The short answer
Every travel eSIM sells Chișinău as part of its Moldova plan. We priced the six that get most of the traffic on the same day, for a long weekend, a fortnight and a month, and looked at what your phone has to do between the airport, the trolleybus stops, the market, the wine cellars and a day out to the gorge at Orheiul Vechi.
Unlimited data at full speed for 2 weeks at $22.99 or 30 days at $45.99, nothing renews. Holafly asks $50.50 for 15 days and $73.90 for the month.
10 GB for 30 days at $15 and 25 GB for 30 days at $28, on Moldcell. Its Europe plan gives 30 GB for 15 days at $35, then 2 Mbps.
3 days of unlimited at $12.50 on Orange, 3 GB a day at full speed. Its Moldova unlimited stops at 10 days.
Days, not gigabytes, on Orange, Moldtelecom and Moldcell. $27.50 for a week; sharing limited to 1 GB a day.
Prices read on 28 September 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.
Travelling further? Compare the eSIM for Europe and the best eSIM for Europe, all brands priced.
The prices, charted
US dollars, 28 September 2026. The rivals sell 15 days, Ringo Light 2 weeks. Ubigi's is its Europe plan, 30 GB at full speed, then 2 Mbps. Airalo's is its Discover global plan. Saily and Nomad sell no two-week unlimited for Moldova.
The 30-day plan at each brand. Ringo Light is unlimited data at full speed. Saily's is its Global plan (listing from June), Ubigi's its Europe plan at 60 GB, then 2 Mbps, Airalo's its Discover global plan. Nomad sells no unlimited for Moldova.
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
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Get Ringo Light for Chișinău, from $22.99.
Installed once, next to your own SIM. Your eSIM arrives by email in seconds.
- 2 weeks $22.99
- 30 days $45.99
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 Chișinău, and what your phone does for you there
Six places for a first visit to Chișinău, from the Triumphal Arch to a day in the gorge at Orheiul Vechi. Four sit in the city and are easy on foot or by trolleybus, one is a short trip out to the cellars, and one is a day trip.
Getting online at Chișinău airport
Chișinău International Airport, KIV, is a short drive from the centre. Switch your eSIM on after landing and the data should connect while you wait at passport control, so a map and a taxi app are ready by the time you reach the arrivals hall.
Trolleybus 30 is the usual cheap way into town, and taxis wait outside the terminal. Check the route, the fare and the current stops on your phone before you leave the building, because routes and prices change. Keep a few small notes in lei for the bus.
Trolleybuses, marshrutkas and paying cash
Most of the centre can be crossed on foot, and the rest is served by trolleybuses and by marshrutkas, the shared minibuses that carry a route number in the windscreen. A maps app with public transport tells you which number to catch and where to get off, and live departures are worth loading before you go to the stop.
Plan to pay the driver or conductor in cash, in lei, since a card reader is not guaranteed on every vehicle. Check on the day whether the city has added card or app payment on the line you need. Change small notes at a bank or exchange office rather than at the airport.
Yandex Go and local taxi apps
Taxis in Chișinău are normally booked by app, and Yandex Go and a few local apps are the ones travellers mention most. An app shows the fare before you get in, which spares you a haggle at the kerb. Check which apps work with a foreign phone number and which accept your card, then try one before you need it.
The app needs data both to find you and to follow the ride, so a working eSIM matters most at the moments you are standing on a pavement with luggage. If you hail a street taxi instead, agree the price first.
Signal in the wine cellars and at Orheiul Vechi
Cricova and Mileștii Mici are cellars cut into limestone, with long tunnels that you drive or walk through on a guided tour. Do not expect a signal once you are down there. Book the visit and screenshot the confirmation before you arrive, and save the address and your ride home while you still have bars at the entrance.
Orheiul Vechi is a day trip into the countryside, and the gorge of the Raut river is exactly the kind of place where a signal can thin. Download an offline map of the area before you set off, note the return bus or taxi, and check your own phone on the day instead of relying on one bar. In the city itself, ordinary maps and messages should keep up.
Which plan fits a Chișinău trip
A long weekend: Airalo and Holafly both sell 3 days of unlimited data at $12.50. Ringo Light sells no 3-day plan for Moldova, and Saily, Nomad and Ubigi sell none either.
A week: Holafly asks $27.50 for 7 days, Ubigi $27 for 8 days with 5 GB a day, then 2 Mbps, and Airalo $29.50. Ringo Light sells no 7-day plan, but our 2 weeks at $22.99 costs less than each of those, so you simply have days left over.
A fortnight or a month, for example Chișinău first and then a drive to the monasteries on the Dniester: Ringo Light 2 weeks at $22.99 or 30 days at $45.99, unlimited data at full speed. The same plan covers all of Moldova, so nothing changes when you leave the capital.
If your phone plan is from the EU
Since 1 January 2026, Moldova has been part of the EU's roam like at home area, so a plan from an EU country works in Chișinău within its normal allowance. Check your operator's fair use terms before a long stay, because some plans cap the days you can roam in a year.
Visitors from the UK, the US and elsewhere still pay their own roaming rates. For them a travel eSIM is normally the cheaper way to get data, and it keeps the home SIM free for calls and texts.
What Ringo Light is
Ringo Light is our own data eSIM. For Moldova, Chișinău included, it sells two trips, both with unlimited data at full speed: 2 weeks at $22.99 and 30 days at $45.99. Nothing renews. The eSIM arrives by email in seconds and installs with one scan, no app.
If a small bucket is enough, Ubigi sells 10 GB for 30 days at $15, below our 2 weeks. Ringo Light sells no buckets. The buy card is higher up this page, just after the side-by-side table.
Pick by trip
Airalo or Holafly unlimited, 3 days, $12.50. Ringo Light sells no 3 days; its 2 weeks at $22.99 suits a trip that might stretch.
Ringo Light unlimited, 2 weeks, $22.99, which is less than a week at Ubigi ($27), Holafly ($27.50) or Airalo ($29.50).
Ringo Light 2 weeks at $22.99 covers the city and both outings on one plan.
Ringo Light unlimited, 30 days, $45.99.
Ubigi 10 GB for 30 days at $15.
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 Chișinău on 28 September 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/moldova-esim?currency=USD, Moldova plans in dollars on the site, 28 September 2026; Discover global plan from esimdb.com/moldova/airalo, same day
- Holafly: esim.holafly.com/esim-moldova/, dollars and networks on its own site, 28 September 2026
- Saily: esimdb.com/moldova/saily, listing dated 12 June 2026; saily.com refused the fetch
- Nomad: www.getnomad.app/moldova-esim, dollar prices in its own page data, 28 September 2026; matches esimdb.com/moldova/nomad, dated 17 September 2026
- Ubigi: esimdb.com/moldova/ubigi, listing dated 14 September 2026; the 10 GB price and Moldcell confirmed on cellulardata.ubigi.com
- Ringo Light: our own catalogue, the prices the checkout charges on 28 September 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.
