In a nutshell
- An eSIM is a real game changer for your trip to the USA. Buy and install it at home before you leave — after landing, all you have to do is activate it and you’re online.
- There are a lot of providers for eSIMs in the USA. We’ll tell you which one is actually worth it — based on our own experience.
- No time to read everything? Our top pick: a USA eSIM from Saily. It’s affordable, super easy to set up, and worked great for us.
- We also compare Jetpac and Holafly — including the pros, cons, and which type of traveler each one suits best.
What You Should Know About USA eSIMs
An eSIM is THE alternative to the classic physical SIM card. eSIMs are incredibly convenient and perfect if you want to kick off your trip to the USA completely stress-free — and already connected to the internet.
You don’t have to hunt down a SIM card once you land or deal with sorting through different providers and plans on the spot. You make your choice ahead of time, install the eSIM, and you’re good to go. Once you’ve landed, you activate your new plan and switch to it. That way, for example, you can submit the MPC form for entering the USA right away.
When searching for the best eSIM for USA travel, you’ll quickly notice that there are two different types of plans:
- a specific amount of GB, or
- unlimited data for a set number of days.
Which option is right for you usually depends on how you use your phone and the nature of your trip.
Here we have a guide for the installation for you:
Our Recommendation: Saily as an eSIM for the USA
We recommend getting an eSIM from Saily for the USA. We tested it ourselves on our last trip and were seriously happy with it.
The USA eSIM from Saily is very affordable and super easy to install via the app. When you arrive in the USA, your new plan activates automatically.
You can purchase the eSIM with either a specific amount of GB or unlimited data for a set number of days. In the app, you always have your usage and remaining time at a glance.
By the way, with a USA eSIM from Saily, you can also use your phone as a hotspot for other devices.
If you use the internet normally — for example, for Google Maps and social media — 10 GB per person for seven days should be more than enough for a trip to New York. And if you run out of data, you can easily top up right in the app.
We explain how to install and activate an eSIM in our article about eSIMs for travel.
To give you a better overview of what Saily offers, we’ve put together the plans in a table below. Keep in mind that prices may vary since there are often promotional discounts.
| Data Volume | Duration | Price |
|---|---|---|
| 1 GB | 7 days | 3 EUR |
| 3 GB | 7 days | 7 EUR |
| 5 GB | 30 days | 11 EUR |
| 10 GB Our Pick | 30 days | 18 EUR |
| 20 GB | 30 days | 29 EUR |
| Unlimited Data | 5 days | 15 EUR |
| Unlimited Data | 7 days | 23 EUR |
| Unlimited Data | 10 days | 27 EUR |
| Unlimited Data | 15 days | 38 EUR |
| Unlimited Data | 20 days | 47 EUR |
| Unlimited Data | 25 days | 52 EUR |
| Unlimited Data | 30 days | 57 EUR |
eSIMs for USA Travel Compared
We just told you that we recommend a Saily eSIM for the USA.
But there are also two other solid providers worth considering: Jetpac and Holafly. To give you a clear picture of all three, we’re going to compare them side by side.
eSIMs from Holafly have the main advantage of letting you book unlimited data for a flexible number of days. eSIMs from Jetpac, on the other hand, are very affordable, especially if you’re after a GB package.
| Top Pick | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Saily | Jetpac | Holafly | |
| Data volume | 1, 3, 5, 10 and 20 GB and unlimited | 1, 3, 5, 10, 15, 20, 30, 40, 50 GB and unlimited | Unlimited data |
| Price for 10 GB | 18 EUR | 13 EUR | - |
| Price for 7 days unlimited data | 23 EUR | 31 EUR | 27 EUR |
| Duration | 7 and 30 days | 4, 7, 10 and 30 days | 1–90 days |
| Hotspot | Allowed | Allowed | Up to 500 MB per day allowed |
| Installation | Via app (iOS I Android) | Via app (iOS I Android) | Via QR code |
| Activation | Automatic upon arrival in destination country | Manual via settings | Manual via settings |
| Multi-country eSIM available? | North America and Caribbean islands | North America | North America |
| Discount code | 22places (10%) | 22PLACES (5%) | |
| Buy eSIM | Buy now | Buy now | Buy now |
Our Experience with USA eSIMs from Holafly and Saily
On our last trip to the USA, we tested the eSIMs from both Saily and Holafly — here’s what we found.
We were really happy with the Saily eSIM. We could use all the apps we needed, like Google Maps for trip planning and the apps specifically for New York, such as the Citi Bike app. Reception was excellent throughout.
The Holafly eSIM was good too, but it did throw a few small obstacles our way. During installation, we had a bit of a rough start, and we couldn’t get the Citi Bike app to load with the Holafly eSIM. Overall, though, we were still satisfied — activation worked right away and reception was solid.
Our Verdict on USA eSIMs
Bottom line: the best eSIM for USA travel, in our experience, is Saily. You get a great price, the setup is totally straightforward, and there’s a wide range of plan options.
If you’re traveling as a pair, you could also split it up — one of you grabs a data package from Saily at the lower price, while the other gets unlimited data from Holafly for exactly the days you’ll be there. That way you’re perfectly covered. We’ve had great results with this approach on our own USA trips.
Check out the Saily eSIM
We regularly update the information in this article about USA eSIMs. That said, things can sometimes change without warning. It’s best to double-check the terms and prices before you commit to buying an eSIM. Thanks!
