Best eSIM for Vietnam in 2026
I spent about a week digging through Vietnam eSIM plans, comparing what each brand actually charges per gigabyte, which local network they ride on, and what people say after they land. Most of the “top 10” lists out there just rank whoever pays the most. This one does not.
Here is the short version. Vietnam has excellent, cheap mobile data. Viettel, VinaPhone and MobiFone all run solid 4G, and in cities you will get speeds that embarrass whatever you have at home. The catch is that not every eSIM brand connects to every network, and that single detail decides whether your maps work on a Ha Giang mountain pass or whether you sit there staring at a spinning circle.
So I built the comparison around network access first, price second. Everything below reflects 2026 pricing.
Best eSIM for Vietnam compared at a glance
Prices shift with promotions, so treat these as the starting point rather than a locked quote.
| Brand | Starting price | Typical 5GB deal | Network | Unlimited? | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| from $4.00 | from $10.00 | VinaPhone | Yes, capped | First timers | |
| from $3.99 | from $9.99 | Multi-network | Yes, 5GB/day | Heavy streaming | |
| from $4.00 | from $10.00 | MobiFone, VinaPhone | Yes, 2GB/day | Long stays | |
| from $6.90 | 10GB from $10.90 | VinaPhone | Yes | Short trips | |
| from $11.70 | Unlimited only | VinaPhone | Yes, only option | Set and forget | |
| from $12.90 | 5GB daily, 10 days | Viettel | Daily bundles | Rural riding | |
| from $17.68 | 8GB daily, 15 days | Local partners | Daily bundles | Groups hotspotting |
Quick picks, if you just want an answer
Safest all round
Airalo. Cheap entry point, huge install base, and the app is genuinely painless.
Best value per GB
Saily. The 5GB per day fair use cap is the most generous I found anywhere.
Best for a week or less
Ubigi. 10GB for a week from $10.90 is hard to beat on a short trip.
Best for the mountains
GIGAGO. Rides Viettel, which is the network that keeps working up north.
Zero thinking required
Holafly. One unlimited plan, no data maths, priced higher for the privilege.
Best for a month plus
Nomad. Bulk plans get cheap fast if you are staying a while.
Brand reviews, one by one
Airalo – Price & Plans
Airalo is the default answer for a reason. Plans start from $4.00 for 1GB over 3 days, and the sweet spot is 5GB from $10.00 or 10GB from $18.00 on a 30 day window. If you are staying long enough to burn through 50GB, that tier drops the cost per gigabyte to under a dollar.
One thing worth knowing before you buy. Airalo now runs on VinaPhone in Vietnam rather than Viettel. VinaPhone is perfectly good in Hanoi, Da Nang, Hoi An and Ho Chi Minh City. It thins out faster than Viettel once you are winding through the far north or out on quieter stretches of coast.
Travel forum threads about Vietnam repeat the same two notes on Airalo. Installation is genuinely easy, and support responds in hours rather than days. The complaints are almost always about coverage in remote provinces, not about the product itself.
Best for: anyone buying their first travel eSIM who wants the lowest chance of something going wrong.
Saily – Price & Plans
Saily comes from the team behind NordVPN, and it shows in the app polish. Fixed plans run from $3.99 for 1GB up to around $17.99 for 10GB. Unlimited sits from $18.99 for short windows and climbs to roughly $71.99 for a full month.
The reason Saily earns a spot here is the fair usage policy. Where most brands throttle you after 2GB or 3GB in a day, Saily lets you run 5GB before slowing things down. For anyone working remotely or uploading video from the road, that gap is the whole ballgame.
Reddit threads on travel eSIMs tend to be split on Saily. People love the speed and the built in ad blocker. The recurring gripe is that you cannot use it without installing the app, which annoys anyone who prefers a plain QR code.
Best for: remote workers and heavy streamers who will actually notice a throttle.
Nomad – Price & Plans
Nomad prices from $4.00 and scales up to around $25 for 20GB, with 5GB over 30 days landing near $10.00. Where it separates itself is network access. Nomad connects to MobiFone, VinaPhone and Vietnamobile, so your phone has somewhere else to go when one network drops out.
Skip the Nomad unlimited tier though. The fair use cap sits at 2GB per day before dropping you to 512 Kbps, and that speed is slow enough that Google Maps loads tiles at a crawl. Buy the fixed data instead and you will be happier.
Feedback I found on backpacker forums leans positive on Nomad’s larger bundles for month long trips, with the usual note that top ups are simple once you already have the profile installed.
Best for: travellers staying three weeks or longer who want multi network fallback.
Ubigi – Price & Plans
Ubigi is the quiet one that keeps winning on maths. Plans open from $6.90 for 3GB, but the plan worth circling is 10GB for 7 days from $10.90. For a one week trip that is more data than most people will finish, at a price the bigger names cannot match.
It runs on VinaPhone and is backed by Transatel, which is an actual mobile operator rather than a reseller. That tends to mean fewer activation headaches. Unlimited options exist from around $24 if you want them.
The recurring comment from users is that Ubigi is underrated and slightly clunkier to sign up for than Airalo, with account creation asking for more detail than people expect.
Best for: a seven to ten day trip where you want a lot of data cheaply.
Holafly – Price & Plans
Holafly sells unlimited and nothing else, from $11.70 for a short window up to around $73.90 for 30 days. There is no fixed data option, so if you only need 3GB you are still paying the unlimited rate.
The appeal is that you never think about it again. The drawback is the price and the fact that Holafly does not publish its throttling threshold for Vietnam, so you are trusting them on what unlimited actually means. It runs on VinaPhone.
User sentiment splits hard here. People who value not worrying rate it highly. People who checked the per gigabyte cost afterwards usually do not buy it twice.
Best for: travellers who would rather overpay than monitor a data counter.
GIGAGO – Price & Plans
GIGAGO is a Vietnam focused provider, and that focus buys you the thing the global brands cannot offer: Viettel. From $12.90 you get 5GB per day across 10 days, which is a daily allowance structure rather than a single pool.
Viettel is the largest carrier in the country and its towers reach places the others simply do not. If your itinerary includes the Ha Giang loop, Sapa, Cao Bang or any of the northern mountain routes, this is the difference between having signal and not.
It costs more per gigabyte than Airalo or Saily. Motorbike travellers on Vietnam forums consistently say it is worth the premium anyway.
Best for: motorbike loops, mountain routes and anywhere outside the main tourist corridor.
BambooSIM – Price & Plans
BambooSIM starts from $17.68 for 8GB per day across 15 days. That daily allowance is enormous, and it exists for one reason: hotspotting. If you are travelling as a couple or a small group and want one connection feeding several devices, a daily bucket that large stops you rationing.
It is not the cheapest way to get online in Vietnam and it is not trying to be. Solo travellers on a budget should look elsewhere first.
Best for: couples and small groups sharing one hotspot across a two week trip.
Are unlimited plans actually worth it?
Usually not, and here is the honest reason. Almost every “unlimited” Vietnam eSIM has a daily fair usage cap hiding in the terms. Cross it and you get throttled for the rest of the day.
The caps matter more than the label. Saily gives you 5GB per day before slowing you down. Airalo gives you 3GB. Nomad gives you 2GB and then drops you to 512 Kbps, which is barely usable for maps. Holafly does not publish its Vietnam figure at all.
Meanwhile, most travellers use somewhere between 500MB and 1.5GB a day on a normal sightseeing trip. Maps, messaging, a few searches and some scrolling. At that rate a 10GB fixed plan from $18.00 covers a fortnight and costs less than half of what an unlimited month costs. Buy unlimited only if you are streaming, video calling daily, or tethering a laptop.
Things I wish someone had told me first
- Install before you fly. Installing an eSIM needs wifi. Do it at home, then just flip it on when you land. Do not try to do this in the arrivals hall.
- Check your phone is unlocked. Carrier locked handsets refuse eSIM profiles. Most phones from 2019 onward support eSIM, but a lock will still stop you.
- Turn off roaming on your home line. Leave the home SIM active for calls and texts if you want, but switch off its data or you will get a bill.
- Enable data roaming on the eSIM line. Sounds backwards, but the travel eSIM is technically roaming. Off means no data.
- Do not delete the profile. Deleting an eSIM is usually permanent. Disable it instead if you need it off.
- Viettel wins outside the cities. If your trip goes rural, pick a brand that rides Viettel and stop optimising for price.
- Wifi is everywhere anyway. Vietnamese cafes, hotels and even street food stalls hand out wifi freely. You will use less data than you think.
FAQ
What is the best eSIM for Vietnam if I only need it for one week?
Ubigi, on the 10GB seven day plan from $10.90. It is more data than a typical week of sightseeing needs and it undercuts most equivalent plans. If you want a bigger name, Airalo’s 5GB from $10.00 does the same job with a little less headroom.
How much data do I actually need for a two week trip to Vietnam?
Around 10GB covers most people comfortably. Maps and messaging barely register, and wifi is available almost everywhere you sit down. If you plan to stream or upload video daily, budget 20GB or go unlimited.
Which network has the best coverage in Vietnam?
Viettel, comfortably. It is the largest carrier and the only one you can rely on across the northern mountains and remote coastline. VinaPhone and MobiFone are strong in cities and along the main tourist route but thin out faster.
Can I get a phone number with a Vietnam travel eSIM?
Almost never. Nearly every travel eSIM is data only, so no local number and no SMS. That matters if a Vietnamese app or bank wants to text you a code. Use WhatsApp, Zalo or a local physical SIM if you need a real number.
Is an eSIM cheaper than buying a local SIM at the airport in Vietnam?
Local SIMs are often slightly cheaper per gigabyte and give you a phone number. The eSIM wins on convenience: it works the second you land, no queue, no passport registration, no hunting for an official counter among the markup stalls. For a trip under three weeks the difference is a few dollars.
Do Vietnam eSIMs allow hotspot and tethering?
Most do, including Airalo, Saily, Nomad and Ubigi. Some unlimited plans restrict or throttle tethering, so check the terms before you rely on it. If sharing is the whole point, a large daily allowance plan is the safer buy.
Will my eSIM work on the Ha Giang loop and in Sapa?
Only reliably if it runs on Viettel. Signal on the high mountain passes is patchy for everyone, but Viettel drops out least. Download offline maps for the whole route regardless of which brand you pick.
Can I use one eSIM across Vietnam, Cambodia and Thailand?
Yes. Airalo, Saily, Nomad and Ubigi all sell regional Asia plans that cover multiple countries on one profile. They cost more per gigabyte than a Vietnam only plan, so buy regional only if you are genuinely crossing borders.
Final verdict: the best eSIM for Vietnam in 2026
If you want one answer and no further reading, buy Airalo. From $4.00 to start and around $10.00 for 5GB, it is cheap, reliable, easy to install and it covers every city you are likely to visit.
If you are heading north into the mountains, that changes. Pay the premium for GIGAGO and get on Viettel, because coverage beats price the moment you leave the tourist corridor.
And if you are working from the road, Saily’s 5GB daily cap is the most honest version of unlimited on the market. Pick based on where you are going, not on which brand shouts loudest.
Tasnima Tabassum Ema is the Founder and Lead Data Analyst at eSIM Expart. Driven by her own costly roaming nightmares, she built the site to save fellow travelers money. She specializes in rigorous, real-world testing and calculating the true cost per Gigabyte ($/GB) to ensure you always get the cheapest, most reliable connection.