Short answer: RoamVault, Sparks, NextLink and TSimTech are provider labels. Our catalog lists 921 plans from 16 providers, and the label decides the rules: whether you can top up, which country’s IP you get and when the clock starts. Read the provider line before the price, then buy the cheapest plan whose rules fit your trip.
| Provider | Plans | Countries with their own plan | Multi-country plans | Top-up | IP location listed | Cheapest 10 GB, 30 days |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sparks | 252 | 28 | 119 | All plans | United Kingdom | $9.99 (Ukraine and Moldova) |
| Airalo | 173 | 30 | 27 | 147 of 173 | Not listed | $12.99 (Singapore) |
| eSIMGo | 157 | 20 | 44 | 141 of 157 | UK, Ireland or Belgium | $10.99 (France) |
| TSimTech | 98 | 13 | 39 | None | Mostly Singapore, Hong Kong or Macau | $9.99 (Hong Kong) |
| NextLink | 91 | 11 | 35 | All plans | Mostly Western Europe, USA or Singapore | $12.99 (USA) |
| RoamVault | 50 | 14 | 0 | None | Hong Kong or Singapore | $9.99 (Japan and six other places) |
| Ubigi | 41 | 12 | 15 | 38 of 41 | Not listed | $14.99 (Sri Lanka) |
| 3 | 31 | 3 | 25 | All plans | Hong Kong | $12.99 (South Korea and Japan) |
| Eight smaller providers | 28 | 6 | 6 | None | Usually the home country | $14.99 (IIJ’s Japan 10 GB) |
Counts and prices checked on 10 October 2026. “Plans” means plans you can buy new, so top-up add-ons are left out.
This guide covers what our own catalog shows for each provider name: how many plans, where, and under which rules. It says nothing about the companies behind the names, because the product pages do not tell us that and we would only be guessing. Every number here is a count of one day’s listings and will move as providers add and drop plans. You can filter all of them in the travel eSIM catalog. Plan details change, so treat the live listing on each product page as the source of truth before you buy.
What does the provider name on an eSIM plan tell you?
It tells you which set of rules the plan follows. Each product page has a Provider line at the top, and plans that share a provider tend to share their rules.
Four things follow the provider far more closely than they follow the destination:
- Top-up. Every Sparks, NextLink and 3 plan can be topped up. No RoamVault or TSimTech plan can.
- IP location. All 252 Sparks plans list a United Kingdom IP, whether the plan is for Greece or Argentina.
- Activation. Most plans start counting on first data use. TSimTech plans start when the eSIM connects to a network, and plans from 3 start when you install them.
- Plan shapes. Some providers sell mostly multi-country plans, others only single countries.
Hotspot is the exception. All 921 plans allow it, so the provider name tells you nothing there.
The catalog is concentrated. Sparks, Airalo and eSIMGo account for 582 of the 921 plans, and the top five providers for 771, or 84%.
Why do two eSIM plans with the same name have different prices?
Because the name describes the product, not the provider. “Japan 10 GB” is a destination and a size, and four providers each sell a plan with exactly that name.
Across the catalog, 115 plan names are shared by two or more providers, and those names cover 273 plans. Here is the Japan example in full:
| Plan name | Provider | Price | Validity | Top-up | IP location | Clock starts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Japan 10 GB | RoamVault | $9.99 | 30 days | No | Hong Kong | First data use |
| Japan 10 GB | TSimTech | $10.99 | 15 days | No | Singapore | On connecting to a network |
| Japan 10 GB | IIJ | $14.99 | 30 days | No | Japan | First data use |
| Japan 10 GB | Airalo | $17.99 | 30 days | Yes | Not listed | First data use |
Prices checked on 10 October 2026.
The cheapest row is fine for most visitors. It stops being the right one if you need a Japanese IP address, in which case the IIJ plan is the only one of the four that lists it, or if you expect to run out and want to add data to the same eSIM, which only the Airalo plan allows. The second row is $1 more than the first and lasts half as long. You can see all four side by side on the Japan plans page, where each card carries its provider name.
What is a RoamVault eSIM?
In our catalog, RoamVault is a provider of single-country plans for Asia-Pacific, plus Brazil and Seychelles. It has 50 plans across 14 places and no multi-country plans at all.
The places are Australia, Bhutan, Brazil, China, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Japan, Laos, Macau, Malaysia, Seychelles, Singapore, South Korea and Thailand. Where RoamVault sells a 10 GB, 30-day plan, it is usually the cheapest we list:
| Destination | RoamVault 10 GB, 30 days | Next provider at that size | IP location |
|---|---|---|---|
| Japan | $9.99 | IIJ $14.99 | Hong Kong |
| Australia | $9.99 | TSimTech $10.99 | Singapore |
| Indonesia | $9.99 | TSimTech $10.99 | Singapore |
| Hong Kong | $9.99 | TSimTech $9.99 | Hong Kong |
| Thailand | $9.99 | None | Hong Kong |
| Malaysia | $9.99 | None | Singapore |
| Macau | $9.99 | None | Hong Kong |
| South Korea | $10.99 | None | Hong Kong |
| China | $11.99 | Airalo $22.99 | Hong Kong |
| Singapore | $11.99 | Airalo $12.99 | Singapore |
| Brazil | $26.99 | Airalo $23.99 | Brazil |
Prices checked on 10 October 2026.
RoamVault is cheapest or tied for cheapest in 10 of those 11 places. Brazil is the one where it loses.
The trade-off is top-up. None of the 50 RoamVault plans can be topped up, so when the data runs out you buy a second plan and install a second eSIM. If you would prefer to add data to the eSIM you already have, pick a provider from the next section and accept the higher price. 40 of the 50 plans list 5G. The ones that do not are for Bhutan, Seychelles and Singapore.
Which providers let you top up an eSIM?
700 of the 921 plans can be topped up, and the split runs almost entirely along provider lines.
| Provider | Plans that allow top-up | Plans that do not |
|---|---|---|
| Sparks | 252 | 0 |
| NextLink | 91 | 0 |
| 3 | 31 | 0 |
| Airalo | 147 | 26, all unlimited plans |
| eSIMGo | 141 | 16, all unlimited plans |
| Ubigi | 38 | 3 |
| TSimTech | 0 | 98 |
| RoamVault | 0 | 50 |
| Eight smaller providers | 0 | 28 |
Checked on 10 October 2026.
A top-up only works with a plan from the same provider. The catalog has 743 top-up add-ons, and they come from the six providers in the top rows of that table. Our guide on which destinations have top-up plans lists the options country by country.
Which country’s IP does each provider use?
The IP location is where your traffic appears to come from. It decides which regional version of a site you see and whether some banking or streaming apps object.
Providers handle it in three ways. Sparks uses one location for everything: all 252 plans list the United Kingdom. NextLink splits by region: its United States, Mexico and Americas plans list a USA IP, its Singapore, China and Australia plans list Singapore, and its Europe, Turkey, Egypt and Gulf plans list Western Europe. The single-market providers list the destination itself: IIJ lists Japan, Vinaphone lists Vietnam, U Mobile lists Malaysia.
Airalo and Ubigi do not list an IP location on any plan. Across the catalog, 225 of the 921 plans leave that field empty. We go through the consequences in which country’s IP your travel eSIM shows.
When does the clock start, by provider?
Three rules exist in the catalog, and the provider decides which one you get.
- First data use: 772 plans. Sparks, Airalo, eSIMGo, NextLink, RoamVault and Ubigi all work this way. You can install at home and the validity starts when the eSIM first carries data.
- On connecting to a network: 106 plans. This is the TSimTech rule, on 94 of its 98 plans, and also applies to U Mobile, Vinaphone, Yettel and Bouygues.
- On installation: 43 plans. All 31 plans from 3, plus OlamGo, Annatel, True and four of the eight IIJ plans. With these, installing a week early costs you a week.
That last group matters most for short plans. The details are in when a travel eSIM’s validity starts.
Europe plans: one region, five provider names
Europe is where the provider name matters most, because most of the continent is sold as multi-country plans and several providers sell one.
| Plan family | Provider | Countries | Sizes | Price range | Lists 5G |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Europe (eSIMGo) | eSIMGo | 34 | 1 to 50 GB | $3.99 to $52.99 | Yes |
| Europe Special | Sparks | 35 | 3 to 50 GB | $5.49 to $52.99 | Yes |
| Europe (NextLink) | NextLink | 36 | 2 to 50 GB | $4.49 to $48.99 | Yes |
| EUconnect | Airalo | 28 | 3 to 20 GB | $8.99 to $28.99 | No |
| Balkans Special | Sparks | 40 | 1 to 20 GB | $5.49 to $41.99 | No |
Checked on 10 October 2026.
Two of those families are both called “Europe”. The eSIMGo one comes in 1, 2, 3, 5, 10, 20, 30 and 50 GB. The NextLink one comes in 2, 7, 12, 20, 25, 35 and 50 GB. At 10 GB over 30 days the cheapest is eSIMGo’s Europe at $13.99, then Sparks’s Europe Special at $14.99 and Airalo’s EUconnect at $18.99. NextLink has no 10 GB size, but its 12 GB plan is $14.99.
The country lists differ too. A 28-country plan and a 40-country plan are not the same product, and the Balkans Special family exists because it reaches countries the others leave out. Open the coverage list before you choose. All of them are on the Europe plans page, with the provider shown on each card.
What are Half Global, Global Special and the other long plans?
They are multi-country plans built for long validity, and almost all come from two providers.
Half Global is a plan family from the provider 3. Each Half Global product page shows 51 covered countries. The family has three 30-day plans: Half Global 12 GB at $16.99, 24 GB at $27.99 and 36 GB at $37.99. It also has three yearly plans: Half Global 30 GB Yearly at $43.99, 60 GB Yearly at $80.99 and 120 GB Yearly at $145.99. All six can be topped up, list a Hong Kong IP and start on installation.
Fourteen plans in the catalog last 365 days. Ten are from 3 and four are from Sparks. If you travel several times a year and want one eSIM that stays on the phone, those are the two provider names to look for.
Which eSIM provider is cheapest?
No single one. It depends on the country. We compared the cheapest single-country 10 GB, 30-day plan in each of the 60 destinations that have one.
| Provider | Destinations where it is cheapest or tied |
|---|---|
| Airalo | 14 |
| Sparks | 13 |
| eSIMGo | 12 |
| RoamVault | 10 |
| Ubigi | 6 |
| TSimTech | 4 |
| NextLink | 3 |
Checked on 10 October 2026. Hong Kong and Nepal are ties, so the column adds up to 62.
In 36 of the 60 destinations only one provider sells that size, so there is nothing to compare. In the other 24, the gap is real. The most expensive provider charges a median of 1.38 times the cheapest for the same size and validity. The widest gaps are Morocco, where eSIMGo is $20.99 and Sparks $48.99, the United States, where NextLink is $12.99 and Airalo $24.99, and China, where RoamVault is $11.99 and Airalo $22.99.
A provider that wins in one country can lose in the next. Sparks is the expensive one in Morocco and the cheap one in Qatar.
What do the eight smaller provider names sell?
Each sells one thing. Together they account for 28 plans.
- IIJ: 8 Japan plans, all with a Japan IP.
- U Mobile: 4 Malaysia plans, from 10 to 50 GB.
- Vinaphone: 4 Vietnam plans, from 10 to 50 GB.
- OlamGo: 4 plans in one five-country Africa family.
- Annatel: 3 Israel plans, from 30 to 100 GB.
- Yettel: 2 Bulgaria plans.
- Bouygues: 2 EU plans covering 34 countries, both with calls and SMS included.
- True: 1 Thailand plan, 50 GB over 10 days.
None of the 28 can be topped up. They tend to be large plans with a local IP. Bouygues is one of only three providers with any plan that includes voice minutes. The others are eSIMGo, on seven United Kingdom plans, and Airalo, on four United States plans. Every other plan in the catalog is data only.
Whether a plan lists 5G also varies by provider. Among the eight largest, the share runs from 24% of Ubigi plans to 80% of RoamVault plans. That breakdown is in our guide to which travel eSIM plans give you 5G.
FAQ
Is RoamVault a good eSIM for Japan?
On price, yes. RoamVault’s Japan 10 GB plan is $9.99 for 30 days, the cheapest of the four plans with that name in our catalog, checked on 10 October 2026. It lists 5G and allows hotspot. It cannot be topped up and it lists a Hong Kong IP, not a Japanese one.
Can I top up a RoamVault or TSimTech eSIM?
No. None of the 50 RoamVault plans or 98 TSimTech plans in our catalog supports top-up. When the data runs out you buy another plan and install it as a new eSIM. Sparks, NextLink and 3 allow top-up on every plan.
What is a Sparks eSIM?
Sparks is the provider with the most plans in our catalog: 252, of which 119 are multi-country. Every Sparks plan can be topped up, allows hotspot, starts on first data use and lists a United Kingdom IP. Families such as Europe Special, Balkans Special and Global Special are Sparks plans.
Does the NextLink Europe eSIM work across the whole EU?
The NextLink Europe family lists 36 countries, checked on 10 October 2026. It comes in seven sizes from 2 GB at $4.49 to 50 GB at $48.99, lists 5G and can be topped up. Check the coverage list on the product page for the specific countries on your route.
Why does the same plan name appear several times in the catalog?
Because several providers sell a plan for the same destination and size. 115 plan names in our catalog are shared by more than one provider. The provider line on the product page is what tells them apart, along with the price, validity and top-up rule.
Conclusion: read the provider line, then the price
The name on a plan is a label for a set of rules. Two plans called “Japan 10 GB” can differ by $8, by 15 days of validity, by where your IP appears and by whether you can add data later. None of that is visible in the plan name. It is all on the product page, on the Provider line and the four or five fields under it. Decide which rules your trip needs, then take the cheapest plan that has them.
Before you buy, confirm
- The Provider line on the product page, not only the plan name.
- Whether the plan supports top-up, if you might run out.
- The IP location, if you need a specific country for banking or streaming.
- When the validity starts, before you install the eSIM early.
- The coverage list, for any multi-country plan.
Soft next step
Affordable travel eSIM, refund if no code in 1 hour. Every plan in the catalog shows its provider, so you can compare same-name plans side by side. Plan details change, so treat the live listing on each product page as the source of truth before you buy.