International SIM cards for travel abroad: what they actually are
First things first: this is about connectivity abroad. An «international SIM card» is a way of not paying your own operator's roaming on a trip, not a tariff for use at home.
It used to mean a physical card bought before departure. Today almost the entire market is eSIM: an operator profile downloaded into the phone by QR code. Our catalogue holds six such services, 2 827 plans and 200 countries. Here is how they differ and what to look at.
In short
- Today's «international SIM» is an eSIM; there is no physical card.
- Advertised coverage and having actual plans are different things: one vendor advertises 180 countries and has plans for five.
- Only two countries out of two hundred have a plan at all six services: Turkey and Thailand.
- There are two pricing models — packages and a single per-gigabyte balance; each wins in different places.
- None of the six provides a phone number or receives SMS.
How the offers are built
The package model
You buy a fixed volume for a fixed period: 10 GB over 14 days. This is how eSIM Tayyor, eSIM.World, eSIM365, Yesim and Just eSIM work. The upside is a price you know in advance. The downside is that leftovers are forfeited and a shortfall means another purchase.
The single balance
This is Unisim: you put money on an account and it is drawn down at a per-gigabyte rate in whichever country you are in. The balance has no expiry. The per-gigabyte price varies radically: 1.15 $ in Turkey, 1.35 $ in Italy and Spain, 3.72 $ in China, 8.36 $ in the UAE.
The model suits a multi-country route and anyone who cannot estimate volume in advance. But it loses to packages wherever a competitor has a package of exactly the right size: in Turkey at 10 GB, Unisim comes to 1 343 ₽ against 559 ₽ for package-based eSIM Tayyor.
Coverage: what is behind the pretty numbers
| Service | Countries advertised | Plans exist for | Plans |
|---|---|---|---|
| Unisim | 184 | 184 | 338 |
| eSIM Tayyor | 183 | 183 | 1 111 |
| Just eSIM | 154 | 154 | 1 420 |
| Yesim | 200 | 62 | 101 |
| eSIM.World | 180 | 5 | 72 |
| eSIM365 | 150 | 2 | 41 |
Part of that gap reflects the state of our data: four vendors were captured by hand from their storefronts and we recorded the destinations that were published. The practical conclusion holds regardless — the number on the banner does not guarantee a plan for your country. Check the specific destination.
Across the catalogue the picture is this: a plan at all six services exists only for Turkey and Thailand. At five — the UAE, Egypt and Georgia. At four — 45 countries. At three — 106. At two or fewer — 44 countries.
What an identical basket costs
10 GB over 14 days on popular destinations, best price per service:
| Destination | Cheapest | Dearest among those with a plan |
|---|---|---|
| Turkey | eSIM Tayyor — 559 ₽ | Just eSIM — 1 550 ₽ |
| Thailand | eSIM Tayyor — 809 ₽ | Just eSIM — 2 450 ₽ |
| Italy | eSIM Tayyor — 749 ₽ | Yesim — 3 833–4 471 ₽ |
| Georgia | eSIM Tayyor — 1 309 ₽ | Just eSIM — 2 500 ₽ |
| Egypt | Yesim — 1 437–1 677 ₽ | Just eSIM — 3 000 ₽ |
| UAE | Yesim — 1 821–2 124 ₽ | Unisim — 7 483 ₽ |
| China | eSIM Tayyor — 999 ₽ | Yesim — 5 271–6 148 ₽ |
eSIM Tayyor wins on most destinations but not all: in the UAE and Egypt Yesim is cheaper. That is exactly why we publish no «top services» ranking — it would be wrong for a third of readers.
What to look at besides price
- Payment from Russia. Five of six accept it via SBP or a MIR card. Yesim does not declare it.
- The app. Yesim requires its own and itself warns it may not open in Turkey or the UAE. eSIM.World works without an app.
- Speed after exhaustion. On «unlimited» plans it differs: 32 kbit/s at Just eSIM, 512 kbit/s at eSIM.World, 1 Mbit/s at eSIM365. Yesim names no threshold at all.
- Tethering. Declared by eSIM.World, Unisim, eSIM365 and Just eSIM; undisclosed at eSIM Tayyor and Yesim.
- Refunds. At Yesim, only for an unactivated product, with activation counted from the first network connection. At Unisim, 14 days and only for device incompatibility.
- Where you would litigate. Just eSIM sets exclusive jurisdiction of Hong Kong courts and passes its own lawyers' fees to the customer in a recovery action.
When you do not need one
Going to one country for a month or longer — a local SIM is almost always cheaper, and it has a number. Needing a number for registration or codes — an eSIM from the catalogue will not help: none of the six has a number or SMS reception.
Phone without eSIM support — then physical travel SIMs remain, and our catalogue does not cover them.
Pick one for your trip
Open the eSIM table, choose a country and set volume and duration. In the country list, each destination shows how many of the six services actually price it — visible before you pick it.
Data collected 31 July – 6 August 2026 from vendor statements and storefronts.