How we rank eSIM plans

Every plan on this site is scored with the same formula. The weights below are applied to normalized values within each destination, so a plan is always compared against the cheapest price-per-GB, the largest data allowance, and the longest validity available for that country at that time. Nothing is scored subjectively, and the weights are checked into our repository where anyone can read them.

How we rank these plans

Every plan is scored with the same transparent, weight-based formula. Within each destination, plans are normalized against the cheapest price per GB, largest data allowance, and longest validity, then weighted below. No sponsored placements change a score.

Price (lower price/GB scores higher): 35%
Data allowance: 25%
Validity length: 15%
Network generation (5G > 4G): 10%
Hotspot/tethering support: 10%
Provider reliability: 5%

Normalization rules

Scoring works on normalized inputs so that different units can be compared fairly:

Price per GB — bounded at $50, so an unlimited plan is treated as a large-but-finite allowance rather than an infinite one.
Unlimited plans — valued as 1000 GB for scoring purposes.
Validity — capped at 90 days; plans valid up to the cap score the same.
Network generation — 5G-capable plans score higher than 4G-only plans (minimum supported generation is 4G).
Data limit — entries with no usable data allowance are dropped during validation rather than scored.

Weights sum to 100%. The price factor asks “is this a good deal per GB, for this destination”, the data and validity factors ask “does it cover a reasonable trip”, and the network, hotspot, and reliability factors decide ties between plans that are otherwise similar.

How the plan finder picks suggestions

The homepage finder asks four questions — destination, data per day, trip length, and an optional budget — and filters the exact same scored dataset described above. Its matching rule is fixed and published here:

Full fit — validity covers the trip, data covers the need (or the plan is unlimited), and price fits the budget.
No budget match — same as above minus the budget constraint.
Data relaxed — validity and budget match, but the plan may need a top-up.
Closest picks — nothing fits; we show the destination’s highest-value plans anyway.

Within a tier, suggestions are ordered by value score (highest first), then by price. Unlimited daily data means only truly unlimited plans are suggested. The finder never changes a score and never introduces new ranking logic — it only filters and comments on the published ranking.

Data source and freshness

Plans come from the public MeiSIM catalog (meisim_usa_api), fetched for each destination on a schedule. Records are normalized and validated, then a value score and the cheapest/best-value/median price-per-GB stats are computed per destination and stored in commit-friendly JSON. This page and all comparison content rebuild from that data. The current dataset was last updated September 6, 2026.

What the score does not include

Provider reliability — we start every provider at a neutral baseline until we have enough independent user data to override it. We never take a provider’s marketing claim at face value.
Local network quality — coverage and speeds inside a country vary by carrier partner; we rank the plan, not every square meter of the country.
Seasonal deals — catalogs change; scores are a point-in-time snapshot refreshed every 12 hours.

Outbound-link policy

We add two kinds of outbound links: citations and purchases. Citation links point to the public catalog entry a plan came from, so readers can verify our reading of the data. Purchase links go to provider pages, sometimes through an affiliate program. Both are clearly distinguishable, and neither is sold or gated by budget.

Citation links — every plan cites its source catalog; we don’t link to paywalled or non-browsable sources.
Purchase links with an affiliate tag — marked and covered by the affiliate disclosure. They may set third-party cookies from the vendor.
No link selling — nobody can buy a link in, a citation, or a removal.
No links to renew — outbound pages use permanent, relative or source-verifiable URLs; there is no paid link renewal cycle.