The best eSIM for Panama in 2026. Airalo, Holafly, Saily, Nomad, Ubigi and Ringo Light for Panama, priced on the same day: two weeks unlimited for $39.99, and which to buy.
Prices read on 28 September 2026. Six travel eSIMs sell a Panama plan and get most of the traffic for this search. We priced all six on the same day, for a stopover of a few days off a flight through Tocumen, two weeks between Panama City, the islands and the highlands, and a month, and read the fine print on unlimited. Here is where each one wins, including where we lose.
Ringo Light: Cheapest unlimited for two weeks. Unlimited data at full speed for 2 weeks at $39.99, one payment, nothing renews. Airalo asks $49 for 15 days, Holafly $54.90. For a month our $74.99 is under Airalo and Holafly, but Saily's Global plan is $15 cheaper.
Airalo: Cheapest 3 days, for a Tocumen stopover. 3 days of unlimited at $18.50, 3 GB a day at full speed, then 1 Mbps, on +Móvil. Holafly asks $18.90.
Nomad: Cheapest data bucket. 10 GB for 30 days at $19 and 20 GB at $27, on Tigo and +Móvil, the cheapest buckets of the six.
Saily: Cheapest month, on its Global plan. 30 GB at full speed for 30 days at $59.99, then 1 Mbps. Saily sells no Panama unlimited of its own.
Model: Airalo Buckets or unlimited days; Holafly Unlimited days only; Saily Buckets for Panama; unlimited only on its Global plan; Nomad Buckets or unlimited days; Ubigi Buckets, then 2 Mbps; Ringo Light Unlimited trips: 2 weeks or 30 days.
Unlimited, 3 days: Airalo $18.50; Holafly $18.90; Saily No 3-day plan; Nomad No 3-day plan; 5 days $29; Ubigi No 3-day plan; Ringo Light No 3-day plan.
Unlimited, 7 days: Airalo $33.50; Holafly $33.90; Saily No Panama unlimited; Nomad No 7-day plan; 5 days $29; Ubigi 20 GB, then 2 Mbps, $31; Ringo Light No 7-day plan; 2 weeks $39.99.
Unlimited, 2 weeks: Airalo 15 days $49; Holafly 15 days $54.90; Saily No Panama unlimited; Nomad No 15-day plan; 10 days $49; Ubigi 15 days, 30 GB, then 2 Mbps, $55; Ringo Light $39.99.
Unlimited, 30 days: Airalo $99; Holafly $106.50; Saily Global plan only: 30 GB, then 1 Mbps, $59.99; Nomad No 30-day unlimited; Ubigi No 30-day unlimited; Ringo Light $74.99.
10 GB, 30 days: Airalo $35; Holafly No buckets; Saily $39.99; Nomad $19; Ubigi $22; Ringo Light No buckets; 2 weeks starts with 10 GB, $39.99.
20 GB, 30 days: Airalo $45; Holafly No buckets; Saily Not listed on the day; Nomad $27; Ubigi 25 GB $44; Ringo Light No buckets; 30 days starts with 20 GB, $74.99.
Full speed on unlimited: Airalo 3 GB a day, then 1 Mbps; Holafly No daily cap stated; sharing 1 GB a day; Saily Global plan: 30 GB, then 1 Mbps; Nomad 2 GB a day, then slowed; Ubigi A fixed amount, then 2 Mbps; Ringo Light No speed cap; starts with 10 or 20 GB, adds 10 GB once at 80%, charged.
Networks: Airalo +Móvil; Holafly Tigo; Saily Not named by Saily; Nomad Tigo, +Móvil; Ubigi Liberty (+Móvil), Tigo; Ringo Light Local partner network.
Renews?: Airalo No; Holafly No; Saily No; Nomad No; Ubigi No; Ringo Light No, one payment; the trip ends when it ends.
App needed: Airalo Yes; Holafly No, QR code; Saily Yes; Nomad Optional; Ubigi Optional; Ringo Light No, the eSIM arrives by email.
A first trip to Panama is usually Panama City and the Canal, then the islands, San Blas or Bocas del Toro, and a few days in the highlands at Boquete or El Valle. For about two weeks of unlimited, Airalo asks $49, Holafly $54.90 and Ubigi $55 for 30 GB at full speed. Nomad stops at 10 days for $49 and Saily lists no Panama unlimited at all. Ringo Light charges $39.99 for 2 weeks, one payment, nothing renews, the lowest price here for two weeks.
For a month we do not win. Saily's Global plan gives 30 GB at full speed for 30 days at $59.99, then 1 Mbps. Our 30 days costs $74.99, well under Airalo at $99 and Holafly at $106.50 but $15 above Saily. We would rather you read that here than at checkout.
Read what unlimited means before you pick. 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 has no speed cap: the 2 weeks starts with 10 GB and the 30 days with 20 GB, and when you have used 80% we add 10 GB once and charge the $39.99 top-up. A heavy two weeks with us costs $79.98, more than any rival's 15 days; a heavy month costs $114.98, more than Airalo's $99 and Holafly's $106.50. If you stream every day for a month, buy Airalo or Holafly.
Tocumen is Copa Airlines' hub, and many flights between the Americas connect there. Copa lets many of those passengers stop in Panama for a few days at no extra airfare, which is how a lot of people end up with three or four days in Panama City. Ringo Light sells no 3-day or 7-day plan. For a stopover, Airalo sells 3 days of unlimited at $18.50 and Holafly at $18.90; for a week, Ubigi gives 20 GB at full speed for $31, under Airalo at $33.50 and Holafly at $33.90.
Install the eSIM at home, before the flight, and turn it on when you land. You clear immigration with data working, and Uber runs from the airport into the city.
Most of Panama's mobile traffic runs on two networks: +Móvil, the Cable & Wireless network owned by Liberty Latin America, and Tigo, which took over Movistar's. Both cover Panama City, the Canal, the Pan-American Highway and the main towns in Chiriquí and Coclé. Airalo rides +Móvil, Holafly Tigo, and Nomad and Ubigi name both.
Signal thins out where many trips go: the San Blas islands in Guna Yala, the outer islands and beaches of Bocas del Toro, the Darién and the trails on Volcán Barú. Holafly says so on its own page. Download offline maps before you take the boat or climb, whichever eSIM you buy.
Nomad, $19 for 10 GB. The cheapest 10 GB and the cheapest 20 GB at $27, on Tigo and +Móvil.
Ubigi, $22 for 10 GB. 25 GB for 30 days at $44, on Liberty and Tigo, installed by QR code.
Airalo, $35 for 10 GB. Its Panama plan, 20 GB for $45, buckets from $7 for 1 GB.
Saily, $39.99 for 10 GB. Its listing is from June and shows no 20 GB Panama plan; saily.com would not load for us.
Ringo Light, no buckets. Our 2 weeks starts with 10 GB for $39.99 and our 30 days with 20 GB for $74.99. For a fixed amount of data, Nomad, Ubigi and Airalo are all cheaper in Panama, Nomad by more than half. Buy Ringo Light for two weeks of unlimited, not for a bucket.
Ringo Light is our own data eSIM, sold to fund the full Ringo, one plan that works everywhere with your own number ported onto it. For Panama it sells two trips, both unlimited data at full speed with no speed cap: 2 weeks at $39.99, starting with 10 GB, and 30 days at $74.99, starting with 20 GB. Each adds 10 GB once at 80%, charged at $39.99. One payment, nothing renews. The eSIM arrives by email in seconds and installs in one scan, no app.
In Panama it is the cheapest two weeks of unlimited in this table. It is not the cheapest month: Saily's Global plan at $59.99 costs less, with 30 GB at full speed. The card to buy it is just below this article.
One more thing we would rather tell you here than let you find at checkout: our own Latin America trip covers Panama as well, and on the same day it cost $29.99 for 2 weeks and $59.99 for 30 days, against $39.99 and $74.99 for the Panama trip. It is the same unlimited data with no speed cap, on one eSIM that also works in Costa Rica, Colombia and the rest of the region, so it is the cheaper Ringo Light to buy for Panama today. The Latin America page at /blog/best-esim-for-latin-america compares it with the same brands.
A three-day stopover off a Copa flight. Airalo unlimited, 3 days, $18.50, or Holafly at $18.90. Ringo Light sells no 3 days.
A week, light to normal use. Ubigi, 20 GB at full speed for 7 days, $31, then 2 Mbps.
Two weeks between the city, the islands and Boquete. Ringo Light unlimited, 2 weeks, $39.99, under Airalo at $49 and Holafly at $54.90 for 15 days. Our Latin America trip at $29.99 covers Panama too.
A month, heavy use. Saily's Global plan, 30 GB at full speed for $59.99, or our Latin America trip at $59.99. Ringo Light's Panama 30 days at $74.99 costs more.
A month, light use. Nomad 10 GB for 30 days at $19, or 20 GB at $27.
You need your own number to keep ringing. None of these travel plans does that. The full Ringo, which Ringo Light funds, ports the number you have.
What to do in Panama, and what your phone needs for it. Eight places most first trips include, from a Tocumen stopover in Panama City to the Caribbean islands and the western highlands, with the one thing your data does for you at each. Panama City has good 4G and 5G; the islands and mountain trails often do not.
Casco Viejo, Panama City. The old quarter on a small peninsula in the bay, built after pirates destroyed the first city in 1671, with plazas, churches and restored balconies. Walk it in the morning, before the heat. Uber works across Panama City and is the easy way in and out: parking in the old streets is scarce.
Miraflores Locks, Panama Canal, near Panama City. The visitor centre at the Pacific end of the Canal has terraces right above the lock chambers, where ships are raised and lowered a few metres from you. A half day from the city, easy on a stopover. The Canal publishes live cameras of the locks. Check them before you ride out to see whether ships are passing.
Cinta Costera and the skyline, Panama City. A waterfront park and promenade along the bay, with the towers of the city on one side and ships waiting for the Canal on the other. Best at sunset, when runners and cyclists fill it. Panama uses the US dollar, and cards work in most of the city. A maps app picks between the Metro and a ride.
The San Blas islands, Guna Yala, Caribbean coast. Hundreds of small palm islands run by the Guna people, reached by a 4x4 road from Panama City and then a boat. Most visits are a day trip or a night in a simple island cabin. Signal is patchy on the islands and the Guna charge entry fees in cash. Download maps and bring dollars before you leave the city.
The forts of Portobelo, Colón province, Caribbean coast. Spanish forts and cannons on a Caribbean bay, once a port for the silver fleets and now a UNESCO World Heritage site. About two hours by road from Panama City. Drivers in Panama use Waze. Save the area offline too: signal fades along the coast road.
Bocas del Toro, Caribbean coast, near Costa Rica. An archipelago of jungle islands, with a small town on Isla Colón and beaches and reefs a short water taxi away. Fly from Albrook airport in Panama City or come overland from Costa Rica. Water taxis take cash. Save your hotel pin offline for the ride back after dark.
Boquete, Chiriquí highlands. A cool mountain town known for its coffee farms, cloud forest trails and the night hike up Volcán Barú, Panama's highest point, for sunrise. Signal fades on the Barú trail. Download the route offline and tell someone when you start.
El Valle de Antón, Coclé, two hours from Panama City. A town set inside the crater of an old volcano, with waterfalls, forest trails and a market in the centre. An easy weekend out of the city. Trails such as La India Dormida start from town. Save the route offline before you climb.
We priced Airalo, Holafly, Saily, Nomad, Ubigi and Ringo Light for Panama 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.
Source for Airalo: https://www.airalo.com/panama-esim?currency=USD (unlimited in dollars on the site; buckets from esimdb.com/panama/airalo, 28 September 2026).
Source for Holafly: https://esim.holafly.com/esim-panama/.
Source for Saily: https://esimdb.com/panama/saily (listing dated 24 June 2026; saily.com refused the fetch).
Source for Nomad: https://esimdb.com/panama/nomad (listing dated 17 September 2026; networks from nomadesim.com/panama-esim, which served euro prices).
Source for Ubigi: https://esimdb.com/panama/ubigi (listing dated 24 September 2026; networks from cellulardata.ubigi.com).
For two weeks of unlimited data, Ringo Light at $39.99 on 28 September 2026, against $49 at Airalo and $54.90 at Holafly for 15 days. For a month, Saily's Global plan at $59.99 with 30 GB at full speed; our Panama 30 days is $74.99. For 3 days, Airalo at $18.50. For 10 GB, Nomad at $19.
Airalo rides +Móvil, Holafly Tigo, and Nomad and Ubigi name both Tigo and +Móvil. Saily does not name its network on its listing. Both networks cover Panama City, the Canal and the main towns.
Every brand has a limit somewhere. Airalo slows you after 3 GB a day, Nomad after 2 GB, Ubigi and Saily's Global plan after a fixed amount. Holafly states no daily cap for your own phone. Ringo Light has no speed cap: it starts with 10 or 20 GB and adds 10 GB once at 80%, charged.
Yes. Install it at home before you fly and turn it on when you land at Tocumen; it connects before you reach immigration. For a stopover of a few days, Airalo's 3 days at $18.50 or Holafly's at $18.90 is the cheapest unlimited. For a connection of a few hours you may not need data at all.
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