, Nomad, Ubigi, Telstra, Ringo Light, 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 eSIM for Europe and the best eSIM for Europe, all brands priced.
The prices, charted
US dollars, 10 November 2026. Ringo Light sells 2 weeks, the nearest length it has.
The 30-day unlimited plan at each brand. Ringo Light is unlimited data at full speed.
The bucket most people buy for a two-week trip. 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 United Kingdom, from $8.99.
Installed once, next to your own SIM. Your eSIM arrives by email in seconds.
- 3 days $8.99
- 2 weeks $14.99
- 30 days $26.99
- 90 days $62.99
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 do in the UK, and what your phone needs for it
Eight places most first trips include, from London to the Scottish Highlands, with the one thing your data does for you at each. I would install the eSIM at home before you fly from Australia, and download maps before the glens and fells.
Roam with Telstra, or buy an eSIM
On 10 November 2026 I read Telstra's roaming page. The United Kingdom is in Zone 2, at $10 a day on the International Day Pass, which I read as A$10. A day is charged when your service is used overseas to make or receive calls or send SMS, and non-Upfront plans reset at 11.59pm AEST. I priced the trips at the ECB reference rate of 10 November 2026, A$1 = $0.69. Three days of use is A$30 (about $21), two weeks is A$140 (about $97) and 30 days is A$300 (about $207), because the page lists no monthly pass for the United Kingdom.
Ringo Light in the United Kingdom is $8.99 for 3 days, $14.99 for 2 weeks and $26.99 for 30 days, one payment. That is $8.99 against about $21 for a long weekend, $14.99 against about $97 for a fortnight, and $26.99 against about $207 for a month. Among the other brands, Nomad charges $11 for 3 days, and for a month the rivals run $44 to $76.50.
What Telstra wins is narrow but real. One day of use is A$10 (about $7), a little under Ringo Light's 3-day plan at $8.99, and Ubigi sells 1 day at $5. Your own number keeps ringing, calls and texts are in the pass, nothing needs installing and a phone with no eSIM slot works. On an Upfront Premium Mobile Plan the page says five Day Passes a month are included, so a short stay may cost nothing extra. From the second day of use, A$20 (about $14) is already above the whole 3-day eSIM.
Networks in the UK, and what the Telstra pass covers
The United Kingdom has four main networks: EE, O2, Three and Vodafone. I read Airalo on EE, Ubigi on EE and Three, Nomad on Three, EE and Vodafone, and Holafly listing EE, O2, Three, Vodafone and Orange UK. Saily does not name its operator, and Ringo Light uses a local partner network. Coverage is strong in the cities and along the main roads, and thin in the Highland glens and the fells. Telstra's page does not say which British network your phone joins.
The Day Pass has terms of its own. It includes 2GB of data a day and unlimited standard calls and SMS, and unused data expires at the end of each day. The page states no roaming speed and no hotspot rule, so I cannot tell you either. Telstra sells a 2GB top up at $10 (about $7), valid for 31 days, and non-Upfront plans get it automatically when the day's allowance runs out. The page lists data at A$3 a MB if you skip the pass, and says that is not recommended. Prepaid customers are sent to separate options with no prices on that page.
The travel eSIMs here are data only, with no British number. Calls go over apps that use data, such as WhatsApp or FaceTime.
If you want a data bucket: Ubigi, then Nomad
- Ubigi, $11 for 10 GB. The cheapest 10 GB by a distance, on EE and Three with 5G, and 25 GB for $22. The app is needed for top-ups.
- Nomad, $17.50 for 10 GB. Its price moves with sales, $17.50 to $19 the day I looked, and 20 GB at $25 to $26 is the cheapest 20 GB here. 50 GB is $39.
- Saily, $18.99 for 10 GB. 20 GB at $30.99, and a full refund inside 30 days if you never install it.
- Airalo, $19 for 10 GB. The biggest name, on EE, with buckets from $4 for 1 GB.
- ✓Ringo Light, no buckets. Its 2 weeks is unlimited for $14.99 and its 30 days unlimited for $26.99. For 10 GB that lasts a whole month, Ubigi at $11 is cheaper and lasts longer. Telstra sells no bucket either, only 2GB a day. I would buy Ringo Light for unlimited, not as a bucket.
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 United Kingdom it sells three trips: 3 days at $8.99, 2 weeks at $14.99 and 30 days at $26.99, all unlimited data at full speed. Nothing renews. The eSIM arrives by email in seconds and installs in one scan, no app. It is data only: no number, no calls, no texts.
It sits beside your own SIM, so your Australian number stays on your Telstra SIM. A day with a call or a text on that SIM still counts as a Day Pass day at A$10, so I would switch Telstra roaming off unless I needed a call, and make calls over WhatsApp or FaceTime on the eSIM's data.
The card to buy it is further up this page, just after the side-by-side table.
Pick by trip
Telstra Day Pass at A$10 (about $7), or Ubigi 1 day at $5 if you want an eSIM.
Ringo Light unlimited, 3 days, $8.99, against A$30 (about $21) of Day Pass for three days of use. Nomad is $11.
Ringo Light unlimited, 2 weeks, $14.99, against A$140 (about $97) of Day Pass.
Ringo Light unlimited, 30 days, $26.99, against A$300 (about $207). Ubigi at $44 if you want its stated 60 GB at full speed.
Ubigi 10 GB for 30 days at $11.
Keep your Telstra SIM in beside the eSIM, or stay on the pass. The travel eSIMs are data only.
Frequently asked questions
How we compared, and our sources
Airalo, Holafly, Saily, Nomad, Ubigi, Telstra, Ringo Light, European Central Bank, Ringo Light
We priced Airalo, Holafly, Saily, Nomad, Ubigi and Ringo Light for United Kingdom 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: Optus. Its roaming page did not load on 10 November 2026, so I could not read it and it stays out rather than being guessed. Left out: Telstra prepaid. Telstra points prepaid customers to separate roaming options and gives no prices for them on its Day Pass page, so I price the Day Pass only.
- Airalo: www.airalo.com/united-kingdom-esim, unlimited plans in dollars on the site, 10 November 2026; buckets from esimdb.com/uk/airalo, listing updated 4 October 2026
- Holafly: esim.holafly.com/esim-united-kingdom/, in dollars on the site, 10 November 2026
- Saily: saily.com/esim-united-kingdom/, prices in dollars on saily.com, read 25 October 2026; not readable on 10 November 2026, figures kept from 25 October
- Nomad: www.nomadesim.com/united-kingdom-esim, in dollars from the site's own plan data, 10 November 2026; 10 GB and 20 GB on sale at $17.50 and $25 on EE and Three, $19 and $26 on Vodafone
- Ubigi: cellulardata.ubigi.com/rates-and-coverage/uk-data-plans/uk-unlimited-7-days/, 7 days in dollars on the site, 10 November 2026; the other plans from esimdb.com/uk/ubigi, listing updated 4 October 2026
- Telstra: www.telstra.com.au/international-roaming, International Roaming Day Pass page, read 10 November 2026: Zone 2 at $10 a day with India and the United Kingdom listed (the page shows the $ sign, which I read as Australian dollars), 2GB of data a day, unlimited standard calls and SMS, no roaming speed stated, billing on days the service is used, the 2GB top up at $10 valid 31 days, five Day Passes a month on Upfront Premium Mobile Plans
- Ringo Light: ringoesim.com/united-kingdom, the catalogue the checkout charges, read the same day
- European Central Bank: www.ecb.europa.eu/stats/eurofxref/eurofxref-daily.xml, euro reference rates of 10 November 2026, the latest published on 10 November 2026, used for the dollar figures (A$1 = $0.69)
- 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.
