Vietnam has become one of the most popular long-haul destinations in Europe: Hanoi, Ha Long Bay, the lanterns of Hoi An, the Mekong Delta and the constant motion of Ho Chi Minh City. All of it is harder without mobile data – booking a Grab, following Google Maps and checking into your accommodation all need a connection, and roaming outside the EU is expensive here.
Four names come up again and again in travel groups: Yesim, Saily, Airalo and eSIM Surfer. All four work in Vietnam, but their prices differ by a factor of three or more. So we put them side by side, covering both fixed-data and unlimited plans.
How we collected these prices
Update, 9 October 2026: eSIM Surfer prices in the tables are current as of this date; Yesim, Saily and Airalo prices are from 7 August 2026.
We pulled the Yesim, Saily and Airalo prices from their public, euro-denominated price lists on 7 August 2026, without discount coupons or first-purchase promotions. eSIM Surfer figures are our own list prices. Prices change frequently, so treat the numbers below as a snapshot rather than a guarantee.
One methodological note, because without it any table like this misleads: we only compare plans with the same validity period. A 7-day plan and a 30-day plan are not the same product, so where a competitor only sells a 30-day plan, we list our 30-day price rather than our cheaper short-validity one. Where a provider has no plan at a given duration, we say so.
Fixed-data plans: 30-day validity
Thirty days is the most common validity across all four providers, so this is the cleanest like-for-like comparison.
| Data | eSIM Surfer | Yesim | Saily | Airalo |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3 GB | EUR 4.99 | EUR 7.00 | EUR 6.99 | no 30-day plan |
| 5 GB | EUR 5.99 | EUR 9.60 | EUR 9.99 | EUR 10.00 |
| 10 GB | EUR 7.99 | EUR 16.00 | EUR 15.99 | EUR 16.50 |
| 20 GB | EUR 11.99 | EUR 22.00 | EUR 25.99 | EUR 26.50 |
| 30 GB | EUR 13.99 | EUR 28.00 | not offered | not offered (50 GB: EUR 44.50) |
In the typical holiday range of 5 to 10 GB, eSIM Surfer costs roughly half of the other three: EUR 5.99 against EUR 9.60 to EUR 10.00 at 5 GB, and EUR 7.99 against EUR 15.99 to EUR 16.50 at 10 GB. For a couple travelling together, the 10 GB gap alone is a decent dinner in Hoi An.
Fixed-data plans: 7-day validity
For a one-week trip there is no reason to pay for a month of validity. The field narrows here, though: Yesim sells its fixed-data plans exclusively with 30-day validity, so it drops out of this comparison.
| Data | eSIM Surfer | Saily | Airalo |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 GB / 7 days | EUR 2.99 | EUR 3.49 | no 7-day plan (1 GB / 3 days: EUR 4.00) |
| 3 GB / 7 days | EUR 3.99 | not offered | EUR 7.50 |
| 5 GB / 7 days | EUR 3.99 | not offered | EUR 9.00 |
| 10 GB / 7 days | EUR 6.99 | not offered | EUR 15.50 |
Where a competitor wins
In one case: if you need just 1 GB across a longer trip, Yesim's EUR 2.50 plan with 30-day validity is the cheapest of the four. eSIM Surfer offers 1 GB only with 7-day validity, so we have nothing to put against it at that duration.
Compare like for like at 7 days, though, and the order flips: our 1 GB plan is EUR 2.99 against Saily's EUR 3.49.
Note also that Yesim's fixed-data prices are displayed as discounts against a struck-through list price, so they are promotional and can move.
Unlimited plans: where the gap gets large
| Duration | eSIM Surfer | Yesim | Saily | Airalo |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3 days | EUR 7.99 | EUR 10.50 | not offered | EUR 10.50 |
| 5 days | EUR 8.99 | EUR 17.50 | EUR 16.99 | EUR 17.00 |
| 7 days | EUR 7.99 | EUR 24.50 | EUR 23.99 | EUR 24.50 |
| 10 days | EUR 9.99 | EUR 29.94 | EUR 30.99 | EUR 31.00 |
| 15 days | EUR 11.99 | EUR 39.00 | EUR 43.49 | EUR 43.50 |
| 30 days | EUR 15.99 | EUR 57.00 | EUR 63.99 | EUR 62.00 |
This is no longer a matter of a few euros. On a two-week trip, an unlimited plan costs EUR 11.99 with eSIM Surfer against EUR 39 to EUR 43.50 elsewhere – a difference of roughly EUR 30 on a single phone.
It is also striking how closely the three international providers cluster: the 7-day unlimited plan is EUR 23.99, EUR 24.50 and EUR 24.50. That is not a coincidence. They are largely reselling the same wholesale capacity at similar margins.
What "unlimited" actually means
Before buying any unlimited plan, it is worth knowing that none of them means unlimited speed. Every provider's unlimited product is governed by the local network's Fair Usage Policy.
Airalo is the most transparent about it: its Vietnam unlimited plans drop to 1 Mbps after 3 GB of usage per day. Yesim and Saily use looser language, stating only that speed may be limited according to the operator's fair usage rules, without publishing a threshold.
In practice, 1 Mbps still handles maps, messaging and general browsing, but video and large uploads will struggle. This is why most travellers are better served by a correctly sized fixed-data plan than by an unlimited one.
Validity traps
The tables hide one more difference worth checking: how long each plan stays valid.
- Airalo: the cheapest EUR 4.00 plan lasts just 3 days, and the 3 GB plan 7 days. For a two-week trip you either buy twice or jump straight to a pricier 30-day plan.
- Saily: the 1 GB plan runs 7 days, everything else 30 days.
- Yesim: all fixed-data plans are 30 days, which is a genuine strength of their line-up.
- eSIM Surfer: most data tiers come in 3, 5, 7, 10, 15 and 30-day versions, so you are not forced to overpay for validity you will not use.
Coverage: everyone is on the same towers
This matters because higher prices are often mistaken for better quality: no eSIM provider builds its own network in Vietnam. They all run on local carriers – Viettel, Vinaphone and Mobifone – and Airalo's Vietnam plan, for instance, uses VNPT.
4G coverage is good in Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City, Da Nang, Hoi An and around Ha Long Bay, and less consistent in mountainous areas such as Sapa or Ha Giang. Paying three times more does not change that.
Viettel tourist eSIM or eSIM Surfer?
Vietnam's largest carrier, Viettel, sells an official 30-day tourist eSIM (5G150T) for 150,000 VND, about €5.16, plus an eSIM fee it does not state. You buy it at a Viettel counter in the arrivals hall (Noi Bai, Tan Son Nhat, Da Nang, Cam Ranh, Phu Quoc) or in a Viettel store, and Vietnamese law requires registration with your passport.
| Viettel tourist eSIM 5G150T | eSIM Surfer 30 days unlimited | |
|---|---|---|
| Price | 150,000 VND (≈ €5.16) + eSIM fee | €15.99 |
| Full-speed data | 5 GB per day | 6 GB per day |
| After the daily limit | not stated by Viettel; resellers report data stops until midnight | continues at up to 5 Mbps |
| Where you buy it | Viettel counter or store in Vietnam, with passport | in the app, before you fly |
| Online after landing | after the queue | immediately |
At the official counter price Viettel is cheaper, so if you don't mind queuing on arrival it is a good deal. Travellers report airport booth prices of 350,000–400,000 VND (about €12–14), well above the official price. eSIM Surfer gives you more full-speed data, no hard stop after the daily limit and a working connection the moment you land, which matters when you need a Grab from the airport. Online sellers of Viettel-network eSIMs that skip the passport queue charge around US$19–20 for 30 days at 5 GB per day.
An eSIM is installed at home over Wi-Fi and activates by itself once your phone first registers on a Vietnamese network after touchdown.
*Sources: Viettel tourist eSIM plans and prices (vietteltelecom.vn, October 2025); airport prices from traveller reports quoted by sogdiaroam.com (2026).*
Verdict: which one should you take to Vietnam?
- A typical two to three-week trip (5–10 GB): eSIM Surfer, at EUR 5.99 to EUR 7.99.
- If you want unlimited data: eSIM Surfer again – this is where the gap is widest – but think about whether you really need unlimited at all.
- If 1 GB across a month is enough: check Yesim's EUR 2.50 plan, the one tier where a competitor comes out ahead.
- Airalo: expensive for Vietnam, and the short validity on its cheaper plans makes it awkward for longer trips. To its credit, it publishes its fair-usage threshold more clearly than the others.
Group recommendations are a reasonable starting point, but Yesim and Airalo owe much of their popularity to international brand recognition. On price, eSIM Surfer remains the better choice for Vietnam in 2026.