Airalo and SimOptions are two of the top online marketplaces to purchase eSIMs. SimOptions was actually a site that would sell physical SIM cards before the eSIM boom took over. They were a little late to the eSIM market. That allowed companies like Airalo to step in and eat away at their customer base.
All of this is history, though; as a current consumer, what are the benefits of using one platform over the other? That’s exactly what we’re going to try and explain here. Right off the bat, what we want to clear up is that neither of the two is a poor option. Both of the platforms offer products that are backed by their respective companies. You won’t be scammed into purchasing a product that doesn’t work either way.
There is a bit of a risk with some of the regular SIM cards that SIMOptions sells. The risk is low, but technically, if you buy an actual SIM card online and it’s damaged for whatever reason, you may not be able to get coverage while you’re abroad. There are ways to get around this issue, and we’ll talk about them later in the article. In general, though, these two sites are genuine options to get coverage abroad.
One of the things that we always talk about on this site though is that each situation is going to be unique. Not everyone is going to have the same phones or the same budget nor will everyone travel to the same destination. The good thing is both of these options offer decent solutions regardless of the individual answers that you gave to any of those previous questions.
The Main Benefit That Airalo Brings To The Table
Airalo allows the user to get coverage directly from their app in virtually any country in the world. The user can store different SIM cards from a variety of countries. They just have to activate them when they arrive in a different country. The process of going from purchasing an eSIM to getting coverage from the eSIM is much quicker with Airalo than it is with SimOptions. Even though SIMOptions has also made the move to offering eSIMs and not just regular SIM cards.
The fact that everything runs through their app is another one of the benefits that the platform provides. Even the fact that the app will literally tell you whether your device is compatible or not right off the bat is a plus. We had that happen to us recently when we downloaded the app on an old phone and the app just blocked us from making purchases.
When you make a purchase directly with let’s say Vodafone you may not have that security blanket if your phone is not compatible with what you buy. That’s going to lead to you just wasting money. Airalo makes the process of buying and activating coverage quick. At the same time, it offers a safety blanket. Just to make sure that you don’t end up making a purchase that you’re not going to be able to use.
What SimOptions Specializes In
Just like Airalo has its main benefits, there are things that SimOptions brings to the table that may not be accessible through the Airalo app. SimOptions usually sells either eSIMs or regular SIM cards that come directly from wireless service providers. You’re going to be buying an Orange or Vodafone SIM card even if it’s purchased through the SimOptions site. These tend to provide better coverage and a lot of times they are cheaper than their Airalo options.
What Airalo does at least as of the time of writing is kind of latch on to a local wireless network. That’s why you’ll see that for example their Mexico eSIM is Chorrofon. It’s not from Telcel or another one of the popular wireless service providers. There’s of course another element that makes SimOptions the best solution for some travelers. That is the fact that they still sell regular SIM cards.
When you’re buying from SimOptions you’re more likely to find coverage that is compatible with your phone. You just need to make sure that you’re purchasing the right size SIM card when you’re buying regular SIM cards. If that’s not the case then you need to make sure that the eSIM that you buy is compatible with your phone. You lose that safety blanket that we talked about with Airalo. What you gain is the added compatibility in that you’ll be able to find something that fits your phone.
Airalo’s Big Problem
The big issue with Airalo could still be the lack of minutes that it offers. Remember that all of the eSIMs that it sells will grant you data-only plans. That’s not a big issue in 90% of a person’s trip. There is that one situation where you may need to call the hotel or the restaurant for a reservation. In some cases having a local phone number can also help book an event or whatever it may be.
Many hotels and restaurants are moving to apps like WhatsApp and that’s going to be active with an Airalo eSIM, so there are ways to get around this issue. There could still come a moment during the trip when you need to make a direct call, and you won’t be able to. In fact, you may need to receive a call and may not be able to either.
There’s also the compatibility situation with older phones. That’s going to be a problem with only about 80% of the people that go abroad. Most people are very eager to ensure that they have an updated phone. Perhaps the biggest question now is do you want a burner phone when you travel abroad? Even a couple of years ago we talked about this possibility as being one of the smartest choices. That was because there was an issue with data loss with the changing of regular SIM cards. That all changed even when dual SIM phones hit the market.
If you’re going to go with the Airalo option, take your regular phone. In fact, we would recommend that you download the app now and check your device’s compatibility. If you have an issue there then go with SimOptions.
Order A SIM Card Before You Travel
This is something that we’ve recommended on the site before. Is it something that still makes sense to do? When you’re with SimOptions we would still recommend this. Especially if you have a dual-SIM phone. You can insert the SIM card from the comfort of your own home. All you’re going to have to do when you go abroad is to deactivate your regular SIM card and activate the one you bought. You can check if the card works from home and that’s a win.
We already mentioned that we would recommend that you download Airalo before you travel. That way, you’ll know in a matter of minutes if the app is going to be an option for you or not. The last thing that you want to do is get to another country thinking that Airalo is your solution only to figure out it’s not. Also, it could be a good idea to purchase eSIMs from Airalo while you’re on a safe network.
You may end up having to connect to the airport Wi-Fi to be able to activate your Airalo eSIM once you arrive at your destination. In most cases, using airport Wi-Fi to make purchases is not the smartest decision you can make. Unless you’re using a VPN or something like this to grant you that extra layer of security.
Why SIM Options May Grant Better Coverage
We said this a little bit earlier. There’s a chance that you’re going to get better quality coverage with SimOptions. That just has to do with the fact that these SIM cards come directly from the wireless service provider. Airalo has its own agreements with some of these networks. Airalo is a third party on a larger network. That’s why the prices of its products also reflect that.
Does this mean that SIM Options is the better option? That’s not necessarily the case, there’s value in the app and the system that Airalo brings to the table. As we explained, it’s much easier to get coverage from Airalo. You just need to make sure that you activate the right SIM through the app. The process is in fact so quick that there’s not too much of an advantage in getting a regional SIM card. You can get eSIM options from different countries that you can just activate as you arrive at different places.
SimOptions generally grant you better coverage speed. If you buy a regular SIM card, you can get one within minutes on the card. That’s another one of the things that we mentioned isn’t as important today as might have been in the past. That doesn’t mean that you won’t need it. At the end of the day, both are decent options. We are going to try and see if we can convince you and even ourselves if one option works best.
What’s The Best Option?
The whole article explains that each option works best in a specific context. Then the challenge is to figure out as a traveler what your particular context happens to be. Here’s what we mean by that. Are you looking for the quickest way to get coverage in different countries even if that means paying a little extra?
Then Airalo is the option that you’re going to want to look into. You don’t have to worry about actual SIM cards that you have to insert on your phone. Airalo may also be a good option for people who are traveling to different countries in one trip and want local coverage in each spot.
There’s a group of people with old devices like some of us here at Using My Phone Abroad that can’t access Airalo. In that situation, SimOptions is going to be the way to go. SimOptions is also a very good solution for someone who is going to spend a long time in one foreign country. You’ll be able to access coverage directly from the local wireless service providers at better prices than Airalo. With the eSIM options that SimOptions features it’s not like the activation process is too difficult either.
Final Thoughts on Airalo vs SimOptions
Both platforms are very good options to get coverage abroad. In fact, we’d strongly recommend the use of these options, especially for people who are headed to a country where they don’t know the language. It’s going to be hard enough to know what to order at a local restaurant. Don’t make getting phone coverage more of a challenge.
At the end of the day, it comes down to what your context is like we just mentioned. Do you want a platform that makes things quick and easy? Then, maybe Airalo is the best choice. When you need more options, and you’re looking for more traditional solutions then, SimOptions is going to be the way to go. If we had to break it down as far as we could those two lines would be the summary of the whole piece.