Are you exploring spectacular New York, enjoying the beauty of Yellowstone Park, or basking in the spotlight of Las Vegas and want to share your experience? Beware of expensive international roaming. We recommend using a prepaid eSIM USA. Let’s take a look at what’s on offer.
USA prepaid eSIM plans: How to choose the best one?
Several factors come into play. It depends on how many days you will be in the country. There are packages with validity from one day to three months. Another important factor is the amount of data you want to use. This is often difficult to determine. It’s a good idea to have an idea of how much data you’ll use in normal usage over the course of a year.
Check the usability and quality of the Wi-Fi connection in your accommodation. In addition, you will often find free Wi-Fi in cities, even on public transportation. This can save you a lot of data (especially if you share photos and videos when you get back to your hotel in the evening). Of course, it all depends on how much you want to spend.
Some bundles may also work in Canada, but we always recommend checking if you’re traveling there before you buy. There are also regional eSIMs for North America that cover Canada, Mexico and the US. However, these are more expensive.
Most valuable USA prepaid eSIM
Let’s take a look at the best deals based on the amount of data in a given package. The range is really wide, and here are our recommendations.
Cheapest data plans
The best prices you can find from less known providers. The cheapest you can get at the moment is Jetpac, which offers a 1 GB package for 4 days for $1. eSIM4Travel will cost you $1.46 and it also has 7days validity.
If you want even longer validity, Mobimatter offers a good deal with an eSIM for $3.49. You can choose between 7 days or 14 days of validity, which also works in 43 other countries (mostly european). However, it doesn’t cover Alaska.
Average data usage (5 GB)
Five GB of data is just fine, especially in American cities. You can often save data by riding public transportation, since Wi-Fi is usually free. And you can connect in a lot of places (bars, shopping malls, restaurants etc.).
Unfortunately, Airalo didn’t do well here either, with 5 GB costing $16. Nomad managed to squeeze it down to $14. The clear winner, however, is MobiMatter, which sells 5 GB of data for $6.99. Same price has even eSIM with 7 GB. Just be careful, because this eSIM doesn’t cover Alaska.
High data usage (10GB or more)
If you want to be online all the time and not connect to Wi-Fi, this is the package for you. Airalo is offering it for $26, which is definitely not a bargain.
If you want a lower price, MobiMatter is the way to go again. The 10 GB one can be squeezed down to a nice $11.99.
Unlimited data plan USA
Do you want to be untethered, always online, and able to work from anywhere? Unlimited data is the obvious and affordable choice.
If 15 days of data is enough for you, you can choose from eTravelSIM for $39, Yesim for €43 or Holafly for $51. Yesim even offers a hotspot data sharing option.
Prefer a monthly plan? With a 30-day plan, Maya Mobile will cost you 56€. Holafly offers this plan for $75. If you want to use a hotspot to share data, choose Yesim, which offers 30 days of unlimited data for €58.
If you’re going to be in the U.S. for a long time, you can choose up to 90-day plan with Holafly for $99.
💸 Try our discount code for first puchase 💸
Holafly 5% code ESIMMONSTER
Yesim 10€ code UWWP896
Also worth mentioning is Airhub, which is the only one that also offers calling and texting options. And that’s for a total of $72 for 30 days.
Most valuable eSIM plans
| Provider | GB | Price | Validity |
| eSIM4Travel | 1 GB | $1.46 | 7 days |
| Mobimatter | 5 GB | $6.99 | 30 days |
| Mobimatter | 15 GB | $11.99 | 30 days |
| Yesim | unlimited | €43 | 15 days |
Operators and coverage
The United States is a huge country, and there are large unpopulated areas. So don’t expect to be online everywhere all the time. This is especially true in national parks. For such a large country, there are surprisingly few carriers available. T-Mobile or AT&T and Verizon are pretty much your only options. If you want to get a traditional SIM card, Verizon is out.
In terms of coverage, all the carriers are quite similar. If you’re going out of town, I highly recommend checking the coverage maps. At first glance, T-Mobile appears to have slightly worse coverage than AT&T, and this is indeed the case. In national parks and in Oregon, for example, AT&T has better coverage. Verizon is somewhere in between.
Prepaid SIM card in the USA
If you want to work with a classic SIM card, you have two options. The first is to buy one at the airport or an authorized shop. You’ll have to show them your passport, which they’ll read and enter into the system. As I wrote above, your choice is between T-Mobile and AT&T. Verizon and Sprint use CDMA technology and not SIM as we know it. The other option is to purchase a SIM well in advance of your trip and have it mailed to you. In this case, you may also come across Verizon because they offer the SIM this way.
As for ordering by mail, this is an option that I find unnecessarily complicated. Apart from the fact that you have to search for a good deal (and I find it quite confusing), it can cost you something in shipping. Then you have to deal with installation, activation, possible recharging, and buying the plan yourself.
A classic SIM card bought locally from the operator is no slouch either. Expect to pay fees and taxes on top of that. In the US, you often don’t find out until you pay. As far as I could find, T-Mobile offers 10 GB for $40 + taxes and fees. The advantage is that you also get SMS and calls within the US.
Summary
I’ve been to the US before, and I’ve been searching for the best data plan for weeks. Since I was only there for a week, I concluded that it wasn’t worth buying a local SIM or having one sent. I found it a bit confusing and unnecessarily expensive. Also, staying in New York had the advantage of free Wi-Fi in the subway, which is at almost every corner, and all I had to do was be at the station and at the top, and I often got it.
But I didn’t know about eSIM at the time, and I didn’t have a phone that could handle the technology. Now, when I travel to the US, I will definitely take advantage of some of the prepaid USA eSIM offerings.
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