The short answer
You hold an O2 or Three contract and a ticket to Colombo, and the choice is whether to roam or buy a travel eSIM first. I read what each carrier charges in Sri Lanka on 10 November 2026 and set it against the travel eSIMs I priced on 10 November 2026 and Ringo Light. For a loop of two weeks round the island I would buy Ringo Light and keep my own SIM in for calls and texts.
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.
Prices read on 10 November 2026: Airalo, Holafly, Saily, Nomad, Ubigi, O2, Ringo Light, European Central Bank, Three 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 phone needs for it
Eight places most trips to Sri Lanka include, from the rock fortress at Sigiriya through Kandy and the tea country to the south coast. Whichever plan you pick, the tip under each one is where your phone matters.
Roam with your carrier, or buy an eSIM
O2 Travel works in Sri Lanka at £7 a day, charged only for days of use, and each charge covers 24 hours from first use. At the ECB reference rate of 10 November 2026, £1 = $1.34, so one day is about $9, three days £21 (about $28), two weeks £98 (about $131) and a month £210 (about $281). Three lists Sri Lanka in Go Roam Around the World, at £8 a day (about $11) on plans joined on or after 18 December 2025 and £7 on earlier ones. That makes about $32 for three days, about $150 for two weeks and about $322 for thirty days at the £8 rate. I read all of it on 10 November 2026. Three's page did not show pass prices that day, so I leave passes out.
Ringo Light is one payment per trip. For Sri Lanka it sells 2 weeks at $22.99 and 30 days at $42.99, and no 3-day plan. Two weeks is about $131 on O2 and about $150 on Three against $22.99, and a month is about $281 on O2 and about $322 on Three against $42.99.
Among the travel eSIMs, Ringo Light is the cheapest unlimited for two weeks and a month. Ubigi asks $44 for 15 days with 30 GB at full speed, Saily $48.99, Airalo $49 and Holafly $50.50, and for a month the rivals run $65 to $73.90. For 3 days, Airalo sells unlimited at $12.50 and Holafly at $13.50, against about $28 on O2 and about $32 on Three.
What O2 and Three win is real, and I do not wave it away. Your UK number keeps ringing, calls and texts come with it, nothing needs installing, a phone with no eSIM slot works, and the charge lands on a bill you already pay. For a single night in Colombo, O2's £7, about $9, is cheaper than any eSIM here, and Ringo Light sells nothing under 2 weeks. A rural valley is not where I would count on a carrier's partner network either. From the second day on I would buy a plan.
Networks in Sri Lanka, and what changes for a visitor from the UK
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 in the hill country valleys and inside the national parks whatever the network. Most travel eSIMs here ride Mobitel or Hutch, and Holafly is the one brand in the comparison that lists Dialog as well. Ringo Light uses a local partner network. I would download offline maps before Sigiriya, the tea country and Yala.
The carrier passes have terms of their own. O2 calls the bolt-on unlimited, caps roaming speed at 2Mbps and names no fair use rule, and calls to the UK and within Sri Lanka are unlimited while other countries cost standard roaming rates. Receiving a call or text does not start the day charge, and you switch it on by texting TRAVEL to 23336. O2's page offers the bolt-on to Pay Monthly plans. Three's Go Roam page allows up to 12GB of data a month in a Go Roam zone as its fair use limit, and the page does not state a hotspot rule, so I would ask before I tethered a laptop.
The travel eSIMs here are data only, with no Sri Lankan number. Calls go over apps that use data, such as WhatsApp. If you want a local +94 number, Airalo's Ella+ plans add one with minutes and texts from $5.50.
If you want a data bucket: Ubigi or Airalo
- Ubigi, $11 for 10 GB. The cheapest 10 GB for 30 days, on Mobitel and Hutch, installed by QR code. Its next size up is 50 GB for $39.
- Airalo, $11.50 for 10 GB. And the cheapest 20 GB at $18, or 50 GB at $36 for the month. Its Ella+ plans cost a little more and add a local +94 number.
- Nomad, $15 for 10 GB. 20 GB for $21 on Mobitel and Hutch.
- Saily, $19.99 for 10 GB. 20 GB at $30.99.
- ✓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's 20 GB at $18 costs less than the Ringo Light 2 weeks. I would buy Ringo Light for unlimited, not for 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 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. Nothing renews. The eSIM arrives by email in seconds and installs in one scan, no app.
It is data only, with no number, no calls and no texts, and it sits beside your own SIM. Keep your UK SIM in for calls and texts, and for any bank code. I would check how your carrier bills the day before leaning on that.
The card to buy it is further up this page, just after the side-by-side table.
Pick by trip
O2 Travel. A single £7 day, about $9, no purchase and nothing to install.
Airalo unlimited, 3 days, $12.50, against about $28 on O2. Ringo Light sells no 3 days, but its 2 weeks is $22.99 if the trip might run longer.
Ringo Light unlimited, 2 weeks, $22.99, against about $131 on O2 or about $150 on Three.
Ringo Light unlimited, 30 days, $42.99, against about $281 on O2 or about $322 on Three. Airalo 50 GB for 30 days at $36 if you want a fixed amount.
Ubigi 10 GB for 30 days at $11, or Airalo at $11.50.
Keep your own SIM in beside the eSIM. O2 and Three carry calls and texts on your number and the travel eSIMs do not; 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, O2, Ringo Light, European Central Bank, Three, 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
- O2: www.o2.co.uk/international/o2-travel, O2 Travel bolt-on page, read 10 November 2026: £7 a day, charged for the 24 hours from first use, unlimited data capped at 2Mbps while roaming, unlimited calls to the UK and within the destination; Sri Lanka is on the page's list of destinations
- Ringo Light: ringoesim.com/sri-lanka, 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, used for the dollar figures (£1 = $1.34)
- Three: www.three.co.uk/go-roam, Go Roam daily charges and the 12GB fair use limit at three.co.uk/go-roam, Sri Lanka in Around the World at three.co.uk/support/roaming-and-calling-abroad/roaming-abroad/roaming-destinations, read 10 November 2026; the page shows no pass prices
- 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.
