The short answer
You hold a Vodafone contract and a flight to Beijing or Shanghai, and the choice is whether to roam on a ReisePaket World or buy a travel eSIM first. I read what Vodafone charges for China on 10 November 2026 and set it against the eSIMs I priced on 10 November 2026 and Ringo Light. For two weeks or a month I would buy Ringo Light. For one night in transit I would keep to the contract.
Unlimited data at full speed for 2 weeks at $22.99 or 30 days at $35.99, nothing renews. Airalo asks $49 for 15 days and $69 for the month.
20 GB for 30 days at $22 and 10 GB at $19, on China Unicom and China Telecom. Ubigi has the cheapest 10 GB at $17. Nomad also sells 15 days of unlimited at $39, 2 GB a day at full speed.
3 days of unlimited at $11.50 on China Unicom, 3 GB a day at full speed, then 1 Mbps.
Days, not gigabytes, on China Mobile, the largest network. Its page states WhatsApp, Google and Instagram work without a VPN. $27.50 for a week.
Prices read on 10 November 2026: Airalo, Holafly, Saily, Nomad, Ubigi, Vodafone, 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 best eSIM for Asia and the eSIM for Asia-Pacific.
The prices, charted
US dollars, 10 November 2026. Ringo Light sells 2 weeks, the others 15 days. Nomad's 15 days is 2 GB a day at full speed, then 1 Mbps. Ubigi's 15 days is 30 GB at full speed, then 2 Mbps.
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.
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 China, from $6.99.
Installed once, next to your own SIM. Your eSIM arrives by email in seconds.
- 7 days $6.99
- 2 weeks $22.99
- 30 days $35.99
- 90 days $71.99
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 China, and what your phone needs for it
Eight places most first trips to China include, from Beijing and Xi'an to Shanghai, Guilin and Chengdu, mostly joined by high-speed train. Whichever plan you pick, the tip under each one is where your phone matters.
Roam with Vodafone, or buy an eSIM
Vodafone lists China among more than 100 non-EU countries in ReisePakete World, which I read on vodafone.de on 10 November 2026. A World Tag is €9.99 (about $11) for a day with 500 MB, and a World Woche is €34.99 (about $39) for a week with 4 GB. I convert at the ECB reference rate of 10 November 2026, the latest published, where 1 euro = $1.1214. Three days on Tag passes come to €29.97 (about $34). Two weeks is two Woche passes, €69.98 (about $78). The page shows no monthly pass, so a month is four Woche passes and two Tag days, €159.94 (about $179).
Ringo Light is one payment per trip: $6.99 for 7 days, $22.99 for 2 weeks and $35.99 for 30 days, unlimited data at full speed. It sells no 3-day plan. A fortnight costs about $55 less than the two Woche passes, and a month about $143 less. One Woche pass at about $39 is dearer than the whole Ringo Light fortnight, and far dearer than its 7 days at $6.99.
Among the travel eSIMs, Ringo Light is also the cheapest unlimited for a week, two weeks and a month. Nomad asks $39 for 15 days with 2 GB a day at full speed, Ubigi $45, Airalo $49, Saily $49.99 and Holafly $51.50, and for a month the rivals run $66 to $76.50. A week is $24 on Ubigi, $25 on Nomad, $27 on Airalo and $27.50 on Holafly, all under the Woche at about $39 and all above Ringo Light's 7 days at $6.99. For a short stop, Airalo asks $11.50 for 3 days against about $34 on Vodafone, and Ringo Light sells no 3 days, though its 7 days at $6.99 costs less than either.
What Vodafone wins is real. Your German number keeps ringing, with 50 minutes and 50 texts a day included to Germany or within China, nothing needs installing, a phone with no eSIM slot works, and the charge lands on a bill you already pay. For a single night on a stopover in Shanghai, one World Tag at about $11 is the right call, and it costs about what Airalo charges for three days.
Networks in China, and what a Vodafone pass includes
China has three networks: China Mobile, China Unicom and China Telecom. China Mobile is the largest and reaches furthest into the west. I read Holafly on China Mobile, Airalo on China Unicom, Ubigi on China Telecom, Nomad on both Unicom and Telecom and Saily on Telecom and Unicom. Ringo Light uses a local partner network. For Beijing, Xi'an and Shanghai on the high-speed trains I would not pick a plan on network.
The Vodafone pass has terms of its own. I read that you pay only on days you use your tariff abroad, and that German local time decides the day. The page says the World Tag is added automatically in many tariffs, which I would check under Mein Tarif in MeinVodafone before the flight. For a Woche, the page recommends booking one day before departure so it runs for seven days from arrival. It names no speed once the data runs out, states no hotspot rule and does not say whether prepaid customers can use the passes, so I would ask Vodafone about each before leaning on it.
The page also says nothing about Google, WhatsApp or Instagram in China. Of the eSIMs, only Holafly states on its own page that they open without a VPN, and I would not assume it for any other plan. If one app matters for your work, I would install a VPN before I fly.
There is also WorldTravel, €4.99 a month (about $6) for 2 GB, with China on its Asia list, on a 12-month minimum term of €59.88 (about $67) in all. I would not buy it for one trip.
If you want a data bucket: Ubigi or Nomad
- Ubigi, $17 for 10 GB. The cheapest 10 GB I priced, on China Telecom, for 30 days. 25 GB is $33. Against a Woche pass, 10 GB is two and a half times the 4 GB for less than half the price.
- Nomad, $19 for 10 GB. The cheapest 20 GB at $22, on China Unicom and China Telecom.
- Airalo, $26.50 for 10 GB. Its Chinacom plan has 20 GB for $40.
- Saily, $26.99 for 10 GB. 20 GB at $39.99.
- ✓Ringo Light, no buckets. Its 2 weeks is unlimited for $22.99 and its 30 days unlimited for $35.99. If you want 10 GB that lasts a month, Ubigi at $17 and Nomad at $19 cost less than the Ringo Light fortnight, and for 20 GB Nomad is $13.99 under the Ringo Light month. I would rather you read that here than at checkout.
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 China it sells three trips, all unlimited data at full speed: 7 days at $6.99, 2 weeks at $22.99 and 30 days at $35.99. Nothing renews. The eSIM arrives by email in seconds as a QR code and installs in one scan, no app. It is one payment, and the card shows the price in euros before you pay.
It is data only: no phone number, no calls, no texts. It sits next to your own Vodafone SIM, so your German number keeps working for calls and texts if you leave roaming on for those, and I would check how Vodafone 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
One Vodafone World Tag at €9.99, about $11. No purchase and nothing to install.
Airalo unlimited, 3 days, $11.50, against about $34 for three Vodafone days. Ringo Light sells no 3 days.
Ringo Light unlimited, 2 weeks, $22.99, against about $78 on Vodafone and $39 or more on a rival.
Ringo Light unlimited, 30 days, $35.99, against about $179 on Vodafone. Holafly at $76.50 only if you want China Mobile and a written line on WhatsApp and Google.
Ubigi 10 GB for 30 days at $17, or Nomad at $19.
Keep your Vodafone SIM in beside the eSIM. Vodafone carries 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, Vodafone, Ringo Light, European Central Bank, Ringo Light
We priced Airalo, Holafly, Saily, Nomad, Ubigi and Ringo Light for China 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/china-esim?currency=USD, unlimited in dollars on the site, read 10 November 2026; fixed-data plans from the esimdb.com/china/airalo listing dated 4 October 2026
- Holafly: esim.holafly.com/esim-china/, prices in dollars, network and the statement on WhatsApp, Google and Instagram from its own page, read 10 November 2026
- Saily: saily.com/esim-china/, saily.com/esim-china, dollars, read 25 October 2026; not readable on 10 November 2026, figures kept from 25 October
- Nomad: www.nomadesim.com/china-esim, nomadesim.com/china-esim, dollars, read 10 November 2026; 10 GB and 20 GB at sale prices
- Ubigi: cellulardata.ubigi.com/data-plans-and-coverage/ubigi-esim-data-plans/?destination=CHN&one-off=on, one-off plan list in dollars, read 22 October 2026; the esimdb.com/china/ubigi listing dated 4 October 2026 shows the same prices
- Vodafone: www.vodafone.de/de/mobilfunk/ausland-und-roaming/reisepakete, ReisePakete page, read 10 November 2026: China in the World list, World Tag €9.99 for 500 MB a day, World Woche €34.99 for 4 GB a week, 50 minutes and 50 texts a day to Germany or within the country, billed on days of use by German local time; the WorldTravel page at vodafone.de/de/mobilfunk/ausland-und-roaming/worldtravel for €4.99 a month, 2 GB and the 12-month term. Telekom and O2 Germany were not read and are left out
- Ringo Light: ringoesim.com/china, 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, used for the dollar figures (1 euro = $1.1214)
- 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.
