Airalo Review 2025: Honest Assessment After 12 Months of Heavy Use

## TL;DR

✅ Airalo is genuinely excellent — best app, best prices, works everywhere I’ve needed it
✅ Regional Asia plan is a game-changer for multi-country travel
✅ Customer support has improved massively — responses in 2-3 hours now
⚠️ No unlimited plans — if you stream all day, costs add up
⚠️ Occasional activation hiccups on older Android devices

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## Why I’m Qualified to Review Airalo

I’ve been living in Southeast Asia as a digital nomad for three years. I need internet the way a surgeon needs their hands — without it, I can’t work, can’t communicate with clients, can’t do anything that pays my rent. I’ve tried every solution: local SIM cards, pocket WiFi devices, international roaming on my UK plan (astronomical), and a rotating cast of eSIM providers.

I started using Airalo seriously in April 2024 and have used it every single month since — trips to Thailand, Vietnam, Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Cambodia, Japan and South Korea. I’ve spent somewhere around $200-250 total on Airalo eSIMs across that period, roughly $20/month. For comparison, my worst month with international roaming on my UK EE plan was £89 in a single week.

This review covers the good, the bad and the frustrating.

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## What Is Airalo?

Airalo is a Singapore-based eSIM marketplace founded in 2019, now operating in 200+ countries. They don’t build their own network infrastructure — they partner with local carriers worldwide and resell data capacity through their app.

The business model works because the markup over carrier wholesale rates is modest compared to traditional roaming charges, they have virtually zero physical infrastructure costs, and they’ve built an exceptionally clean consumer app that makes the whole process nearly frictionless.

In 2025, Airalo claims over 10 million users. I believe it. Almost every digital nomad I meet uses them.

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## The App Experience: 9/10

The Airalo app is genuinely one of the better travel apps I’ve used, and I have high standards because bad UX genuinely annoys me.

**Installing an eSIM takes about 4 minutes:**
1. Buy the plan in-app
2. Tap “Install” — generates a QR code or direct install option
3. Follow the phone’s eSIM installation wizard
4. Done. eSIM stored on your device

You can store multiple eSIM profiles and switch between them without buying a new one. My phone currently has 6 stored Airalo profiles — Thailand, Vietnam, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, a regional Asia plan. When I land somewhere, I just activate the relevant one.

The dashboard shows exactly how much data you’ve used and how much remains. No guessing, no surprise cut-offs.

**One minor gripe:** the app occasionally takes 10-15 seconds to load the data balance, which can be frustrating when you’re quickly checking if you need to top up. Minor, but noticeable.

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## Pricing: 8/10

Airalo’s pricing is competitive but not always the cheapest in every market. Here’s what I’ve actually paid:

**Thailand:**
– 1GB / 7 days: $4.50
– 3GB / 30 days: $9
– 5GB / 30 days: $13
– 10GB / 30 days: $22
– 20GB / 30 days: $38

**Vietnam:**
– 1GB: $4.50
– 3GB: $9.50
– 5GB: $14
– 10GB: $23

**Indonesia:**
– 1GB: $4.50
– 5GB: $12
– 10GB: $20

**Regional Asia (covers 20+ countries):**
– 1GB: $5
– 3GB: $11
– 5GB: $16
– 10GB: $22
– 20GB: $38

The regional plan is exceptional value. $22 for 10GB across 20+ Asian countries is hard to beat for fast-paced multi-country travel.

Airalo also has an Airmoney rewards system — you earn credits on purchases that apply to future plans. After 12 months of use, I’ve accumulated about $12 in Airmoney, which isn’t life-changing but is a nice bonus.

**Where Airalo loses on price:** unlimited data. If you need 20GB+ per month, the per-GB cost starts looking less attractive compared to Holafly’s unlimited plans. At $38 for 20GB vs Holafly’s $39 for unlimited, the latter looks better for heavy users.

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## Speed and Coverage: 8.5/10

This is where Airalo genuinely earns its reputation. By partnering with premium local carriers, they deliver speeds that often match what locals on those networks get.

**My real speed tests (averaged across multiple tests):**

**Thailand (AIS network):**
– Bangkok Silom: 52 Mbps down / 21 Mbps up
– Chiang Mai city: 44 Mbps down / 17 Mbps up
– Chiang Rai: 23 Mbps down / 8 Mbps up
– Pai (rural): 14 Mbps down / 4 Mbps up
– Koh Tao: 19 Mbps down / 6 Mbps up

**Vietnam (Viettel network):**
– Hanoi Old Quarter: 41 Mbps down / 14 Mbps up
– Da Nang beach area: 38 Mbps down / 12 Mbps up
– Hoi An: 29 Mbps down / 9 Mbps up
– Ho Chi Minh City: 45 Mbps down / 16 Mbps up

**Indonesia (Telkomsel network):**
– Jakarta: 35 Mbps down / 11 Mbps up
– Ubud, Bali: 31 Mbps down / 10 Mbps up
– Seminyak: 27 Mbps down / 8 Mbps up
– Lombok (near Senggigi): 18 Mbps down / 5 Mbps up
– Flores (near Labuan Bajo): 9 Mbps down / 2 Mbps up

**Malaysia (Maxis network):**
– Kuala Lumpur: 58 Mbps down / 23 Mbps up
– Penang Georgetown: 42 Mbps down / 15 Mbps up
– Kota Kinabalu: 28 Mbps down / 9 Mbps up

Flores was the weakest I tested. 9 Mbps is usable for basic browsing and messaging but not for video calls or uploads. This reflects the infrastructure in that area — even local SIMs struggled there.

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## Customer Support: 7.5/10

This is an area where I’ve seen genuine improvement over the past year.

In early 2024, I had an activation issue in Vietnam — the eSIM installed but showed “No Service” for about 40 minutes. Support took 6 hours to respond. Frustrating, though the issue was eventually resolved by toggling airplane mode and re-registering the network.

By late 2024, response times had dropped to 2-3 hours for most issues, and in December I had a top-up problem resolved in under 90 minutes. The support agents are knowledgeable about technical eSIM issues — they don’t just send generic “restart your phone” responses.

**Common issues and Airalo’s solutions:**
– “No Service” after install: Toggle airplane mode, remove and re-add APN settings
– Wrong plan active: Fix in-app by switching active eSIM profile
– Data not counting correctly: Contact support — they can usually extend or add data as goodwill

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## What I Don’t Like About Airalo

**No unlimited plans.** For someone working 8 hours a day, streaming music, using hotspot for a laptop — 10GB can disappear in 10 days. The lack of unlimited means heavy users either pay more or switch to Holafly for specific countries.

**Pricing fluctuations.** I’ve noticed prices change slightly between purchases. The Thailand 5GB plan has been $12, $13 and $14 at different times over the past year.

**Android activation quirks.** On a friend’s Xiaomi Mi 11 and a Huawei P30 Pro, eSIM installation required extra steps not in Airalo’s guide. iPhone and Samsung Galaxy installation is seamless; some other Android brands less so.

**Data validity periods.** Some cheaper plans only last 7 days. Always buy the 30-day validity plans unless you’re 100% certain of your dates.

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## Airalo vs the Competition

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## Who Should Use Airalo?

**Airalo is perfect for:**
– Digital nomads moving between countries every 1-4 weeks
– Travellers who use WiFi at accommodation and need mobile data for maps, messaging and occasional browsing
– Multi-country SEA trips (use the regional Asia plan)
– People who value a reliable, well-designed app experience
– Budget-conscious travellers who don’t want to overpay for unlimited data they won’t use

**Consider alternatives if:**
– You’re a heavy data user (15GB+/month) who streams video constantly — Holafly unlimited may be cheaper
– You’re island-hopping in the Philippines — Nomad’s Globe partnership gives better rural coverage
– You need instant customer support (Airalo’s chat is good but not immediate)

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## Final Verdict: 8.5/10

After 12 months and $200+ spent, Airalo remains my primary eSIM provider. The combination of competitive pricing, solid network partnerships, excellent app design and improving support makes it the default choice for Southeast Asia travel.

It’s not perfect — the lack of unlimited plans and occasional Android quirks are real limitations. But for the majority of digital nomads and travellers, it does exactly what you need at a price that doesn’t hurt.

I recommend starting with the country-specific plan for your first destination, then adding a regional Asia plan if you’re doing 3+ countries. You’ll arrive with internet, your Grab app will work, and you won’t be standing in the arrivals hall at 2am wondering where your taxi is.

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[IMAGE: airalo-app-review-phone — Airalo app open on smartphone showing active eSIM and data balance, Bangkok street in background blurred, no people, warm evening light]