China eSIM: us vs Airalo, Saily and Holafly
Our prices below are read live from our own catalogue. Competitor prices were checked by hand on the date at the bottom of this page, in USD, from a US location.
First: how much data does a trip actually take?
Median cellular use on a trip is about 0.3GB a day — roughly 2 to 3GB a week. What actually drives the number is short video, not maps: navigation costs 3-10MB an hour, scrolling Reels or TikTok costs 0.9-1.8GB an hour. The table below is a deliberately generous upper bound.
| Trip length | Lightmaps, messaging, photos | Moderate+ short video, video calls | Heavy+ daily streaming, hotspot |
|---|---|---|---|
| 7 days | 5GB | 12GB | 30GB+ |
| 14 days | 12GB | 25GB | 60GB+ |
| 30 days | 20GB | 45GB | 80GB+ |
Estimates, not measurements — your habits decide. Do not assume hotel Wi-Fi will carry the load: about 90% of hotels offer it, but only around 10% of travellers abroad actually use public Wi-Fi.
What each of them actually sells
Airalo and Holafly sell only unlimited data by the day — neither offers a fixed-GB plan at all. Saily sells both. We sell fixed GB in fine steps, which is why the tables below compare cost per trip rather than like-for-like plans: there is no like-for-like to compare.
What a 7-day trip costs
| Plan | Covers a 7-day trip for |
|---|---|
| Us — 10GB / 30 days | $10.99 $1.10/GB |
| Saily — 10GB / 30 days | $17.99 we save you 39% |
| Airalo — unlimited, 7 days | $27.00 we save you 59% |
| Holafly — unlimited, 7 days | $27.50 we save you 60% |
Not like for like: ours is 10GB over 30 days, Airalo and Holafly sell unlimited data over 7 days. If you use less than 10GB in a week — most travellers do — you are paying for headroom you never touch.
What "unlimited" is worth in GB
Airalo's 30-day unlimited plan here costs $69.00. At our best rate (50GB $33.99, $0.68/GB) the same money buys about 101GB. Unless you expect to use more than that in a month, unlimited is headroom you pay for and never touch.
When you should not buy from us
If you genuinely expect to use more than about 101GB in a month — daily streaming on cellular, tethering a laptop, no Wi-Fi where you stay — buy Airalo or Holafly unlimited instead. Above that point they are the cheaper choice, and we would rather say so.
One thing none of them do
If your eSIM has not arrived 30 minutes after payment, we refund you automatically — you do not file anything, you do not email anyone. Holafly refunds an unactivated eSIM within 6 months if you ask; Saily within 30 days if you ask; Airalo makes you submit a request, and "bought the wrong one" only comes back as in-app credit. All three are "you apply, we review". Ours is "it did not arrive, here is your money".
Competitor prices checked September 7, 2026 in USD from a US location, taken from each provider's own site. Our prices are live. Rows older than 45 days are hidden automatically rather than shown stale.