Best eSIM for the UK in 2026: 6 Providers Compared (Real Prices)

Every few weeks someone messages me the same question about London or Edinburgh: "just tell me which eSIM to buy." Fair enough — I live between Athens and wherever I'm filing a story from, but the UK is one of the destinations I get asked about most, so I keep the pricing memorised better than I'd like to admit. We checked live pricing across 125 providers we track for the UK — here's the real, current lineup from six of them.

The quick answer

• Cheapest unlimited data for a full month: Ubigi at $44.00 — genuinely the standout here, well ahead of Nomad eSIM ($49.00) and Maya Mobile ($49.99).
• Best single-day option: GigSky's Unlimited 1-day plan at $3.49 — none of the other five providers offer a genuine 1-day unlimited tier at all.
• Cheapest possible entry point: GigSky's 1GB/7-day plan at $2.99, with Saily's 1GB/7-day at $4.49 close behind for anyone who'd rather stick with a more established name.
• Best for frequent UK visitors: Ubigi's annual plans — 24GB over 12 months for $19.00, or 60GB over 12 months for $29.00.

United Kingdom price comparison

Full comparison →

GigSky $2.99 Ubigi $2.00 Cheapest Saily $4.49 Maya Mobile $9.99

Comparison by eSIMKart

Live United Kingdom deals right now

Public promo codes from providers selling United Kingdom eSIMs — pulled live from our deals list, so this section updates itself and disappears when nothing is running.

Telekonek

15% off your first order — WELCOME15

-15%

Stay connected in 200+ countries the moment you land — skip the roaming bills and SIM swaps on your very first trip.

Public promo Ends Oct 21, 2026

WELCOME15 Get this deal

Airalo

15% off your first Airalo eSIM with NEWTOAIRALO15

-15%

New customers only, first order; the discount is capped at $3 per Airalo's terms.

Public promo Ends Dec 31, 2026

NEWTOAIRALO15 Get this deal

Eskimo

Welcome Discount — 50% off your first purchase

-50%

Get 50% off your first purchase, capped at $15. Applied automatically at checkout, no code needed.

Public promo

Get this deal

What you'll actually pay: six providers compared

Airalo

Airalo's UK lineup is unusually deep, with tiers at 3, 5, 7, 10, 15, and 30 days. Fixed data runs from 1GB/3-days at $4.00 up through 50GB/30-days at $39.00. Unlimited tiers start at $11.50 for 3 days and reach $69.00 for a full month — on the higher end of the unlimited comparison, but the sheer number of tiers gives you more room to size a plan precisely.

Nomad eSIM

Nomad eSIM's UK lineup is simpler than most: a 1GB/7-day fixed tier at $4.50 and a 3GB/30-day tier at $9.00, plus unlimited-by-day pricing from $11.00 for 3 days up to $49.00 for a full month — that 30-day price is close behind Ubigi's for second-cheapest overall. Real discount code active:

Nomad eSIM -15% ESIMKART15

15% off, single-use per customer. Excludes plans under $5, sale plans, add-on data, unlimited plans, and the Thailand 50GB plan.

View plans

Saily

Saily's UK pricing runs unlimited by duration from 7 days ($28.99) through 30 days ($59.99), with steps at 10, 15, 20, and 25 days. Its 1GB/7-day plan at $4.49 is one of the cheapest starter tiers in this comparison, and the 30-day fixed-data tiers (3GB at $8.99, 5GB at $12.99, 10GB at $18.99, 20GB at $30.99) sit comfortably in the middle of the pack. Real discount code active:

Saily -10% ESIMKART

10% off.

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Ubigi

This is the one to check first for the UK. Its fixed-data pricing is aggressive across the board — 5GB for 30 days is $5.00, 20GB for 30 days is $12.00, 50GB for 30 days is $32.00 — and its unlimited tiers undercut everyone else too: $21.00 for a week, $32.00 for 15 days, and $44.00 for a full month, genuinely the cheapest full-month unlimited plan we found. It also sells annual allowances most other providers don't bother with for the UK: 24GB over 12 months for $19.00, 60GB over 12 months for $29.00 — worth knowing if you're back and forth regularly rather than on a single trip. Real discount code active:

Ubigi -10% ESIMKART10 First payment only

10% off for new customers on first purchase

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Maya Mobile

Maya charges its usual flat global rate here too: $9.99 for 3 days, $19.99 for 7 days, $27.99 for 14 days, $49.99 for 30 days. For the UK specifically it's competitive on shorter trips, but Ubigi edges it out on the full-month unlimited comparison. Where Maya still wins is if the UK is one stop on a longer multi-country trip and you'd rather manage one eSIM for the whole journey. Real discount code active:

Maya Mobile -10% ESIMKART10

10% off.

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GigSky

GigSky's real standout for the UK is its 1-day unlimited plan at $3.49 — nobody else on this list prices a single day this low, or at all in most cases. Its 1GB/7-day fixed tier at $2.99 is the cheapest entry point on this list too, and 5GB/30-days at $8.29 scales reasonably from there. Real discount code active:

GigSky -15% ESIMKART15 All payments

15% off on all GigSky purchases

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Why the prices are all over the place

Three different pricing philosophies collide here. Maya Mobile sells unlimited-only and charges the same flat rate everywhere it operates, rather than pricing the UK as its own market. Airalo, Nomad eSIM, Saily, Ubigi, and GigSky all mix fixed-data tiers with unlimited, which is where a lot of the real value sits if you don't specifically need unlimited. Ubigi, in particular, prices per-GB far more aggressively than its brand presence would suggest, and GigSky's 1-day unlimited tier is a genuine rarity — most providers don't bother pricing single days at all.

My rule of thumb after years of doing this for readers: check the fixed-data tiers before defaulting to unlimited. Most people touring the UK for a week or two — maps, messaging, some social media — use well under 10GB, and Ubigi's fixed tiers make that extremely cheap.

How to pick based on your trip

A single day (layover or day trip): GigSky's Unlimited 1-day plan at $3.49 — no other provider here offers anything close.

A weekend in London: GigSky's 1GB/7-day plan at $2.99 covers the basics without paying for a week of unlimited you won't use.

A week or two touring the country: Ubigi's 7-day unlimited at $21.00 or Maya's 7-day at $19.99 are both excellent value — pick Maya if you're continuing on to another country afterward, Ubigi if the UK is the whole trip.

A full month, fixed data is enough: Ubigi's 20GB/30-day plan at $12.00 is exceptional value and covers the vast majority of travelers comfortably.

A full month, you want unlimited: Ubigi again, at $44.00 — the cheapest full-month unlimited option we found, ahead of Nomad eSIM and Maya.

A few things worth knowing before you buy

None of these give you a UK phone number — they're all data-only. Keep your existing SIM active for that if you need it.

Install before you fly. Every provider here lets you activate the eSIM only once you land, so there's no reason to wait until you're at the airport to scan a QR code.

Check your phone is eSIM-compatible and carrier-unlocked first — our guide to checking eSIM compatibility takes about a minute.

Worth reading our Europe multi-country guide if you're visiting the UK as part of a wider Europe trip — a single regional or global plan can be simpler and sometimes cheaper than buying a UK-only eSIM plus separate plans for each other stop.

If this is your first time using an eSIM, our beginner's guide to how eSIMs work covers installation and activation from the very start.

See the full, live list of United Kingdom eSIM plans from all six providers, sorted by price, if you want to compare exact tiers side by side.