Holafly Review 2026: Is Unlimited Data Worth It?

Holafly is one of the most popular eSIM providers for travelers, and for good reason: it’s the only major provider that offers truly unlimited data in 180+ countries. No data caps, no hidden limits, no anxiety about running out mid-Zoom call. After 4 months of testing across 8 countries, we can confirm that the unlimited promise is real — but is the premium price tag justified? We gave Holafly 4.3 out of 5, and here’s exactly why.

Quick Facts: Holafly at a Glance

Feature	Details
Coverage	180+ countries
Data	Truly unlimited (no hard caps)
Starting Price	~$6/day (varies by destination)
Plan Duration	5, 7, 10, 15, 20, 30, 60, 90 days
5G Support	Limited (select countries only)
Tethering/Hotspot	Varies by destination
App	iOS & Android (clean, well-designed)
Support	24/7 via WhatsApp, email, live chat
Built-in VPN	Yes (beta feature)
Refund Policy	30 days if not activated
Top-Up	Yes, extend plan via app
Calls/SMS	Data only (no local number)

What Is Holafly?

Holafly is a Spain-based eSIM provider founded in 2018 that has carved out a clear niche in the travel connectivity space: unlimited data plans. While competitors like Airalo and Saily sell capped data packages (1GB, 3GB, 10GB), Holafly takes a fundamentally different approach. You buy a plan for a set number of days, and you get unlimited data for that entire duration.

This positions Holafly squarely at remote workers, digital nomads, content creators, and heavy data users — anyone who doesn’t want to ration their mobile data while traveling. The trade-off? You pay a premium compared to capped alternatives. Whether that premium is worth it depends entirely on how much data you actually use, and we spent 4 months finding out.

How We Tested Holafly

We don’t publish reviews based on spec sheets and marketing pages. We purchased Holafly plans with our own money and used them as our primary data source while traveling through 8 countries over a 4-month period from October 2025 to January 2026.

Countries tested: Thailand, Japan, Mexico, Spain, Portugal, Turkey, Indonesia (Bali), and Greece.

Testing methodology:

• 126 speed tests using Speedtest by Ookla and Fast.com at various times of day
• Tracked daily data consumption via the Holafly app and iOS data settings
• Tested video conferencing (Zoom, Google Meet) for remote work reliability
• Tested 4K streaming on YouTube and Netflix
• Uploaded large files (500MB-2GB) to Google Drive and Dropbox
• Monitored for throttling patterns during heavy usage weeks (50GB+ per week)
• Contacted customer support 6 times across different channels and time zones
• Compared side-by-side with Airalo running on a secondary device in the same locations

Total data consumed during testing: Approximately 280GB across all 8 countries.

How we funded this: We purchased all plans ourselves. Holafly has no editorial input on this review. We do earn a commission if you purchase through our links, which helps fund our ongoing testing. This doesn’t affect our ratings or conclusions.

The Unlimited Data Reality Check

This is the section that matters most. Holafly’s entire value proposition hinges on “unlimited data,” so we pushed it hard to find the limits.

Is It Actually Unlimited?

Yes. In 4 months of testing across 8 countries, we never hit a hard data cap. Not once. We used between 40GB and 80GB per month in normal usage, and during one particularly intense week in Japan (editing and uploading video content), we burned through over 100GB in 7 days. The data never stopped flowing.

Did We Experience Throttling?

In normal usage (40-80GB/month), we noticed zero throttling. Speeds remained consistent throughout the day and throughout our plan duration.

During our extreme usage week in Japan (100GB+ in 7 days), we did notice a slight speed reduction — download speeds dropped from around 100 Mbps to approximately 40-50 Mbps. This happened around the 85GB mark for that week. Crucially, 40 Mbps is still more than fast enough for video calls, streaming, and file uploads. It’s not the kind of throttling that makes a connection unusable.

Our assessment: Holafly’s “unlimited” claim is legitimate. There may be some soft deprioritization under extreme usage, but it’s nothing like the hard throttling (down to 128 Kbps) that some carriers impose after data caps. For 95% of users, you will never notice any speed change.

Daily Data Usage Breakdown

Here’s what our typical daily data usage looked like while working remotely on Holafly:

Activity	Daily Data Usage
Video calls (2-3 hours)	2-4 GB
Web browsing & email	0.5-1 GB
Streaming (1-2 hours)	2-5 GB
Cloud sync & file uploads	1-3 GB
Social media & messaging	0.5-1 GB
Maps & navigation	0.2-0.5 GB
Total typical day	6-14 GB

At this rate, a heavy user would consume 180-420GB per month. We stayed within the lower end of that range and experienced no issues whatsoever.

Coverage & Speed Performance

Holafly covers 180+ countries, which is solid but smaller than Airalo's 200+ country footprint. For most popular travel destinations, you won’t notice the difference. Where it matters is in less-common destinations — always check Holafly’s coverage page for your specific country before purchasing.

Speed Test Results by Country

We ran 126 speed tests across 8 countries. Here are the averages:

Country	Avg Download	Avg Upload	Avg Ping	Network
Japan	85 Mbps	22 Mbps	28 ms	4G LTE
Spain	72 Mbps	18 Mbps	32 ms	4G LTE
Portugal	65 Mbps	16 Mbps	35 ms	4G LTE
Thailand	52 Mbps	14 Mbps	41 ms	4G LTE
Mexico	48 Mbps	12 Mbps	45 ms	4G LTE
Greece	58 Mbps	15 Mbps	38 ms	4G LTE
Turkey	45 Mbps	11 Mbps	48 ms	4G LTE
Indonesia	38 Mbps	10 Mbps	52 ms	4G LTE

Speed Performance Analysis

Japan delivered the fastest speeds consistently. In Tokyo’s Shibuya and Shinjuku districts, we regularly saw 100+ Mbps downloads. Rural Japan (tested in Hakone and parts of Kyoto outskirts) dropped to 30-50 Mbps, which is still excellent.

Europe (Spain, Portugal, Greece, Turkey) was reliably fast in cities. Lisbon, Madrid, and Athens all provided smooth remote work performance. The weakest European speeds came in rural Turkey (20-30 Mbps in Cappadocia), but that’s a network infrastructure issue, not a Holafly problem.

Southeast Asia (Thailand, Indonesia) was the most variable. Bangkok and Chiang Mai delivered 40-90 Mbps, but smaller islands in Thailand and rural Bali dropped to 15-30 Mbps. Still usable for most tasks, but not ideal for large uploads.

Mexico performed well in Playa del Carmen and Mexico City (40-80 Mbps) but showed weaker coverage in Oaxaca (20-35 Mbps).

Real-World Performance

Numbers are one thing — actual usability is another. Here’s how Holafly performed for common tasks:

• Zoom/Google Meet calls: Flawless in all 8 countries. Zero dropped calls, no buffering or pixelation, even with screen sharing. This is the killer feature for remote workers.
• Netflix/YouTube streaming: 1080p worked perfectly everywhere. 4K worked in Japan, Spain, and Portugal. In Southeast Asia, 4K occasionally buffered but 1080p was consistently smooth.
• Large file uploads: Uploading a 1.5GB video file took 8-12 minutes in Japan, 12-18 minutes in Thailand. Acceptable for most workflows.
• Navigation (Google Maps): Instant and responsive everywhere, including offline-heavy areas.

Holafly Pricing: Is It Worth the Premium?

Let’s address the elephant in the room. Holafly is more expensive than capped alternatives. Here’s a transparent breakdown.

Holafly Pricing by Destination (February 2026)

Destination	5 Days	7 Days	10 Days	15 Days	30 Days
Thailand	$27	$34	$47	$57	$87
Japan	$19	$27	$34	$47	$69
Mexico	$27	$34	$47	$57	$87
Europe	$27	$34	$47	$57	$87
USA	$27	$34	$47	$57	$84
Indonesia	$27	$34	$47	$57	$87

Prices are approximate and may vary. Check current pricing on Holafly's website .

Price Comparison: Holafly vs Airalo vs Saily

Let’s compare Holafly’s unlimited 10-day plan against buying equivalent capped data from competitors.

Scenario	Holafly (Unlimited/10 days)	Airalo (10GB/30 days)	Saily (10GB/30 days)
Thailand	$47	$26	$22.99
Japan	$34	$26	$22.99
Europe	$47	$37	$34.99

At first glance, Holafly looks expensive — nearly double the cost. But here’s where the math gets interesting.

The Break-Even Calculation

If you’re a light data user (under 5GB per trip), Holafly is not worth it. You’re paying a significant premium for data you won’t use. Choose Airalo or Saily instead.

If you use 10-15GB or more, the calculation starts to shift. Consider this scenario for a 10-day trip to Thailand:

• Holafly: $47 for unlimited data. Done. No thinking required.
• Airalo: $26 for 10GB. But if you blow through 10GB in 5 days (easy if you’re working remotely), you’ll need a top-up. Another 5GB costs $16. That’s $42 total for 15GB — and you might still run out.
• Saily: Similar math. $22.99 for 10GB, plus top-ups if you exceed that.

For heavy users (20GB+ per trip), Holafly actually saves money compared to repeatedly topping up capped plans. And you get the intangible benefit of never worrying about data limits.

Our Pricing Verdict

Holafly’s pricing earns a 3.8/5 from us. It’s not cheap, but it’s fair for what you get. The unlimited model removes cognitive overhead entirely — you never have to check your data balance, calculate whether you can afford that video call, or hunt for WiFi to avoid burning through your allowance. For remote workers and heavy users, that peace of mind has genuine value.

Setting Up Holafly: Step by Step

Holafly’s setup process is straightforward and ranks among the easiest we’ve tested.

Step 1: Check compatibility. Ensure your phone supports eSIM. This includes iPhone XS and later, Samsung Galaxy S20 and later, Google Pixel 3a and later, and most flagship Android phones from 2020 onward.

Step 2: Download the Holafly app. Available on iOS and Android. The app is clean, modern, and well-translated (Holafly supports English, Spanish, French, German, Portuguese, and more).

Step 3: Choose your destination and plan. Browse by country, select your plan duration (5 to 90 days), and proceed to checkout.

Step 4: Install the eSIM. After purchase, Holafly guides you through eSIM installation. You can choose QR code scanning or direct installation through the app. On iPhone, the direct installation option worked flawlessly every time in our testing.

Step 5: Activate on arrival. Turn on your eSIM data when you land. In our 8-country testing, activation took under 60 seconds every time. You’ll have internet before you clear customs.

Total setup time: 4-6 minutes from download to installation. Activation is near-instant upon arrival.

Pro tip: Install your Holafly eSIM before your trip while you’re still on WiFi. This way, you just toggle it on when you land instead of scrambling at the airport.

The Holafly App & Built-in VPN

App Experience

The Holafly app has improved significantly since we first tried it in 2024. The current version (tested February 2026) is clean, intuitive, and fast. Key features include:

• Plan management: View active plans, data usage, and remaining days
• Top-up and extend: Easily add more days to your current plan without buying a new eSIM
• Installation guide: Step-by-step eSIM setup with device-specific instructions
• Destination browser: Browse all 180+ available countries with pricing
• Support access: Quick links to WhatsApp, email, and live chat support

The app never crashed during our 4 months of testing, and plan purchases processed within seconds. It’s not the most feature-rich app in the eSIM space (Airalo’s app offers more granular data tracking), but it does what it needs to do without clutter.

Built-in VPN (Beta)

Holafly has introduced a built-in VPN feature currently in beta. This is an interesting addition for travelers heading to countries with internet restrictions (China, UAE, parts of Turkey). However, after testing it in Turkey and Thailand, our honest assessment is:

• It works for basic browsing and accessing geo-restricted content
• It’s slower than dedicated VPN services — expect 15-25% speed reduction when active
• It lacks advanced features like split tunneling, kill switch, or server selection that you get with NordVPN or Surfshark

Our recommendation: The built-in VPN is a nice bonus for casual use, but if you’re heading somewhere with serious internet censorship or you need reliable VPN performance for work, invest in a dedicated VPN service alongside your Holafly plan.

Customer Support Experience

Customer support is where Holafly genuinely excels, and it’s a major reason the provider earns a 4.7/5 in our Support category — the highest category score in this review.

Our Support Interactions

We contacted Holafly support 6 times across 4 months:

1. Pre-purchase question about Indonesia coverage (WhatsApp) — Response in 2 minutes. Agent confirmed coverage details and recommended the best plan for Bali.
2. eSIM activation issue in Turkey (WhatsApp) — Response in 4 minutes. Turned out we hadn’t toggled data roaming on (our mistake). Agent walked us through it patiently.
3. Inquiry about extending a plan mid-trip (Live chat) — Response in 3 minutes. Agent processed the extension immediately and it was active within 5 minutes.
4. Slow speeds complaint in rural Indonesia (Email) — Response in 2 hours via email. Agent explained it was a carrier network issue in that specific area and suggested toggling airplane mode to reconnect to a different tower. It worked.
5. Question about the VPN beta feature (WhatsApp) — Response in 5 minutes. Thorough and honest answer about current limitations.
6. Refund inquiry for a plan we hadn’t activated (Live chat) — Response in 3 minutes. Refund processed within 24 hours.

What Sets Holafly’s Support Apart

WhatsApp support is the standout feature. When you’re in a foreign country and your internet isn’t working, the last thing you want is to navigate a web-based support portal. Being able to message Holafly directly on WhatsApp — the app you’re already using — is genuinely useful. Response times were consistently under 5 minutes.

The support agents were knowledgeable, patient, and proactive. In one interaction, an agent noticed we were on a suboptimal plan for our destination and suggested a cheaper alternative that better fit our needs. That kind of proactive helpfulness is rare in the eSIM space.

Holafly vs Airalo: Quick Comparison

This deserves a full article (and we have one coming), but here’s the quick breakdown:

Feature	Holafly	Airalo
Data	Unlimited	Capped (1-20GB plans)
Coverage	180+ countries	200+ countries
Best Price	~$6/day	$4.50 (1GB/7 days)
5G	Limited	Yes (select countries)
App Quality	Excellent	Excellent
Support	WhatsApp + Live Chat (faster)	In-app chat (solid)
Best For	Heavy data users, remote workers	Budget travelers, multi-country trips
Our Rating	4.3/5	4.5/5

Choose Holafly if: You use 10GB+ per trip, work remotely, stream content, or simply don’t want to think about data limits.

Choose Airalo if: You’re a light-to-moderate data user, need coverage in 200+ countries, or want the lowest possible price for basic connectivity.

Who Should Use Holafly?

Holafly Is Perfect For:

• Remote workers and digital nomads who rely on mobile data for video calls, file uploads, and all-day connectivity. The unlimited plan eliminates the anxiety of running out mid-workday.
• Content creators uploading videos, photos, and livestreaming on the go. We uploaded dozens of gigabytes during our testing period without hitting any walls.
• Extended-stay travelers (1-4 weeks in one destination) who want simple, predictable pricing without managing top-ups.
• Travelers who hate tracking data usage. If checking your remaining gigabytes stresses you out, Holafly’s unlimited model removes that entirely.
• Anyone heading to popular destinations where Holafly’s 180+ country coverage applies.

Who Should Look Elsewhere:

• Budget travelers using less than 5GB per trip. You’ll overpay significantly. Saily or Airalo offer much better value for light users.
• Travelers to uncommon destinations not in Holafly’s 180-country list. Check coverage before purchasing — Airalo’s 200+ country network is broader.
• 5G enthusiasts who need cutting-edge speeds. Holafly’s 5G support is limited; Ubigi or Saily offer better 5G coverage.
• Pay-as-you-go users who prefer credit-based systems. Holafly only offers fixed-duration plans. Consider Roamless if you want credits that never expire.
• Users who need a local phone number. Like all travel eSIMs, Holafly is data-only. You won’t get calls or SMS capability.

Final Verdict

After 4 months, 8 countries, 280GB of data consumed, and 126 speed tests, here’s our honest assessment: Holafly is the best eSIM provider for travelers who need unlimited data. Full stop.

The unlimited promise is real. We pushed it hard and never hit a wall. Speeds are consistently good (averaging 40-85 Mbps across our tested countries), the app is polished, and the customer support — especially via WhatsApp — is the best in the industry.

The trade-off is price. Holafly costs roughly 40-80% more than capped alternatives for the same trip duration. For light users, that math doesn’t work. But for remote workers consuming 10GB+ per trip, the unlimited model often breaks even or saves money compared to buying multiple data top-ups. And the peace of mind of never worrying about data caps? That’s worth something.

Our rating: 4.3 out of 5. Holafly loses a few points on pricing and limited 5G support, but earns top marks for its unlimited data promise, excellent support, and clean app experience. If you’re a heavy data user heading to any of the 180+ countries Holafly covers, it’s the smart choice.

Get Holafly Unlimited eSIM →

Not sure Holafly is right for you? Check out our Best eSIM Providers 2026 comparison for a full breakdown of all the options, or read our Airalo review for the best capped-data alternative.