The short answer
Verizon TravelPass lets your own plan work in New Zealand for $12 a day, charged only on the days you use the phone there. Ringo Light covers a whole trip for less: $25.99 for 2 weeks or $48.99 for 30 days, with unlimited data at full speed. I give Verizon the points that matter to many travelers: your own number, calls and texts included, and nothing to install.
Unlimited data at full speed for $25.99 (2 weeks) or $48.99 (30 days), one payment, nothing renews. Verizon is $12 for each day you use the phone in New Zealand.
The pass runs on your own plan, so calls and texts keep working on your number, nothing is installed, and it is billed on the account you already pay. A phone without an eSIM slot works too.
Prices read on 31 October 2026: Verizon, Ringo Light 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.
The prices, charted
US dollars, 31 October 2026. TravelPass is charged only on days the phone is used, so 14 days is the most the fortnight can cost. Ringo Light is unlimited data at full speed for the 2 weeks.
Verizon's pages show no monthly international plan for New Zealand, so 30 days is 30 times the daily price. Ringo Light is one payment for 30 days.
Side by side
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Head to head
Get Ringo Light for New Zealand, from $9.99.
Installed once, next to your own SIM. Your eSIM arrives by email in seconds.
- 7 days $9.99
- 2 weeks $25.99
- 30 days $48.99
- 90 days $68.99
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.
Verizon TravelPass vs Ringo Light in one paragraph
For data in New Zealand, Ringo Light costs a small share of TravelPass: $25.99 against $168 for two weeks, and $48.99 against $360 for a month. I give TravelPass the win on ease, and that is a real win. Your own number rings, texts arrive as usual, nothing is installed, the charge sits on a bill you already pay, and it works on a phone with no eSIM slot. For a quick trip with zero setup, I would use it. For a longer stay, or any trip with a hotspot or lots of video, I would buy Ringo Light.
Price: the same trip at each
Verizon's countries list shows New Zealand at $12 per day, and its TravelPass page says you are charged only on days you use your device in a TravelPass country, and I read both on 31 October 2026. Fourteen days of use is $168 and thirty is $360. No monthly international plan is shown for New Zealand, so a month is the daily price times 30.
Ringo Light is one payment per trip: $9.99 for 7 days, $25.99 for 2 weeks or $48.99 for 30 days. That is $142.01 less than TravelPass on a fortnight and $311.01 less on a month. Ringo Light has no 3-day trip for New Zealand, but its 7 days at $9.99 costs $2.01 less than a single day of TravelPass at $12.
Data and speed at each
Verizon's page gives 5 GB of high-speed data in each 24-hour session, then unlimited data at 3G speeds for the rest of that session. I think that covers maps, messages and photos for most days, and a day of video or a laptop on a hotspot can pass it. Ringo Light is unlimited data at full speed for the whole trip, with no daily figure to watch. Fair use policy, see Terms.
Calls, texts and your own number
This is the row I give to Verizon outright. With TravelPass the phone behaves as at home, so the same number rings, texts arrive, and verification codes sent to it keep reaching you. Ringo Light is data only. Calls go over apps that use data, and your own SIM stays in the phone for calls, with your number staying on your own SIM next to it.
Setup and billing
As I read the page, TravelPass needs nothing from you: the pass starts when the phone uses data abroad, and each session shows up on your Verizon bill. Ringo Light arrives by email after you pay and installs in one scan. Do it on Wi-Fi at home before the flight, then switch the eSIM on for data when you land in Auckland or Christchurch. The phone must support eSIM; TravelPass has no such requirement.
What Ringo Light is, and what it is not
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. For New Zealand it sells three trips, all unlimited data at full speed: 7 days at $9.99, 2 weeks at $25.99 and 30 days at $48.99. One payment, nothing renews.
What it is not: it has no phone number, so it does not replace your Verizon line for calls and texts, and it needs a phone with an eSIM slot. Verizon is simpler and keeps everything on one bill; Ringo Light is the lower price for the same time away.
The comparison of the travel eSIM brands for New Zealand is at /blog/best-esim-for-new-zealand. The card to buy Ringo Light is further up this page, just after the side-by-side table.
Which to pick
- ✓Ringo Light, for a trip of a day or more. $9.99 for 7 days, $25.99 for 2 weeks or $48.99 for 30 days, unlimited data at full speed, against $12 for every day of use at Verizon.
- ✓Verizon TravelPass, for a day or two with zero setup. Nothing to install, calls and texts on your own number, $12 per day used.
- ✓Verizon TravelPass, if your phone has no eSIM slot. It works on the plan already in the phone.
- ✓Both, for a long trip that needs calls. Ringo Light for data, your own SIM for the calls and texts your number needs.
Pick by trip
Ringo Light, 2 weeks, $25.99. Fourteen days of TravelPass is $168.
Ringo Light, 30 days, $48.99, unlimited at full speed for the laptop. TravelPass would be $360.
Verizon TravelPass. One day at $12, nothing to buy ahead.
Verizon TravelPass, or Ringo Light for data with your own SIM left in the phone for calls.
Verizon TravelPass. Ringo Light needs an eSIM-capable phone.
Frequently asked questions
How we compared, and our sources
Verizon, Ringo Light, Ringo Light
We priced Verizon and Ringo Light for New Zealand on 31 October 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: AT&T and T-Mobile. Each has its own comparison page. This one answers a single question, Verizon or Ringo Light. Left out: Plans that already include roaming. Verizon's page says TravelPass comes with Unlimited Plus and Unlimited Welcome and lists Mexico and Canada as included on Unlimited plans. It does not say that for New Zealand, so this page prices the pass itself.
- Verizon: www.verizon.com/support/travelpass-faqs/, TravelPass FAQ for the daily price, the 5 GB allowance and billing on days used, and the TravelPass countries list at verizon.com/plans/travelpass-countries/ for New Zealand at $12 per day, read 31 October 2026
- Ringo Light: ringoesim.com/new-zealand, the catalogue the checkout charges, read the same day
- Ringo Light: our own catalogue, the prices the checkout charges on 31 October 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.
