The short answer
Backpacking South America often runs down the Andes, from Colombia through Peru and Bolivia to Chile and Argentina, with a border every week or two. I priced the six regional Latin America plans on the same day and checked which of them leave out a country on that route. For two weeks or a month on the trail I would buy Ringo Light. A rival wins the first week and the long stay.
Unlimited data at full speed in 18 countries, one eSIM from Colombia to Argentina: 2 weeks at $47.99 or 30 days at $65.99, nothing renews. Airalo asks $60 for 15 days and $97 for the month.
Latamlink, 17 countries: 3 days of unlimited at $19.50 with 3 GB a day at full speed, 5 GB for 30 days at $22 and 20 GB at $49.
Days, not gigabytes, in 18 countries. $40.90 for a week; sharing limited to 1 GB a day. Belize is on its list, if you detour north.
20 GB a month for $26 on a monthly plan that renews and can be cancelled after 3 months. Its Best LATAM plan leaves out Peru and Costa Rica.
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. Ringo Light sells 14 days, Airalo and Holafly 15. Ubigi sells unlimited for 7 or 30 days only. Nomad and Saily sell no unlimited plan for the region.
The 30-day plan at each brand. Ringo Light is unlimited data at full speed. Airalo slows you after 3 GB a day. Ubigi's month is 60 GB at full speed, then 2 Mbps.
Holafly sells no buckets and Saily's regional plan stops at 10 GB, $44.99. Ubigi also sells 20 GB a month for $26 on a plan that renews, with a 3-month minimum. Ringo Light sells no bucket: its 30 days is unlimited.
Side by side
Swipe to compare →
Get Ringo Light for backpacking South America, from $47.99.
Installed once, next to your own SIM. Your eSIM arrives by email in seconds.
- 2 weeks $47.99
- 30 days $65.99
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.
Where backpacking South America stops, and what your phone needs on the way
Eight stops that trips down the Andes often include, with the one thing your phone does for you at each. Towns and cities have good signal. The salt flat, the desert and Patagonia do not, so plan those days offline.
One eSIM from Colombia to Argentina: Ringo Light
Backpacking changes country every week or two, often on an overland bus. Five country eSIMs mean five installs and five plans to keep track of. One regional eSIM is installed once, and the phone joins a local network when you cross each border. Ringo Light's Latin America plan costs $47.99 for 2 weeks and $65.99 for 30 days, unlimited data at full speed, and nothing renews. Airalo asks $60 for 15 days and $97 for the month. Holafly asks $62.90 and $99.90. Ubigi asks $99 for a month of 60 GB.
I added up Ringo Light's own plans for the five countries. Colombia's 2 weeks is $45.99, Peru's $40.99, Bolivia's $40.99, Chile's $44.99 and Argentina's $44.99 on their own pages, $217.95 together, against $47.99 for the Latin America trip that covers all five. For a month the five come to $313.95, with Bolivia the dearest at $78.99, against $65.99.
A country plan wins when the trip stays in one place. Peru alone is $40.99 for 2 weeks and $56.99 for a month, $7 and $9 under the regional plan, and I would buy that for a trip that never leaves Peru. For the first week, Airalo's 7 days of unlimited at $39 and Holafly's at $40.90 both undercut Ringo Light's 2 weeks.
Which plans cover the Andes route, and where the signal ends
Ringo Light covers 18 countries and every one of the five on this route, Colombia, Peru, Bolivia, Chile and Argentina, plus Ecuador, Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay on the same eSIM. That helps with a side trip to the Galapagos or a bus to Iguazu. Ubigi's Best LATAM plan leaves out Peru, which is the middle of this route and the wrong plan for Machu Picchu.
Airalo, Holafly, Saily and Nomad include Peru. The Latin America page does not list the countries of each plan one by one, so I could not confirm on the day that Airalo's 17 countries, Holafly's 18, Saily's 12 or Nomad's 17 include Colombia, Bolivia, Chile and Argentina. I would look for each of the five by name at checkout. Saily's list skips four countries in Central America, so it is the one I would check hardest.
At each border the eSIM switches networks on its own, with no settings to change. Claro runs in most of these countries, and Tigo, Movistar and Entel cover much of the rest. Coverage is good in the cities and towns and gets thin between towns in the Andes and in the national parks of Patagonia. Uyuni, the Altiplano and the Torres del Paine trails are the days I would plan offline, with maps and tickets saved before I set out.
If you want a data bucket: Airalo or Ubigi
- Airalo, $36 for 10 GB. The cheapest 10 GB across the region, and the cheapest 20 GB at $49. Latamlink also sells 5 GB for 30 days at $22, enough for maps and messages.
- Ubigi, $39 for 10 GB. 25 GB for 30 days at $58. For a stay of three months or more its monthly plan gives 20 GB for $26 a month, renewing, with a 3-month minimum. It leaves out Peru, so only use it if your route skips Peru.
- Nomad, $39 for 10 GB. 20 GB at $65, on Claro, Tigo, Telcel and other local networks.
- Saily, up to 10 GB. 10 GB for 30 days at $44.99, with 5 GB at $31.99 and 3 GB at $20.99. No 20 GB and no unlimited plan for the region.
- ✓Ringo Light, no buckets. The 2 weeks is unlimited for $47.99 and the 30 days unlimited for $65.99. For a fixed amount of data, Airalo, Nomad and Ubigi cost less. A month in 20 GB is $49 at Airalo. 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 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. For Latin America it sells two trips on one eSIM across 18 countries, both unlimited data at full speed: 2 weeks at $47.99 and 30 days at $65.99. Nothing renews. The eSIM arrives by email in seconds and installs in one scan, no app.
The card to buy it is further up this page, just after the side-by-side table.
Pick by trip
Airalo unlimited, 7 days, $39, or Holafly at $40.90. Ringo Light sells no 7 days.
Ringo Light unlimited, 2 weeks, $47.99, $12.01 under Airalo's 15 days, in every country on the Andes route.
Ringo Light unlimited, 30 days, $65.99, against $97 at Airalo.
Airalo 5 GB for 30 days at $22, or 20 GB at $49.
Ubigi's 20 GB a month at $26, renewing, but only if you skip Peru. Otherwise Ringo Light's 30 days again.
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 backpacking South America 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/latin-america-esim?currency=USD, Latamlink unlimited in dollars on the site, 25 October 2026; buckets from esimdb.com/region/latin-america/airalo, listing dated 6 October 2026
- Holafly: esim.holafly.com/esim-latin-america/, prices in dollars and the 18 countries on its own page, 25 October 2026
- Saily: saily.com/esim-latin-america/, prices in dollars on saily.com, read 25 October 2026; no unlimited plan for the region
- Nomad: www.nomadesim.com/latin-america-esim, prices in dollars, plans, countries and networks on its own page, 25 October 2026
- Ubigi: cellulardata.ubigi.com/data-plans-and-coverage/ubigi-esim-data-plans/, Best LATAM prices and countries on its own site, 25 October 2026; full-speed amounts from esimdb.com/region/latin-america/ubigi, listing dated 6 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.
