Overview

Holafly has carved out a distinct position in the travel eSIM market by doing something almost no competitor dares: offering genuinely unlimited data plans. While Airalo, Saily, and most other providers sell capped gigabyte bundles that leave you rationing Maps usage on day five of a trip, Holafly lets you stream, video call, and scroll without watching a meter tick down. That peace of mind is the product, and for a certain type of traveler, it is worth every penny of the premium price tag.

Founded in 2018 and headquartered in Dublin, Holafly now covers over 200 destinations and claims more than 10 million users. The app is polished, setup is painless, and the 24/7 multilingual support is among the best in the industry. But the "unlimited" label comes with caveats that deserve scrutiny -- namely a fair usage policy that can throttle speeds after sustained heavy use, and pricing that runs noticeably higher than competitors offering capped plans. Holafly is a premium product with a premium price, and whether it delivers premium value depends entirely on how much data you actually burn through while traveling.

Features Deep-Dive

Unlimited Data Plans

Holafly's headline feature is unlimited data across every destination it serves, and it remains one of the only major eSIM providers to offer this at scale. There are no 1GB, 3GB, or 5GB tiers to agonize over -- you pick your trip duration (3 to 30 days) and get a flat-rate plan with no data ceiling. This eliminates the single biggest pain point of travel eSIMs: the anxiety of running out of data mid-trip and scrambling to top up while abroad.

The practical reality is slightly more nuanced. Holafly's fair usage policy means the underlying carrier can temporarily reduce speeds -- typically after 3-5GB of sustained daily usage -- for up to one day before restoring full speeds. You will not lose connectivity or get cut off, but if you are trying to upload large video files or run extended video conferences, you may notice slowdowns during peak usage windows. For the vast majority of travelers using Maps, messaging, social media, and occasional streaming, the throttling threshold is unlikely to matter.

App Experience and Setup

The Holafly app (rated 4.6 on Trustpilot across nearly 78,000 reviews) handles the entire lifecycle from purchase to activation. After buying a plan, you receive a QR code that you scan in your phone's eSIM settings -- the whole process takes under five minutes if you have a Wi-Fi connection. The app also lets you monitor your plan status, manage multiple eSIMs, and contact support directly.

Hotspot and tethering are supported on most plans, which is a meaningful differentiator. Many competitors either block tethering entirely or charge extra for it. With Holafly, you can share your connection with a laptop or a travel companion's phone without restrictions, effectively turning your phone into a portable hotspot for your entire group. The dual-SIM capability on modern iPhones means you can keep your home SIM active for calls and texts while routing all data through Holafly.

Regional Multi-Country Plans

Where Holafly really shines for ambitious itineraries is its regional plan structure. A single Europe plan covers 33 countries, so a backpacking trip from Portugal through Spain, France, Italy, and Greece requires exactly one purchase. The same applies to regional plans for Asia, Africa, the Caribbean, Central and Latin America, the Middle East, Oceania, and Scandinavia. You do not need to swap eSIMs at every border crossing or buy separate plans for each country.

This is a genuine convenience advantage over providers like Airalo, where regional plans exist but cost significantly more per-GB than country-specific options. With Holafly's unlimited data, there is no per-GB calculus to worry about -- you pay the flat rate and roam freely across the entire region. For multi-country trips, this simplicity is hard to overstate.

Customer Support

Holafly offers 24/7 live chat and email support in 18 languages, which puts it near the top of the industry for accessibility. Response times on live chat are generally under five minutes during business hours, and the support team can assist with activation issues, troubleshooting connectivity problems, and processing refunds. The company offers a refund window of up to six months for qualifying issues including device incompatibility and connection failures.

This stands in sharp contrast to competitors like Airalo, whose support has drawn criticism for over-reliance on AI chatbots and restrictive refund policies. When you are stranded in an unfamiliar country with no data connection, the quality and speed of customer support is not a nice-to-have -- it is essential.

Pricing Analysis

Holafly's pricing follows a flat-rate structure based on trip duration rather than data volume. For the USA and Europe, plans run $11.70 for 3 days, $19.50 for 5 days, $27.30 for 7 days, $36.90 for 10 days, $50.90 for 15 days, and $74.90 for 30 days. That works out to roughly $3.90-$2.50 per day depending on duration, with longer plans offering better daily rates.

Compared to capped alternatives, Holafly is expensive if you are a light data user. Airalo's 1GB plans start around $3.50, and Saily offers plans from $1.79/GB. If you only need a gigabyte or two per day for messaging and navigation, you are overpaying with Holafly. But the equation flips for heavier users. A 10-day Airalo plan with 10GB might cost $25-30 and leave you rationing usage, while Holafly's $36.90 buys genuine peace of mind with no data anxiety.

The sweet spot is trips of 10 days or longer where you expect moderate-to-heavy data usage. At 30 days for $74.90, Holafly's per-day cost drops to about $2.50 -- competitive with capped plans when you factor in the unlimited ceiling. For short weekend trips where you will barely use data, a cheaper capped plan from Airalo or Saily is almost certainly the better buy.

Who Is This For?

Holafly works best for:

• Heavy data users and remote workers who need reliable connectivity for video calls, cloud syncing, and streaming without watching a usage meter. The unlimited ceiling means you can work from a cafe in Lisbon the same way you would from home.
• Multi-country travelers covering several destinations in one trip. A single Europe or Asia regional plan eliminates the hassle of buying, activating, and managing separate eSIMs for each country on your itinerary.
• Travelers who value simplicity over savings and would rather pay a predictable flat rate than optimize across providers, data tiers, and top-up options. Holafly's model is "buy once, forget about it," and that simplicity has real value for less tech-savvy travelers.

Who Should NOT Use This

Holafly might not be the right choice if:

• You need voice calls or SMS: Holafly is a data-only service. There is no option for local phone numbers, calls, or text messages. If you need those, Airalo's Discover+ plans or a local SIM card are better options. You can work around this with WhatsApp calls and iMessage, but native calling is off the table.
• You are a budget traveler on a short trip: For a 3-day weekend where you will mostly use Wi-Fi at your hotel, spending $11.70 on unlimited data you will barely touch makes little sense when Airalo or Saily offer 1-3GB plans for a fraction of the cost.
• You need to extend your plan mid-trip: Holafly does not support plan extensions once a plan is purchased and activated. If your trip gets extended, you will need to buy an entirely new plan. Competitors like Airalo allow in-app top-ups that extend your existing connection seamlessly.
• You need guaranteed high-speed throughput all day: The fair usage policy means speeds may be reduced after sustained heavy usage in a single day. If your work depends on consistent upload speeds for large file transfers or uninterrupted 4K streaming, the throttling could be a problem.

Bottom Line

Holafly solves a specific problem better than anyone else in the market: the anxiety of running out of mobile data abroad. Its unlimited plans, polished app, and strong customer support make it the easiest travel eSIM to recommend for heavy users and multi-country trips. But that convenience comes at a premium, and the fair usage throttling means "unlimited" has practical limits that the marketing does not emphasize. If you travel frequently and value simplicity over squeezing out the lowest per-GB price, Holafly earns its place in your travel toolkit.

FAQ

Does Holafly actually offer unlimited data, or is there a hidden cap?

Holafly plans do not have a hard data cap -- you will never be cut off or lose service. However, the underlying carriers apply a fair usage policy that can temporarily reduce speeds after sustained heavy usage, typically in the range of 3-5GB in a single day. Speeds are restored the following day. For most travelers, this throttling is unlikely to be noticeable, but power users doing heavy uploads or extended video streaming may feel the slowdown during peak usage periods.

Can I use Holafly as a hotspot to share data with other devices?

Yes. Most Holafly plans include hotspot and tethering support, which means you can share your phone's data connection with a laptop, tablet, or another phone. This is a notable advantage over several competitors that either block tethering or charge extra for it. Keep in mind that hotspot usage counts toward the same fair usage policy, so sharing data across multiple devices will reach the daily throttle threshold faster.

What happens if my trip gets extended and I need more days?

Holafly does not currently support extending an active plan. If your trip runs longer than your purchased duration, you will need to buy and activate a new eSIM plan. This is one of Holafly's most notable limitations compared to providers like Airalo and Nomad, which allow in-app top-ups and plan extensions. If there is any chance your travel dates might shift, consider purchasing a longer plan upfront -- the per-day cost decreases significantly with longer durations, and unused days are a smaller financial hit than scrambling for connectivity abroad.