1 · The 60-second answer
A week in the United States, phone in hand, no roaming bill from your home carrier. Nomad and Holafly are the two travel eSIMs most people shortlist for it, and they are built on opposite ideas.
Nomad is the price leader. Its USA plans run on T-Mobile, AT&T and Verizon, its buckets are cheap, and its "unlimited" plans are 2 GB a day at full speed and then 1 Mbps.
Holafly sells unlimited days on AT&T and T-Mobile with no daily cap stated on your own use. It costs more, and in return you never look at a meter.
The honest verdict. On price Nomad wins most rows against Holafly. A week of Nomad unlimited is €19.81 against Holafly's $27.50. Holafly wins if you tether a laptop or stream for hours. Ringo Light, our own data eSIM, sells two weeks for $14.99, under either one's single week, and 30 days for $22.99, one payment each: unlimited data at full speed.
Prices were read on nomadesim.com, holafly.com and ringoesim.com on 11 September 2026, Ringo Light prices updated 26 September 2026. Nomad displayed euro, Holafly and Ringo Light US dollars. Two Nomad buckets were on sale that day; the sale price is what we show.
2 · At a glance
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3 · The prices, side by side
Here is the whole ladder for the trip lengths people actually book. Nomad is cheaper at every step, and the gap widens with the days.
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Ringo Light sells two plans for the States, not a ladder, each one payment with nothing that renews: 2 weeks at $14.99 and 30 days at $22.99, both unlimited data at full speed. The 30 days costs less than Nomad's 10 GB bucket at €21.53.
4 · What unlimited means on each
- Nomad. Two gigabytes a day at full speed, then 1 Mbps until the next day. Enough for maps, messages and a call. Not enough for a hotspot evening.
- Holafly. No daily cap stated on your own use. Sharing the connection is capped at 1 GB a day and the terms carry a fair-use clause. For one phone it behaves as unlimited.
- Ringo Light. Both plans are unlimited data at full speed with no daily cap, for the length of the plan.
If your trip is heavy on video, Holafly is the only one of the three that will not slow you down in the afternoon. If it is a normal week of city use, all three will feel the same.
5 · Nomad · where it wins and where it costs you
- Wins: the price against Holafly, everywhere. A week of 2 GB a day for €19.81 is well under Holafly's $27.50, and the 10 GB bucket at €21.53 is a one-off with nothing to renew.
- Wins: three networks. T-Mobile, AT&T and Verizon on the same plan is rare, and it matters in the mountains and the desert.
- Costs you: "unlimited" is 2 GB a day. The word on the box is generous. The line after 2 GB is not.
- Costs you: sale prices move. Two of the buckets we quote were discounted on the day. The regular 20 GB price is higher.
- Costs you: it is a trip product. Every trip is a fresh purchase and a fresh install.
6 · Holafly · where it wins and where it costs you
- Wins: no meter, no maths. The only plan here you can hand to a teenager without a talk about data.
- Wins: a 30-day option. $73.90 for a month of unlimited on AT&T or T-Mobile. Nomad has no unlimited month at all.
- Costs you: about forty percent more than Nomad on every rung. $27.50 against €19.81 for the week.
- Costs you: the fine print exists. Sharing is capped at 1 GB a day and there is a fair-use policy. It is unlimited for a phone, not for a household.
7 · Where Ringo Light fits
Ringo Light is the data eSIM we sell today, data only, next to your own SIM. On the USA plan it is honest about where it stands.
- Two weeks cost $14.99, one payment. That is well under a week at Holafly and under Nomad's week too. If you are buying one week and nothing else, Ringo Light is now the cheaper deal and we say so.
- The month costs $22.99, one payment. Unlimited data at full speed with no daily cap, for the whole 30 days. Nothing renews.
- Global for longer or wider trips. One plan for 133 countries, unlimited data at full speed, $49.99 a month, the only Ringo Light plan that renews.
Unlimited data at full speed for 2 weeks at $14.99 or 30 days at $22.99, one payment, no renewal.
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.
8 · Pick by trip shape
- One week, lowest price. Ringo Light's two weeks, $14.99. Of the two in the title, Nomad at €19.81, and keep the phone off the hotspot.
- One week, laptop and streaming. Holafly, $27.50, and never think about it.
- A month in the States, phone first. Ringo Light's 30 days at $22.99, one payment: unlimited data at full speed.
- A month of heavy video. Holafly's 30 days at $73.90, with no meter at all.
- You need your own number to keep ringing. None of the three travel plans does that, Ringo Light included. That is the full Ringo service, one plan that works everywhere with your own number included. It is a separate product, still being built, so join the waitlist to hear when it opens.
