How We Research SIM Buying Options

Airport and in-country price collection

For each of our 211 destination guides, we collect prepaid SIM prices from the most common purchasing points: airport kiosks, downtown carrier stores, and convenience chains. We record the plan size, validity period, and total cost including any activation fee. Where prices differ between airport arrivals and city-center shops, we note both so you can decide whether the convenience premium is worth it.

ID and registration requirements

Many countries require passport registration before activating a prepaid SIM. We track which countries enforce this rule, what documents they accept, and whether the registration happens at the point of sale or through an app afterward. We also note countries where registration can take hours or requires a local address, since that affects whether buying at the airport is practical.

eSIM alternative pricing

Alongside physical SIM data, we collect eSIM plan prices from 4 providers for every destination. This lets us show a direct comparison: the cost of buying a physical SIM on arrival versus activating an eSIM before your flight. We quote the cheapest eSIM plan that covers a standard week of travel with moderate data use, then show larger plans where they offer better daily rates.

How we evaluate each buying channel

Every destination guide rates three buying channels: airport SIM counters, local carrier stores, and eSIM providers. We score each channel on four factors:

• Price per GB: the effective cost after dividing plan price by included data
• Activation speed: measured from purchase to working data connection
• Hassle factor: ID requirements, language barriers, queue times, and store hours
• Coverage quality: which local network the SIM or eSIM connects to and its typical speeds

Data sources and verification

Physical SIM prices come from carrier websites, airport vendor listings, and traveler-verified reports. We cross-reference at least two sources per country before publishing a price. eSIM prices come directly from each provider's public plan page and are re-checked weekly. Country-level guides are reviewed monthly. Regulatory changes (new ID laws, banned prepaid sales) trigger an immediate update.

Editorial independence

No SIM vendor, airport kiosk operator, or eSIM provider pays for placement in our guides. We earn affiliate commissions on some eSIM purchases, but that revenue does not influence which buying channel we recommend. When a physical SIM is the better deal, we say so.

Testing equipment and tools

We use two primary test devices: an iPhone 15 Pro Max running iOS 18 and a Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra running Android 15. Using both platforms matters because eSIM activation flows differ between iOS and Android — some providers handle one more reliably than the other, and we document those differences where they exist.

Speed measurements use Speedtest by Ookla, running a minimum of ten tests per provider per destination. We discard the top and bottom ten percent of results to remove outlier readings caused by momentary congestion or interference. Activation flows are screenshot-documented at each step, so we have a visual record of what a user would see. Activation time is measured with a timer app starting from QR code scan — or the point of purchase in the app — and ending when the first successful data request completes. We also run an airplane mode toggle test for each provider to measure how long the eSIM takes to reconnect after disabling and re-enabling cellular, which affects real-world reliability in transit between network zones.

Verification frequency

Limitations and known gaps

We test at 14 airports, not all 211 countries where eSIMs are available. Speed tests reflect specific times and locations — they do not capture 24-hour network performance or rural versus urban variation within a country. Provider pricing can change without notice between our monthly verification cycles, so figures may be slightly out of date at the moment you read them.

We do not test enterprise or business-specific eSIM plans — our ratings reflect the traveler use case: a consumer buying a short trip plan, activating it alone, and using it for standard data needs. They do not represent the expat or long-stay use case, where factors like top-up flexibility and plan rollover matter more. For some destinations, airport SIM counter data relies on secondary sources rather than direct testing — in those cases, we note the source and verification date clearly on the guide page.