Airalo is the default travel eSIM for a reason — it's reliable, it covers almost everywhere, and it has years of reviews behind it. For a lot of people that's enough, and there's nothing wrong with sticking with it. But it's worth knowing two things before you buy: Airalo is rarely the cheapest option on a given plan, and its "unlimited" plan isn't really unlimited. If either of those matters to you, here are the alternatives that actually hold up.
(All competitor prices below are as of June 2026 and move around — check the provider before you buy.)
First, the throttling part
Airalo's fixed plans (5 GB, 10 GB, and so on) run at full speed until the data is gone. No complaint there. The throttling issue is specifically with unlimited plans — Airalo's unlimited gives you about 3 GB of high-speed data per day, then drops you to around 1 Mbps for the rest of the day. Holafly, the other big "unlimited" brand, works the same way but doesn't publish its threshold at all; independent testers report slowdowns somewhere in the 2–5 GB/day range.
At 1 Mbps, messaging is fine, but maps crawl and video calls get choppy. So "unlimited" really means "unlimited slow data after the first few GB." If you want speed you can count on all day, a metered full-speed plan is the more honest buy.
What "alternative" actually means here
If you want full speed and a lower price, you're looking at metered plans from the smaller, cheaper providers. The realistic shortlist for Japan and Thailand:
Saily — consistently a dollar or two under Airalo, full-speed metered plans, solid app. If you want a known brand at a slightly better price, it's the easy pick.
Nomad — competitive on Japan and often the cheapest on Thailand's larger plans. Worth a look if you've used them before.
Driftvoy (that's us) — we only sell metered, full-speed plans, and we price under all three above on most SKUs. Two things we do that the bigger brands generally don't: you top up the same eSIM up to ten times without reinstalling or rescanning a new QR code, and we refund failed delivery or verified activation issues. We're newer and have fewer reviews — that's the honest trade-off.
The price picture (June 2026)
For the plans most travelers actually buy:
Japan, 10 GB / 30 days — Airalo $18.00, Saily $17.99, Nomad $17.00, Driftvoy $14.99.
Japan, 20 GB / 30 days — Airalo $25.00, Saily $24.99, Nomad $23.00, Driftvoy $19.99.
Thailand, 10 GB / 30 days — Airalo $11.00, Saily $10.99, Nomad $12.00, Driftvoy $9.99.
The gaps aren't huge in absolute terms — a few dollars — so if you genuinely trust Airalo's track record, paying a small brand premium is a defensible choice. Where the alternatives win is when you'd rather not pay for the brand, or when you specifically want full speed instead of throttled "unlimited."
So which should you pick?
- You want the safest, most-reviewed option and don't mind paying a little more: stay with Airalo's fixed plans (not the unlimited one).
- You want full speed at the lowest price: Driftvoy, Saily, or Nomad — compare the exact SKU for your trip, they're close.
- You truly don't want to think about data and accept throttling: Airalo or Holafly unlimited. They work; they just slow down.
Whatever you choose, buy a metered plan if speed matters to you, and check your phone supports eSIM first — here's the device checklist.
Driftvoy is launching in September 2026 with full-speed eSIM plans for Japan and Thailand — metered, no throttling, reloadable on the same eSIM. Join the waitlist for 10% off your first plan.