The short answer
Six travel eSIMs sell a Costa Rica plan and get most of the traffic for this search. I priced all six on the same day, for a long weekend, two weeks between Arenal, Monteverde and the Pacific coast, and a month, and I read the fine print on unlimited. Here is where each one wins, including where Ringo Light loses.
Unlimited data at full speed for 2 weeks at $44.99 or 30 days at $56.99, nothing renews. Ubigi asks $45 for 15 days with 30 GB at full speed, Airalo $49. For a month, Saily's Global plan asks $59.99 and Ubigi $69, both for a fixed amount at full speed.
10 GB for 30 days at $19, 25 GB at $29, and 60 GB at full speed for 30 days at $69, then 2 Mbps. On Liberty.
The one brand here that names Kölbi, the state network, with Liberty. 5 days of unlimited at $21, 10 GB for 30 days at $21, 20 GB at $26.
3 days of unlimited at $19.50, 3 GB a day at full speed, then 1 Mbps, on Liberty. Holafly asks $19.90.
Prices read on 11 November 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 best eSIM for Colombia, the best eSIM for Brazil and the eSIM for Argentina.
The prices, charted
US dollars, 11 November 2026. Ringo Light sells 2 weeks, the others 15 days. Ubigi's 15 days is 30 GB at full speed, then 2 Mbps. Nomad's longest unlimited is 10 days at $35, and Saily lists no Costa Rica unlimited.
The 30-day plan at each brand. Saily's bar is its Global plan, 30 GB at full speed, then 1 Mbps. Ubigi's month is 60 GB at full speed, then 2 Mbps. Ringo Light is unlimited data at full speed. 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
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Get Ringo Light for Costa Rica, from $26.99.
Installed once, next to your own SIM. Your eSIM arrives by email in seconds.
- 7 days $26.99
- 2 weeks $44.99
- 30 days $56.99
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.
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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 Costa Rica, and what your phone needs for it
Eight places most first trips include, from San José and the volcanoes to the cloud forest, the Caribbean canals and the Pacific beaches, with the one thing your data does for you at each. The towns have good 4G; the parks and canals often do not.
If you want unlimited for two weeks or a month: Ringo Light
Costa Rica is a loop for most people: San José, Arenal, Monteverde, then a week on the Pacific or the Caribbean coast. For about two weeks of unlimited, Airalo asks $49, Holafly $51.50 and Ubigi $45 for 30 GB at full speed. Nomad stops at 10 days for $35 and Saily lists no Costa Rica unlimited at all. Ringo Light charges $44.99 for 2 weeks, nothing renews, the lowest price here for two weeks.
For a month Ringo Light wins too, and I would buy it for heavy use. Saily's Global plan gives 30 GB at full speed for 30 days at $59.99, then 1 Mbps, and Ubigi gives 60 GB at full speed at $69, then 2 Mbps. Its 30 days costs $56.99, $3 under Saily, $12.01 under Ubigi, and well under Airalo at $89 and Holafly at $99.90, with no cap on full speed.
I read what unlimited means at each brand before I pick one. Airalo gives 3 GB a day at full speed, then 1 Mbps. Nomad gives 2 GB a day, then slows you. Ubigi and Saily's Global plan give a fixed amount, then slow you. Holafly states no daily cap for your own phone and limits sharing to 1 GB a day. Ringo Light is unlimited data at full speed for the whole 7 days, 2 weeks or 30 days.
For a short trip, Ringo Light sells no 3-day plan, and its nearest trip is 7 days at $26.99. Airalo sells 3 days of unlimited at $19.50, which costs less, Nomad 5 days at $21, and Ubigi a week with 20 GB at full speed for $26, which is $0.99 under Ringo Light's 7 days but capped.
Which network works best in Costa Rica
Costa Rica has three networks: Kölbi, run by the state utility ICE, Claro, and Liberty, which took over Movistar's network. All three cover San José, the Central Valley, La Fortuna and the big beach towns. Kölbi is the one most locals name for the countryside. Most travel eSIMs here ride Liberty; Holafly adds Claro, and Nomad is the one brand in this table that names Kölbi.
Signal thins out in the places people come for: the Osa Peninsula and Corcovado, the Tortuguero canals, and parts of the Monteverde cloud forest. Holafly says so on its own page. I would download offline maps before driving or taking the boat, whichever eSIM you buy.
If you want a data bucket: Ubigi or Nomad
- Ubigi, $19 for 10 GB. The cheapest 10 GB, and 25 GB for 30 days at $29, $3 over Nomad's 20 GB. On Liberty, installed by QR code.
- Nomad, $21 for 10 GB. 20 GB for $26, on Kölbi ICE and Liberty.
- Airalo, $34 for 10 GB. Its Hot Telecom plan, 20 GB for $40.50, buckets from $7 for 1 GB.
- Saily, $36.99 for 10 GB. 20 GB at $47.99. Its listing is dated 5 October; saily.com would not load when I tried.
- ✓Ringo Light, no buckets. Ringo Light sells 2 weeks of unlimited for $44.99 and 30 days of unlimited for $56.99. For a fixed amount of data, Ubigi, Nomad, Airalo and Saily are all cheaper in Costa Rica, Ubigi by more than half. I would buy Ringo Light for two weeks of unlimited, not for a bucket.
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 Costa Rica it sells three trips, all unlimited data at full speed with no speed cap: 7 days at $26.99, 2 weeks at $44.99 and 30 days at $56.99. Nothing renews. The eSIM arrives by email in seconds and installs in one scan, no app.
In Costa Rica it is the cheapest unlimited in this table for both lengths. For a month, Saily's Global plan at $59.99 and Ubigi at $69 cost more, with a fixed amount at full speed. The card to buy it is further up this page, just after the side-by-side table.
One more thing I would rather tell you here than let you find at checkout: the Latin America trip from Ringo Light covers Costa Rica as well, and it costs $47.99 for 2 weeks and $65.99 for 30 days, the same unlimited data with no speed cap on one eSIM that also works in the neighbouring countries. The Costa Rica trip is cheaper on both lengths, $44.99 and $56.99, so if you only need Costa Rica, I would buy that one. The Latin America page compares it with the same brands.
Pick by trip
Airalo unlimited, 3 days, $19.50. Ringo Light sells no 3 days.
Ubigi, 20 GB at full speed for 7 days, $26, then 2 Mbps.
Ringo Light unlimited, 2 weeks, $44.99, under Ubigi at $45 and Airalo at $49 for 15 days.
Ringo Light unlimited, 30 days, $56.99, under Saily's Global plan (30 GB, $59.99) and Ubigi (60 GB, $69).
Ubigi 10 GB for 30 days at $19, or 25 GB at $29.
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 Costa Rica 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/costa-rica-esim?currency=USD, unlimited in dollars on the site, read 11 November 2026; buckets, daily cap and the 1 Mbps speed after it from esimdb.com/costa-rica/airalo, listing dated 9 November 2026
- Holafly: esim.holafly.com/esim-costa-rica/, read live in dollars, 11 November 2026
- Saily: esimdb.com/costa-rica/saily, esimdb listing dated 5 October 2026, read 11 November 2026; saily.com was not fetched
- Nomad: esimdb.com/costa-rica/nomad, dollar prices from the esimdb listing dated 5 November 2026, read 11 November 2026; networks Kölbi ICE and Liberty from nomadesim.com/costa-rica-esim, not read on 11 November 2026 and kept as dated here; daily cap from the esimdb listing
- Ubigi: esimdb.com/costa-rica/ubigi, esimdb listing dated 5 November 2026, read 11 November 2026; network from cellulardata.ubigi.com, read live 29 October 2026 and not readable again on 11 November 2026, kept as dated here
- 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.
