eSIMs & Connectivity review

Nomad

The cheapest of the three comparable plans, and the only one selling a proper subscription: three dollars a month keeps a gigabyte of European data and a permanent eSIM sitting dormant in your phone between trips. That suits anyone who crosses Europe several times a year more than any one-off plan does. It names the networks it runs on, which the others mostly do not. The catch is in the reviews, where the same story repeats too often to ignore: it works for the first few days and then quietly stops, sometimes while still showing as connected.

  • From $17.50 / 5GB, 30 days
  • Terms checked 25 Sep 2026
Currently unavailable

We earn a commission if you buy through links on this page. It never changes what we recommend, and every review lists its downsides.

The review

Nomad undercuts both Airalo and Saily on the two plans this page compares, and it is more open than either about whose network you are actually on — EE, Orange, Vodafone, O2 and Telia across Europe, the big three in America.

The genuinely different product is Nomad Pass. Three dollars a month buys a gigabyte of European data that refreshes every thirty days and a single eSIM that stays installed and does not expire. Nobody else on this page sells that. If you are in and out of Europe all year it removes the buy-a-plan-at-the-airport ritual entirely.

We have to be blunt about the reviews. The recurring complaint is not slow data or poor support, it is the connection dying partway through a trip, and in the worst reports the line still shows as active while passing nothing — which quietly defeats the usual advice of turning roaming off and trusting the eSIM. Take it for short trips and keep a fallback. Note too that the refund policy excludes anything bought with a discount code, and Nomad markets almost entirely through discount codes.

What works

  • Cheapest of the three like-for-like plans, in Europe and the USA
  • Nomad Pass: $3 a month for a permanent European eSIM
  • Names the networks it uses, unlike most of the others
  • Day plans from about $1.10 in eighteen countries
  • Loyalty runs to 15% back, the highest here

What does not

  • Reviewers repeatedly report it dying after a few days
  • Can show as connected while passing no data at all
  • No refund on anything bought with a discount code
  • Cannot buy more data while you are in China, the UAE or India

Decided?

Ready to try Nomad?

Currently unavailable