Travel eSIM, local SIM or pocket Wi-Fi?

Travel eSIM

You install it on Wi-Fi, usually before you leave, and turn it on when you land. There's no card to collect, swap or lose. Your own line stays on your phone, so calls and texts to your number can still reach you, though your carrier may charge roaming fees for them.

Our eSIMs are data only, with no phone number, calls or SMS. You can still use messaging and calling apps over data, but some countries restrict internet calls.

Local SIM card

You usually buy it after you arrive, at the airport or in a phone shop, and put it in your phone's SIM tray. Many come with a local number, but some are data only.

• Many countries require you to register a SIM with your passport when you buy it, and some limit how long a visitor's SIM works.
• If your own number is on a physical SIM, calls and texts to it won't reach you while that card is out.
• Some recent phones, such as iPhones bought in the US, have no SIM tray and work only with an eSIM.

Pocket Wi-Fi

A small router you rent, pick up and return. It shares one connection with several devices over Wi-Fi, but only near the router, so you carry it and keep it charged. On flights, keep it in your hand luggage. Power banks must go there too.

Your phone can do the same with its hotspot: on all our plans, you can share your eSIM's data with a laptop or a friend's phone. What they use comes out of your data, and sharing uses more battery.

Which one?

• Travel eSIM: you want to set it up at home, with no shop visit, and keep your own number on the same phone.
• Local SIM: you need a local phone number. Some local networks also sell eSIMs with a number.
• Pocket Wi-Fi: several people share one connection and stay close together, or your phone is locked to its carrier.

A travel eSIM and a local SIM both need a phone that is unlocked from its carrier, and an eSIM also needs a phone that supports eSIM. Check your phone.