Short answer: In the five countries where both sell a single-country plan, NextLink is usually cheaper. When both sell the same size and validity, which happens 11 times, NextLink wins all 11 by a median of $5. Sparks wins at 15 GB in Turkey and 7 GB in the US. Buy NextLink for Egypt, India and Saudi Arabia.
| Destination | Sparks plan for a 7-day trip (needs 7 GB) | NextLink plan for a 7-day trip (needs 7 GB) | Sparks plan for a 14-day trip (needs 14 GB) | NextLink plan for a 14-day trip (needs 14 GB) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Egypt | Egypt 10 GB / 30 days, $25.99 | Egypt 7 GB / 30 days, $10.99 | Egypt 20 GB / 30 days, $43.99 | Egypt 25 GB / 30 days, $31.99 |
| India | Europe Asia and USA 10 GB / 30 days, $29.99 | India 10 GB / 30 days, $22.99 | India 20 GB / 30 days, $47.99 | India 20 GB / 30 days, $38.99 |
| Saudi Arabia | Saudi Arabia 10 GB / 30 days, $30.99 | Saudi Arabia 10 GB / 30 days, $24.99 | Saudi Arabia 20 GB / 30 days, $51.99 | Saudi Arabia 20 GB / 30 days, $43.99 |
| Turkey | Turkey Premium 7 GB / 30 days, $10.99 | Europe 7 GB / 30 days, $10.99 | Turkey Premium 15 GB / 30 days, $17.99 | Europe 20 GB / 30 days, $22.99 |
| United States | USA 7 GB / 30 days, $10.99 | USA 10 GB / 30 days, $12.99 | Europe and USA 15 GB / 30 days, $18.99 | USA 15 GB / 30 days, $16.99 |
Prices checked on 25 October 2026. The 7 GB and 14 GB needs are the top of the moderate row in our trip data calculator. Each cell is the lowest-priced plan from that one provider, single-country or multi-country, with at least that much data; every plan in the table lasts 30 days. The cheaper of the two is in bold; Turkey at 7 days is a tie.
Sparks and NextLink are two of the provider names you see on our plan pages, and people search for them side by side. This guide answers one question from our own catalog: for the same trip, which one costs less, and where does the answer flip. For what provider names mean in general, see our guide to the suppliers behind plan names. For NextLink’s Europe pack and its missing Switzerland, see our NextLink Europe guide. Sparks’s Balkans pack has its own guide.
Who are Sparks and NextLink in our catalog?
They are provider labels. Every plan page in our catalog names the provider whose network access the eSIM uses, and that label decides several rules before the price does. Sparks is the largest provider in the catalog. NextLink is smaller and more focused.
| Sparks | NextLink | |
|---|---|---|
| Plans you can buy as a new eSIM | 252 | 86 |
| Single-country plans | 133 | 51 |
| Multi-country plans | 119 | 35 |
| Countries with a single-country plan | 28 | 10 |
| Countries covered by any plan | 151 | 90 |
| Top-up products | 256 | 87 |
| Unlimited plans | 0 | 0 |
Counts are for 25 October 2026 and leave out top-ups. In the country counts, Puerto Rico and the US Virgin Islands are grouped with the United States, and San Marino and Vatican City with Italy, the same way our category pages group them.
So the first difference is reach. Sparks covers 151 countries across all its plans, NextLink 90. Of those, 85 countries are covered by both, 66 only by Sparks and 5 only by NextLink: Bolivia, Curaçao, Ghana, Lebanon and Sint Maarten.
Where do both sell a plan for the same country?
Only in five places. Sparks has single-country plans for 28 destinations and NextLink for 10, but the overlap is small:
- Both: Egypt, India, Saudi Arabia, Turkey and the United States.
- Sparks only (23): Argentina, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Bahrain, Ethiopia, Georgia, Greece, Indonesia, Jamaica, Kuwait, Maldives, Mauritius, Mexico, Morocco, New Zealand, Oman, Pakistan, the Philippines, Qatar, Sri Lanka, Taiwan, Tajikistan and Venezuela.
- NextLink only (5): China, Lebanon, Singapore, South Africa and the United Arab Emirates.
If your destination is on one of the “only” lists, the comparison is over before it starts for a single-country plan. You can still compare a multi-country pack from the other provider, which we do further down.
For the five shared countries, the plan lists are on our Egypt, India, Saudi Arabia, Turkey and United States pages, next to plans from other providers.
Same size, same validity: which one is cheaper?
We looked for every pair where Sparks and NextLink sell a single-country plan for the same country with the same data and the same number of days. There are 11 such pairs, in four countries. NextLink is cheaper in all 11.
| Country | Size and validity | Sparks | NextLink | NextLink saves |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| India | 3 GB, 30 days | $10.99 | $8.49 | $2.50 |
| India | 5 GB, 30 days | $18.99 | $13.99 | $5.00 |
| India | 10 GB, 30 days | $33.99 | $22.99 | $11.00 |
| India | 20 GB, 30 days | $47.99 | $38.99 | $9.00 |
| Saudi Arabia | 1 GB, 7 days | $5.49 | $4.49 | $1.00 |
| Saudi Arabia | 3 GB, 30 days | $12.99 | $10.99 | $2.00 |
| Saudi Arabia | 5 GB, 30 days | $17.99 | $13.99 | $4.00 |
| Saudi Arabia | 10 GB, 30 days | $30.99 | $24.99 | $6.00 |
| Saudi Arabia | 20 GB, 30 days | $51.99 | $43.99 | $8.00 |
| Turkey | 50 GB, 30 days | $46.99 (Turkey Premium) | $36.99 | $10.00 |
| United States | 2 GB, 15 days | $5.49 | $4.99 | $0.50 |
The median gap is $5.00, or about 19% of the Sparks price. The widest is India at 10 GB, where NextLink is $11 cheaper.
Eleven pairs is not many, and the reason is the size ladders. Sparks mostly sells 1, 3, 5, 10 and 20 GB. In several countries NextLink sells 2, 7, 12 and 25 GB instead. In Egypt the two never match at all: Sparks offers 1, 3, 5, 10 and 20 GB, NextLink 2, 7, 12 and 25 GB. That is why the trip view in the next section matters more than a like-for-like table.
Which one is cheaper for a real trip length?
A traveller does not need 10 GB exactly. They need enough for the trip. So we ran every cell of our trip data table, three usage levels across 3, 7, 10, 14 and 30 days, through the same rule for each provider: the cheapest plan from that provider that covers the country, single or multi-country, with at least the top of the usage range and enough days.
That gives 75 cells across the five shared countries. NextLink is cheaper in 58, Sparks in 9, they tie in 2, and in 6 neither sells a plan big enough.
The 9 Sparks wins fall in three places:
- Turkey, 15 GB and 30 GB needs. Sparks sells Turkey Premium 15 GB for $17.99. NextLink jumps from Turkey 12 GB at $11.99 to Turkey 25 GB at $29.99, with Europe 20 GB at $22.99 in between. Anyone needing about 15 GB in Turkey saves $5 with Sparks. At 30 GB, Turkey Premium 30 GB is $30.99 against NextLink’s Europe 35 GB at $33.99.
- The United States at 7 GB. Sparks sells USA 7 GB for $10.99. NextLink’s nearest is USA 10 GB at $12.99. For a week of moderate use, or two weeks of light use, Sparks is $2 cheaper. Above 7 GB, NextLink wins every US cell.
- India above 20 GB, and Saudi Arabia at 2 GB. In India, NextLink stops at 20 GB, so for heavy use Sparks’s Europe Asia and USA 40 GB Yearly at $80.99 is the only plan from either provider that covers it. In Saudi Arabia, Sparks’s 2 GB plan is $7.99 against $8.49 for NextLink’s MENA 2 GB.
The two ties are both Turkey at 7 GB, where Sparks Turkey Premium 7 GB and NextLink’s Europe 7 GB are both $10.99.
Outside those cells, NextLink is the cheaper of the two. In Egypt it wins every cell where either provider has a plan, helped by its 7 GB size at $10.99 when Sparks’s nearest is 10 GB at $25.99.
What about trips across several countries?
Most multi-stop trips are covered by a pack rather than a country plan, and here the result splits by region. All of these packs are on our regional and multi-country plans page.
| Region | Sparks pack | NextLink pack | Which is cheaper |
|---|---|---|---|
| Europe, about 10 GB | Europe Special 10 GB, $14.99, includes Switzerland | Europe 12 GB, $14.99, includes Ukraine and Moldova, no Switzerland | Same price, NextLink gives 2 GB more |
| Europe, 20 GB | Europe Special 20 GB, $24.99 | Europe 20 GB, $22.99 | NextLink by $2 |
| Australia and New Zealand | Australia and NZ 10 GB, $18.99 | Australia and NZ 12 GB, $15.99 | NextLink by $3, with 2 GB more |
| South America, 10 GB | LATAM 10 GB, $35.99, 10 countries | Americas 10 GB, $59.99, also covers the US and Mexico | Sparks by $24 |
| Middle East and North Africa | No Gulf pack; single plans such as Bahrain 10 GB, $20.99 | MENA 10 GB, $26.99, 13 countries | Depends on the route |
| Ukraine and Moldova | Ukraine and Moldova 10 GB, $9.99 | Europe 12 GB, $14.99 | Sparks by $5 |
A few notes on that table:
- Europe. The two Europe packs cost the same at the 10 GB level, so the choice is coverage. Sparks’s Europe Special includes Switzerland. NextLink’s Europe does not, and includes Ukraine and Moldova instead. Our NextLink Europe guide has both country lists.
- South America. Sparks’s LATAM pack covers Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, El Salvador, Paraguay, Peru and Uruguay. NextLink’s Americas pack adds the United States, Mexico and much of the Caribbean, and its product page says it does not work in Alaska. If your trip stays in South America, LATAM is $24 cheaper at 10 GB.
- The Caribbean. Sparks’s Caribbean pack lists 26 places, the United States and Puerto Rico among them, but its largest size is 5 GB for $37.99. For 19 Caribbean and Central American countries, NextLink’s Americas 10 GB at $59.99 is the only plan from either provider with 10 GB for 30 days.
- Middle East. NextLink’s MENA pack covers 13 countries: Bahrain, Egypt, Iraq, Israel, Jordan, Kuwait, Morocco, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Tunisia, Turkey and the UAE. Sparks has no pack built for that region, but sells country plans that undercut MENA for a one-country trip, such as Bahrain 10 GB at $20.99 and Kuwait 10 GB at $25.99. For two or more Gulf stops, MENA is one eSIM instead of several.
Across all 85 countries both providers cover, we compared the cheapest plan from each with at least 10 GB for 30 days. NextLink is cheaper in 18, Sparks in 17, and in 31, almost all of them in Europe, both charge $14.99 and NextLink gives 12 GB against 10 GB. In the other 19, all in the Caribbean and Central America, only NextLink has a plan that size.
Is either one the cheapest plan you can buy?
Not always, and this is the part a two-way comparison hides. Sparks and NextLink compete with each other, but other providers sell plans for the same countries:
- India. NextLink’s India 10 GB at $22.99 beats Sparks, but TSimTech’s India 10 GB is $18.99, and TSimTech’s Asia 14 Countries 10 GB, which includes India, is $14.99.
- Saudi Arabia. NextLink’s Saudi Arabia 10 GB at $24.99 beats Sparks’s $30.99, but eSIMGo’s Saudi Arabia 10 GB is $20.99 and RoamVault’s is $23.99.
- Turkey. For about 15 GB on a trip of two weeks or less, eSIMGo’s Europe 15 GB, valid 15 days, is $16.99, a dollar under Sparks’s Turkey Premium 15 GB.
At the moderate sizes in our trip table, NextLink’s Egypt plans and its US plans above 7 GB were the cheapest from any provider when we checked. The other providers have their own rules. TSimTech plans cannot be topped up, for example, while every Sparks and NextLink plan can. Compare the provider line on each plan page before you decide on price alone.
What else differs between Sparks and NextLink plans?
Price is not the only thing the provider label changes. These are the differences in our catalog data for plans you can buy as a new eSIM:
| Sparks | NextLink | |
|---|---|---|
| Hotspot | All 252 plans | All 86 plans |
| Top-up | All 252 plans | All 86 plans |
| Plans listing 5G | 162 of 252 | 46 of 86 |
| Where the validity starts | First data use, all plans | First data use, all plans |
| IP location | United Kingdom, all plans | Western Europe 47, USA 22, Singapore 12, not stated 5 |
| Longest validity | 365 days (4 plans) | 60 days |
Three of these matter for a choice between the two:
- 5G in India. Sparks’s India plans list 5G. NextLink’s India plans list 4G/LTE only. That is the trade for the $11 saving at 10 GB. In Saudi Arabia, Turkey and the United States both list 5G. In Egypt neither does.
- IP location. Every Sparks plan lists a United Kingdom IP, so websites see a UK connection whether you are in Cairo or Texas. NextLink lists a USA IP for its US, Mexico and Americas plans, Western Europe for its Europe, Turkey, Egypt and Gulf plans, and Singapore for its Singapore, China and Australia plans. Its five India plans leave the IP field blank.
- Small plans. At 1 GB, Sparks’s India plan lasts 14 days and NextLink’s lasts 7. The shortest size is not always the same plan in other ways.
The product pages we checked for both providers say the eSIM is data-only with no phone number, and that it expires if not activated within 2 months of purchase.
How much data do you need for the trip?
The comparison above depends on picking the right size. This is the moderate row of our trip data table:
| Trip length | Light use | Moderate use | Heavy use |
|---|---|---|---|
| 3 days | 1–2 GB | 2–4 GB | 5–8 GB |
| 7 days | 2–3 GB | 4–7 GB | 9–15 GB |
| 10 days | 3–5 GB | 6–10 GB | 13–20 GB |
| 14 days | 4–7 GB | 8–14 GB | 18–28 GB |
| 30 days | 8–15 GB | 15–25 GB | 30–50+ GB |
The size you land on decides the winner more than the provider does. In Turkey, 12 GB favours NextLink and 15 GB favours Sparks. In the United States, 7 GB favours Sparks and anything larger favours NextLink. Work out your size first, then compare the two plans at that size. The trip data calculator explains how the ranges were built.
FAQ
Is NextLink cheaper than Sparks?
In most of our catalog, yes. In the 11 cases where both sell the same size and validity for the same country, NextLink is cheaper every time, by a median of $5. Sparks is cheaper for about 15 GB in Turkey, 7 GB in the United States, and most South America trips through its LATAM pack.
Which countries do both Sparks and NextLink sell single-country plans for?
Five: Egypt, India, Saudi Arabia, Turkey and the United States, checked on 25 October 2026. Sparks has single-country plans for 23 more, including Greece, Mexico, Qatar and Taiwan. NextLink has five that Sparks does not: China, Lebanon, Singapore, South Africa and the UAE.
Do Sparks and NextLink plans support hotspot and top-up?
Yes. Every Sparks and NextLink plan in our catalog allows hotspot use and can be topped up, and the validity starts on first data use. That is the same for both, so it does not decide between them.
Which one gives a UK IP address?
Sparks. Every Sparks plan lists a United Kingdom IP. NextLink plans list Western Europe, the USA or Singapore depending on the plan, and its India plans do not state one.
Is the cheaper one also the cheapest eSIM for my trip?
Not always. In India, TSimTech’s Asia 14 Countries 10 GB at $14.99 costs less than either provider’s 10 GB plan, and in Saudi Arabia eSIMGo’s 10 GB is $20.99. Compare every provider on the country page before you buy.
Conclusion: match the size, then the provider
For the same country and the same size, NextLink was cheaper than Sparks in every case we found. The exceptions come from sizes one provider sells and the other does not: Sparks’s 7 GB in the US and Turkey, its 15 GB Turkey plan, and its LATAM pack for South America. Sparks reaches far more countries, so for a destination NextLink does not cover, the question does not arise. Work out how much data the trip needs, then check both providers and the rest of the catalog at that size.
Before you buy, confirm
- Your destination is covered by both providers, not only one.
- You compared the two at the size your trip needs, not at 10 GB by habit.
- You checked other providers on the country page, not only Sparks and NextLink.
- 5G and the IP location suit you if either matters for your trip.
- Every country on a multi-stop route appears in the pack’s coverage list.
Soft next step
Affordable travel eSIM, refund if no code in 1 hour. Compare Sparks and NextLink packs side by side on our regional and multi-country plans page, or filter the catalog by destination to see every provider at once. Plan details change, so treat the live listing on each product page as the source of truth before you buy.